darth62

None of the dealers in the immediate LA area will offer me a loaner if I bring my car into be repaired. The dealer I bought my car from, who is in the San Fernando Valley, only has 4 loaners in his "fleet" and the service manager told me that availability of a loaner could not be guranteed and would not be authorized for anything other than warranty work. So, now my only option is to drive the car to the dealer early in the morning and wait while they work on my car. There is no dealer anywhere near I work, so shuttle services et al. are not going to do me any good.

If I had simply bought an Accord, it would not be an issue. There are so many Honda dealers here, I could bring the car to any one of several dealers and still be able to get to work fairly easily.

So, the end result is that servicing was easier as a Honda owner than it is as an Acura owner.

I think that is a big problem.

If I had bought a Lexus, Audi, Infiniti, or any other lux make, I would probably not have to deal with this.

tehCOW

damn, acura doesn't even have shuttle service? that is horrible. Is your acura dealear a "precission dealer"?

darth62

Most of the dealers do have a shuttle, they just won't drive me all the way to work. It is a real pain.

Count Blah

Since you mentioned it, is the service you need done something they could do at a Honda dealership?

tehCOW

If its a quick oil change or something like that, i'm sure a honda dealership could do it. afterall, the k24 is similar to that in the crv.

dom

Someone please correct if me if I'm wrong but I don't think any Car Manf including the Luxo brands offer loaners for basic service like an oil change.

But that shuttle service issue is a joke. You should definently be getting a ride all the way to work. I've had that offered to me at Acura, granted I work within 20 minutes.

darth62

The Infiniti deal offers loaners for basic service.

But, that isn't a big issue for me. I don't mind waiting for an oil change or taking my TSX to Honda for regular servicing. I do mind having to wait for four hours while they do warranty work. I have to take my car in this weekend because the sunroof is rattling, and I want them to check to see if the brake rotors are warped. I'm going to have to sit there for several hours while they do those minor repairs.

Skyhawk

I think Lexus and Infiniti are beyond reproach in the customer service arena. (Too bad I have no interest in any of their products).

I have gotten some crappy service (loaner, etc.) from Audi dealers while under warranty and some great service (loaner, etc.) from other Audi dealers since warranty expiration... if that makes you feel any better.

With my Integra, "extended service" always came out great at Acura dealers, while basic service worked out great at Honda dealers. But I am aware that it was purely at the dealer's discretion how I was treated most of the time.

I'd have thought Lexus and Infiniti would have had greater influence on the others by now to change policies...

darth62

I would have thought Acura would pull up to Lexus and Infiniti as well. I think a lot of this has to do with Acura dealers selling some lower priced vehicles (RSX) that sell in greater numbers. It would be hard for Acura dealers to provide loaners etc. to the large number of RSX/Integra drivers out there.

My sister gets much better treatment with her Audi A4 than I have gotten with my TSX.

dom

Darth, I know this may be inconvienient, but why not wait to schedule this service for when a loaner is available? I had to wait about 2 weeks for a loaner when I needed warranty work done previously. I did'nt like having to wait and was pretty pissed but there was no way I was waiting over 2 hours.

Regardless, thats pretty bad service. Why Acura would'nt have several loaners available like the others is alomost beyond explanation.

darth62

I would be willing to wait, the dealer just won't committ to having a loaner definitely available.

My solution is to drive 45 minutes outside of town to the Valencia Acura dealer. he is across the street from the mall. I'm going to leave it there in the morning, and then go shopping and see a movie.

To the extent that I can, I'm going to have the rest of the service done by my local Honda dealer (who has been great).

tehCOW

hmm, since you are going to the mall to watch a movie... maybe u should try having acura pay for the tickets. long shot i know... heheh

dabuda

the dealership i bought my tsx from has loaners but in limited amounts so i had to schedule a date when loaners were available. i had to wait an extra 1 1/2 weeks but i dont mind...they have CLS loaners

chrisalberts

In my experience the loaner/no loaner decision is down to the dealer. An exception is Infiniti who require their dealers to supply Infiniti loaners for the first 4 years of ownership for all service/warranty work.

I always ask the dealer prior to buying the car - some dealers only provide loaners for customers who bought their car at that dealership.

The Acura dealer in Austin provides loaners as I recall. It's one of the things that keeps me buying local here in Austin, rather than travelling to Houston to save $500.

There was a big stink at the BMW dealership when they started using Enterprise loaners (Escorts, Cavaliers) and they have now gone back to an almost all BMW fleet. It's still on a first come first served basis, but if you're willing to wait for a service appt and show up reasonably early you'll do fine. The Audi dealer in town tends to give Audi or Volvo loaners (they're also a Volvo dealer). The Porsche dealer gives Saabs (they're also a Saab dealer) and occasionally Boxsters I believe.

Sorry you're having bad luck with loaners in LA; you'd think with greater competition that kind of service would be better. Do they offer you at least a subsidized rental car?

It might be worth a call to Acura US, but I doubt it.

C.

darth62

Yeah, Chris. I learned this the hardway. I went looking at websites for dealers in this area and some specifically advertise loaners. Anyway, that will be a major factor for me when I eventually upgrade the TSX to a TL!

coolio

That's very surprising to here because my acura dealer said that anytime i come in, they will happily give me a loaner. I also own a Lexus GS300, and Lexus always gives me options for a loaner car such as the RX, ES, or the IS. And I believe my acura dealer says the same. I think it depends on the region because in my area there are so many luxury car dealers that will do everything to please their customers. For example, I have two acura dealers near my house, one 10 miles west and another 5 miles east.

chrisalberts

Sadly, one thing I've come to learn over the years is that a bad dealer can screw up the ownership experience of an otherwise excellent car.

This is especially true with the German brands as you get included maintenance and there tend to be plenty of minor warranty issues.

One question though - unless you're after warranty service, why do you even need to visit the Acura dealer at all? Couldn't any competent mechanic (not Jiffy Lube) perform service?

C.

darth62

Yup. In fact, I plan to have most of my routine maintence done at the Honda dealer (so I can get OEM filters) who is less than 1/4 mile from my office. Hopefully, they're will not be too many warranty issues with this car.

Bass Mechanic

i have never had any issues getting a loaner from my dealer. in fact the day before i got my TSX they had already slated and prepped a new Silver TSX auto as a service loaner. they also have several RSX and a TL loaner to use. maybe its your dealer, if that is the case then they must apparently not care too much about their customer satisfaction reviews. everytime i get service i usually get a survey in the mail to see how i was treated. if they get a few bad surveys they get screwed real bad from honda. i forget how exactly but i know they would much prefer a good satisfied rating.

sheik28

If I am not mistaken, reviews in all forms, post-sale and service, are what the regional or national offices base their allotment of cars on. Say a dealer gets several bad reviews, then next time when a new odle copmes out or when the next shipment goes out they don't get that many of the desireables in.

kenbiddulph

I've been to several Acura dealerships in the past year and I even got an RL for a loaner (it was used but it was an '02, very nice)

Brad

I never heard of Honda dealers simply loaning out cars for regular repair or maintenence work. Some might offer a loaner for certain warranty repairs. Toyota Motors provided me a rental for about four days as they rebuilt my engine (that was their way bad V6's from the late 80's through the '95 model year that resulted in bad valve linings, cracked camshafts, and sometimes ruined engines.).

Perhaps one of your Acura dealers' Service Department is open on Saturday (assuming that's a non-work day for you)? Hey, I think you're lucky to have a shopping mall across the street. I dislike shopping myself, but I would welcome that rather than sitting in the Service Dept's waiting room.

Of course, perhaps a co-worker who works more or less on the way to work via the Acura dealer could pick you up? And if you have a spouse, significant other, or a friend, perhaps they could schwing by work at the end of the day to take you to the Acura dealer to pick up your car? That's how I arrange my servicing.

Maxboost

you guys are sooooo lucky to at least have a glance to the word loaner cuz when i mentioned my age they just turned me down for the reason being that i'm too young!!! i'm MAD cuz when i bought the car NONE of 'em said a word about aga limit!!!!

Ozzman

I got a loaner when I had lojack installed, but it took some slightly firm words to get them to commit to giving me one. It was a stripped down RSX, not too bad, but I couldn't wait to get my TSX back.

SPUDMTN

Don't judge all Acura dealers on your bad experience. I garuntee that you will find all over the place un-happy luxury car owners who think that their dealers are crap...even Lexus dealers. The Lexus dealership here is great...just ask for something and they'll do it, no questions asked, they'll wash your car without even asking (though you might have to start telling them not to--they might do it right after you washed your car ) and they even give you chocolates in a little gold Lexus box But like all dealerships I've read about just average experiences at other Lexus dealers.

The two Acura dealers in town are very nice--both were just remodeled to Acura's new look. Acura of Portland has a very very nice customer lounge w/ TV, Starbuck's Coffee, nice chairs to sit in, and it's seperate from everything else--you get out of your car hand your service rep the keys and walk right over to the lounge--exactly the opposite direction from the showroom (that means no riff-raff ) If you want a loaner, you just schedule it...I think they have a rather large fleet. We got a TL-S w/ Nav once...very nice.

So I'd say service at our Acura dealer is very good--it's befitting of the luxury name-plate...sorry to hear about your bad experience and hopefully your dealer will get their act together. Have you tried contacting Acura Corporate? Voice your opinion and tell them what a bad job your dealer is doing...or maybe speak to the service manager @ your dealer...just don't be angry about it That never works well... Ever noticed how stupid angry people look?


SPUDMTN

Brad

Have you ever tried renting a car? It can be tough at some rental places if you're male and under 25. This was the case for me...ahem...a few years ago. When I made my car rental reservations, they never asked my age, but when I appeared at the rental place, was it a hassle!

tehCOW

i remember making a thread on "precision acura dealers". The ones with high customer satisfaction or something like that. I was wondering if a "precision acura dealer" is more likely to give a loaner than a regular acura dealer??

dabuda

yeah it sucks, usually you have to pay an extra $10-20 p/day for the car as well...you should just let them know you're under 25 when you make the reservation so when you actually pick up the car you dont have to wait for them to add that charge to their system and whatever other crap they need to update. this is talking from experience when i used to travel a lot a few years ago. guess this is one of the good things of being over 25 now?

GeorgeTSX

When I had that issue with water in my headlight assembly my local dealer (Lindsay Acura in Columbus, OH) loaned me (no charge) an RSX (I also had the choice of a TL) to use for a week while we waited for the parts to come in. I guess it depends on the dealer.

Skull One_RENAMED

Yeppers, you are wrong. Volvo gives me a loaner for the day while they change my oil. All they ask is 3 days notice on when I need the loaner.

Maxboost

NO!! They won't let me rent their car either!!! and that's becuz i'm not OLD enough. i'm mad about this cuz the dealer didn't tell me a thing about peeps my age can't use loaner. i mean if they did i wouldn't be this mad. i have no trouble driving my other car or my parents. At the end i just let my parents get me the loaner or i'll just ask some of my older friends to take the car in for me. that's all.
Oh by the way we have a fully loaded X5 and still no loaner!!! it doesn't only happens with Acura folks trust me.