Mention the term car warranty to most and the first response is minefield. Car warranties are regarded as being widely misunderstood and the subject of confusion.
New cars can come with up to three types of warranty. All will have the manufacturer's general warranty, some may have an extended warranty and all will have an anti-corrosion warranty.
Manufacturer's warranty:
This generally ranges from one to three years, and covers replacement of a defective part which by its nature fails prematurely and is the manufacturer's fault. The car must be brought to the manufacturer's authorised dealer who will not charge for parts or labour.
The specific terms and conditions of the warranty vary with each manufacturer, but among other conditions, most require that the routine service is completed properly at the specified intervals outlined in the service booklet.
SIMI says that it is not aware of any new car warranties here that limit the routine service to the franchise dealer. Of course, all customers should check their own warranties to verify this. Most warranties come with a heavy recommendation to use authorised dealers or repairers of the brand.
This is for obvious reasons. Manufacturers want to ensure the probability of a warranty claim is reduced by competent servicing at their authorised networks where the mechanics should know the car best. It's also income for the dealers in terms of labour and parts. And some cars are sold with a number of years free servicing which may only be availed of at the franchise dealers.
There may be other benefits for main dealers in holding the computerised service record. There's a story of an executive car which was traded in. When the car was last with the dealer for service, he recorded it as having 79,000 miles on the clock. However, when it came to the trade-in, the dealer found the clock now read 54,000. The dealer was only able to spot this discrepancy thanks to his computer records on the car.
The warranty is the manufacturer's guarantee and covers manufacturer's faults only, as Sarah Hayes, marketing manager of Hyundai points out. If the fault cannot be attributed to the manufacturer but is due to work carried out by anyone inside or outside approved networks of repairers, the warranty no longer stands.
In these cases, the customer has to seek redress from the outlet that did the work. Warranties don't usually cover parts which expire with wear and tear (wipers, tyres, shocks, upholstery etc) and these exclusions are generally referred to in the warranty.
If they are discovered in the routine service they cost extra. Some warranties have unlimited mileage and they may be more specific about wear and tear.
The problem is that warranty conditions and their practical implications may be subject to widespread confusion amongst the public and even among salesmen.
One Motors' reader told us of a clutch failure at 3,000 miles in a new sports car. His dealer initially refused to cover the cost of the repairs, arguing the clutch was a wear and tear item, though he subsequently replaced it free of charge.
Meanwhile another colleague who recently purchased a new executive estate car for over €45,000 found the power steering failing 15 miles after driving away from the garage forecourt. She phoned the salesman at the garage who seemed less than enthused about listening to her problem and told her to contact RAC as they look after breakdowns.
Alan Nolan of SIMI adds that a car warranty is a right for the consumer to seek redress for a fault and is in addition to other consumer rights.
The presumption is that goods sold are of merchantable quality. If they fail to meet standards, various consumer rights come into play, but the nearer to the date of sale that the fault occurred, the more likely it was the manufacturer's fault.
Extended Warranties:
Some distributors and dealers offer various types of "extended warranties". These may also have different terms, conditions and restrictions from the manufacturer's warranty.
You can pay for these separately and none comes as standard with a new car in Ireland. However, Fiat Ireland, offers an extended warranty as one of three incentive schemes available to new buyers.
Anti-Corrosion Warranty:
The manufacturer's anti-corrosion warranty covers rust. To maintain warranty entitlement, manufacturers may ask that damage to the body be rectified if there's potential for rust and that the body and underfloor be checked at the various service intervals.