Loaner Policy
 

Brought my F-Type S in for its first servicing appointment at the dealership for warranty issues (not the annual service), and was a bit surprised to find that I was given a rental Mazda 3 while my car is in the shop.

While nothing is wrong with the Mazda 3, I’m used to Mercedes and Lexus Service where I’m given a car from their fleet that is similar to mine—which I think is expected for an almost $100k MSRP car, especially since it’s issues with the car that should be covered under warranty. Just wondering if this the norm with Jag service, or am I just going to the wrong dealer? Thanks!

Depends on the dealer. I usually get some type of Jag. In no way similar to the F Type.

Every time I bring mine in for service i'm given a base EX loaner, usually a diesel.

The only time I got a decent car was when my car went missing for a month prior to delivery; at that point I was given a mid-range XJ.

There’s another thread running on this subject. Did you book a loaner in advance?

My dealer always asks at time of booking if I require a loaner, and gives me the first available date where one is available if I say yes.

So far had an XE, F Pace and RR Velar.

I received a 4K mile XE as loaner when they performed the warranty work on my chrome trim. Appointment was set 2 weeks in advance so they had appropriate notice.

My local dealer has JLR vehicles available, but if all are in use would probably do what the Volvo dealer did in such circumstances: provide a rental, even if not of the marque. I got a Dodge once when getting my C30 serviced. I can't honestly say I *hated* it, but I strongly disliked it. I'd have preferred the Mazda.

I don't think it is particularly a Jag dealer thing. At the end of the day, most of these dealers say the loaner is a "courtesy" offering. I think expecting to be loaned like for like is a bit of a reach. When I had an Audi S4, the dealer loaners were all Subaru Foresters because the dealership chain included Audi, Subaru and SAAB.

I'd far rather they spent their time getting the issue completely sorted than rush it in order to reclaim their expensive loaner...

Just saw the other thread--woops! Didn't know this would be such a popular issue on the same day haha!

I did book the service as well as a loaner about a week and half in advance. For sure, I definitely understand their predicament, but considering this was at the San Francisco dealer for Jaguar (which is also the SF dealer for Bentley, Range Rover, Lamborghini, and Pagani amongst other makes), I'm honestly kind of disappointed with this level of service, especially since it's warranty work and I wasn't told at all when to expect my car back. Not saying I expected another F-Type, but at the least an XE or a Discovery instead of a somewhat dirty rental Mazda 3 that I had to put my own deposit down for. Not the best first Jaguar service experience overall.

My dealer always give out JLR cars as loaners. I don't think they do F-type or XJ loaners, but everything else is a possibility.

I would be unhappy, to put it mildly, if they put me into economy rental. I would understand non-JLR car, but not one like that.

What if you have to visit clients or have a business lunch? Showing up in Mazda 3 would be counter-productive.

Always try to book when loaners are available. Iv'e gotten Discovery Sport and XE's. At previous dealer they had a on site Hertz and sometimes they ran out of Jag's.

Okay, so after 4 calls to my service advisor throughout the day I finally got in touch with him only to find that my car is still undergoing diagnostics and he doesn’t even have an ETA as to when warranty issues will be fixed and car can be returned to me, with a preliminary estimate of one week. So essentially, I am stuck with this Mazda 3 for an indefinite amount of time—and to clarify, I did say that I would need a loaner when I made my appointment.

Honestly, I find this entire situation quite ridiculous. I have had numerous Mercedes and Lexus (Lexi?) serviced and have never had an issue getting a car of a similar level to drive while servicing is taking place. However, now I have dropped off a 100k car at a dealership that also sells Land Rovers, Bentleys, Lambos, and Paganis and been given a $20 a day rental car for an indefinite period of time. Really disappointed with how everything is going. Does anyone have any advice on the situation, or any better Jaguar dealerships to recommend in the SF Bay Area?

Take a deep breath and chill. This is a first world problem and wrapping yourself around an axle on this issue is causing you unnecessary aggravation. I've had a Discovery loaner sitting in the driveway for the past 10 days because I can't stand driving it. Life goes on. Fortunately, I have a MINI that's more fun to drive than anything else (F-Type excepted) on the dealer's lot.

Obviously you need to take overt action. Ask the dealer how many F-Types they might have in for service on a given day - say, maybe up to 5. Start a fundme drive to buy 5 F-Types that the dealer can use to provide like-kind loaners. You'd only have to come up with enough to cover dealer cost, but you probably should make them SVR's, just in case.

Funny, I have a note in my file "No Discoverys". I drove it, but not a huge fan.

Inquiring minds want to know what happened to your car requiring 10 day stay?

fact of the matter is......there is ZERO policy for loaners. its 100% dealership discretion. loaners are not part of manufacture requirements, and the cost of loaners come out of the dealerships pocket.

Some dealerships ive gone to dont even have loaners, they have a rental car company next door and will rent a car for you. other dealerships only carry cheap base model cars (even from different brands).

its really not that serious

Thanks for all the replies guys, appreciate all your insight. The car is running into some small issues, mainly some speaker rattle but also an issue where ECO mode causes the car to fail to re-engage back into D so the D on the screen starts flashing; the car is then basically in neutral. Have found a couple people on the forum say it’s a software issue, but dealer suspects it may be a transmission problem :(

As for the loaner policy, I had no idea it was based around each dealership’s personal policy—thanks for letting me know carzaddict! That does explain a lot. However, I’m in a position where I either have to drive my car 4-5 times a day each day or take the bus 4-5 times a day, and I also don’t have a second car—otherwise, I wouldn’t even need a loaner! So unfortunately I'm stuck using it multiple times a day, every day. Wish I had another car to fall back on.

Sure, it might be a first world problem and it might seem like I'm overreacting, but the car was not cheap and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect that you get a standard level of service when you spend *that* much money on something, especially when that same sum of money could have gone to a competing brand like Mercedes that actually does offer that level of service. I think we all paid the extra money to buy a Jag because we wanted an experience that goes beyond that of the average car, and I think it's fair for us to expect more than just "terrible customer service" considering how much we've paid.

I actually had really high hopes for Jaguar service given the luxury reputation of the brand, and would have loved an opportunity to explore more of JLR's offerings (the RR Evoque is still one of my all time favourite cars that I have yet to drive), but so far I haven’t seen it shine through :(

Dealership I use for service has an on-site (albeit somewhat off-book) Enterprise location that has some of the upscale Enterprise offerings. Lowest on their scale that I ever got put into was a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee during the off-shore tech conference week. However, they also have their own loaner products. The two times I have been in since taking delivery of the F-Type, they put me into an F-Pace.

14k miles on my 3rd clutch (Gen 2) and it's toast. Clutch 4 (Gen 4) going in today. Unfortunately, logistics did not provide enough time for the performance clutch and flywheel to be ready to go in now, so I will proceed with the design project so that I have them on hand when clutch 4 fails.
clutch life:
1st: 800 miles
2nd: 6000 miles
3rd: 14,000 miles
I see an improving trend, but this is still pathetic.