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  • Loaner car survey

    Posted by Site Administrator on July 13, 2013 at 6:22 am

    How many loaner cars do you have?

    How much do you charge the customer to use them?
    What company provides insurance for them?
    Do you advertise that you have them available?
    Alan Ollie replied 8 years, 4 months ago 19 Members · 19 Replies
  • 19 Replies
  • newmansauto

    Member
    July 15, 2013 at 11:19 am

    3 loaners

    zero cost to customer
    National Interstate ins
    Yes, heavily 
  • Mark Doornbos

    Member
    July 15, 2013 at 11:27 am

    We have a total of 18 cars/minivans/pick-ups spread between our 3 locations.  They are available no-charge to our customers, we ask that they replace the fuel used.

    We currently insure them through Zurich Insurance.
    We do not advertise their availability but, they are on the road everyday.
  • Ron Smith

    Member
    July 15, 2013 at 11:50 am

    We have 12 loaner cars/vans. Our insurance is through Auto-Owners. They are Free,but we ask that the gas be replaced. We also require proof of insurance and they sign a statement on the R/O acknowledging that their insurance is primary.They are advertised and always out with a waiting list when we are really busy.

  • smt

    Member
    July 15, 2013 at 12:10 pm

    We have 3 loaner cars, Our insurance is Erie, we have the user sign a document stating they will replace the gas and their insurance is primary,  we advertise heavy and use them constantly. We do not charge only request the gas be replaced.

  • Andrew Tobias

    Member
    July 15, 2013 at 12:34 pm

    We have 4 loaner cars, 2 at each location.  They are insured through Secura.  We don’t advertise on them because I replace them quite often.  We do not charge the client for their use but the client is responsible for fuel.  We have the clients sign rental agreements and insurance waivers.  We take copies of their driver’s license and insurance cards.

  • Unknown Member

    Deleted User
    July 15, 2013 at 1:13 pm

    5 loaners between 2 locations. 

    no charge
    auto-owners
    yes, we promote them a lot.
  • Jay

    Member
    July 15, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    we have 3 that are gone all the time.no charge just ask they replace gas.auto-owners.promote them alot.we get alot of work having them and also bails us out if somthing takes longer on a custumers car if its not done by end of day.we run into parts availability as we have no parts store in town.

  • Tom

    Member
    July 16, 2013 at 3:33 pm

    Three.

    No charge to customer.
    State Auto Insurance.
    We advertise several types of transportation assistance, but we do not advertise “Free loaner cars”. I just don’t have a warm, fuzzy feeling about doing that.
  • russmccloud

    Member
    July 18, 2013 at 11:06 am

    We have a fleet of six loaner vehicles. All have been rescued from death by purchasing from an owner who did not want to do necessary repairs (usually head gasket issues). If the vehicle is fairly clean and the repairs cost effective, we buy the car and fix it up.

    There is no charge to the customer. The insurance and other regulations make charging the client prohibitive. We have a two part form we have the client sign, we copy their driver’s license and insurance card. Typically, no drivers under 25 years of age – that policy makes Zurich breathe easier.

    We have Zurich Insurance, they are great to work with on our loaner car program.

    We do not advertise loaners, we provide them to any (gasp!) come-back, a large job, or a very good client upon request, or the if S/A’s offer. They are often used to seal the deal when the client is balking at the time out of vehicle to do repairs. HTH!

  • joecval

    Member
    July 22, 2013 at 2:35 pm

    We have one loaner vehicle, but probably could use one more.

    No charge for the customer, just replace the gas used.

    We have Wilson Mutual Insurance. We also use a rental agreement marked no charge.

    We advertise it a lot in various media, the vehicle has our shop logo on it but is not a rolling billboard.

  • gene

    Member
    July 24, 2013 at 6:25 pm

    I have 6 rental cars, why loan when you can charge? $25.00 a day, customers love having a newer car instead of a bucket. We joined a rental car association that handles insurance and contracts. Most cars are 6 to 8 years old, bought for about $4000.00 each, insurance is about $60.00 a month. This is a good little profit center for the wife. I put the LLC in her name, now she owns her own company.

  • cordero005

    Member
    November 19, 2013 at 4:48 pm

    Does any one use a waver ?  If yes, would you mind to share it?

  • hawthorneauto

    Member
    November 25, 2013 at 12:21 pm

    We have a TH!NK City EV on-site available to rent through the Getaround network (www.getaround.com). Getaround covers the insurance through Berkshire-Hathaway. http://www.getaround.com/electric-think-fyjd

  • pbrennan

    Member
    October 29, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    What do you think about this idea related to loaner cars?

    – You have a “discount club” (call it whatever you want) offered at, say $99/yr per car. It INCLUDES 3 oil changes. Members of the club enjoy great benefits (10% off all repairs, priority service, FREE loaner cars, etc etc)
    – Offer loaner cars to customers at $10/day (cheaper than any rental car service out there) who are not part of the club.
    1. Makes selling a club membership MUCH easier because of the huge value.
    2. Ensures those customers will at least come to you for oil changes, where you will have the chance to get them involved in other services / repairs
    3. Covers some of the cost of owning the loaner cars.
    I think you should wrap or at least sticker the windows of the cars you loan out – it’s additional free advertising.
    Thoughts?
  • Linc

    Member
    November 4, 2015 at 10:49 am

    I am surprised by the responsess with respect to loaning company owned vehicles as loaners. I was always concerned and advised that the required coverage was difficult to get and expensive. Our shop has for man y years provided loaners through Enterprise.

    I believe this solution to the loaner challenge is the cleanest, safest, and cheapest answer.

    LINC

  • wheelingauto

    Member
    November 10, 2015 at 8:24 am

    21 cars

    No Charge, replace used fuel

    Auto Owners
    Advertise most definitely
    Many years ago there was a poll that showed the top 3 reasons (in no particular order) people select a service provider is trust, expertise and convenience.
    Loaner cars are tremendously convenient
    People are more inclined to buy more when they have a loaner because picking up the car at the end of the day becomes less important.
    You get to charge for loaners weather it be a rental charge as Gene suggested or “built in” to the cost of doing business. People see value in them.
    If you’re not advertising them why wouldn’t you?
  • stevebfl

    Member
    November 10, 2015 at 8:25 am

    Charging for loaners is a big NO NO at least in Florida. You won’t get insurance and you have huge regulations as a rental car agency.

  • pbrennan

    Member
    November 11, 2015 at 4:26 pm

    You could simply charge a “convenience fee” on an invoice instead of for rental cars, right?

  • Alan Ollie

    Member
    November 11, 2015 at 9:43 pm

    We have 4 .And just bought 2 more so that will be 6 on the road. We have been running 4  2003- V6 Passat’s never a tow in for 4 years. Switching all of our cars to 08-09  2.5 VW Jetta’s they run forever and have smooth eng . I don’t know how we would get by without them. We are using Uber daily to pickup customer cars and transport customers.

    South Fl very Very hard to get insurance. Tickets and tolls seem to be the only big problem we have cost us about 2 k last year. 
    We now put stop holds on peoples licenses if they say they do not want to pay a red-light ticket $253.
    Seems like when faced with sa stop hold they pay pretty quick. 

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