Warranty repairs and loaner/rental question

[tnburban]

Is there an official policy on Mazda providing you with a vehicle if your car has to be repaired under warranty? I ask because two weeks ago we had to have our CX-9 repaired as the left headlight would not work. I brought it in on a Thursday and they kept the car overnight. Originally they said it could take until Monday or Tuesday. They had Enterprise come pick me up and give me a rental for me to use at no cost, which is fine except for two things that concern me:

1. The service manager mentioned that since it was a safety issue (headlight not operating) I would get a rental. Does that mean if it was some other non-safety problem I wouldn't?
2. The rental I got was a Ford Focus. It was the size of a pack of gum. I bought a 7-passenger vehicle for a reason. We had to travel that weekend and when we do we typically use almost every inch of cargo space. Fortunately we also have a Suburban, so we could have used that if necessary, but we did get the CX-9 back that Friday. I didn't raise a stink about the Focus knowing I had the Suburban as backup as the trip was only about 400 miles round trip, but here in the future the Suburban may not always be available, and quite frankly, I am not comfortable taking it on longer trips right now as it has 180k on it and has been doing some funny stuff related to the 4wd system.

Also, don't most dealers have loaners on hand? This dealer said they don't keep loaners, and send everyone to Enterprise.

Any thoughts?

 

[kornholio]

The 3 mazda dealers that i have used here in new york don't have loaners. They told me that the mazda dealers here in new york don't have loaner vehicles to give out.

 

[tnburban]

Is it unreasonable of me to expect something comparable in size to the car they are fixing? The Focus was like polar opposite of the cx-9.

 

[mxer]

Kinda, they really don't have to give you anything. But at the same time, it's pretty unreasonable they need days to figure out a non functioning headlight.

 

[tex2670]

Is it unreasonable of me to expect something comparable in size to the car they are fixing? The Focus was like polar opposite of the cx-9.

No brand does this. I had a Lexus for 8 years. People coming in with an LS could not get one as a loaner. Each dealer had their fleet of loaners, mostly IS, ES and RX.

When I had an Acura, they didn't have Acura loaners. They had an Enterprise on site, and you could get a Civic or an Altima, or the like.

The fact is, no mfg, as a whole, must provide loaner transportation. And those that do, it is usually the lux brands. So--you may be able to sweet talk them into a larger sedan, but there's very little chance you will get them to give you an SUV--maybe if you tell them about how you need it for carpool, etc. But search these and other forums, and you'll find some companies don't give you any transportation even for a warranty repair.

 

[tex2670]

The 3 mazda dealers that i have used here in new york don't have loaners. They told me that the mazda dealers here in new york don't have loaner vehicles to give out.

they don't have to have a loaner--they can give you a voucher for a rental car. a lot of dealers have a rental counter on site, not as a free service, but for a charge. the dealer can easily pick up the cost, and I'm sure the dealers have much lower negotiated rates than individuals could get.

 

[RL911]

Varies by dealer. My Mazda dealer gives loaners on all service work. I have an 05 Acura RL, Acura dealer gives me a loaner for any service repair, always, and I didn't buy the car from them. My Toyota dealer also gives loaners. When I took my Acura to my local Honda dealer for timing belt change, no loaner.