I booked my car in for a very minor bit of warranty work (water in fog lamp and water-rushing sound) and was told that i'd have to pay a non-refundable damage waiver fee on the courtesy car.

Is this a normal thing? Why should I be out of pocket for warranty work? The dealer refuses to accept the cover provided by my own insurance company which allows me to drive courtesy cars (under fully comprehensive insurance) in the event that my car is being repaired.

I must admit that i've never had to be out of pocket on warranty work before with other cars.

I booked my car in for a very minor bit of warranty work (water in fog lamp and water-rushing sound) and was told that i'd have to pay a non-refundable damage waiver fee on the courtesy car.

Is this a normal thing? Why should I be out of pocket for warranty work? The dealer refuses to accept the cover provided by my own insurance company which allows me to drive courtesy cars (under fully comprehensive insurance) in the event that my car is being repaired.

I must admit that i've never had to be out of pocket on warranty work before with other cars.

The last time I took my car in it was because I could smell petrol fumes in the cabin, they had to fit a new part. I was given a BMW 1 Series as a courtesy car and I was charged £50. I was told that i'd only have to pay if there wasn't the same amount of diesel in the car as there was when I took the car from them. I made sure that actually there was more diesel in it when I returned it, just to be safe. I still got charged!

I believe it varies with different dealerships, My mum who has a Fiat had to hire her own courtesy car at £14 a day!
I said that would never happen at BMW!
AUDI bent over backwards to either supply me with a courtesy car or get on eof their drivers to take me/pick me up from work.

Seems to vary between dealerships - i've never had to pay :)

I have paid about £15 sometimes, sometimes nothing

How much are they asking for the damage waiver fee?

My local dealer states a £1000.00 excess :mad: or pay a waiver fee of about £20+ :(

Although the last few times they haven't charged anything or inposed the excess ;)

I must say the car has spent 4 visits with them now in as many months :eek:

Ive been charged £20 per day for a loan car from Scothall , the excess if you have a accident is £500 :eek:

Although specialist cars dont charge around here apparently..

The options that I have been given are to risk a £1,000 excess or pay an £18 damage waiver fee. It's just the principle of this that I have an issue with. I've owned many new cars over the last few years and have never had to part with a single penny for any courtesy car. Moreover, my own fully-comp insurance specifically states that I am insured to drive any courtesy car from a garage whilst mine is in for a repair. Out of four MINI dealers that I called, none would let me drive their courtesy car on my insurance. It's been good enough for Porsche and Jaguar over the last couple of years, but not good enough for MINI! I have to be on their group insurance and I can risk the excess or pay the damage waiver.

I did call MINI Customer Services but they deferred the decision to the dealerships.

It varies from dealer to dealer, and you should always remember that the cars are provided by the dealer out of courtesy (hence courtesy car) and they're not your god given right.

Barons in Farnborough has the £1000 excess, and then charges a small amount to waiver this, whereas Vines in Guildford will accept your own insurance, or cover you on theirs for £20 a day with a £250 excess.

It seems to boil down to insurance at the end of the day, and whatever policies each dealer holds on their vehicles.

courtesy arguement is fine for service visits etc as the dealer is providing a service out of courtesy.

But for warranty issue you are restricted from using the car because of MINI failings, unde these circumstances MINI have caused the individual inconvienece through substandard parts or workmanship they used.As such they should ensure that the customer is not suffering for something that is MINI's problem/fault.

The logic is simple but the practice not unfortunately

courtesy arguement is fine for service visits etc as the dealer is providing a service out of courtesy.

But for warranty issue you are restricted from using the car because of MINI failings, unde these circumstances MINI have caused the individual inconvienece through substandard parts or workmanship they used.As such they should ensure that the customer is not suffering for something that is MINI's problem/fault.

The logic is simple but the practice not unfortunately

Read the terms of the BMW warranty ;) I write warranties for a living so know the wording of them inside and out.

There is no point in the BMW warranty where it states they have to provide alternative transport during a repair, this is provided out of courtesy by the dealer who may charge for this service ;)

Definately varies dealer to dealer - even if under the same franchise in my experience - normally charged ~£18 /day with ~£500 excess or given the choice of cover under my own insurance.

Perhaps try an alternative local dealership to see what their policy on this is?

The options that I have been given are to risk a £1,000 excess or pay an £18 damage waiver fee. It's just the principle of this that I have an issue with. I've owned many new cars over the last few years and have never had to part with a single penny for any courtesy car. Moreover, my own fully-comp insurance specifically states that I am insured to drive any courtesy car from a garage whilst mine is in for a repair. Out of four MINI dealers that I called, none would let me drive their courtesy car on my insurance. It's been good enough for Porsche and Jaguar over the last couple of years, but not good enough for MINI! I have to be on their group insurance and I can risk the excess or pay the damage waiver.

I did call MINI Customer Services but they deferred the decision to the dealerships.

At Sytner Leicester they let me take out my own insurance on the courtesy car, all they needed was some kind of evidence to show that you are actually insured. Possibly the same with all Sytner dealers.

personally I think it sucks.

you should not be out of pocket or unduly inconvenienced due to warranty work..................servicing is different and it's really up to the dealer as a courtesy.

I have run Landrovers for the last eight years and a courtesy car is always supplied free of charge for any warranty work.................no questions asked.

I have even been offered a free courtesy car for servicing, but I always just prefer to wait and browse around the dealership.

BMW/MIni should take a lesson from Landrover and show their customers some courtesy !!

it actually really ****es me off that they have this attitude.

hi, my advice would be to write a polite email and send it to the highest person in bmw you can find, i sent one to the CEO in germany! because they wouldnt give my a courtesy car (i was 20 and needed to be 21), he forwarded it to one of the big bosses here and they arranged for me to get £150 in accessory/servicing vouchers free, Just shows what an email can do

i'd also argue that if somone took in an M6 and needed a courtesy car they wouldnt even consider asking for money, all customers should be treated the same

I can understand dealerships not accepting your insurance policy, annoying as it is.

For whatever reason your insurance could be invalid, e.g. you've cancelled it and haven't sent back the certificate, and the dealership is then allowing a vehicle on the road uninsured.

£20/day is normal at dealerships nowadays, though I would argue this should only be enforceable for work outside of warranty cover, e.g. wear and tear items, servicing, tyres, repairs outside of the warranty period. To be honest, one hopes you would get a courtesy car for anything...........

But for work within warranty that is due to poorly designed or manufactured components you shouldn't have to pay; it was my understanding that dealerships could claim this back from BMW but I might be wrong.

:biggrin:

I just wanted to let you all know, that as I prev mentioned, my mums Punto was in for Warranty work and they were to charge £14 per day.
They didn't charge her in the end. So if Fiat can honour free courtesy vehicles then BMW should too!

Read the terms of the BMW warranty ;) I write warranties for a living so know the wording of them inside and out.

There is no point in the BMW warranty where it states they have to provide alternative transport during a repair, this is provided out of courtesy by the dealer who may charge for this service ;)

Not entirely true. If you call MINI assistance and they require your car go to a dealer for repair then you are entitled to a courtesy car if the repair takes longer than 4 hours.

So if you can always call MINI assistance if you have a problem which is likely to take more than 4 hours to fix.

i usually always have a courtesy car when i have warranty work done - even when i was 18, didnt have to pay anythink. i think every dealership has different rules. up in lincoln at Boston and even Astels wont allow me or my mate (21) to have a courtesy car - have to be 25.

Read the terms of the BMW warranty ;) I write warranties for a living so know the wording of them inside and out.

There is no point in the BMW warranty where it states they have to provide alternative transport during a repair, this is provided out of courtesy by the dealer who may charge for this service ;)

did I say that it did? No I didn't, read the post again.

I said that warranty work is diiferent to servicing and because warranty work results in the owner being inconvieniced because of poor assembly parts or whatever fitted by MINI then they should ensure that the customer is not left without transportation.

Its called customer service and provides customer satisfaction which ultimately benefits a company through repeat custom. something a lot of people including bmw/mini seem to have forgotten about