How to handle this situation with a loaner car?
 

I dropped my car off for some work at the BMW dealership and they gave me a 328i loaner car. My friend is in college and his family doesn't have a lot of money. I always let him drive my car cuz he really enjoys it. he asked to drive the loaner so I let him and he was redlining it a bit and when we stopped I noticed the motor now makes a ticking sound that is audible at low speeds that increases with the throttle. It also idles roughly for a few seconds when starting.

Anyway I've never had a loaner car before so I'm wondering what to do....call them and cooly mention that it started making this noise? Or just say nothing and see if they notice? Does it even matter?

I'm mainly just worried about being charged for any repairs the car may need.

**** it. It's a loaner. Go take it off some jumps. Practice drifting. If you return it with tread left on the tires and gas left in the tank and it's not smoking, you fail.

I have had loaner cars, no motor troubles, but had rocks hit the windshield or door dings which are pretty bad. Dealership did not care, since many times the dealership owns the car (at a discount) and after so long they just sell it to someone else.

In your situation, you can just drop it off and move on, but if you want to mention it just go by and be like. I started the car up today and it had a rough idle, did not want to cause any more damage so I brought it back.

I don't know how loaners are handled nor what the service manager may say, but I personally would not even mention it. And if asked later, I'd say it just did that when I drove it and thought it might be normal since I did nothing weird.

It might just need oil. Badly.

Even some spirited redlining is not excessive. People don't do that enough when even test driving new cars, let alone rentals or loaners. So it's not like you suddenly went to a track with it and beat the hell out of it.

There's nothing wrong with beating the living **** out of rentals. :rofl2: You learn things about cars you never thought you would. For instance, a Pontiac Bonneville is terrible off-road, but a v6 Mustang is a surprisingly good rally car.

I guess so, I'm usually too reserved to risk the cost if I royally effed up something. :) (For all I know, there is no risk to me...)

Always get the insurance. Always.

I beat loaners and rentals worse than a pimp beating his pros.

I've gotten noises and if I have reported it and not. Being a BMW that has 10000 computers, don't say anything. If they say anything, say look, I drive my car hard, you thought I was gonna granny yours? And not my fault it's a German POS.


That being said, you shouldn't let your friend drive your loaner because usually it isn't covered and your insurance won't cover it either

Yep. This is why buying a used car out of a rental fleet is the dumbest idea possible. I attempt to get four wheels off the ground in any vehicle I rent.

I'd just play "typical clueless driver" and say "huh? Is it not supposed to do that?"

:iagree:

:icon18::icon18:

We've got a hunting trip every year on my uncle's ranch. There are so many different ways to enjoy a rental car on a ranch. You'd be amazed how entertaining a GM fleet shitbox is on gravel and dirt.

OP, under no circumstances mention any issues with the car. On the off chance the car takes a ****, call and unleash holy hell on the dealership for them having the audacity to put you in such an unreliable POS. :rofl2:

I always have wanted to do this, but I find my brain telling me I shouldn't do it.

This ongoing battle between my conscience and I (not just on rental cars) is very taxing. :mad: :icon17:

If I borrow a car, it gets returned washed, with a full tank of gas and in better shape than you lent it to me in. If I rent a car, they're lucky if it's returned right side up. :rofl2:

.....not too many ethics here.

You're saying it's unethical to beat the snot out of a rental car? Maybe. :rofl2: Given how awful most rental compaies are, it kind of balances itself out karmically.

Hey.... I'm just observing....not judging.:eek:

Could be worse. This guy wins. Say 'Bye to Neon

Thanks for the tips. I was pretty worried but sounds like it should be ok.

I will play dumb if they say anything. The car is probably under warranty anyway so hopefully the dealer won't care either way

Just listened to the sound again and I'm hoping to get some reassurance on what is the best thing to do....

Sounds like the engine is knocking. And the oil level is on the border of being too low. It's immediately apparent that something is wrong when you start the car. There's no way anybody would miss it so I'm not sure if I should play dumb anymore.

Do you all still think it's best to say nothing?

How to handle this situation with a loaner car?
 

I'd call them pissed off. The pos loaner they gave you is about to **** the bed. Ask for another one. Whatever your buddy did didn't break the car. It's not your job to check the oil on a loaner. That should be done before they give it to you. And if some mild hoonage killed it, it was dying anyway.

That's what I've done when I broke their cars...

It's a BMW, it was dying before it turned on.



My goal is to wrap the rotors and get sub 15MPG with every rental. Civic was hard. The car took a beating, and honestly dealt with it well. Put 1000 miles on it in 1 day too