[John 070]

My car is now 13 y.o. and the only thing I bring it to the dealership for is the annual state inspection. It depends, that job ranges from $40 to $63, same at dealer as clipping a coupon and going to a garage.

I happened to be going through my CC statements, and the dealer charged me $15 for the loaner car? hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

In 13 years that's never happened. I tried to call them but you know the deal, nobody ever, ever, answers the phone, except sales.

I'd really like to know what it's for, but I am thinking in that amount, gas.

It's pretty annoying how these loaners are always marked full going out, but actually, they're not. Because the rude previous customer almost always fills it up, then drives around. Why? Because there have been times all I did was go to the office so say I put a whopping 20 miles on the vehicle, yet 4 gal goes in hahahahahahahaha

So I since stopped putting in more than I use. Meaning I reset the mpg and if I went 80 miles and the car did 20 mpg? I put 4 gal in. I mean even if it took 5 fine. But not 8 gal if I went 80 miles, get what I'm saying?

But I generally feel the entire dealership experience and the cars themselves have been uninspiring for about 7+ years. And I could be wrong--you guys could say I always go to the dealer and my dealer is great. jmo ymmv

[tlow98]

I haven’t been to a dealer in a decade. It’s just always fraught with weird situations I don’t enjoy. Never once I have I thought “that was nice”

[Tambohamilton]

Only ever take either of mine to the dealer for recall work. I don't have pockets deep enough for anything else!

To be fair, it's always been a decent experience for me; a walk around video with a basic safety (brakes, tyres, etc) checks, free car wash (I don't care much for washing my cars), and occasionally a free bottle of BMW branded H2O...lol! The worst bit for me is feeling like a sheep standing on 2 legs when I turn up at the showroom; I'm not a shiny person, and BMW dealerships are shiny places!

[Schmitz]

You should have just put gas back in the car.

[flgfish]

My local dealer is owned by Autonation, and is the pits. I'll never go back there.

[F30lolz]

Originally Posted by John 070

And I could be wrong--you guys could say I always go to the dealer and my dealer is great.

I always go to the dealer and they are great. However, I only go to the dealer for recalls, warranty work, discounted oil changes that cost less than indy’s and for complimentary vehicle inspections.

I had a g20 330i loaner for about 36 hours when my f36 was getting its TC/guides done and I was charged $7 and change for the loaner. Mainly it was for the ridiculous amount of tolls in Miami that I went through.

[Jesda]

My dealer, Erhard in Bloomfield Hills MI, has been outstanding for customer service and provided me with a fresh convertible loaner when my E93 was in for recalls.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by Jesda

My dealer, Erhard in Bloomfield Hills MI, has been outstanding for customer service and provided me with a fresh convertible loaner when my E93 was in for recalls.

Fresh e93? So the last time you went there was 6 years ago?

[Jesda]

Originally Posted by tlow98

Fresh e93? So the last time you went there was 6 years ago?

The loaner was an F3x.

I said fresh convertible, not fresh E93.

[Gamb1t]

I only bring my 330i I'm for recalls. Its OK. They seem to "respect the elder". Even parked in a prominent solo spot by the main entrance all cleaned up.
I don't care for the premium experience. But my wife seems to enjoy it whenever she brought her x1 in. Now that warranty is over, she hasn't visited the dealership in a long time. And I am glad!

[charmer37]

I have to take my car in for a recall but I haven’t been to a dealer in years, I order everything online and take care all the maintenance myself.

[CTinline-six]

I had pretty good service at the local BMW dealer, but then again I mainly go there for recalls and stuff covered under the SULEV warranty on my N51.

IMO most dealerships and customer service based businesses in general have gone down the tubes. Part of that is the brand itself doesn't earn your loyalty anymore. Most customers will just buy the cheapest car or get the cheapest service they can, not understanding or caring what the difference might be.

[Antetokounmpo]

at the end of the day they're here to make money, not inspect old cars. obviously they have to but they couldn't care less about our cars now, other than trying to lease a new 3 series for 399 a month.. blah blah blah

[vilord]

I've been happy with my dealer, as long as I don't let them do any real work.
Very nice people, always answer the phone. Free snacks and coffee/hot chocolate in the waiting area/cafe, free wifi.
I've had 2 loaners, one was a 440 coupe, the other was a 528 sedan, both near new, despite my wagon being a 2007.
My new '09 still hasn't had the blower wiring or pcv recalls done, so soon as i finish registration i'll be dropping it off.

I might actually take my '09 there more for the oil changes if I can find coupons. The full synth oil changes at my independent are creeping up to around 75, and the dealer discount matches that and includes a bath, and the dealer does a much better job of giving me a list of everything it needs me to do in between visits

[fastboatster]

Never had to pay anything for a loaner car, even when wanted to get my n51 stuff fixed under warranty. The dealer would swap the loaners upon request, one time I didnt want an SUV and asked for a sedan. They were happy to give me an msport 430i coupe instead. Imo, loaners are their opportunity to have you test drive a car and maybe come back to them to actually get a lease or purchase a new car if you like it.

[Welcome to NBA Jam]

Why is it rude to drive a loaner around and then fill it back to full?

[ryan stewart]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Only ever take either of mine to the dealer for recall work. I don't have pockets deep enough for anything else!

I wont even do that anymore, its not even about the money. Global Imports is a Sonic dealer and they are complete crap.

Ive given then like 4 chances over the past 6 years because they keep saying they have changed but EVERY SINGLE TIME they have broken something else or not put my car back together right. Now that I know I can have BMW recalls done at an independent that is what I will do.

[krhodes1]

My local dealer in Maine is great. Just BMW dealer standard extremely expensive for service. So the only thing they see my car for are the state inspections, which they do for free since I bought it there new, and recalls. Otherwise, I DIY everything.

I would cheerfully buy another car from them, if BMW ever decides to sell a car again that I want to own. I still think they make great cars, just not what I want in a car.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Welcome to NBA Jam

Why is it rude to drive a loaner around and then fill it back to full?

Here's what I'm saying. imho (I rent 25+ days per year), there is a tendency of people to fill so the gauge looks like it's F, where it's not really full, maybe 3 gal shy (you know what I mean the needle is way above F when filled, lined up with F could be 3 gal from full or even more). This has happened who knows maybe 200 times over the last 13 years.

I used to say F it and fill it all the way, even though say I went 20 miles and the car took 4 gal. Now, I reset the trip meter and the mpg meter, so I know how much I used. If I used 4 and it takes 5, no big deal. But I won't add 4 gal when I only went 20 miles, i.e. pay for someone else's usage.

I don't even know that was the case here, I am only guessing, because as mentioned, the dealer never answered the phone.

Here's my point--one time in 2019, I got a car from Enterprise, marked F on the email. It was about 2/3. I wasn't going to simply pay for 1/3 of 23 gal so I just told the guy it wasn't full when I left and he noted it when I came back.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by krhodes1

My local dealer in Maine is great. Just BMW dealer standard extremely expensive for service. So the only thing they see my car for are the state inspections, which they do for free since I bought it there new, and recalls. Otherwise, I DIY everything.

I would cheerfully buy another car from them, if BMW ever decides to sell a car again that I want to own. I still think they make great cars, just not what I want in a car.

I hear you--can you believe 3 series are getting up to $4500 off, and it's a new model? BMW seems to really be in a funk. I went to the event when the new 3 first came out, and the 4 cyl cars we autocrossed were $61k list. $4500 off of $61k isn't a good deal. There's a reason why Corvette is sold out for 2020 and they haven't even started building them yet (base 60k).

[John 070]

Originally Posted by fastboatster

Never had to pay anything for a loaner car, even when wanted to get my n51 stuff fixed under warranty. The dealer would swap the loaners upon request, one time I didnt want an SUV and asked for a sedan. They were happy to give me an msport 430i coupe instead. Imo, loaners are their opportunity to have you test drive a car and maybe come back to them to actually get a lease or purchase a new car if you like it.

Me too, never been charged in 13 years of loaners. I am only guessing the $14.60 is for some mistake on the fuel, because what else could it be? I'm not going to make more than the 2 attempts I did to call them to find out. But won't be back next year, and I know they don't care, it's just a PA State inspection which if I could have done the exemption (365 days have to pass) it would have yielded them < $40. The only reason I go to the dealer is the fear of having the jack pads destroyed, but it's probably an unfounded fear as I see Costco putting tires on many BMWs and their lifts have flat pads....

[anjuna]

Wait...

Let me get this straight.

You take your 13 year old vehicle to the dealer for inspection...

They give you a loaner vehicle to drive while you have your vehicle in for inspection...

Then you proceed to pay for it with a card and get upset that they charged a measly 15 bucks for you to have a loaner vehicle?

This is a fucking joke, right? You have a vehicle there that isn’t even generating revenue for you and they provided you with a loaner. An Uber cost more than that to get around in.

Idk what kind of state you live in but in Texas it’s $37.50 flat, takes all of 5 minutes to do anywhere, and isn’t dealer worthy at all.

But yeah, I’m sure you can stroke your ego by finding some place to let off steam boiled by your sense of entitlement over a 13 year old car.

I don’t know how you can feel that a dealer has gone “downhill” since most dealers will say “have a seat in the lobby. We have water. It will be a hour”