Loaner Car Roulette : Looooooongroof Edition

"Bengal55" (Bengal55) 10/08/2018 at 11:01 • Filed to: Jaguar, Longroof, Sportbrake, XF, Wagon, JLR, Loaner, Rental, Supercharged

7

21

Loaner Car Roulette: We all love to play it, sometimes it’s with a rental, sometimes it’s with a dealer loaner car. Today for me, it’s a dealer loaner car.

I took my 10' XF in this morning for its scheduled service and I was fully expecting to get another base Discovery or possibly a base XE. The dealer generally loans out base or near base vehicles, and they are just “fine”. Nothing fancy, but not horrible. I was fully expecting another of the same. I’ve gotten 2.0t XF’s, F-Pace diesel’s and a whole plethora of 2.0t Discoveries and Evoq ue’s.

Today, I won.

The loaner clerk started listing off what they had, in his typical spaced out manor; “We have uhh... an F-Pace’s, uhh XF, umm Discovery.. and uhh.. Sportbrake.. umm”. The moment he said that I said a bit too enthusiastically “STOP!” .. “That, give me that!” He looked at me like I had just had a stroke. “..Kay..”

So here she is, a 2018 Jaguar XF Sportbrake S AWD, 3.0 Supercharged in gorgeous Rosello Red over an Ebony/Light Oyster interior.

She’s pretty well optioned, HUD, full technology and safety package (lane keep, departure warning, pano-roof, etc.)

I’ve had this car about 3 hours and only put about 20 miles on it, but I’m in love. I want this car, I want this car bad. I can’t stop looking at it sitting in the parking lot here at work. This isn’t good.

So here’s your chance. I’ll probably have this for a couple days, so if you have any questions just let me know and I’ll try and answer them all. More photos and a possibly review coming later.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Bengal55 10/08/2018 at 11:15

3

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

One of us! One of u s! One of us!

E90M3 > Bengal55 10/08/2018 at 11:17

0

I test drove one of those, it was pretty nice. I wouldn’t spend 70k on one, but it certainly was nice.

My citroen won't start > Bengal55 10/08/2018 at 11:18

0

This is more of a general question about Loaner practices in the US.

As a non freedom boy, it seems odd that dealerships lend cars to every customer that drops their car off for a service. Are there that many cars laying around to loan? Do they only loan cars to customers they trust? Only to people s till in w arranty work?

We kinda have that here u nder “x brand Assistance ” but only if they have to work on your car for more than 3 or so days.

ToyotaFamily > Bengal55 10/08/2018 at 11:19

0

That is a beautiful car. I’m usually not a fan of burgundy-ish colors but it wears it well.

diplodicus > ToyotaFamily 10/08/2018 at 11:24

0

That’s not black?

E90M3 > My citroen won't start 10/08/2018 at 11:24

0

Depends on the dealer for availability , but I took my 328i in for a recall and since I scheduled it far enough in advance, I was able to book a loaner. My 3 has been out of warranty since 2015 at the latest. 

t0ast > My citroen won't start 10/08/2018 at 11:30

0

I imagine it varies from dealer to dealer (even those within the same brand), but I occasionally get a loaner or paid-for rental from the Subaru dealership in spite of my Outback being well out of warranty. The offer tends to be made if the repair is expected to take more than 2 full days or if they do something like mess up a part order and it’s not ready by the originally promised pick-up time.

For a while, the Mazda dealership I occasionally used just flat-out didn’t offer loaners, though they’re under new management as of a year or two ago, so that might have changed.

My favorite independent mechanic shop simply keeps some older Honda Accords around and makes them available to rent for $20/day, which is roughly half the cost of an economy/compact class rental in this area .

Svend > My citroen won't start 10/08/2018 at 11:31

0

Loaners or rather ‘courtesy cars’ are standard practice for main dealers and many independents and many large car bodyshops in the U.K. and I believe a lot of Europe .

Some will drive a courtesy car to you, take yours for a service and drop yours back later. 

Some have a dedicated fleet of courtesy cars and some just give what ever is on the forecourt.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > diplodicus 10/08/2018 at 11:37

1

No it’s purple-ish

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Bengal55 10/08/2018 at 11:39

2

100% thought you were in Europe until I saw the Virginia plates. I had no idea we got a Jag wagon here. 

Bengal55 > My citroen won't start 10/08/2018 at 11:44

1

As has been said by others here, it varies depending on the dealer. The dealer I bought from will give you a loaner vehicle for any service for free as long as the car is undergoing service. They keep a fleet of vehicles that they rotate back into their sales inventory every so often. It’s pretty common practice with luxury marquee dealers, and occasionally with more mainstream brand dealers.

Bengal55 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 10/08/2018 at 11:47

2

Which is the problem, most people have no clue that anyone beyond Volvo and Subaru sell wagons stateside. A little mainstream advertising would do them wonders.

Ssfancyfresh > Bengal55 10/08/2018 at 11:56

0

That vehicle is optioned beautifully. I love allllllll of it...

... Except that black trim between the reverse lights. maybe it’s the angle from which the photo was taken, but that black line breaks up the tail lamp graphics in a way that it makes the whole thing look like an incongruous mess.

Still. Want.

Zaxbys > My citroen won't start 10/08/2018 at 11:57

0

It does vary, but for example:

Back in 2011 I bought a 1990 Integra (terrible vehicle thanks to previous owners) that had a non-working shoulder belt motor. Well, as a safety item, Acura had a true lifetime warranty on the parts. I made an appointment, drove the 3 hours to dealership (yay living in the middle of nowhere) and dropped the car off, and was handed the keys to a 2011 MDX so I could kill time at the local shopping center that happened to be one of the largest in the world . A fter spending way more time there than I wanted, I got a phone call and was told they needed more parts, and was  asked if it was ok if I drove the MDX for a few days. uh... YES!

Bengal55 > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 10/08/2018 at 12:31

1

boxrocket > Bengal55 10/08/2018 at 12:46

0

Y’know dealers intentionally put service customers in newer/nicer cars to entice them to trade up. This time may have been more successful than imagined.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Bengal55 10/08/2018 at 13:36

1

that is an incredibly sexy looking car. I’m guessing they don’t sell it in the US.

EDIT: they do sell it in the USA. sadly there are no green color options. 

GoodIdeaAtTheTime > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 10/08/2018 at 13:47

1

The misses saw one here the other day. Once she foun d out what it was, and after the surprise wore off, she dragged me to the local Jaaaaaaaaag dealer. Way out of my price range but the salesman let us test drive it anyway (I bought him lunch, that always helps ) aaaaaand I want dearly. Need monies.

Aremmes > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 10/08/2018 at 13:56

1

The Jag wagon was R. Lee Ermey’s favorite automobile.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Bengal55 10/08/2018 at 16:18

0

I didn’t know these existed. Now I need one in my life. It’s not a Mercedes. I don’t know who I am anymore.

Bengal55 > boxrocket 10/08/2018 at 23:05

1

Most of the time they are mildly optioned vehicles, with the occasional well optioned thrown in. I’ve wanted one of these since they were released, and this is the first time I’ve gotten some wheel time. I may have been a customer for one of these either way. Honestly if they want to move more Sportbrakes, they need to be loaning them out instead of F-Paces.