Maintaining your new car warranty

[SpoolMan]

Judging by feedback to RACV, the topic of new car warranty coverage can be a source of confusion for members. This can also lead to frustrating, time and cost-consuming disputes with dealers and manufacturers.

If you are about to, or have recently purchased a new car, understanding what is required to maintain your factory warranty is particularly important. It may also help you avoid some of the aforementioned disputes altogether.

In simple terms, the owner is required to ensure the vehicle is serviced within the specified maximum time and distance intervals schedule as outlined in the owner’s handbook. In practice this should be done by a qualified mechanic, typically (but not necessarily) at an authorised dealership.

It also means operating the vehicle in a reasonable manner, within the bounds for which it was designed. Entering the vehicle in a motor racing event is an (extreme) example of usage likely to be judged as ‘mechanical abuse’. In such cases, subsequent damage would not be covered by the warranty. Acceptable use will also vary for different types of vehicles, e.g. between a small passenger car and a large 4WD designed for serious off-road use.

The manufacturer’s warranty will not cover the performance and reliability of aftermarket parts (i.e. those of a different brand to what was originally fitted to the vehicle by the manufacturer). Nor will it cover subsequent damage caused by their failure, such as engine failure resulting from a defective aftermarket oil filter.

An occasional misconception is that a manufacturer may cancel or void a new car warranty altogether, if these requirements are not fully adhered to. While warranty coverage may be denied for individual parts or even a component assembly proven to have failed as a result of owner negligence, this does not directly affect the coverage for other, separate components.

An example is when an owner neglects to have his vehicle serviced within the stated limits of time and distance travelled, which in turn eventually leads to catastrophic engine failure. In this case the dealer may legitimately refuse warranty coverage for repair costs to the engine.

However this would not necessarily affect continued warranty coverage for other components not reliant on preventative maintenance, for example airbags or the instrument panel.

Of course it makes far more sense for the owner to avoid such scenarios altogether, by ensuring the vehicle is maintained in accordance with the requirements outlined in the owner’s handbook.

Story courtesy of RACV