Boundbrook Ford in Boundbrook, N.J., contracts with Dollar Rental Car to provide vehicles. Dealer Dale Harris says his customer satisfaction ratings are up and the service business is at 60 cars a day. It is better for us to let Dollar maintain the fleet. Sometimes we pick up the tab. Sometimes Ford Motor Co. does.
Liability insurance is extra, though the dealership declined to say how much.
The Warren, Mich., dealership sells about 2,000 new vehicles a year and averages 60 service appointments a day. For some dealers, though, the cost of having a loaner fleet is too great. Jim Marsh, owner of Jim Marsh Chrysler-Jeep and Jim Marsh Mazda in Las Vegas, says he eliminated his loaner fleet because the cost of liability insurance was too high. Loaner cars have the most appeal to the highest and lowest income buyer groups, says Shawn Herbig, president of Innovative Quality Solutions Inc., a dealer consulting firm in Louisville. Buyers with higher incomes who buy luxury brands expect loaner vehicles as part of the ownership experience.