Waiting time for repairs on VW

[Lordglenmorangie]

Booked Golf in for used car warranty and recall work with main dealer because I require a courtesy car have to wait 33 Days is this normal?

[Dr G]

Not completely abnormal. Might be a slightly different lead time at different dealers but I don't think I've ever been told less than a fortnight with the exception of breakdowns.

Finite number of courtesy cars available and probably quite a few people who want them.

[Iceblue]

Yep: about a week if you can drop off or sit and wait, anything upto 6 weeks for a courtesy car.

[zspere]

Do your VW dealers charge for courtesy cars? I find it absolutely absurd that I’ve paid 45k for a brand new car which has issues, but they want me to pay for the courtesy car whilst mine is in for repairs. No problem with restricting the mileage on the courtesy car and paying for the fuel, but the cheek to actually charge for it!

[Drive Blind]

you also need to consider that a car being returned for warranty work isn't considered a priority by the dealer.
Service and prep of cars being sold and breakdowns that have been dropped off by the recovery company take priority in the workshop.

[Sheepshanks]

Drive Blind said:

you also need to consider that a car being returned for warranty work isn't considered a priority by the dealer.
Service and prep of cars being sold and breakdowns that have been dropped off by the recovery company take priority in the workshop.

I think some definitely limit the time they allocate to warranty work. To be fair the (small) VW dealer we used for wife’s Tiguan for a few years was very good and could usually supply a car the next week - but it may have helped that I only ever dealt with the service manager.

Wife switched to Skoda and for some warranty work the (big) dealer gave a date 5 weeks away, for a Monday. Then they rang the Friday before and said they could see I’d been told Monday but they had the car booked in on Wednesday. I couldn’t do Wed and they said Mon would be fine, no problem with courtesy car. The job took 2 days and it was OK to keep the car for the second day.

So I was left with the impression that the booking delay was nothing to do with courtesy car availability.

I’ve never paid for a courtesy car - even at the Mercedes dealer I used, where their online system adds £50. Sometimes dealers ask for £10/£15 to waive the insurance excess. If they do that, I put it on our insurance with LV=, as they cover loaners automatically, and for all named drivers.

[RayDonovan]

Quoted 28 days by our leasing company for a simple service and repair job with a courtesy car.

[Dr G]

zspere said:

Do your VW dealers charge for courtesy cars? I find it absolutely absurd that I’ve paid 45k for a brand new car which has issues, but they want me to pay for the courtesy car whilst mine is in for repairs. No problem with restricting the mileage on the courtesy car and paying for the fuel, but the cheek to actually charge for it!

VW don't pay anything to the franchisee for the loan car, and pay a heavily reduced rate for the labour. No parts profit either.

It is a part of being a franchise operator so must be factored in, but they must work to a balance if they're actually to make any money (and stay open).

[Sheepshanks]

Dr G said:

zspere said:

Do your VW dealers charge for courtesy cars? I find it absolutely absurd that I’ve paid 45k for a brand new car which has issues, but they want me to pay for the courtesy car whilst mine is in for repairs. No problem with restricting the mileage on the courtesy car and paying for the fuel, but the cheek to actually charge for it!

VW don't pay anything to the franchisee for the loan car, and pay a heavily reduced rate for the labour. No parts profit either.

It is a part of being a franchise operator so must be factored in, but they must work to a balance if they're actually to make any money (and stay open).

I've always felt customers should be compensated for time and mileage to take a car back in warranty, never mind charged extra.