Maybe I am a sucker, but I always replace fuel used in a Courtesy Car - I just think it is polite.
My son has collected a car from our local indie garage just as they were closing. Noticed it was low on fuel so drove approx. one and a half miles towards the nearest petrol station and ran out of petrol. Fortunately I was able to take him the spare (lawnmower can) petrol so he could get to the petrol station.
Apart from bad manners on the part of the previous driver, I feel it is an abuse of a small garage who are excellent at providing a variety of (mainly aged) cars as courtesy cars.
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I will always try to replace the fuel in courtersy car unless I'm running late.
Had an incident recently where I was on the way back to garage via petrol station when car run out of fuel on set of traffic lights so had to turn car over on starter which flatened the battery.
I think it would be a better idea to provide the car with a fuel tank, when the car is returned the garage makes sure the fuel tha has been used is replaced, if not they charge the person a fixed charge, just my pennies worth Don't know what everyone else thinks.
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Had this a couple of times, made a point of looking at the fuel gauge before leaving the garage. Both times they wrote out a slip to take to the local petrol station, and paid for £10 of fuel to go into the car. Tried to return the car with a similar amount in the tank.
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they wrote out a slip to take to the local petrol station and paid for £10 of fuel to go into the car.
That's interesting - when I took my daughter's SEAT in for service they gave me a £10 fuel chitty. I must have had dozens of courtesy cars and that's never happened to me before. More commonly now it's a battle not to have to pay for insurance on the car (my insurance covers it anyway).
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>>I think it would be a better idea to provide the car with a fuel tank>>
I think that would be an excellent idea...:-)
Presuming that you mean a full tank, then that is a very logical method although not infallible.
Some cars I've owned showed a full tank even though it was only, for instance, two-thirds full.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Yes,I will always fill it to about the level it was when I picked it up. As you say,it`s only polite to do so,and helps for next time you might need one. As someone once said,"gratitude is a lively sense of future favours."
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Last one I picked up was almost empty but I knew there was a petrol station less than a mile away. I also knew exactly where I'd be going that day - not far - and could estimate quite accurately how much fuel that would require. So I added a litre for luck and I handed the car back with possibly a touch more in it than it had had before.
Yes, I'd prefer to pick up a car with a full tank (as well as a fuel tank, Car!) and that would prompt me to make a point of refilling it. But plenty won't be so scrupulous, and the rest of us would end up subsidizing them through our service bills. So yes, it's a bit annoying, but it's only once or twice a year, so not enough to worry about.
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Tis part of the deal with a hire car, supplied with a full tank - returned with a full tank. With a Courtessy car, whats in it when i get it determines what is in it when i return it!.
Do unto others...........
Billy
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I always try to make sure I do. When I had a 3-day Kia Ceed test drive a month of so ago the dealer was meant to supply the car with a full tank of fuel (in the Kia terms and conditions), then you for you fill it up when you returned it.
The problem they were having was people were returning the car with a little bit less each time so I got it with about half a tank in and was told to just bring it back with roughly the same........
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I prefer to get a courtesy or hire car with a full tank. You fill it back up and you know you've paid for what you use. Fill up to the same "empty" level then you either put in too much or little.
I did once send back a hire without putting anything back in. Why? I drove about 3-4 miles. You cannot put that little back in ;-) It was a car whilst mine was in the local Ford dealer and I ended up driving home and back. Could have walked or cycled but hire car booked when I thought it was needed.
When I got the Mazda6 test drive car for 4 days they said leave enough to get to a petrol station. I put more in than I used in the end but got a car for a few days, liked it and ordered one :-)
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I've had a couple of courtesy cars from a Vauxhall main dealer recently - a new Astra and Corsa. Both were staff cars that were lent to me during the day. Both had the fuel guage off the bottom with a nice red fuel warning light on when I picked the car up.
When I picked the first car up I was only going a couple of miles but thought I'd better put a fiver's worth in to make sure I didn't run out. A fiver's worth and the guage didn't move at all. I then went to another garage and put another fiver's worth in. Still no movement of the needle.
The same thing happened on the second car. My conclusion is that both cars' electrics had been tweaked to leave the gauge permanently on empty. That way anyone who borrows it is likely to put more petrol in than they use for fear of running out.
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I agree generally with the replenishment route. However, on several occasions I've been the net loser, either the car had zero fuel & I put far more in than I used, or the 'full' tank on the guage could actually take another 10-15 litres.
Why don't garages make it clear that a standard fuel mileage tariff will be charged (say the average urban consumption for that model) then simply take a note of the mileometer reading before & after, then levy the charge - would seem fair to me.
Btw - I always make a point of going over the car with the garage before & after, just in case some mysterious damage is found when I return it.
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Yes I do, but 90% of my garages provide me with cars where the fuel light is on.
I return it likewise, or slightly above, but I do wonder whether 6 months to a year of running a car on a dribble of fuel in the tank does it much good, especially as it is sold to the public as an ex-demo.
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I always ask them what they want me to do, and they tend to say "bring it back as full as it was when you picked it up." So I do - usually erring on the generous side.
It's just common, er, courtesy.
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My VW garage operates the system Tyro says. Matter of hoping I can get to the filling station before venturing up and across the Cat and Fiddle road.Local garage usually loans an old van with the fuel light flashing.
In USA recently Dollar cars handed over the car with a full tank and told me to return it empty.
Sounded dodgy to me especially in a strange LA suburb near the airport.
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So far I used courtesy car only once.
When I handed over my car, it has 1/4th of fuel left.
When I got it back, the low fuel warning lamp was on.
When I got the courtesy car, it has 1/4th of fuel left.
When I handed over it, low fuel warning lamp was on.
Mine was 1.3L and the courtesy car was 1.2L
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I've had a few courtesy cars from my local Subaru dealer and they've come with varying amounts in them but always at least 1/4 full. I always return them with a similar amount, erring on the side of generosity.
What cars do you get? I've had from old Justy to a demonstrator Isuzu Rodeo Denver crewcab pickup.
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I do because I remember just about every time my own demo car came back it was running on fumes, filthy, full of sweet papers and the sometimes even the mats missing. Used to really hack me off that every night I had to get petrol and then argue with the service department about getting reimbursed. And to top the lot I was being taxed for this perk.
Oh the joy of working in a dealership.....
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