Car manufacturer's warranties - what's the full story ?

property.advert

Looking ahead to a potential new car purchase, I was reviewing the current manufacturer warranties and I wanted to get some opinions.

Vauxhall's newish lifetime warranty would seem a no brainer on the face of it if you wanted to keep the vehicle past 7 years but I understand it cannot be transferred. Toyota has recently introduced a 5 year warranty, Kia has 7 years, Hyundai has 5. I also know that Nissan has 3 but you can buy another 2 for a few hundred pounds if you apply before the vehicle is 3 years old. Perhaps others are similar ?

So what about other options and for simplicity, how do you look past a Kia 7 year warranty ?

I understand some requirement to get it serviced at a dealer and to use proper parts when servicing but who wouldn't for a new motor as not doing so would seriously harm the resale value.

My viewpoint is as a consumer who is not interested in the mechanics over and above that it works, is not into car maintenance and who wants a simple, value for money, reliable motor.

Kilty_2

property.advert wrote: »

So what about other options and for simplicity, how do you look past a Kia 7 year warranty ?.

I couldn't, hence I've just ordered a Picanto.

Lots of deposit contribution offers at the moment via Kia Access finance too.

ETA:

property.advert wrote: »

My viewpoint is as a consumer who is not interested in the mechanics over and above that it works, is not into car maintenance and who wants a simple, value for money, reliable motor.

I do have an interest in the mechanics etc however I have neither the budget nor the time to care enough and hence would rather leave it to someone else :rotfl:

Inactive

property.advert wrote: »

Looking ahead to a potential new car purchase, I was reviewing the current manufacturer warranties and I wanted to get some opinions.

Vauxhall's newish lifetime warranty would seem a no brainer on the face of it if you wanted to keep the vehicle past 7 years but I understand it cannot be transferred. Toyota has recently introduced a 5 year warranty, Kia has 7 years, Hyundai has 5. I also know that Nissan has 3 but you can buy another 2 for a few hundred pounds if you apply before the vehicle is 3 years old. Perhaps others are similar ?

So what about other options and for simplicity, how do you look past a Kia 7 year warranty ?

I understand some requirement to get it serviced at a dealer and to use proper parts when servicing but who wouldn't for a new motor as not doing so would seriously harm the resale value.

My viewpoint is as a consumer who is not interested in the mechanics over and above that it works, is not into car maintenance and who wants a simple, value for money, reliable motor.

The Vauxhall Warranty is also subject to annual checks I believe.

Chevrolet have also introduced a 5 year warranty package.

http://www.chevrolet.co.uk/offers-finance/offers/5yearpromise.html

gilbert_and_sullivan

All warranties need the small print checking with eagle eyes.

Example, on the face of it Hyundai's 5 year warranty seems bomb proof, but a discussion on another forum brought up that Hyundai have recently limited things like wheel bearings to 60k miles if my memory serves me...the poster having had 1 bearing (£200+ part only from dealer or so for bearings sealed in the hub) replaced, and others apparently failing between 60 and 100k miles on a new shape Santa Fe...the dealer concerned (and it might be a poor dealer unrepresentative of the marque) wished replace the bearing, charge you for it and return the failed item to the maker for appraisal of reason for failure before deciding warranty claim.

Prior to that discussion i had heard only good things about Hyundai's warranty, and it could well be a shoddy multi make supermarket dealer, where a small family owned dealership might well regard customers as welcome, not a nuisance...unless paying in money of course.

From my own experience with Toyota OUT of warranty, the experience could not be further removed...in my Toyota dealership (Syms, Northampton) the customer is wanted and looked after and required to stay as a customer, as i've said many times Mr T stands by his product, he doesn't always get it right and faults can crop up long after the cars were made (Avensis engines burning oil), but in many cases unless the car has been seriously abused or neglected Mr T has provided goodwill new engines on cars many years old.

Compare with Corsa camshfts snapping, and VX's attitude widely reported (again it could be symptomatic of large dealers)...i'll be watching the various forums to see how lifteime warranty stands the test of time.

mikey72

All the small print on lifetime warranties allow the company to buy the car off you for the market value, if they can't repair it, or if it's un-ecnomical to repair. Good up to a point, then bad as your dealer maintained classic turns into a £500 write off.

Kilty_2

mikey72 wrote: »

All the small print on lifetime warranties allow the company to buy the car off you for the market value, if they can't repair it, or if it's un-ecnomical to repair. Good up to a point, then bad as your dealer maintained classic turns into a £500 write off.

There's only one lifetime warranty, so I assume you mean the Vauxhall warranty has this clause? :eek:

NeverAgain_2

If you genuinely want only reliable motoring, then any of the makes you mention should do the job.

Most new cars go through their lives with very little warranty work.

If make is unimportant, then I would buy from a dealer near home or work.

The chances are you will only be going once a year for the annual service, but if the car does need warranty work, a dealer who is easy to get to will save you a great deal of time and trouble.

There is a suggestion the payback for longer warranties is a harsher attitude to claims, which may be behind the Hyundai wheel bearing stories.

Warranty is important, but remember you are buying a car to drive.

Kilty_2

NeverAgain wrote: »

If make is unimportant, then I would buy from a dealer near home or work.

Or a more MSE-esque suggestion - hunt out the best deal wherever you can find it but make sure there's a local dealer for your service

I'm buying 60 miles from home but there's a Kia dealer ~8mi away.:T

Inactive

Kilty wrote: »

There's only one lifetime warranty, so I assume you mean the Vauxhall warranty has this clause? :eek:

Even that is subject to a 100,000 mile upper limit.

mikey72

Kilty wrote: »

There's only one lifetime warranty, so I assume you mean the Vauxhall warranty has this clause? :eek:

There is no clear warranty on the Kia and Toyota site, (the vauxhall site has the full warranty t&c's), but I have read on other forums the clause exists in their warranty. It would be good if Toyota for instance would put a new engine and gearbox in a 7 year old car if it needed one though.

Kilty_2

I'll have a good look at the T&C's supplied with my Kia and report back once I have it - won't affect me though because it'll be going back into the dealer network at 3 years old without a doubt.