Benfield Motors - Courtesy Car No Insurance

gibby

Really hacked off with Benfield motors in Newcastle upon Tyne.

I had to take my Skoda back as it developed faults under warranty & they arranged a courtesy car for me.

When I get there they ask me to sign a document for the car but it stated I was not insured for the first £500 of damage.

I would never drive a car with out full insurance & its a real nightmare trying to get out of their service site anyway as its so cramped.

I questioned the service guy about this & just got told its a standard agreement.

I lost a full days work because of it & I certainly won't be taking it back for a service.
I didn't have the hassle with the previous car I had from another dealer.

G

vikingaero

It's just the excess.

deanos

You can pay a waiver fee i beleive

kremmen

My Daughter has had her FIAT ( Fix It Again Tomorrow) in several times and is so used to it that she contacts her own insurance company and provides her own insurance for the day. its less excess and reasonable rates.

Paul

ukjoel

Dealers are forced to offer courtesy cars by the manufacturers to meet the standards so they do.

Lead times for courtesy cars can therefore be as much as 8 weeks due to popularity (despite most just sitting on the drive until the car is ready after its service)

Therefore they came up with a clever way of charging up to £20 a time for insurance waiver to firstly put people off asking and secondly to make a bit of money.

Ford dealers used register themselves a ka which cost them about £4500 back then. They used it as a courtesy car and averaged £400 a month in waiver fees. After a year it had practically paid for itself and they never did more than a thousand miles a month - easy money.