Dealer sent me to Enterprise for a loaner???
 

This morning, I took my car to Rusnak Thousand Oaks (closest Porsche dealer) to have the top serviced, as it's not functioning at all.

I was already in a horrible mood because when they sold me the car they had it serviced for the same exact problem, yet it stopped working less than a week after taking it home.

So, I take my two-week old $60K car to dealer that sold it to me and when I remind them I need a loaner car, they write out a claim check and tell me to walk across the parking lot and get a car from Enterprise.

Now I'm pissed. First of all, I hate Enterprise and all their silly paperwork and 'walk-around-the-car' and their relentless spiel about buying their insurance coverage, no matter how much you try and cut them off.

Secondly, I'm told I rate a 'standard car' which means a Dodge Stratus. Or, I can pay $20/day to upgrade to an Audi A4.

Thirdly, by the time I deal with the service people (I had already called, made an appointment and explained the problem -- only have to go through it all again once I got there) and then the stupid rental car process, I spent the better part of an hour at the dealership which made me late for a work appointment.



What does your dealer do for loaners?


My other car is a Lexus and when I go in for service, they have a brand new Lexus waiting for me and I'm in and out of there in 5 minutes.

Speak to the service Manager at Rusnack and ask them to upgrade your loaner car to the Audi, based on the fact that this is a repeat problem.

My dealer provides base Cayennes or VW Jettas for service loaners. Not great, but it's just for a short period of time.

I already have the lovely Stratus...


My bigger issue is that they make me go through Enterprise to get a loaner car, and then I have to go through the hassle of returning the bloody thing, too.


A VW would have been fine, as long as it was clean and well maintained.

Never had a problem with this, even when I brought the Boxster in. Was always given a Boxster or Cayenne.

Now I practically get first dibs on the dealer's P-car loaner fleet.

Completely a dealer to dealer thing.

Perhaps you should use another dealer then ??

I'll definitely try another dealer next time.

Fortunately, there are plenty to choose from out here. :)

The dealership I deal with has a rental car company affiliated with them. I don't think anyone actually rents cars from them. Must be a tax write-off or something.

Anyway, when I go in for service, there is a "rental" car already waiting for me. Just sign on the form, and away I go. Usually a Jetta, a Cayenne, Boxster, or a Jag. One time they were out of cars, and I drove the managers car, a Merc SUV. It had coins and personal items in it. LOL!!! Funny, but I appreciate their effort.

If they want to keep their customers happy, your dealer should have the rental from Enterprise ready to go, parked in their lot, IMHO. Unfortunately, you are stuck with this one, since this is a return for incomplete service. You could try another dealership, especially if it's warranty work, and hint that you are looking for a dealership you and your growing family will associate for the rest of your car buying life. Works for me :).

I haven't much room to talk, but at the Enterprise here ON the Porsche/Lotus lot, they have a lot of top end 'luxury' cars. I even finagled a BoxsterS as a rental when the Porsche was hit in the rear. My point might be, regardless of dealer policy its almost the standard arrangement to loan out a replacement vehicle in the same class. i.e. If you drive a sports car replace it with a nice sports car. If you drive a truck, loan out a truck. If you drive a Hyundai... well you might just be screwed.

Talk to the service manager there and work something out, no dealership should treat you like after spending that much money on a car. As far as that extra insurance goes, tell them to piss off - I guarantee you that your policy covers the rental as if it were your Porsche.

When I went to pick up my car, the service manager was very helpful and told me just to leave the rental car keys with him and he'd take care of it.

I actually thought their service department did a pretty good job but I will avoid them in the future merely because I don't want to go through the hassle with Enterprise every time. Plus, they always seem to have lousy cars.

I got a POS Enterprise Saturn first, then a dealer Camry. Finally complained and they had no problem with the complaint. Next time was a Cayenne S, then a 996 Cab. I had the 996 for two days and they called on a Friday to tell me that my part wasn't coming until Monday. Got to keep it another three days and had a blast.

Malibu... the red Box on the checkered floor in your avatar looks cool.

My dealership has used Grand Cherokee's exclusively. I've had 2 Passats and a (POS) Touareg prior to the Boxster. Always gotten the Cherokee. They are never more than 2 years old and very well maintained and appointed (leather, heated seats, etc.). I 'feel your pain' MS, go to another dealership. Too bad Vasek Polak isn't around anymore, huh?

My local dealer Tischer uses Enterprise too and I hate it too for all the reasons you mention. I had a particularly hard-to-diagnose engine noise that took a few visits to fix. On the last (and longest visit), I got lucky with a '04 986 loaner, but it's not typical there.

Enterprise has a very interesting business model and it now seems they are going hard after dealerships to out-source their loaner car programs.

They've always set up shop near autobody and other repair shops but this dealer thing must be a new strategy they are pushing.


The problem is that people expect a lot more from a dealership of expensive cars versus a body shop and I would think the dealer would get plenty of backlash as a result.


Also, why can't Enterprise just hand you the keys or at least automate their check-out process? Walking around the car with a clipboard and having you initial and sign a long form in 7 different places seems like something straight out of the 50's.

My bet is they do it in order to sell more of their add-on insurance, which we all know is a ripoff but no doubt highly profitable to them. However, I avoid them like the plague and will happily pay a little more when traveling because I hate their process.

My dealer in MD picked up my car and gave me a Ford Suv loaner. No
papers to sign and had my car back that night.

My dealer usually gives out rental cars bc they don't have enough loaners. Enterprise cars are often crappy and old. Even so, they had rental car guy at the dealer with the cars ready. I often get in and out in 15 min and have to tell them to slow down bc I want to take a look around parts and showroom. : )

The dealer switched to Avis and wow, I get a Caddillac DTS! Driving with heated steering wheel was fun.

Experience really varies dealer by dealer. Tell the service manager what a crappy job enterprise is doing. there is no reason dealer shouldn't get better service since they do so much business. cars should be brought and drop of at dealer. not across the street.