Loaners For Service..

[SW03ES]

But even more important - most of the trivial damage (scratches, dings, etc.) and much worse damage that has been done to my cars in 40 years of driving has been done at dealerships

This is true LOL.

[lenore]

Hey, and if you invest, you can truely say you own part of the company, instead of handing your money over to support those stockholders.

[Rx330driver]

whoa whoa whoa, you get a free tank of gas? i have to pay 5 dollars! lol. well, back to the subject...whose to say that you arent getting your money's worth. i mean even though it might be overpriced...a little...you can at least comfort yourself by saying that they are LEXUS trained...and not multi car brand trained. I have to say the only reason i keep going back is that i feel OEM parts are the best way to go, i just feel safer, but if you try going to a mercedes dealership, they will take everything in your wallet and maybe a limb or two for a loaner

[SW03ES]

"Getting your moneys worth" is entirely dependent on the individual spending the money. To me, I absolutely get my moneys worth when I pay the dealer to service my car. Obviously to RX and Lenore they would not, and thats fine.

[RX330inTPA]

Hi Everyone,

I have to take my '02 RX into the dealer for service (will be in for a couple of days at least)... and was wondering what you guys' experience was with loaner cars?

Clearly, it's a Lexus. So I'm not worried about driving a lemon or anything... but will I at least get something on the same level as what I'm already driving? I'd really like to take an '05 or '06 RX around for a few days and see if I should upgrade anytime soon.

You guys' experiences with loaners?

My experiences mirror some of the other posts in that the loaners and the loaner process sometimes runs hot and cold and varies with which dealership you use. At dealership "A", near my office, I have problems even getting a loaner when I would take my RX in for service. They always seem to be out of them even when I call two or more weeks in advance. They would, however, pick up my car from the office and drop it back when done or if I came in they would have someone run me back to the office with little wait.

At dealership "B" across town, I have had better luck getting loaners and they have done the bulk of my servicing. FWIW, they are owned by the same umbrella company. Usually, I get an RX330 of the current or previous year, all low mileage, however I have received an ES330 on one occasion. Most of these have been clean, but once I got one that had obviously been used by a family with kids and a dog. Dog hair and Cheerios all over the place. I blame the family as much as the dealer for that as I would never trash a car in this manner.

My most recent service had me leaving with an RX400h, under 500 miles on it. They even took a few minutes to go over the differences. Was told they had one in the fleet and as it was not in use they gave it to me for the day. My car is always spotless so perhaps just they trusted me with it. I have also never been asked to pay a gas charge though I might assume that may become more common.

Would also add that a loaner is not a guaranteed item when you bring your car in for service, especially if you did not buy the car new and from that dealer, so be sure to ask if it is included or can be arranged. Worst they can say is no.

[stonecutter]

I have changed the motor oil myself on another car I've owned for years, it makes sense to change it yourself when you have the space and don't mind getting a little dirty, especially if you put lots of mileage in the car. With the RX, I put less than 10k miles on it per year, so at most I'm doing only one oil change every 6 months, and since I don't enjoy getting under a car as much as I used to, I don't mind spending the $90 that the dealer charges for an oil change and tire rotation, plus I get the use of a loaner so inconvenience is at a minimal. It's not a matter of being able to afford it, when I was changing the oil myself I could afford to have the dealer change it, but I prefer to do it myself because I actually get some satisfaction out of it. But things change and now I gladly pay the $90 and don't worry about it for another 6 months.

[PharmGuy]

Ok, last time I had to use the Lexus dealership for service, they actually asked me which loaner

I would prefer..... 2005 RX-330 or a 2005 ES. Since I've driven the Rx-330 before, I took the ES,

which my wife liked......hmmm....might not have been a good idea....she's suddenly thinking her

Altima isn't as nice

PharmGuy

(Paul)

[Dustin]

I just wanted to let all of you know that I've been happy with the loaner. I took my car into service and have been driving an '05 ES 330 with 9800 miles on it for the past 3 days.

Thanks to everyone who contributed!