I called my lovely Mini dealership today to schedule maintenance and I asked if I could get a car when I drop mine off. Their response was "Only if you bought your car from us".

I didn't buy my car from them, I bought it privately. Is this typical? I thought getting a loaner was part of the deal...?

 

Typical from what I have observed and read about on the forums. That is the ONE plus for buying from your closest MINI dealer. That is the big reason I didn't shop all over for a discount on our MINIs.

 

It depends on the dealer.
My BMW dealer in DC was the same way ("Must have bought from us") -- I moved to Charlotte and my dealer provides a loaner even though I'd bought my car in Germany.
My MINI dealer here in Charlotte also provided me a loaner although, in that case, I'd bought the car on eBay from an individual.

 

I think it varys from dealer to dealer along with the relationship you have built with that dealer and SA. When we moved to Texas that was one of the first things we did was visit the MINI dealer closest to us and began that relationship. Since then we have purchased our 2nd MINI. Good luck otherwise there is always Enterprise who might give you a discount.

 

I always had to ***** & moan for my dealer to even consider giving me a loaner, they would be like "oh it just take a couple of hours". Four hours later my car would be ready. The times they did give me a car it was an Enterprise rental, and the last time Enterprise billed my credit car for my "free loaner".

 

Thanks for all of your responses.

rhawth, to your statement about not shopping around, I agree, prob best to get it from the dealer and establish that relationship. However, I just couldn't pass up getting my JCW for $9k under blue book with only 5500 miles!

That dealer is pretty inconsistent though too. My uncle didn't buy his car from there either but they gave him a loaner. They must not have liked my voice...

 

Yep, depends on the dealer. On the positive side, you saved enough to pay for your own loaner should you need one.

 

Same at my dealer, which is why I sit and wait.

Enterprise should be avoided at all costs.
This charging the person with the loaner is an Enterprise tactic that is all over the web. I got hit with it and was never able to get the charge reversed. After months and months and tons of calls it became easier just to forget the money.
However, I will NEVER use Enterprise again.

 

I was able to get my charge credited, just annoyed the eff out of me. And they charged me for two days, even though I dropped the rental off at the dealer around 6:00pm when I picked up the MINI, I had the rental for five hours. When I asked them they said they did not go over to the dealer to pick up the rental until the next day. Enterprise does blow. From now on I'll just get a ride from a friend and use my other car.

 

I thought Mini loaners were Minis, since giving me a new S should inspire me to trade my Cooper in for the newset & greatest. The loaner was a Corolla...

 

We bought our MINI from a third party, but our local dealer (MINI of Mountain View) always gives us a loaner (Enterprise) when we bring it in for service. It's never been questioned or a hassle. Though they don't give MINIs...we've gotten a Prius or other random vehicles.

MINI of Mountain View has always given us first class service ... we've never felt less appreciated because we bought the car somewhere else. They've been good enough that we went ahead and extended the service plan. I'm sorry to hear that other dealers are less generous.

 

Some do, some don't, depends on the dealer. I asked mine about that, and they said they don't have extra cars around because of the demand....so they use Enterprise.

 

I bought my lightly used '05 MC here in Alabama 6 months ago. It had a year left on the service and warranty. (There is no dealership in the whole state.) I made an appointment and took it to Atlanta for service and a few warranty issues. Before I drove it over, I asked if I would be able to get a loaner and they said sure. When I got there, I asked if I could get a MINI loaner and they said basically if you bring in a MINI, they try to put you in a MINI. I got a '06 MC for a day and a half. They said just bring it back with about the same amount of gas as it had in it. They were really nice- even knowing up front that I didn't buy the car from them. If I buy a new one some day, guess where I'm probably going?

 

Its weird. everyone at my dealership has this arrogant attitude. Like they don't have to do anything for you or, better yet, they just don't care. I guess I just don't understand it.

 

What some dealers don't get is that positive experiences like the one described by gaffer encourage customers to return for future purchases -- or in my wife's case to go back for dealership service even 75k miles afer being out of warranty

 

the MINI dealer up the street from my office is 4mi away.

they have THE WORST service and customer service skills.
i went in there to buy a set of locking lugs and they barely could be bothered to help me. when the part arrived, i went to the service dept, and some kid tells me oh it's not here, it's in the MINI division. appararently i was in the BMW service dept.

so i trekked over to the MINI service dept and the kid THERE tells me "oh, your part was just sent over to the BMW side, why'd you walk all the way over here?"

so i went back to the BMW side, and the same kid says "Hey, you're part's here now, someone ran it over... sorry about the walk" [with a smirk]

so upon receiving my part I said "thanks for reminding me why I didn't buy my car here" as loud as I could.
------------------------------
My dealer where I bought my car is about 40 miles from me it's a nice drive so I don't mind the travel. however I am always given a loaner, if a MINI isn't available I get a 3-Series. They always have fresh coffee and complimentary bottled water available. Plus, when I pick up my keys after service, i get a flower. Now THAT'S service!!

 

never an issue with loaners at my MINI d'ship, and have had some pretty nice ones: a Z4, X3, 3-series, etc., and even a Crossfire once....

 

No offense, Marino, but what is your gender? Sadly I have noticed that some auto dealers and especially service personnel treat the fairer sex with something less than human civility! :impatient (Just trying to determine why one person gets a loaner and another does not.) Just seems to me providing a loaner is a great marketing tool that really costs the dealer very little. This is right in there with "things that make you go hmmmm!"

 

It's great bing retired. Not only do I not mind waiting for my MINI, I actually enjoy it. I go back and check out what's being done to my MINI, talk to the Service Tech, check out the new MINIs and BMWs, walk down the street to lot's of eating places and shopping. Never ask for a loaner...or wanted one, I'm just lucky I guess.

 

Not the case at Tate MINI of Annapolis. They treat me like I brought the car from them. They're awesome.

 

I've arranged for loaners from two of the dealers in the Chicago area (Jacobs & Patrick) despite not having personally purchased the car at either place (in fairness, my car did originate from one of the dealers - I just wasn't the original owner). It's clearly a dealer-by-dealer policy.

 

When the MINI dealer opened up in Omaha, about an hour away from here, I went up and got to know the service manager. For every little part I needed or when I had a question, I drove up instead of calling and made a point to see the service manager. When I get there I always say to her, "know how much I don't like phones." The few times my car needed to stay at the dealer, I was given a MINI loaner.

 

When it became obvious that my service level II was going to run into more than 1 day, Inskip called me up and told me they were giving me a loaner. They even offered to come get me and bring me there to receive it. Sadly, it was not a MINI, (a Taurus) but at least it was a loaner! I didn't once even ask about a loaner either.

When my car was ready two days later, they actually had someone drive it down to me to deliver it and pick up the loaner.

I did not buy my car there, but without a doubt, I will buy my next MINI there.

 

I bought my Mini at a Chevy dealer. They bought it at auction from some place in South Dakota. I drove over to the Mini dealer and asked them to give it a once over. They did it for free while I hung out (3 hours).
Next time I called for service I got a free loaner (07 Mini). Not sure if it was how I handled it, or how they deal with it.
BTW, they didn't even require me to fill it back up with gas. Very similar to the Lexus program. Run it out of gas, we'll come get it wherever it runs out. (not really, but close. )
The Mini service adviser also told me that if I have the oil changes done there after the maintenance program was up they would have an easier time getting out of warranty problems covered by Mini. He said you help us, we help you. For the 1-2 oil changes a year I'll need I'm going to do it... and I'm a very DIY type of person. They also only charge something like ~$60 for a change, so it's fairly reasonable. Worst part is they are about an hour from here with traffic. He said he'd even give me a loaner for oil changes if I wanted to just drop it off after work and then pick it up the next day. (Closer to work than home).

 

The dealer should provide a loaner as a courtesy, regardless of where you bought it. If they don't, no problem. Just don't award them the "all 5's" that they beg for and make it clear why you're doing that. They'll get the message.