Courtesy Car No Petrol!

Randomswinger

This morning I dropped my car in for a service and picked up the usual crappy courtesy car from the dealer

Having driven from Swords to Ballymun the car ran out of petrol and came to a stop.

Now when I got into the car I could see the gauge was in the red. No problem I thought I'll stop at the garage on the Ballymun road on the way back into town. Having had my car in with the same dealer 3 or 4 times before all of their loan cars have always been in the red but I've always gotten to a garage long before there was any problem

Anyway I rang the service department and was told its my own fault I should have filled up in the garage round the cornor from them (which I didn't know about) and I'd have to get to a garage myself or pay for an AA call out

I went to a garage down the road and got sorted

In all my experience of numerous dealers they rarely have petrol in their loan cars which is fair enough why pay for customers petrol? But I would assume they should advise if you're likely to run out of the stuff 4 or 5 miles later and direct you to the nearest garage.

Do the not check these things when cars are returned. I can assure you all the car will be running on fumes when I drop it back!

testicle

Do you expect them to dip the petrol tank just to see how much in the red it really is?

drdre

Well thats your own fault.You should have filled it up straight away if you knew the the petrol was low.The garage is not going to fill up each car before they give it out

Randomswinger

I've no problem putting petrol in and would have if I knew about the garage round the cornor

A simple bit of helpful advice from the service desk would have been nice!

drdre

Randomswinger wrote:

I've no problem putting petrol in and would have if I knew about the garage round the cornor

A simple bit of helpful advice from the service desk would have been nice!

Yeah they should have told you.But they really dont know how much petrol is left in each car.So how did they know your car was running out of petrol

lightening

Make sure you push the car back in to the forecourt when leaving the car back!

crosstownk

I can certainley sympatise with the OP. I hand out numerous courtesy cars every day and always ensure that there is at least enough petrol to do 20 or 30 miles. I used to hand them out with anything from a quarter to half a tank but they always came back empty which ended up costing quite a few quid.

Ultimately, with courtesy cars (and rental cars) you are responsible for the petrol you use and in the case of a rental car, if you receive the car with a full tank and return it empty you will be charged accordingly.

ciarsd

Better still bring a length of rubber hose and a petrol can with you, take what you didn't use back this evening

TomMc

Yes, it is bad form. They should put a fivers worth in the tank or at the very least and bring the matter to your attention, if a vehicle needs fuel straight away, and off-site. Unfortunately, many were never trained properly in how to serve the public - good service is an alien concept to them. The jobsworths who deliver cars are usually too apathetic to notice or highlight these things to service managers, who themselves should take more responsibility and be less careless. Lots of dealers though are cheapskates and count the cost of everything. For many you are even lucky if they pay for (or bother to make) a phonecall, so should not really expect much more. :rolleyes:

Gary ITR

I dropped my fleet car in for a service a while back and was told that a rental car will be there for me. Ended up I was given an Opel Combo and it ran out of diesel before i got out of the garage.. Needless to say an angry phonecall was made to the fleet company and it was promptly sorted!!

Borzoi

Randomswinger wrote:

This morning I dropped my car in for a service and picked up the usual crappy courtesy car from the dealer

Having driven from Swords to Ballymun the car ran out of petrol and came to a stop.
!

Dropped mine in yesterday, got a CC (an 07 9-3) with no juice. The service rep apologised, and said to put some in myself and that he'd waive the normal charge for the Courtesy car. Seemed fair.

wexford12

I would of left the car on the side of the road.They should make sure that there is enough to get at least 10 miles typicle of car dealers.I did a test drive once brandnew car and it ran out of petrol the guy had the cheek to ask would i help push it back about a mile down the road."Guess what the answer was and i didnt buy the car of them either"

unkel

Randomswinger wrote:

Having had my car in with the same dealer 3 or 4 times before all of their loan cars have always been in the red

That's a pathetic excuse for customer service. You either provide a courtesy car (with fuel in it as in the light is not red), or you don't. That garage is very lucky it didn't happen to me

drdre

unkel wrote:

That's a pathetic excuse for customer service. You either provide a courtesy car (with fuel in it as in the light is not red), or you don't. That garage is very lucky it didn't happen to me

Why what would you have done

Dampsquid

Borzoi wrote:

Dropped mine in yesterday, got a CC (an 07 9-3) with no juice. The service rep apologised, and said to put some in myself and that he'd waive the normal charge for the Courtesy car. Seemed fair.

I've never been charged for a courtesy car, but yes it has always needed petrol within 20 miles

colm_mcm

Fuel in a courtesy car is the responsibility of the driver. You can't expect them to pay for you to drive their car around. I have experience of this, and if you give a car out with E10 in it, it'll come back empty. That's cost the garage a tenner, It has been experimented in various garages to implement a policy of handing out the courtesy cars with full tanks, then asking the customer to fill the car back up before they hand it back. this rarely happens. If the garage doesn't have a petrol pump, this also means extra work filling it back up.

A red light on a fuel gauge obviously means it's going to run out, I'd have limited sympathy for someone who drives form Swords to Ballymun on a red light.

ballooba

I had a coutesy car today too. There was a dribble in it when I got it. I put €5 in and I probably did about 20-25 miles before leaving it back. I expect most dealers to have a dribble account with the petrol station. Especially given the price of fuel these days.

unkel

colm_mcm wrote:

Fuel in a courtesy car is the responsibility of the driver

I understand where you're coming from, Colm, but I disagree. Leaving one or two miserable liters of fuel in the tank is meaner than mean. Not good for business if you ask me

colm_mcm wrote:

if you give a car out with E10 in it, it'll come back empty. That's cost the garage a tenner

Hence you up the price of an average service by a tenner. You either do a courtesy car or you don't

jimmycrackcorm

methinks it is courtesy for drivers to put enough fuel in the courtesy cars for the next dude.

Owen

Yup, but common sense, and common courtesy are anything but common these days.

unkel

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

methinks it is courtesy for drivers to put enough fuel in the courtesy cars for the next dude.

In an ideal world:)

I'd say there are some people out there who'd prefer to drink the last litre of petrol out of the tank rather than leaving it in the tank when returning the vehicle

bazz26

I can see both sides of this argument to be fair.

I can see some people doing the dog alright if the tank is full they will hand it back empty but I also see the point that considering the prices that most main dealers charge for servicing, etc, giving a courtesy car with an empty tank seems a little poor especially if they are charging for the use of the courtesy car itself.

Seth Brundle

TomMc wrote:

Yes, it is bad form. They should put a fivers worth in the tank or at the very least and bring the matter to your attention, if a vehicle needs fuel straight away, and off-site.

A fiver nowadays will only give you four litres which may well not kill the warning light. However, they should stress that petrol is the borrowers responsibility.

colm_mcm wrote:

if you give a car out with E10 in it, it'll come back empty. That's cost the garage a tenner,

Chances are that it was the previous driver that put in the tenner!

colm_mcm wrote:

A red light on a fuel gauge obviously means it's going to run out, I'd have limited sympathy for someone who drives form Swords to Ballymun on a red light.

I was thinking the same - who in their right mind would drive in rush hour traffic when unsure of the voulme of fuel left!

unkel wrote:

I understand where you're coming from, Colm, but I disagree. Leaving one or two miserable liters of fuel in the tank is meaner than mean. Not good for business if you ask me

But it was probably the previous driver that did that.

Dr. Seuss

Randomswinger wrote:

I've no problem putting petrol in and would have if I knew about the garage round the cornor

A simple bit of helpful advice from the service desk would have been nice!

Eh, the garage would only be looking at the same low petrol guage as you! Do you want them to hold your hand on the way around to fill it up too?

MercMad

The service rep should have, as a policy, told you , and stressed it was EMPTY and that there was a service station around the corner !

This is the way I ALWAYS worked............never had a problem !

_Kaiser_

I got a courtesy car when mine was in for servicing 6 weeks ago (a Merc E200 no less ) and I ended up having to put 20 quid into it, but would've done so anyway before dropping it back. As someone else said, it's just common manners to give something you've borrowed back the way you found it!

Randomswinger

When returning the call I happend to meet the service manager.

He actually agreed it was not acceptable to have practically no fuel in the car and agreed most people are decent enough to stick €5 in when using it. At the end of the day most people do not do high milage when their car is in for a service

End of story got 50% knocked off the labor charge for the service:)

littlejukka

the rental policy in cuba is to give you a car with a full tank, charge you for the fuel before you drive off, then any petrol left when you drop it back belongs to them. ends up being a suicidal race to get back and leave it as empty as possible for some people. i just kept throwing in petrol (over the course of 1500km or so) until i got back to them and when there was a bit left (probably half a tank or so) i didn't scream or cry. it's only a few quid.

Undercoverguy

OP - This wouldnt happen to be "Micheal Barrables Motors" in Swords would it? :rolleyes:

Undercoverguy

littlejukka wrote:

the rental policy in cuba is to give you a car with a full tank, charge you for the fuel before you drive off, then any petrol left when you drop it back belongs to them. ends up being a suicidal race to get back and leave it as empty as possible for some people. i just kept throwing in petrol (over the course of 1500km or so) until i got back to them and when there was a bit left (probably half a tank or so) i didn't scream or cry. it's only a few quid.

I think its with Ace rent a car or something that do this -

Car has a full tank for petrol when you collect it. Say the car holds, 50.00euro worth of petrol they take a deposite of about 80.00euro making it like 1.60 per litre :eek: Making it MUCH cheaper to fill up before you get back :rolleyes:

STUPID way of doing things!

unkel

Randomswinger wrote:

When returning the call I happend to meet the service manager.

He actually agreed it was not acceptable to have practically no fuel in the car and agreed most people are decent enough to stick €5 in when using it. At the end of the day most people do not do high milage when their car is in for a service

End of story got 50% knocked off the labor charge for the service:)

Nice one. Fair play to the CS manager for admitting they'd wronged you

mik_da_man

Undercoverguy wrote:

I think its with Ace rent a car or something that do this -

Car has a full tank for petrol when you collect it. Say the car holds, 50.00euro worth of petrol they take a deposite of about 80.00euro making it like 1.60 per litre :eek: Making it MUCH cheaper to fill up before you get back :rolleyes:

STUPID way of doing things!

Nearly all car rental companies do this - It is always cheaper to fill it before you drop it back.
Some charge and extra re-fuelling fee on top of the (overpriced) cost of the fuel :eek:

But back to the point - it was bad business and manners to have so little fuel in the courteously car, but the OP should have filled it up before going too far (I thought most cars now have a Km left function?)

And I always drop a car back with relatively the same fuel as when I picked it up

Mik

Seth Brundle

Undercoverguy wrote:

I think its with Ace rent a car or something that do this -

Car has a full tank for petrol when you collect it. Say the car holds, 50.00euro worth of petrol they take a deposite of about 80.00euro making it like 1.60 per litre :eek: Making it MUCH cheaper to fill up before you get back :rolleyes:

STUPID way of doing things!

mik_da_man wrote:

Nearly all car rental companies do this - It is always cheaper to fill it before you drop it back.
Some charge and extra re-fuelling fee on top of the (overpriced) cost of the fuel :eek:

I presume it is to cover staff costs, etc..
So who here works for free?

JHMEG

crosstownk wrote:

I used to hand them out with anything from a quarter to half a tank but they always came back empty which ended up costing quite a few quid.

Which the customer is paying indirectly for anyway, by means of expensive hourly labour rates.