Courtesy Cars-What did you get?

[Parky]

I had a Suzuki Splash once - it was ok, I would have one as a second car but apart from the fact it was black I can't remember much else about it. Inoffensive would probably sum it up.

 

EDIT - no, now I remember, it had incredibly short clutch pedal travel.

 

Bit of a shame really, all those engineers and development budget and that's all a petrolheaded user remembers. 6/10 MUST TRY HARDER

[Lord Sterling]

goodness me Kings Heath high street

Yes Frank, I used to live in old Birminghamshireton until late February this year. I used to live in Selly Oak/Bartley Green.

[barefoot]

I used to get saddled with a string of diesel Astra vans and a lot of elderly Hyundai

the astras were astras but some of the Hyundai were ok, the Accent was nice but the three door 1300 'coupe' was woeful.

I've had a lot of MX5s from the Porsche specialist - they're nice.

 

When the 944 was newer we used to frequent a proper dealer, he always gave me a nice BMW 318 but on the one occasion they the fair lady barefoot had to take it in she got a bubble shaped micra - she was incandescent!

[DSdriver]

Last one I had was an Austin Maxi - it was a long time ago mind.

[AnthonyG]

I had a L reg Escort with no petrol, brakes that pulled to the left, and a fucked immobiliser which locked me out in Aberaeon, this from a franchised Ford dealer back in about 2004. I ring them up and told them to bring my own car back and I'd take it somewhere else for a service. Turns out it was a part-ex that had come in the evening before.

 

Had a N plate Rover 214 Sei (one of the run-out models ) from a bodyshop in 2009, was a pleasant reminder of how good R8's were.

[Inspector Morose]

Moskvich 412. In 1998. Chap down the road from me used to restore Borgwards and run a garage and I took my Wartburg 311 in for some work. He gave me that to smoke around in while he fixed mine. I gave it him back after a day and bought another Warty.

[willswitchengage]

One of my mates with a (proper) Mini had an insurance prang so needed a courtesy car, naturally.

 

As he is a kayaker he carries around his boats on its roofrack. However, hire car people don't do roofracks so he somehow managed to worm his way into a shiny new Sprinter to carry them around in, win!

[Six-cylinder]

When I had a very posh Mercedes E320 Cabriolet the specialist I used to take it too gave me a 190E Auto C reg in solid sage green with green check interior, he apologized that he had nothing better as his black sport 190 and C class were already out. I was a bit put out when I first drove it but after 3 times in a coupe of years got to like it and looked forward to having it.

 

Then horror of horror I was given a C class so I asked after the sage green 190 and was told he had just scraped it because nobody liked it, it took a bit to convince him I really did like it and was not taking the piss, where upon he declared if he had know that he would of given it to me!

[Pillock]

I've just had a Fiesta Ecoboost with heated leather, satnav/bluetooth/dab and keyless shizznazz. That was pretty nice actually but the best feature was the wastegate making chavvy noises. It's a lovely engine!

[ProgRocker]

My parents' 2005 Focus CMax is in for a repair to the bootlid as my mum dinged it on some garden tap ornament. They currently have a 62 reg Peugeot 107 which they do not like. My dad said it was gutless and my mum described it as tinny.

 

About 11 years ago I achieved courtesy car nirvana * when I dropped in my SEAT Ibiza 1.4 for a service and MOT. I had the pleasure of driving an R reg Kia Mentor II. There was only enough petrol in it to get me home and back to the garage. I kept accidentally flicking on the wipers when I meant to indicate!

 

Although the courtesy car was always offered to me for future services I politely declined. Not because the cars were so awful. I realised that I was driving their Mentor II on some basic third party cover and was shit scared in case I got involved in an accident with inadequate insurance.

[Hendry]

Since I deliver courtesy cars for a living I've delighted and upset people in equal measures, the cars are grouped on engine size and type so I've delivered 1.4 Kia Rios with no central locking or leccy windows to people with 1.4 TSi 170bhp Golf GTs and 330 M Sport BMWs to folk with rotten old C-classes. Brand new GT86s to people with 15year old Celicas, Touaregs to folk with 1996 Range Rovers etc and the best ever an I10 to someone with a 53 plate 911 Carrera 4S (fault accident)

 

Personally I've had:

- 07 Corsa D 1.2 SXi (when the Corsa D was just out a few months)

- 57 Corsa 1.4 Club brand new with 50 miles on it delivered straight from Enterprise straight off the transporter.

- 11 Insignia 2.0 CDTi SRi (even with the lumbar support off the seat still digs in to your lower back and annoys fuck out of you)

- 13 Panda 1.2 Pop (Fiat crap, they've managed to make a new completely redesigned car which shares no body or interior components with the previous model yet looks almost identical, sounds identical, has the same negatives as the old model, drives exactly the same (just as badly) and generally is no different in any meaningful way)

[barefoot]

I've just come home in a 77,000 mile 1.6 Peugeot 307.

There's a sign on the back seat that says, Full MOT £999.

It's grey, I think.

[burraston2006]

I've just come home in a 77,000 mile 1.6 Peugeot 307.

There's a sign on the back seat that says, Full MOT £999.

It's grey, I think.

So, an improvement on what you put in! Result!!

[hairnet]

get given a baggy t reg 1.6 mk4 golf if bike needs something doing

 

he has a 4x4 octavia turbo estate thats fun

 

not quite courtesy car - hired a car once and could only go fetch it at 5.55 on a friday evening after work

 

they shut at 6 and they must have forgot cos  i got given a mk 4 early fiesta 3 door with no power steering

 

only charged me 20 quid for the weekend tho

[beko1987]

I've never had a curtosey car but back when we were all 17/18, my good mates smart car was smashed up, and he got a 54 plate 1l Micra (would have been 4 years old I think). Was horrible but we did 350 miles in a weekend with him ragging the arse off it! Think we got up to an indicated ton on the bypass 5 up once!

 

I remember when I had my 206 I borrowed a 57 plate accord pool car for the weekend for something vaguley work related. Again, did 400odd miles of random driving and 30 miles doing what I actually borrowed it for and when I got mack in my 206 went for the brakes and they felt broken. They werent, I'd just got used to the accord!

[dugong]

I got a Chevrolet Matiz as a courtesy car, supposedly as an 'equivalent' to my C4. 
I complained, because I needed a fair large car to cart some stuff around I took it back and was told someone would deliver an appropriate replacement to my address.

Got home (via the Metrolink) and waited. 

Two hours later a rep from the hire car company turned up. With another Matiz.

Protestations were met with: "but it's a different car."

BLOODY WARS SPARE ME.

[panhard65]

I have got a '94 Renault 5 that I lend out as a courtesy car. Most of the customers love it, but it doesn't go out so often now so maybe it isn't so loved after all.

[Cavcraft]

Had a Calibra, got a 2010 (or whatever it was at the time) Fiesta. Liked it for about 2 miles then realised the hopeless amount of drivers leg room was incredibly annoying.

[andy18s]

When I crashed my last Saab 9000 Griffin into the back of a 2 day old astra I got given a Smartcar. One of the original rhd's. What fun that was running it into its speed limiter (99 mph) on the m6 whilst chasing the Mrs in her v8 disco

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[scruff]

When I first passed my test I used a local Land Rover "specialist" for some bits and bobs. His first courtesy car was a Kia Pride which was somewhat different from my old Series 3 but for the few days I had it we had some fun in it - up to London, round Hyde Park corner etc.

The Landy went back a while later for something or other and the courtesy car had been upgraded to a doggy old 3.5 V8 Range Rover. This was great but after smoking home in it the old man noticed it wasn't taxed. I rang the mechanic up, his answer, "you're using it, you tax it..." We took it back in the dark and once my motor was back we never went there again. 

[burraston2006]

Back in the day I had a Renault Laguna and the garage I always used didn't have their usual 200,000 mile micra so they gave me the bosses brand new Range Rover Vogue. I was pretty chuffed until it cost me £10.00 in fuel just to go home and back!

[chrisjvm]

I had the displeasure of driving an  '08 Vectra  pez estate 'Courtesy  car' for a week ....

Bean counter engineering at its finest.

[Wilko220]

Back in the day I had a Renault Laguna and the garage I always used didn't have their usual 200,000 mile micra so they gave me the bosses brand new Range Rover Vogue. I was pretty chuffed until it cost me £10.00 in fuel just to go home and back!

Reminds me of a scene in that brilliant Austin Rover training video that got posted up here a couple of years ago. A snooty customer with a Montego Vanden Plas turns his nose up at a Metro courtesy car so the very reluctant dealership boss has to hand over the keys to his 3500 instead...

[alfetta]

I've never had a curtosey car but back when we were all 17/18, my good mates smart car was smashed up, and he got a 54 plate 1l Micra (would have been 4 years old I think). Was horrible but we did 350 miles in a weekend with him ragging the arse off it! Think we got up to an indicated ton on the bypass 5 up once!

 

 

I had a Smartcar as a courtesy car once, absoulely hideous awful pile of crap, a micra would have been an improvement...infact a pushbike would have been!

 

Worst some years back was getting my head replaced on my X reg Saab 99  gave me the 'yellow peril' rusty '70 Saab 99 with dolop of shite lump and oil light constantly  on at idle..

[Wilko220]

Reminds me of a scene in that brilliant Austin Rover training video that got posted up here a couple of years ago. A snooty customer with a Montego Vanden Plas turns his nose up at a Metro courtesy car so the very reluctant dealership boss has to hand over the keys to his 3500 instead...

 

This is what I was going on about. Check it out if you haven't already - it's gold.

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/12990-austin-rover-training-videos/?hl=austin-rover