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Anyone have luck getting a courtesy vehicle?

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tla90

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Need to bring my 22 in for several warrantied things, and after calling two dealerships, I got the typical "we have an appointment next week" and "we're backed up a week and a half, so plan to leave it". I am expecting them to get to it around two weeks after I drop it off at the earliest. That would be before any work would actually be done. Both local dealerships said they don't offer courtesy vehicles at all and I'd need to rent something until they got my truck fixed. I have three carseats in the back, so $1000+/wk rental. That's garbage considering I just bought a brand new truck.

Issues I am having:
Roof leaking into cab at A-pillar
Rambox torsion bars both broke loose
Tranny shudder
CEL came on today with a code U0422 - Invalid Data Received From Body Control Module
 
This makes 0 sense, what's the point of having an appointment if you have to drop it off for 2 weeks? If you have an appointment you should be able to have your truck diagnosed the same day and parts ordered with a second appointment scheduled for installation.
 
Both my Ram and BMW dealership have fleet loaner cars and if they don't at the time of my scheduled appointment, they rent one for me on their dime. I don't buy a car from any dealer without FIRST checking out their service department. You spend 1% of your time buying and 99% of your time servicing over the lifetime of ownership. Make sure its a good one.

Find a new dealership.
 
That was actually at two different dealerships. Will be trying a few more tomorrow, but not expecting much. I know they get paid less for warranty work, but you'd think a dealership would want to be in good favor with customers for a potential new sale down the road.
 
Our local dealer has some loaners, but it's limited. And if they don't have one when need it, too bad. BTW, the warranty does not guarantee you a loaner.

Rental should not be $1000 per week. Enterprise is showing my area a full sized car is $350 a week, a midsized SUV is $440. Still would suck to have to pay that, don't get me wrong.
 
techman said:
Both my Ram and BMW dealership have fleet loaner cars and if they don't at the time of my scheduled appointment, they rent one for me on their dime. I don't buy a car from any dealer without FIRST checking out their service department. You spend 1% of your time buying and 99% of your time servicing over the lifetime of ownership. Make sure its a good one.

Find a new dealership.
Click to expand...
Idk what garbage you buy but my rams its more like 1% buying 5% repairs (usually done by myself) 94% driving them lol….

And most dealers that offer that kind of service dont give good discounts when buying in my experience…
 
H3LZSN1P3R said:
Idk what garbage you buy but my rams its more like 1% buying 5% repairs (usually done by myself) 94% driving them lol….

And most dealers that offer that kind of service dont give good discounts when buying in my experience…
Click to expand...

the cheapest GMC dealer in the region used to offer them to any and all customers (whether you bought from them or not) - they've since changed their policy over the last year to only customers that have bought from them can get a loaner...they like most dealers unloaded their loaner inventory when used car prices went crazy. I can only imagine how a small town dealer feels about keeping a couple loaners around for the random two day warranty job...but I agree that it'd be tough to do business with one that doesn't even have a loaner wait list
 
jebruns said:
Our local dealer has some loaners, but it's limited. And if they don't have one when need it, too bad. BTW, the warranty does not guarantee you a loaner.

Rental should not be $1000 per week. Enterprise is showing my area a full sized car is $350 a week, a midsized SUV is $440. Still would suck to have to pay that, don't get me wrong.
Click to expand...
Full-sized car or mid-sized SUV won't work with three car seats, all of the extra baby crap, and all of my work stuff.

Two other local dealers said no-go on a loaner. Gonna try reaching out further
 
Don’t you get a loaner if you have the extended warranty max care? I believe with just the regular warranty your SOL but with the warranty they cover a free rental car
 
LegendaryLawman said:
Don’t you get a loaner if you have the extended warranty max care? I believe with just the regular warranty your SOL but with the warranty they cover a free rental car
Click to expand...
A little. Here's what the Mopar ext warranty says:
FIRST DAY RENTAL: First Day Rental Allowance provides up to $45.00 car rental allowance if the Vehicle is to be serviced for any
mechanical repair or maintenance service. Please note: Excludes rental for bodywork to the exterior sheet metal/composite panel or
collision repairs.
RENTAL ALLOWANCE: Rental Allowance will pay up to $45.00 per day for a rental any time repairs take overnight, and a
component covered by the Plan or the manufacturer’s Basic or Powertrain Warranty fails.
The Plan will not pay for rental charges for a vehicle that is awaiting service or parts unless the vehicle is inoperable due to a
mechanical failure of a covered component, or unless continued operation would cause further damage.
The rental vehicle must be obtained from a Dealer. If a Dealer does not have rental vehicles available, you may obtain one from a
licensed rental agency. Rental coverage is subject to state and local laws and policies imposed by the rental agency. Rental charges
in excess of the amount allowed by the Plan are your responsibility. The Plan is not responsible for any refusal of a rental agency to
rent a vehicle to you.
Total Rental Allowance per occurrence is a maximum of 5 days or $225.00.
 
jebruns said:
A little. Here's what the Mopar ext warranty says:
FIRST DAY RENTAL: First Day Rental Allowance provides up to $45.00 car rental allowance if the Vehicle is to be serviced for any
mechanical repair or maintenance service. Please note: Excludes rental for bodywork to the exterior sheet metal/composite panel or
collision repairs.
RENTAL ALLOWANCE: Rental Allowance will pay up to $45.00 per day for a rental any time repairs take overnight, and a
component covered by the Plan or the manufacturer’s Basic or Powertrain Warranty fails.
The Plan will not pay for rental charges for a vehicle that is awaiting service or parts unless the vehicle is inoperable due to a
mechanical failure of a covered component, or unless continued operation would cause further damage.
The rental vehicle must be obtained from a Dealer. If a Dealer does not have rental vehicles available, you may obtain one from a
licensed rental agency. Rental coverage is subject to state and local laws and policies imposed by the rental agency. Rental charges
in excess of the amount allowed by the Plan are your responsibility. The Plan is not responsible for any refusal of a rental agency to
rent a vehicle to you.
Total Rental Allowance per occurrence is a maximum of 5 days or $225.00.
Click to expand...
Where can we find that in writing for sake of argument with dealer?
 
Update on the OP:

Never brought the truck in because of lack of courtesy vehicles. Now, 2 of the 4 dealerships in my area offer courtesy vehicles, but their next appointment times are ridiculously far off. I am consistently getting the U0422 Loss of BCM Comms, so there is a potential for me to be stranded somewhere with all of the damn kids in the truck.

Next appointment times were:
3/20
3/23
4/5
4/14

That is some worthless aftercare if I've ever seen it. Any other repair facility in my area takes people same day, or at most, two days out. I am looking at getting a second car and getting rid of this truck solely based on the service after sales. There is no reason someone who buys a brand new truck should have to put up with this
 
@RamCares can we get a clear answer on whether or not we can be assured a loaner or have rental car fees reimbursed for recall work such as the grid heater relay? Especially if it's taking more than a day? My dually is my only vehicle currently, so without it, i'm up schitts creek.
 
I've reached out to Ram about a loaner reimbursement before. You can open a case with them and they will reimburse you, but it is only like $25 a day. Good luck finding a rental at that price.
 
techman said:
I've reached out to Ram about a loaner reimbursement before. You can open a case with them and they will reimburse you, but it is only like $25 a day. Good luck finding a rental at that price.
Click to expand...
yea that's unsatisfactory for the amount of $$$ we pay for these trucks.
 
CFE said:
@RamCares can we get a clear answer on whether or not we can be assured a loaner or have rental car fees reimbursed for recall work such as the grid heater relay? Especially if it's taking more than a day? My dually is my only vehicle currently, so without it, i'm up schitts creek.
Click to expand...

Hello,

Thank you for grabbing our attention on this. Certain recalls does not have loaner vehicle applied to the repair, unless it is stated on the recall letter, even if your vehicle is still within the manufacture warranty. Loaner vehicles are also first come at the dealer with limited supply available.

William
Ram Cares
 
RamCares said:
Hello,

Thank you for grabbing our attention on this. Certain recalls does not have loaner vehicle applied to the repair, unless it is stated on the recall letter, even if your vehicle is still within the manufacture warranty. Loaner vehicles are also first come at the dealer with limited supply available.

William
Ram Cares
Click to expand...
you mean non existent supply...and what is the point of making an appointment to have to leave it for 2 weeks? gotta say ram dealers need to get their crap in gear in the service department area....
 
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bahaha dealing with this EXACT issue right now, last month and a half ish have been a def related nightmare for me, this will be the third time I've been to the dealership for def crap. Trucks currently been back in for 3 days now. This time they gave me a 1500 off the lot to drive in the mean time. The first time it went down i was 1.5 weeks before i could get in to service dept and as per the dealerships request they asked me to keep the truck inside my heated garage to keep it thawed until the appointment, truck only had 50KM to de-rate so i couldn't move it if i wanted to, other than to get it to the dealership. So that evening it went down not sure what to do, my wife and I decided to rent an SUV, were a family that relies on two vehicles for kids sports/work etc. Anyway i accrued a 2600$ rental vehicle bill while i waited to get my BRAND NEW truck with 7000km on it into the dealership, all the while driving a horrendously expensive 220$ a day rental vehicle.

When i made a claim with Ram Care Canada to have my rental bill covered, I was almost immediately dismissed. They told me I would have needed to purchase extended warranty to qualify for a rental or loaner vehicle. Even after taking it to her supervisor she said the truck would have had to stay at the dealership for the entire 1.5 weeks leading up to the appointment for me to have been eligible for a rental under "special circumstances" that being the truck had such low KM. The second i told her i was directed by the dealership to keep it at my place of residence to keep it inside and thawed she did a complete 360 and immediately wiped their hands of the issue and blamed the dealership and said its on them and were not responsible. I asked again for assistance quite cordially saying this was completely unrealistic and frankly couldn't really afford the 2600$, and I got the most robotic " This is FCA/Stellantis, position on the matter, can i help you with anything else today, if not i would like to end this phone call"

So if you expect help in anyway from Ram Care I wouldn't hold your breath, for me anyway they seemed to look for any out possible, and were clearly reading from a script, and had zero empathy. I am still searching for a phone number to someone in Ram that holds some position of authority that i can speak to, still trying to get my rental bill covered. This is just my opinion but for the price they command out of these vehicles now a days, I feel there should be a higher level of service and accountability that comes with that. If i am spending over 100k on a truck and it cant even make it to 7000KM without issues i damn well better be taken care of and with some class if you want me to stay as a customer. Yet here i am fighting tooth and nail to get a rental bill covered, and they dont want anything to do with it because of a technicality. I am 100% basing this experience on what i buy next for a vehicle, i know either brand may provide the same fight, but ive been ram loyal for years, and the first time i turn to them for help and i get pushed aside.... yea
 
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I know this thread is really all about bashing Stellantis/FCA, but to add some factors for comparison, a neighbor across the street has had her Toyota stuck at the dealer for 3 weeks waiting to get it looked at (no courtesy vehicle), close friend has his BMW and his wife's Subaru both sitting at different dealers for a little over a week (no courtesy vehicles) and another friend has had his Raptor at the dealer for months (he got $30/day for the first 3 days). I've helped each of them with rides as I've been able and am sympathetic to all of them, but the issue definitely extends beyond FCA.
 
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