bimmerturn

Find a dealer that will serve you right, if you have other dealers then start calling around even it would cost some extra time. You should not tolerate bad service regardless of where you bought your car. It is common between some dealers to discriminate between customers that bought from them and others which very insane and foolish in my mind.

subterFUSE

If you are in Orlando (which is where I am), then you must be speaking about Fields BMW. They have just recently doubled the size of their service department, adding a second garage for servicing cars. So they now have double the capacity for service appointments. I remember that a year ago, service appointments had to be scheduled a month in advance. Now they can take you often within 1 or 2 days... if you are willing to wait or have transportation. But loaner cars require more planning time. Typically 1-2 weeks lead time is needed to get a loaner.

When you schedule your appointment, you need to request a loaner or else they are not going to reserve one for you. You can't just show up on the appointment day, and then ask. They'll never have any left if you do this.


I have dealt with many other brands of cars where the dealer would not give loaners unless you purchased the car from them.... so this policy is not unheard of. Mercedes, Lexus, Acura.... they all did it.

jamolie

Yes, I am talking about Fields BMW... however not the Winter Park one, but the other one on John Young (since it is closer to my workplace). Everything you mentioned above is not unreasonable... I would expect to make an appointment in advance to reserve a loaner car. However, that was clearly not her answer to my question. Whether or not I made an appointment 2 weeks or 2 months in advance, I would not get a loaner unless I bought the vehicle from them. This was not the case with my previous Acura/Subaru as I have moved around alot after purchase.

jchuan8338

Seems as though BMW does not have a standard policy regarding loaner cars. I am not sure that MBZ has one, but everytime I needed service on one of my MBZs the dealerships were ALWAYS accomodating with regards to a loaner car if it was in for warranty service - regardless of where the car was purchased.

Freewilly

I had the same experience with Mercedes, I didn't have any problem with any dealer with loaner car.
But who knows now, policy changes all the time.

TexaZ3

I bought my car from private party, I still get a loaner from my dealer whenever I need it. Its not like its their choice to give or not - BMW is one company, and when it comes to service or their products, they should follow one guidelines. Report to BMWNA.

hoopsrob

I found that when I took my '98 328i in for service, it was no loaner car.

When I took my '06 e60 under warranty, they provided me with a 3 series loaner.

I did not purchase either car from this dealer.

ericdbs

long beach bmw, has always been accomodating...you just need to let them know in advance... and the choice of cars are as follows...e60 525,325,mini...i find it better if you go in early so you get your choice of cars..ericd

jamolie

Nice to know that some of you are getting the service you deserve. I just dropped by the dealer this morning... they checked for the CSL part, and told me that there were about 1000 of those units on backorder, and that they would call me when it came in... This pretty much sucks!

kscarrol

A good idea in theory, but that fact remains that it is up to the individual dealer and some stick to the "if you bought here you get a loaner" policy. The vast majority of dealerships are owned by individuals, not BMW, so they can take suggestions from BMWNA but some don't follow. I agree 110% that for a car like a BMW, it should be mandated by BMW that every dealer offer loaners, but until the company changes how it handles individual dealers, won't happen. This "hands off" approach by BMWNA is the same reason that there is such a wide variance in the level of service dealers offer.

For what its worth, my dealer here in New Orleans only gives loaners if you bought from them. Only BMW dealer within 70 miles. But even the Lexus dealer, right down the street from the BMW dealer, follows the same policy, no buy here, no loaner...