I recently had my RR serviced and was frankly rather surprised and dissappointed at the difficulty in obtaining a loaner. Apparently, Land Rover only allows the dealer a certain number of days for loaners and they re-imburse the dealer monthly. This is a very limited supply and was told that I could only have it for a certain time. There was a chance, also, that my RR would have to be there over the weekend and they said that I could have the loaner over the weekend either.

I don't know about anyone else, but I also have a BMW 7 series. My service experience there is always exemplary and a loaner is always available. They never give me any excuses about the car, tell me to keep it if I need it over the weekend, etc. I also always get a brand new car every time I go to BMW for service. I must say that I have been very impressed with BMW service and dissappointed in RR. Land Rover had better start taking care of their customers better or they will start losing them.

 

Oh, I made a typo in that thread...they said I could not have it over the weekend.

 

It is very dealer dependent. My dealer is very good about loaners.

I agree, loaners are very important and it is expected among customers of this class. I would also submit that loaners are especially critical when driving a Land Rover

 

Ah, yes, the loaner-issue with Land Rover... I've experienced this. My last 4 vehicles having been Lexus, I am admittedly spoiled with regard to customer service. I took my Rover in for service and was surprised that they really don't have a loaner fleet, and that you don't get a loaner unless you bought your truck from a LR dealer. I've received 2 loaners from LR, both were rented cars from Enterprise! A Jaguar X-Type the first time and a Volkswagen Jetta the 2nd time. The LR/Jaguar dealer here has an Enterprise office in the Service Dept!

No matter, now that my LR is out of warranty I'll not be taking it to the dealer. Besides, I'd rather drive one of my own cars than their Enterprise rental!

 

That is true, you usually have to buy it from the dealership to get the rental. This happened the last time I bought my Porsche from another dealership than the one I usually received service from. What a pain not having a loaner.

 

I must say this..I have owned many cars and many nice ones and have the opportunity to deal with many different service departments. I will say that BMW service has been the most accomodating, followed by a close 2nd from Acura when I had my NSX. Acura always had a brand new car for me to drive and never blinked an eye about getting it for me. I didn't even buy the NSX from them either.

I really think this is a more serious issue than Land Rover realizes. When you buy a car of this magnitude, your buying the whole experience. I have received better service from the Chevy dealer than Land Rover.

 

I've never had a question asked about a loaner from Lexus. 2 came from the dealer and 2 did not, but I always get a loaner regardless.

The last time my Rover was at the dealer it was for $3500 worth of head-work (covered under warranty, thankfully) and I had to ask for the loaner rather than have it offered to me. Add to this that they also kept the truck 4 days longer than they said they'd have it and I'd have been really peeved had I not been given something to drive! Also, and this is really only a minor thing, I've grown accustomed to getting my cars back from the dealer clean after service; not so with Land Rover! I thought they'd at least give it a quickie-wash on the outside, but they didn't so much as get near it with a hose.

I do agree that Jaguar and Land Rover need to step up their game on this. They're going after the Lexus/BMW/Mercedes buyer, but are not delivering the same ownership experience.

 

Yes, the dealer I am using has a detail department, but if you don't mention it, they may not clean it for you.

I am really surprised on the service experience with Land Rover. I thought that they strived to be exceptional, but I have some doubts. I know that every time I have my BMW serviced, I get a call withing a week from BMW corporate on how my service experience was. If I don't give them all 5 out of 5's they fail and it effects there reimbursement and how the dealer is treated from corporate. Maybe Land Rover should do something like this??

Some of it is probably dealer dependent.

 

My local dealership in Glen Cove has an extremely strict loaner policy. The vehicle must be purchased from them and they NEVER give loaners if your vehicle is going in for body work (unless they order the wrong bumper), in which case they will give you a loaner LR3 for a month while a new bumper is shipped from the UK! They also are attached to an Enterprise, and unless you have certain insurance (Geico), you are not eligible for a loaner! Also, anyone with aftermarket extended warranties is denied a loaner. At least they offer loaner cars, however. When I bring my Jaguar in for service I am usually given a Ford or Mercury loaner to drive! I will say that in my opinion, Mercedes has the best servicing of any marque I own.

Has anyone else noticed that LR3 loaners are being phased out in favor of LR2s?

 

It's very much dealer dependant - but I've even noticed, model dependant. Rover of Manhattan will give me a car anytime I want. Rover of Monmouth, even on the couple purchased there, make it such a tedious task that it's not worth asking. Or - like the post above mentioned, they roll around some POS enterprise rental. Yet, when I go to Porsche, same dealer as the Rover, they give me anything. Rover of Princeton was good about putting us back in a loaner Rover, generally a Disco or LR3, not an HSE or Sport like we take in - and Cherry Hill was good too. I also agree with above poster regarding Lexus, they always accomodated us when we owned one. They would even come to the house and leave a car and take ours in - that's service. My '08 is going in tomorrow for routine stuff and I'm not even going to hassle with getting a loaner from Schneider Nelson, rather opting for her to follow me there tomorrow. I can get home quicker that way than waiting on them to find something for me to drive.