I could go to the other end of the spectrum. If your house develops a mold problem or a portion burns down do you get a loaner? Is your stay at the hotel free? If it is, that's YOUR insurance paying for it.
I'm not sympathetic to the manufacturer, I'd like a loaner included too!! The fact is that as long as I have been driving (15 years) or my parents have been driving when your vehicle breaks it's up to you to get around while its in the shop. More recently I have noticed many dealer shops have courtesy transportation shuttles and yes some even do loaner vehicles, but it's still a business and they aren't giving anything away. Free loaner? Sure, we'll just jack up our rates to compensate for it. At this point I've lost the original intent of your issue....was this a warranty issue or a regular service issue? I know Lexus gives you a free loaner. (as do many of the expensive brands) Perhaps it just a matter of pay now or pay later. Pay more for your car now and get the degree of service you were expecting or buy a less expensive vehicle and pay for the rental later.
I purchased a 3rd party warranty for my 02' V' and it gets me lodging and a rental ($200 for lodging and I think $30 a day for a rental) for a week if my car breaks down. It also has roadside assitance. It cost me an additional $1000, but I have 7 years/100,000 miles of that coverage. (NO DEDUCTABLE!!!) So, for the first 3 years/36,000 miles roadside assistance and rental/lodging coverage costs me $143 a year. That pays for itself if I have to have a rental for a week regardless of wether its an accident or a warranty issue. For the remainder of the warranty the same cost gets me all that PLUS a possibly better warranty that Honda's factory warranty. Will I ever need to use that warranty? Given Honda's rep., most likely not. But really its darn cheap insurance. I can pay for it by skipping a lunch out once a week.
Some would argue it would be better spent to put that $1000 in a savings account and use it if something ever goes wrong, but that doesn't get me roadside assist. and it's only there until the $1000 runs out. (these days it wouldn't take too much).
Honda could offer all these things, but like I said before, you're going to pay for it one way or the other. Better warranty means a higher sticker price.
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