Some garages charge a nominal £5 admin fee for insurance cover on loan cars which I dont object to personally, but chaging you HUGE money for the service and then telling you to pay to borrow a courtesy car is wrong.
So I agree with a previous poster - sell the Merc and get an Audi, especially if you want real and not pretend quality !
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I did have a TT once, for about 6 months, but didn't get on with it. Agree that the Audi dealers are a whole lot better than the MB crowd though.
As for whether the use of a loan car was in the purchase contract, well, no, but it's called Customer Service, and if the local Ford garage can manage it, then so should the MB garage!
BTW, the last time (pre-charging) I got a Smart Forfour, so not even a lowly A Class :-/
Pete
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Yeah, I think you're right, they should hide it in their servicing costs so everyone gets to pay a share, even the people who bring their car in and DON'T need a "courtesy" car (like me).
At least you now have the choice. Do you value a car for the day higher than their fee or not? If so, pay with a smile. If not, arrange your life around not having your car for a day.
V
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It's not only Mercedes dealers
When I first had my current car (BMW) in 2002 I phoned a dealer for quote for a service and told them i would need a loan car as I lived 25 miles away.
The response:
"Did you buy the car from us, Sir?"
A - "No"
"The then we can't loan you a free car, you will have to hire a car from us for the day"
From memory I think it was around £30 + insurance.
Needless to say I didn't take the car there !
I used another dealer who didn't charge for the loan car.
Since the car went out of the warranty period I've always used an independent specialist. The prices are cheaper,same extras (free loan car. free valet),. They do better job and don't try to say work needs doing when it doesn't.
Another point Pete_W if your car is too new to go independent, will the Merc dealer collect/returm the car to your house/place of work FOC ? Many dealers will do this (but not much use if you have to go somewhere during the day !)
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I guess the bottom line is that the dealer needs to make money. Nothing is for free and you will pay for all of these 'extras' one way or another. You pay the dealer £80+ per hour. Most main dealer mechanics are getting around £6-10/hour at the moment (maybe a lot more in London - although I gather the influx of Poles and Romanians etc are keeping costs down!). There's a £70 gap.....
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QUOTE : Vin {P}
Yeah, I think you're right, they should hide it in their servicing costs so everyone gets to pay a share, even the people who bring their car in and DON'T need a "courtesy" car (like me).
At least you now have the choice. Do you value a car for the day higher than their fee or not? If so, pay with a smile. If not, arrange your life around not having your car for a day.
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Of course. It would be totally unreasonable to expect the cost of running a couple of Smart cars to be absorbed into the £150 an hour labour charges!
oh dear oh dear...!
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"Of course. It would be totally unreasonable to expect the cost of running a couple of Smart cars to be absorbed into the £150 an hour labour charges!"
Absorb? How does that happen? If they need to make, say £1,500 a day from servicing, then if they offer one "free" car, they will have to make £1,530. Thus, if they are making that from labour charges, their rate will have to go up from £150 to £153. You can't seriously believe that you don't pay for the "free" car, do you?
V
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There's a £70 gap...
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yeah, it really is outrageous daylight robrip off britain)bery).
just like my local minicab taxi service who charge £20 to take me 10 miles to the airport. it only costs him 10p a mile in petrol, so that is £2 for his return journey. there's a gap of £18 ....
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yeah, it really is outrageous daylight robrip off britain)bery). just like my local minicab taxi service who charge £20 to take me 10 miles to the airport. it only costs him 10p a mile in petrol, so that is £2 for his return journey. there's a gap of £18 ....
So he doesn't have any overheads, like wear and tear on his vehicle, insurance, tax, WAGES?
Do you not understand the concept of profit? The mini cab firm makes a profit from your business. They don't do it for fun. You must be in cloud Cuckoo land.
Another thing that makes me laugh is people buying a BMW or Mercedes, cars that have long lost their reputation for quality and then complaining about the service they get. ?Ooooh, they ripped me off by charging £X for water / screen wash / oil and charged me for more than the car holds and charged me to fill it up when it was already full", etc, etc.
Don't you get it? They don't care about your business; there are plenty of mugs walking through the door every day.
The cars are average, the service is average, the cost and 'prestige' are high. Don't bleat to us about it, TELL YOUR DEALER!
You want good service: Try a Lexus dealer
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I bought a packet of crisps the other day, NO WAY WAS THERE 35 PENCE OF POTATOES IN THERE, WHAT A RIP-OFF!
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"Do you not understand the concept of profit? The mini cab firm makes a profit from your business. They don't do it for fun. You must be in cloud Cuckoo land."
I suspect he was being ironic.
V
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Very possibly but I bet there will be at least one reader who will see the point.
It's the same with these 'premium' cars. You are paying for more than the car and the service (or lack of).
You are paying NOT to have to drive a Mondeo or Vectra.
Another 'premium' manufacturer now no better than most is SAAB.
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suspect he was being ironic
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vin, you are far too clever.
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Do you not understand the concept of profit?
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just as aprilia said, the merc dealer is ripping off the customer and his mechanics. why don't they charge just £8 for the labour, because that is all it costs them, right? remember aprilia's family used to run garage businesses, and so he knows what he is talking about, and knows how to run a business, and they did not get filthy rich off the backs of poor motorists.
well he owuld have his car whether he was running the business or not. he is providing a social service for people who don't want to clog up the roads. so he must take me where and when i want to go and not rip me off. i don't want to pay the high charges of parking at heathrow and people would scratch my merc/bmw if i did.
where i live there are no cheap buses or the tube subsidised by ken from the money he gets off my taxes and congestion charges. we can get free ambulance and fire services, so why not free taxi service? it is my right.
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:: edit :: " well the cabby would have overheads for his car whether he was running the business or not because he would have kept the car for his own use regardless "
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Merc customers expect Merc style in service,
Tha means stylish and expensive looking premises, in expensive areas with lush carpet, smart uniformed servants, free coffee and much tugging of forelocks.
In business terms that equals high standing costs. Given that service departments have to make a profit (some people foget that - it may be called service but its not free) then your hourly charge is going to be high. Throw in a free courtesy car and it will be higher.
Anyone who has lashed out on a new merc, does so for the snob value, and therefore has no right to complain about being ripped off. You bought the lifestyle so you pay for it.
TOUGH
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RF - currently 1 Renault short of a family
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Dalglish wrote:
"just as aprilia said, the merc dealer is ripping off the customer and his mechanics. why don't they charge just £8 for the labour, because that is all it costs them, right? remember aprilia's family used to run garage businesses, and so he knows what he is talking about, and knows how to run a business, and they did not get filthy rich off the backs of poor motorists.
well he owuld have his car whether he was running the business or not. he is providing a social service for people who don't want to clog up the roads. so he must take me where and when i want to go and not rip me off. i don't want to pay the high charges of parking at heathrow and people would scratch my merc/bmw if i did.
where i live there are no cheap buses or the tube subsidised by ken from the money he gets off my taxes and congestion charges. we can get free ambulance and fire services, so why not free taxi service? it is my right."
Dalglish
I'm afraid to say that you are a complete idiot. I'm not sure whether you come on here to troll or what?
I did not say that the dealer was ripping anybody off. I was pointing out that nothing is free. The £70 gap has to cover all manner of overheads including buildings, local authority taxes, staff training etc etc. - the 'free' loan car is paid for out of that £70 difference. And yes, there are some dealers who do rip people off, we read about it every week in the BR. There are even (and I realise this may come as a shock to you) public sector workers who do a good job and deserve their salaries - I have even met some of them.
I appreciate that you hold very tightly to a particular, and apparently somewhat extreme, 'ideology' - but an ideology shouldn't be used as a substitute for thinking.
Since you have taken the trouble to insult me, I would be interested in having you telling us all what you do/have done for a living. I have actually run my own business for many years and worked with real customers in real businesses. I have also acted as consultant to a large number of car manufacturers and component suppliers and have met plenty of CEO's, managers and, yes, even production operatives ("workers", mostly decent blokes who you seem to think are the scum of the Earth). These companies didn't have to employ me, but they did, and some of them came back for more - so I guess I was doing something right. I certainly haven't got filthy rich on it though; nor do I resent paying reasonable taxes to pay for decent public services.
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aprilia -
very well balanced response, confirming everything i meant. all i can add is:
fits exactly in the mould that no-fm2r said recently to you but has been hidden.
and the idea of hiding it was that it couldn't been seen. So repeating it isn't smart either. smokie, BR Moderator
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Stop arguing, now.
(btw Adam and RF were babbling not arguing)
smokie, BR Moderator
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I never fail to be amazed by how naive people are and what a poor understanding they have of marketing. Prior to taking an early retirement option, I spent many years as a technical guy - so I tend towards cynicism, followed by a number of years in marketing - so I understand what is going on.
I drive an old Mondeo. Yes, if I was stupid enough, I could afford a top-whack BMW - but I've seen the lifestyle lived by the local BMW dealer and the property he lives in - and I know where his money comes from!
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No, Adam was trying to butt into the argument, and I was the one babbling.
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RF - currently 1 Renault short of a family
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Thanks for clearing that up RF.
Although technically I always held that opinion of him. This just gave me an opportunity to voice it.
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Thanks for clearing that up RF. Although technically I always held that opinion of him. This just gave me an opportunity to voice it.
Oooooo! saucer of milk for Adam please!
;) JaB
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London - although I gather the influx of Poles and Romanians etc are keeping costs down!). There's a £70 gap.....
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I'm sorry to say this but the Poles are probably giving us a better quality of service as well as being cheaper, they are good at mechanical stuff !
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