Took SWMBO's Fab Fabia for its first service t'other day. Garage offered a courtesy car FOC. Very nice methinks, wonder what it'll be.
Colleague suggested maybe a new Fabia so you get to see all the new kit, or maybe an Octavia try and tempt you to change the Mundano. What was it?
W reg Felicia, and it was bang flat empty of gas.... hmmm stop laughing at the back Brazil Minor!
But this bit of reverse logic got me thinking.
1) Presuming its a decent trade in the garage has a way of providing courtesy cars almost free.
2) The insurance excess is £250, so if you ding it, well you might as well buy it outright, ;-)
3) You get back in your own car and think "Now isn't this a really nice car" We thought that anyway but you get my drift.
So I wondered anyone else had an oddball or really ace courtesy car?
Just to get example two at the other end of the scale someone took a ratty Escort in to a GM dealer, and were let loose in a top spec Saab for a couple of hours.
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Funny this Skoda thing. I was once given an ancient Favorit with 180,000 miles on the clock and half ripped off taxi stickers as a "courtesy" car. The interior had crumbled, the seats had collapsed, there was no washer fluid, and no petrol in it. This was clearly a punishment as they had spilt diesel all over the nice new cambelt of my car while changing the fuel filter and I had taken it back to get another belt fitted (they did too, I marked it so I would know). Didn't go back there again.
Chris
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Back in 1997 I bought an 3yr old Astra Sport from a local garage, had engine probs, took it back and they gave me an Orange A reg VW Jetta to drive around in for two weeks. Even the girl at my insurance laughed when I was setting up the cover for it.
To make matters worse, the Astra wasn't properly fixed first time around, and when they had it in for the second time I was loaned a C reg Cavalier!
At least they kept me on the road. In the end they decided the engine needed replacing and sourced me an identical Astra so I had no complaints.
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When I was stupid enough to provide (free)an LDV 200, exceptionally presented, fully signwritten, re painted, extra seats, interior racking,it looked the dogs bits & was a super advert for our,then,growing business.
Well worth the investment, so I thought!
First guy to use it, a courier, complained about our name being on the side!
A month later,double glazing customer uses it,lends it to a sub contractor, he drives it into back of scaffold truck,moving front end back 3inches!
Bad enough?
He THEN drives it back to us, 10 miles or so, with no water, (destroyed radiator) said it was running a bit rough (ditto engine)!
Obviousley no insurance was in force,for this driver, lots of letters, backwards & forwards, before customer makes a contribution towards our loss.
Sorry, I wouldn't have courtesy vehicles now, even though Vauxhall have a fully inclusive scheme, to offer a Corsa for only £20/ week.
Mark
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When I had a Punto (look, just say nothing, alright?) I left it in for a service one Friday morning. The only courtesy car they had left was a souped up Bravo HGT belonging to one of the mechanics, which I had until the following Tuesday. The intervening weekend was spent finding out how the courtesy car performed in comparison to the Punto, and can be summed up as follows:
AAAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
(Found it pretty gutless in fifth, though - probably why I prefer the way diesels drive.)
On the other hand, when I left my Leon in for its second service all that was available this time was a poverty-spec petrol-engined Rover 25. It was the scariest car I have ever been in - the brakes were almost non-existent. It seemed that rather than sitting in the car, I was perched on it in much the same way as one would perch on a unicycle. It also felt as flimsy as if it was made of papier-mache. Bleurrgh. I was so relieved to get back into the Leon at the end of the day.
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When my previous car, a 2001 Vauxhall Astra, went in for some warranty work, a certain vauxhall Dealer in Rotherham wanted £10 off me for a days insurance if I wanted a "courtesy" car. Alternatively they wanted me to contact my insurance company to inform them I was driving a courtesy car for the day and ask them to cover it (this would have cost me £25 for change of details). What sort of "courtesy" is that ?. Needless to say I opted for them to pick up and deliver the car instead. I also sold the Astra, due to the fact that they employ unskilled, scruffy, careless monkeys and call them mechanics, but that's another story.
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I thought that most insurance companies would cover you on a genuine courtesy car at no cost. After all they expect you to maintain your car properly.
I had to get a cover note with the courtesy car registration mark on it when I used Bramall Quicks in Chester a while back. Still wasn't charged for the car or my insurance.
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Yes PP, but did you register with them under your current screen name? If you did, of course they would have known your perfection and gone out of their way to make things as easy as possible for you ;)
HF
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If only life was like that HF!
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The best courtesy car I've had so far is the one I have at the moment. A 2 litre twin spark alfa 156. I was expecting a 1 litre punto so this was a pleasant surprise! It is such a novelty being in a car with no squeaks or rattles and that is so quiet at idle I have to check the rev counter. It is also so quiet at speed that I have to check the speedo and swear it under reads by 20 mph because of the lack of engine and road noise!
I can't decide whether the worst courtesy car I have had was a Ford Ka with no power steering or a J plate Rover 214 in dirty grey with no gas in it, covered in muck and with a dubious stain on the driver's seat. The rover attracted foolish drivers and in the space of two minutes one woman pulled right out in front of me, then some other mad eejit over took on the wrong side of the road facing oncoming traffic (this was in a 30) then some daft ape in a 4 X 4 decided he was going to almost roll back into the car after failing to do a decent hill start at the next set of traffic lights. I kept my lights on after that and it seemed to reduce the idiocy somewhat! The ford ka was noteable for being the most gutless heap I have ever driven along with having the most revolting gear change. I have never known a car where you accelerate at a certain rate and when you put your foot further down on the loud pedal the rate of acceleration didn't appear to increase at all.
teabelly
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My experience of the Peugeot dealer in mid-Cheshire is that they may lend you a car if yours is to be in for two hours or more, and provided you ask for it at the time of booking. They expect you to replace any fuel you use, which automatically means an empty tank because everyone tries to avoid buying any.
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I guess different garages have different policies. Certainly a lot of the main dealers around my old way (Newbury/Reading) had demonstrators allocated as courtesy cars, usually the smallest, cheapest models. Still new cars though.
When I used to do audits at garage chains, there used to be a huge diversion of policy. A large BMW chain in the South used to allocate brand-new 316i Compacts to their service division as courtesy cars. Not so bad if you've bought in a tired ancient 5-series for a service (but then why would you at BMW main dealer service rates? Each to their own!), but I'm not sure what M5 or 7-series owners would have thought!
Contrast that to a large chain of Peugeot dealers that used to use anything they'd had traded-in that they couldn't punt through auction or otherwise get shot of - a motley assortment of aged Protons, Sunnys etc. Mind you, as long as the customers don't mind, there's probably logic here as they've given pennies for the cars (<£100 each as I recall) and they certainly seemed to run all right.
The place I always get my servicing done (a very small independent outfit with 3 mechanics that are good as gold) have a signwritten 1.5 Civic on an R-plate. It's done 120k but runs like a dream and is free if you ask for it. Never any petrol in it, but that's to be expected I suppose. They did also use to have a 91H Jetta 16V that a customer gave them after the cambelt snapped. They fixed the engine and put it to work. A wonderful car despite being 175,000 miles up, I was offered it for £500 a couple of years ago but unfortunately the guy who borrowed it after me wrapped it round a tree!
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Before the Vauxhall garage I've used for some 17 yrs now went upmarket, they used to lend customer trade ins that weren't good enough to be resold on the forecourt as courtesy cars. One particular instance I remember when the clutch went on the Astra was being lent a 1.3l Ital estate. I only got 100yrds from the garage and the alternator light came on. I headed back to the garage for them to then issue me a Montego. I got 2 miles away from the garage and the clutch went. They recovered me and then lent me their last courtesy car they had left - an Audi 80 Coupe (v.nice, btw) I always remember the last words they said T.I.C. as I drove off in it. "Please don't break this one - it's the only one we've got left" Well the following morning as I drove to work in the Audi, I got stuck in the usual traffic jam. I could hear a lot of gurgling and what sounded like bubbles popping followed by a huge cloud of steam out of the bonnet. Yep, it had overheated. No warning as the Audi had no temperature gauge. All it had was a warning light - blue when cold, off when normal, red when about to overheat. How was I to know the warning light didn't work!! Scrounged some water from a house nearby to top up the radiator and made sure when next stuck in traffic to turn off the engine. I wasn't very popular when I returned the 3rd trashed courtesy car to the garage.
All changed now though - brand new 1.0 Litre Corsa's (the ones with an cylinder short of an engine) issued as courtesy cars, and a labour charge of nearly £60 an hour.
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Took my audi in for repair a fortnight ago and was offered an A8 if I wanted to wait a few days! I didn't so instead opted for an A2..(in retrospect I wish I hadn't).
Just 70 miles on the clock but already every shiny new alloy was scrapped and marked badly. Makes you wonder where the 'loaners' end up?
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1989 - a Toytota Celica 4wd....the cat's whiskers at the time...quite a motor.
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A few years ago our local four man outfit lent me a Mini with a months mot, and the cv joints banging on full lock. I don't think I've had as much fun with a car before or since, it was a scream on roundabouts. They also lent me an old 7 seater Peugeot estate with 150,000 on the clock, and it ran like clockwork.
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I remember taking my Astra estate in for a service and getting a Kia Pride van! I couldn't believe it. Neither could my boss who phoned and complained. I took it back half an hour later and drove off in a 3 litre Omega. Very nice.
More recently I got a loan of a Corsa with no fuel and a 50 mile limit! I went to the petrol station, but couldn't open the filler flap! Had to phone the dealer from the forecourt (frowned upon).
Lately I have been going to an Audi dealership where they give out A2s with a full fuel tank. There is no milage limit. They just ask that the tank is full when you return it. This is my favourite method, as you only pay for the fuel that you use.
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That's dragged up some old memories FIF from the days when I paid others to do my cars!
Many years ago I owned a newish Saab 99 Turbo 2dr, quite a machine in those days when turbocharging was very rare.
In for a service at the Saab dealers and the courtesy car was...
A Dacia Denem Estate! This was a cheap Romanian copy of a Renault 12 and the whole thing was made of cheese. Thinking back it was possibly the worse car I've ever used.
Perhaps the most interesting courtesy car was a Fiat Panda 4x4 on loan while SWMBOs new Uno was in for service. This little Panda was amazingly capable on tracks and fields...it took about 20 minutes to pressure wash it before I dare take it back!
MM
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A Toyota garage once provided me with an ageing Corolla in lieu of a brand new Avensis which had malfunctioned. I could have lived with the Corolla were it not for:
1 the fact that it was on an N plate when that particular model stopped being made two or so years earlier;
2 the fact that it had obvously been clocked (unless the claimed 40,000 miles were off-road);
3 the non-operational nearside front indicator;
4 the unsecured bottle of petrol in the boot;
5 the bottle of whisky in the glove box.
When I complained they said I could have a Starlet if I waited an hour. SInce I didn't have the hour and was driving self + three other adults away for a week's holiday the next day I declined. Eventually I drove home in the Corolla and my firm arranged a hire car for the holiday.
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MiddleMan,was it red or black ?
I bought one of these at auction with 60,000 miles on the clock
and kept it for 4 years or so.Mine was black and the registration number was BPT 99W so was quite fitting.
I remember it as a quite fast car in those days,but with no power steering ,it was a bit heavy at parking speeds.
It was the only car that had us a bit tearful when we sold it and saw somebody else drive off in "our" car.
Apparently only 400 were imported,so even then it was quite rare being the 2 door saloon and I would imagine it is a bit of a classic these days.
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Bernie,
Mine was a mint red 2dr, bought at around 40K/3yrs old and rushed up to 60K plus in under a year. Sold so quickly because the running costs were too high using it hard for business.
I had a fair bit of site and track use and this helped with it needing 7 expensive Pirellis, two new alloys, a spoiler and new oil cooler in 11mths!
The steering was very heavy with no pas but the handling/ride set-up excellent for the time. Mine had self levelling air rear suspension which made a huge difference when 4 up plus luggage on our hols.
MM
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An Aprilia mille , a yam R1 , a `Blade , and ,er, a Diversion that ran out of petrol .
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Took the S60 in to get the fuel tank senders sorted last week and was given a 700mile V40 for the duration. This compares quite favourably with the clapped out Sierra's, Montego's & 309's I have had to endure when my previous car conked out!
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Today my 1994 Audi 100 2.6 Est went to a South of the Thames Audi dealership, listed in HJ's Good Garage guide, for a 112,000 mile Annual service and MOT. I received an brand new,35 mile, A2 1.6 FSi Sport full of fuel and the total bill for my car came to £207.
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Most memorable courtesy car I've had was a Mercedes C180 (current shape) which was brand new with about 55 miles on the clock. Turned out of the dealer, drove 1/2 mile up the road, there was a very loud clonk from the rear and it coasted to a halt.
There had been some sort of major diff or gearbox failure.
Best dealer for courtesy cars used to be my local Lexus one (who have since lost their franchise as, although their customer service was excellent, they didn't have the required number of square meters of block paving) who actually kept a record of what you'd had previously and would ask you what other models in the range you'd like to try.
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Local Toyota dealership operate a fleet of Yaris 1.0 ltr. Best experience recently was when one of these Yaris' was not available & the Dealer Principle said 'Well never mind, take this one instead'...his wife's brand new RAV4. I had that car for two days.
Worst one I can remember is another Toyota dealership (which I now no longer frequent) who offered me a Y reg Starlet (though it was a few years ago now) which although tatty-ish was basically OK. However, I changed my opinion the following morning as when I unlocked the car, the inside was wet through...leaky after-fit glass hatch sunroof.
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"ask you what other models in the range you'd like to try."
I'm surprised more don't do that. Our local garage is good at giving people an upgraded version of their car or the next version up.
Courtesy cars are a great sales opportunity.
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Saab 9-3 convertible for a weekend whilst they were trying to sort out the problems (for the third time) they'd caused whilst servicing my 14 year old 900.
Well chuffed!
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Dropped off my old Rover for a 60k + cambelt at the local honda dealer. Offered a 4-door civic Vti for the day.
Took 3 days to stop grinning. Oh that noise at 8000rpm! Music. Sweet, sweet music.
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Was once given a Pug 206 - an awful car which crippled me due to tis driving position. After two days the garage rang me saying the car had to go back as the lease was up - thank heavens for that. I asked them what the replacement would be. They asked if I could drive automatics, told them I could and ended up with a Hyundai Accent 1.3 auto. It had only done 20,000 miles but was a right shed. The interior was just like the the first car I ever drove - a 1980 Datsun Sunny and the indicator was on the right of the steering wheel - what a nightmare.
Best car was also from my local Audi garage - took the A2 in for a small job to be done ended up with an S3 for the day - quick aren't they!!!!
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and the indicator was on the right of the steering wheel - what a nightmare.
I still see Probe drivers flashing people with their windscreen washers and indicating with their wipers. Yet another reason not to get one of those.
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Had a Merc A-class 170 CDi, whcih was a nice enough car, but a previous abuser had used it to carry petrol and the car gave me a headache if I drove it for too long.
They then replaced that one with an A140 Classic without the stench, again, a very nice car that I was kinda sorry to give back. But not for long, it didn't take me long to realise just how much more comfortable my Fiesta actually is!
A great car to bomb around in for a fortnight and impress my mates with the "flick key" thing, but wouldn't want one for keeps.
Blue
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and the indicator was on the right of the steering wheel - what a nightmare.
> I still see Probe drivers flashing people with their >windscreen washers and indicating with their wipers. Yet >another reason not to get one of those.
Have to disagree there - indicators on the left still annoy me - they should be on the right on a right hand drive car and are in most markets except the UK (and Ireland etc.).
They're OK on an auto, but in a manual car they're much better on the right hand side where you're not trying to change gear and change your indication at the same time with the same hand.
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