WTF is considered "luxury" these days?
03-09-2016, 10:18 AM
#83
Safety Car
Yup.
Brought my girlfriend's 7+ year old 3-series in for service. She knows the advisor so maybe that's why, but even then she just needed brakes. They let her choose her loaner and she got a brand new 528i. We've put about 2500 miles on it in about two weeks, and we have it for another week
Just gotta pay for gas.
Brought my girlfriend's 7+ year old 3-series in for service. She knows the advisor so maybe that's why, but even then she just needed brakes. They let her choose her loaner and she got a brand new 528i. We've put about 2500 miles on it in about two weeks, and we have it for another week
Just gotta pay for gas.I've put quite a few miles on the 3-series and 4-series rentals my local dealership has given me. However, acura has done the same exact service for me providing me with an amazing rental every time, just not as often 
Having a rental car in this day and age is something that shouldn't be a luxury. Folks NEED their car to go to work, come home, etc, esp in cities that don't have any sort of public transport.
It somewhat bothers me that automakers expect consumers to pay for a rental car when the product that was built failed within the warranty period. Had a friend with a new ecoboost ford that had to pay for a rental for a week even though the car was under the 3 year factory warranty. In addition to her monthly car payment, she spend over $150 renting a basic car for a week.
Having a rental car in this day and age is something that shouldn't be a luxury. Folks NEED their car to go to work, come home, etc, esp in cities that don't have any sort of public transport. It somewhat bothers me that automakers expect consumers to pay for a rental car when the product that was built failed within the warranty period. Had a friend with a new ecoboost ford that had to pay for a rental for a week even though the car was under the 3 year factory warranty. In addition to her monthly car payment, she spend over $150 renting a basic car for a week.
Whereas for luxury dealers like BMW/Benz/and some Acura dealers....the customers probably have an expectation of level of service that's above those plebian Kia dealers...one that likely they are used to receiving in other aspects of their life as their higher income/wealth likely points to.
My BMW dealer's practice goes like this: a driver brings a car for me to drive to the house and drives my car back to the dealer. When it's done, he brings it back and takes the rental back with him. For my wife, it's the same M.O. except they go to her office and leave her a car.
Now that's a level of service that truly minimizes time for the customer...which for BMW buyers likely time is their most expensive/precious commodity.
03-09-2016, 10:25 AM
#84
Team Owner
Thread Starter
There's a dealership group here (ok, 2 brothers, really) that own about 20 dealerships, if not more, at the moment. They own all kinds of dealerships, from Hyundai to Porsche, and everything in between. I always see their loaner cars around town. Ford, Hyundai, Volkswagen, whatever, you name it.
The only problem is that they essentially use these loaners as advertisement. They are covered with decals saying "LOANER CAR #03 FROM _____ FORD" in bright, orange letters.
I'd rather take the bus, to be honest.
I think in this case, they are able to give loaners out by somehow cooking the books and treating it as an advertising expense. Seeing as these guys own so many dealerships, they likely can easily write off the costs in one way or another. It might not be the same scenario for a guy who "only" owns 1 or 2 dealerships. I dunno. Just speculating.
The only problem is that they essentially use these loaners as advertisement. They are covered with decals saying "LOANER CAR #03 FROM _____ FORD" in bright, orange letters.
I'd rather take the bus, to be honest.
I think in this case, they are able to give loaners out by somehow cooking the books and treating it as an advertising expense. Seeing as these guys own so many dealerships, they likely can easily write off the costs in one way or another. It might not be the same scenario for a guy who "only" owns 1 or 2 dealerships. I dunno. Just speculating.
03-09-2016, 10:37 AM
#85
There's a dealership group here (ok, 2 brothers, really) that own about 20 dealerships, if not more, at the moment. They own all kinds of dealerships, from Hyundai to Porsche, and everything in between. I always see their loaner cars around town. Ford, Hyundai, Volkswagen, whatever, you name it.
The only problem is that they essentially use these loaners as advertisement. They are covered with decals saying "LOANER CAR #03 FROM _____ FORD" in bright, orange letters.
I'd rather take the bus, to be honest.
I think in this case, they are able to give loaners out by somehow cooking the books and treating it as an advertising expense. Seeing as these guys own so many dealerships, they likely can easily write off the costs in one way or another. It might not be the same scenario for a guy who "only" owns 1 or 2 dealerships. I dunno. Just speculating.
The only problem is that they essentially use these loaners as advertisement. They are covered with decals saying "LOANER CAR #03 FROM _____ FORD" in bright, orange letters.
I'd rather take the bus, to be honest.
I think in this case, they are able to give loaners out by somehow cooking the books and treating it as an advertising expense. Seeing as these guys own so many dealerships, they likely can easily write off the costs in one way or another. It might not be the same scenario for a guy who "only" owns 1 or 2 dealerships. I dunno. Just speculating.
I worked at a dealership for a while. loaner cars are great for business. They help the dealership because anytime they don't sell enough cars, they pull some from the loaner fleet to sell as used cars (usually as CPO at the acura dealership I worked at) and sell the service department a fleet of new ones. It brings up the dealerships numbers as I'm sure they get bonus's on the back end from the manufacturers for units sold. We'd do it all the time to maintain our #1 acura dealership in the country status.
03-09-2016, 11:00 AM
#86
Safety Car
^^^ Interesting .
Curious...how does a single dealer "sell" a car from their lot to the service department? I guess there is a difference between the ownership of the cars being on the lot ready to be sold vs a loaner car that's more "owned" by the dealer?
Sounds like some kind of accounting fudgery to pad numbers cause obviously it's not really sold to customers...
Curious...how does a single dealer "sell" a car from their lot to the service department? I guess there is a difference between the ownership of the cars being on the lot ready to be sold vs a loaner car that's more "owned" by the dealer?
Sounds like some kind of accounting fudgery to pad numbers cause obviously it's not really sold to customers...
03-09-2016, 11:11 AM
#87
Team Owner
Thread Starter
^^^ Interesting .
Curious...how does a single dealer "sell" a car from their lot to the service department? I guess there is a difference between the ownership of the cars being on the lot ready to be sold vs a loaner car that's more "owned" by the dealer?
Sounds like some kind of accounting fudgery to pad numbers cause obviously it's not really sold to customers...
Curious...how does a single dealer "sell" a car from their lot to the service department? I guess there is a difference between the ownership of the cars being on the lot ready to be sold vs a loaner car that's more "owned" by the dealer?
Sounds like some kind of accounting fudgery to pad numbers cause obviously it's not really sold to customers...
03-09-2016, 11:13 AM
#88
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^^^ Interesting .
Curious...how does a single dealer "sell" a car from their lot to the service department? I guess there is a difference between the ownership of the cars being on the lot ready to be sold vs a loaner car that's more "owned" by the dealer?
Sounds like some kind of accounting fudgery to pad numbers cause obviously it's not really sold to customers...
Curious...how does a single dealer "sell" a car from their lot to the service department? I guess there is a difference between the ownership of the cars being on the lot ready to be sold vs a loaner car that's more "owned" by the dealer?
Sounds like some kind of accounting fudgery to pad numbers cause obviously it's not really sold to customers...
So company A sells to company B. Although both companies have the same name and parent.
03-09-2016, 11:15 AM
#89
Team Owner
Thread Starter
And the more internal departments, the higher the luxury status, amirite?
03-09-2016, 11:43 AM
#90
Safety Car
It's actually not fudgery at all, lol. It's playing within the rules of accounting and it is something commonly done within bigger businesses. That's why you hire accountants to keep track of all of this stuff and make wise financial decisions that will ultimately net better results overall.
^^Huh interesting. TIL.
03-09-2016, 12:13 PM
#91
The Third Ball
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My BMW dealer's practice goes like this: a driver brings a car for me to drive to the house and drives my car back to the dealer. When it's done, he brings it back and takes the rental back with him. For my wife, it's the same M.O. except they go to her office and leave her a car.
03-09-2016, 02:23 PM
#92
GEEZER
Audi= Free loaner every time. Period.
03-09-2016, 08:19 PM
#93
Registered Abuser of VTEC
Dafuq? I dropped off my 10 year old TL at one of the two Acura dealerships in the same city as you, last year, for a recall on the power steering hose and I got a brand new, middle of the line (tech? I don't remember) MDX for the day. I was highly unimpressed with that vehicle for its price tag.
I was in the west end today and actually saw a Bavaria BMW shuttle driving around. The shuttle was a Honda Odyssey!
03-09-2016, 08:22 PM
#94
Registered Abuser of VTEC
There's a dealership group here (ok, 2 brothers, really) that own about 20 dealerships, if not more, at the moment. They own all kinds of dealerships, from Hyundai to Porsche, and everything in between. I always see their loaner cars around town. Ford, Hyundai, Volkswagen, whatever, you name it.
The only problem is that they essentially use these loaners as advertisement. They are covered with decals saying "LOANER CAR #03 FROM _____ FORD" in bright, orange letters.
I'd rather take the bus, to be honest.
I think in this case, they are able to give loaners out by somehow cooking the books and treating it as an advertising expense. Seeing as these guys own so many dealerships, they likely can easily write off the costs in one way or another. It might not be the same scenario for a guy who "only" owns 1 or 2 dealerships. I dunno. Just speculating.
The only problem is that they essentially use these loaners as advertisement. They are covered with decals saying "LOANER CAR #03 FROM _____ FORD" in bright, orange letters.
I'd rather take the bus, to be honest.
I think in this case, they are able to give loaners out by somehow cooking the books and treating it as an advertising expense. Seeing as these guys own so many dealerships, they likely can easily write off the costs in one way or another. It might not be the same scenario for a guy who "only" owns 1 or 2 dealerships. I dunno. Just speculating.
I haven't seen the premium or luxury brands with those type of loaners though. Usually they're unlabelled loaners outside the plate frame.
03-09-2016, 08:32 PM
#95
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03-09-2016, 11:24 PM
#96
The Third Ball
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A good dealer knows how to treat their customers. I doubt any bimmer or Lexus dealer in LA provides this particular service.
03-09-2016, 11:47 PM
#97
I drive a Subata.
iTrader: (1)
My BRZ is luxury. It has heated seats. WUTTTTTTTT
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03-10-2016, 12:28 AM
#98
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by JS + BRZ
My BRZ is luxury. It has heated seats. WUTTTTTTTT
Luxury = cooling seats
03-10-2016, 05:33 AM
#99
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03-10-2016, 06:46 AM
#100
GEEZER
03-10-2016, 07:57 AM
#102
When I got my 3G TL, it was the most luxurious car I'd ever owned. That never changed to me just because all the other cars progressed with the technology age and ended up getting computers in their consoles and air conditioned seats (let's not even mention the slew of driver assisting mods I abhor).
5.1 surround, plush leather power seats, auto up windows, nice power, great looks...I need no more than that in my transportation life. I sure do miss those automatic chest restraint seatbelts of yesteryear though.
5.1 surround, plush leather power seats, auto up windows, nice power, great looks...I need no more than that in my transportation life. I sure do miss those automatic chest restraint seatbelts of yesteryear though.
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03-10-2016, 08:43 AM
#103
Audi was great with their cars. And they weren't stickered up with dealer into. Just looked like an Audi with a small decal on the top of the rear window that say Audi of Charlotte Courtesy Car. They would even go out of their way if my wife needed larger vehicle (example, one time she was dropping off Christmas gifts to clients the day she had a service so they gave her a new Q5 as a loaner). And every time we picked up our car, it was washed, vacuumed, and tires were shined.Mercedes is the same way...
Someone did on page 1, but the thread was cleaned before it was moved to Car Talk. Check post #13, Black Ack quoted it before the cleaning
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03-10-2016, 03:33 PM
#104
Dealerships up here only give loaner cars when your repair is going to take longer than a work day. Otherwise it's the shuttle. This is true of all dealers outside of the very expensive ones. Lexus, Acura, MB, BMW, Audi, none give loaners unless your repair is more than a day. I see the BMW shuttle driving around near my work every day. To me, this is reasonable.
My experience is very different (Seattle)...pretty much any service over one hour will get you a loaner in my Acura, Infiniti and even Subaru experience.
You do not get a loaner only if you go, for example, for an oil change and they can service the car immediately.
Even for my wife Grand Cherokee SRT we have right to a loaner (well in the case of Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealers it's a free rental car and they make sure it's a Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep model) because we are SRT customers.
03-10-2016, 04:10 PM
#105
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At the non-stratospheric $200,000 & up there a few Luxury brands that also produce premium cars which are a big portion of their lines sales. BMW, MB, AUDI, Lexus? fit pretty well in this category.
In the BMW line up would not consider anything below an M5 as a luxury car or a MB S Class. So I am thinking north of $95,000 as a break point. When you can drop over $80,000 for a top end mainstream pickup truck its real hard to say a $63,000 BMW 435 is a luxury anything.
interesting in a debate on another thread the head of Acura said he did not think you need to be above $90,000 to be a luxury car so clearly he was looking at the Germans & Lexus pricing of their larger cars.
In the BMW line up would not consider anything below an M5 as a luxury car or a MB S Class. So I am thinking north of $95,000 as a break point. When you can drop over $80,000 for a top end mainstream pickup truck its real hard to say a $63,000 BMW 435 is a luxury anything.
interesting in a debate on another thread the head of Acura said he did not think you need to be above $90,000 to be a luxury car so clearly he was looking at the Germans & Lexus pricing of their larger cars.
03-10-2016, 04:22 PM
#106
Team Owner
Thread Starter
I've seen that shuttle too!
03-10-2016, 04:30 PM
#107
Truck's been in for service the past couple of days... dealer loaned us a '16 C300.
Not a bad little sedan; quick as shit too.
Infotainment center though is an absolute let down though... The IS' layout is miles ahead.
On a another note, Lexus too (at least down here) is VERY accommodating. They loaned us an NXt while the car was getting tinted because they knew we had an infant.. didn't mention anything either; the service advisor saw the kiddy toys in the rear seat.
It's little things such as that; to us rather, that classifies a brand to be considered Lux.... customer service goes a long way.
Not a bad little sedan; quick as shit too.
Infotainment center though is an absolute let down though... The IS' layout is miles ahead.
On a another note, Lexus too (at least down here) is VERY accommodating. They loaned us an NXt while the car was getting tinted because they knew we had an infant.. didn't mention anything either; the service advisor saw the kiddy toys in the rear seat.
It's little things such as that; to us rather, that classifies a brand to be considered Lux.... customer service goes a long way.
Last edited by Marcelechka; 03-10-2016 at 04:40 PM.
03-10-2016, 07:41 PM
#109
Registered Abuser of VTEC
Oh, I walked out of the south one while trying to work out a deal on a TLX. They gave me some kid who didn't even know what he was talking about, and weren't willing to negotiate at all, AND they claimed they had the colour I wanted, when they really didn't, just to get me in the door. My experiences at the west side one have been substantially better. Look at the google reviews for both of them, the south one constantly gets bad reviews from people, and something like that can hurt Acura's image. Actually at the west side one the mechanic accidentally damaged the door panel on my old car, and they not only fixed it free, but since they had their material fixing contractor there, they fixed all of the other defects on the door panels as well that were caused by me or the previous owner! I thought that was definitely premium service. The Lexus dealer on 170 st is really awesome too, probably the best customer service in this entire city. But I digress. I think consistency of how well dealerships treat their clients has a big impact on brand perception of luxury.
I'm surprised that they don't use a BMW vehicle for the shuttle. Surely an X3 or X5 would do the job? The Acura dealership also uses Honda Odysseys, although at least that makes more sense than BMW using that van. I wonder why the Odyssey is the shuttle of choice?
03-11-2016, 10:03 AM
#110
Team Owner
Thread Starter
I too would buy a car from westside, but mostly because my friend is one of the sales managers there, so I'm sure I can work a nice deal with him. I only go to Southview for the warranty work, or, random parts when I'm in need, but I'm not surprised to hear they are greasy. Both locations are pretty far from me, which sucks.
I think BMW uses an odyssey because, well, why would they beat up on a new X5 or something? They probably "bought" that van from a sister dealership they own, or picked it up at auction for pennies on the dollar. It's big. It's roomy. It holds lots of people. BMW doesn't exactly have anything like that.
That, or, BMW knows people bring their broken cars in for fixing. No point in risking them getting stranded again when the BMW shuttle breaks down
ok, ok, I'm joking. relax everyone!!
I think BMW uses an odyssey because, well, why would they beat up on a new X5 or something? They probably "bought" that van from a sister dealership they own, or picked it up at auction for pennies on the dollar. It's big. It's roomy. It holds lots of people. BMW doesn't exactly have anything like that.
That, or, BMW knows people bring their broken cars in for fixing. No point in risking them getting stranded again when the BMW shuttle breaks down
ok, ok, I'm joking. relax everyone!!
03-11-2016, 10:13 AM
#111
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Maybe that Oddyseey was the loaner for the shop's loaner vehicle that broke down?
03-11-2016, 12:42 PM
#113
Senior Moderator
03-11-2016, 01:11 PM
#115
Team Owner
Thread Starter
Shoulda just drove it in reverse then 
03-11-2016, 01:16 PM
#116
GEEZER
03-11-2016, 01:19 PM
#117
Team Owner
Thread Starter
I thought they solved that problem by zip tying sound deadening foam around the transmission...
03-11-2016, 02:59 PM
#118
This. Is. Luxury.
/end thread
/end thread
03-11-2016, 03:06 PM
#119
Banned
03-11-2016, 04:10 PM
#120
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