Loaner fees from Porsche Dealer

[laua]

I finally brought in my Taycan for a bunch of recalls and at the advice of the service manager, arranged for a loaner in case they had to hold my vehicle if it failed the battery test.

They gave me a base Macan for about 24 hours; after returning the car they actually sent me a bill for $13 of gas. This is my first Porsche but I’ve never had either Volvo or BMW nickel and dime me for gas. Even worse, I only drove 20 miles and there’s almost no way that’s $13; the tank wasn’t even full when they gave it to me.

Not that $13 breaks the bank but it just seems ridiculous that a so-called “premium” dealer does this. Not to mention the principle of the matter (ie don’t scam your customers!). I should’ve seen it coming based on my experience trying to buy a car from them (requiring for a five digit non refundable deposit with no guarantee on allocation) but their location was just too convenient for me to ignore.

Am I wrong to be annoyed? Was I just lucky to have good dealers in the past?

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[The Riddler]

I’m always quite surprised they don’t bill me for the espresso they invariably offer… had to use the tyre sealant last weekend and they wanted to charge me £88 for a replacement bottle. Bought the exact same spec bottle along with a new, OEM electric tyre compressor (for some reason thought best to replace both) for £24 total from a Vw dealer, being VW group parts

it’s like a Porsche tax…

 

[gnop1950]

I finally brought in my Taycan for a bunch of recalls and at the advice of the service manager, arranged for a loaner in case they had to hold my vehicle if it failed the battery test.

They gave me a base Macan for about 24 hours; after returning the car they actually sent me a bill for $13 of gas. This is my first Porsche but I’ve never had either Volvo or BMW nickel and dime me for gas. Even worse, I only drove 20 miles and there’s almost no way that’s $13; the tank wasn’t even full when they gave it to me.

Not that $13 breaks the bank but it just seems ridiculous that a so-called “premium” dealer does this. Not to mention the principle of the matter (ie don’t scam your customers!). I should’ve seen it coming based on my experience trying to buy a car from them (requiring for a five digit non refundable deposit with no guarantee on allocation) but their location was just too convenient for me to ignore.

Am I wrong to be annoyed? Was I just lucky to have good dealers in the past?

I'd don't know if you should be annoyed. But I took my Taycan in for a recall, they gave me a new Panamera loaner. I returned it two days later, when I picked up my Taycan, and there was no charge. I'm not even sure what was in the tank as I didn't fill it up and didn't bother checking. I'm guessing it is dealer dependent.

 

[Redhot2474]

I finally brought in my Taycan for a bunch of recalls and at the advice of the service manager, arranged for a loaner in case they had to hold my vehicle if it failed the battery test.

They gave me a base Macan for about 24 hours; after returning the car they actually sent me a bill for $13 of gas. This is my first Porsche but I’ve never had either Volvo or BMW nickel and dime me for gas. Even worse, I only drove 20 miles and there’s almost no way that’s $13; the tank wasn’t even full when they gave it to me.

Not that $13 breaks the bank but it just seems ridiculous that a so-called “premium” dealer does this. Not to mention the principle of the matter (ie don’t scam your customers!). I should’ve seen it coming based on my experience trying to buy a car from them (requiring for a five digit non refundable deposit with no guarantee on allocation) but their location was just too convenient for me to ignore.

Am I wrong to be annoyed? Was I just lucky to have good dealers in the past?

I dropped mine off 2 days ago and they emphatically explained if u don’t fill it up , the rate is 5$ per gallon

 

[eisenb11]

I got my Taycan software updated and got a Macan loaner. They told me to bring it back full or I'd be charged for the gas. I forget how much, but it was pretty high - like $15/gallon $9/gallon (edited after checking paperwork) or something like that.

The tank was full and I only drove 4 miles because my work is near the dealer so I didn't bother to top it off - it was still pegged on full when I returned it. No charges for gas.

 

[laua]

Interesting. I guess it’s been a bit of an anomaly that I’ve never paid for gas on loaners before another dealer! Still bugs me that they charged me for more gallons than I could’ve used; I’ll chalk it up to sloppiness than just outright scummy behavior.

 

[whitex]

Interesting. I guess it’s been a bit of an anomaly that I’ve never paid for gas on loaners before another dealer! Still bugs me that they charged me for more gallons than I could’ve used; I’ll chalk it up to sloppiness than just outright scummy behavior.

I would not be so sure that you couldn't have used that much gas. If you're doing short trips, perhaps pre-heated the car, the Macan can burn through gas. I just had a Macan loaner for a couple of days this week. Drove it home, one short trip, then back to the dealer - all separate trips, car was cold each time. 30 miles total. When I picked it, it was showing full tank. I filled it up ~8 miles before dropping it off. It was ~$13 at the gas station for me. Car still showed full when I dropped it off (I wasn't squinting). So I did 22 miles, you did 20. I managed to put in $13 of fuel at gas station price, so it's not unreasonable that you use $13 of gas at dealer refill prices (they have to pay someone to fill it).

 

[laua]

Thanks - feel a bit silly now! I guess I haven’t gassed up in a while and forgot what it’s like. Glad I’m driving an EV now!

 

[deanbush]

I finally brought in my Taycan for a bunch of recalls and at the advice of the service manager, arranged for a loaner in case they had to hold my vehicle if it failed the battery test.

They gave me a base Macan for about 24 hours; after returning the car they actually sent me a bill for $13 of gas. This is my first Porsche but I’ve never had either Volvo or BMW nickel and dime me for gas. Even worse, I only drove 20 miles and there’s almost no way that’s $13; the tank wasn’t even full when they gave it to me.

Not that $13 breaks the bank but it just seems ridiculous that a so-called “premium” dealer does this. Not to mention the principle of the matter (ie don’t scam your customers!). I should’ve seen it coming based on my experience trying to buy a car from them (requiring for a five digit non refundable deposit with no guarantee on allocation) but their location was just too convenient for me to ignore.

Am I wrong to be annoyed? Was I just lucky to have good dealers in the past?

That seems extreme to bill a customer of a $100k+ vehicle for $13 gas! What more surprising that is the advisor I worked with two weeks to order my 2025 vehicle told me that the $5,000 deposit was refundedable! When I asked him specifically if I'd lose my money if I didn't want the car when it arrived, he said, "Of course, we'd refund your $5,000! We wouldn't keep your money." I pray the car meets my expectations so that I don't have a problem with getting my $5,000 refunded to me.

 

[Teufel Hund]

I got my Taycan software updated and got a Macan loaner. They told me to bring it back full or I'd be charged for the gas. I forget how much, but it was pretty high - like $15/gallon or something like that.

The tank was full and I only drove 4 miles because my work is near the dealer so I didn't bother to top it off - it was still pegged on full when I returned it. No charges for gas.

Did you go to Porsche South Bay off of Rosecrans?

 

[MHC]

All the dealers I have ever gotten a loaner car from charge for gas if you don’t bring it back full. If it wasn’t full when you took it - it sounds like you paying for the gas needed to fill the tank back up even if it wasn’t full when you got it. They only way to avoid This is to point this out when you take the car otherwise your paperwork on which they billed you might say it was full. Often when the tank looks full on the gage they won’t charge someone even though it may take two gallons to top it off .

 

[eisenb11]

Did you go to Porsche South Bay off of Rosecrans?

Yes. Don’t quote me on the gas price though. I remember it was high, but forget the exact amount. Didn’t really pay attention since I was only going to put 4 miles on the car anyway.

- Edit -

I just checked the loaner paperwork. It was $9/gallon.

 

[MrJones02]

What usually happens is when the previous person brought the car back, it was topped up maybe 10 miles from the dealership ... the gauge will still show "full" when they arrive. Or they only drove it for 10 miles and got away with it. Then you get the car, drive it for 10 miles and think, yeah, its still full ... but then the needle may have moved a little more so they notice, top it up and you get the bill.
I used to work at a dealership, in certain cases we even had to bill 10 minutes of labour for it (driving to the pump, fill up, and get back).
Those who make that bill dont know/care if you are a good customer or not.

For very small amounts I always found it not worth the hassle, I mean dealerships charge flat fees for labour to for example change a filter, that covers 15 minutes of time, yet it only takes 5-6 minutes ... so they overcharge you for pretty much everything and then go after $13 of fuel.

Those lazy/entitled people who bring a loaner back almost empty, well thats something else.

 

[OC>LalaLand]

I finally brought in my Taycan for a bunch of recalls and at the advice of the service manager, arranged for a loaner in case they had to hold my vehicle if it failed the battery test.

They gave me a base Macan for about 24 hours; after returning the car they actually sent me a bill for $13 of gas. This is my first Porsche but I’ve never had either Volvo or BMW nickel and dime me for gas. Even worse, I only drove 20 miles and there’s almost no way that’s $13; the tank wasn’t even full when they gave it to me.

Not that $13 breaks the bank but it just seems ridiculous that a so-called “premium” dealer does this. Not to mention the principle of the matter (ie don’t scam your customers!). I should’ve seen it coming based on my experience trying to buy a car from them (requiring for a five digit non refundable deposit with no guarantee on allocation) but their location was just too convenient for me to ignore.

Am I wrong to be annoyed? Was I just lucky to have good dealers in the past?

I never thought about this, but I always made a mental note of how much fuel is in the tank when they gave the loaner and returned it with that much. I kinda treated it like a rental car. Maybe I'm wrong

 

[parkslopedope]

Pretty standard practice, same as a rental car. They have always explained the “bring it back full or be charged an exorbitant amount” to refuel whenever I have a loaner.
If you’ve taken a loaner out previously and not filled it up when bringing it back you either got lucky or had really nice dealerships who didn’t mind spending their own money and time to take care of it for the next customer.

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