You probably have heard advertisements for these warranties. While most auto manufacturers offer something like 3 years and 36,000 miles, others offer 10 years and 100,000 miles. How do they do it? The short answer is, they don’t. The 10 year warranty is a completely different product, and it has strict limits. Let’s look at the 10 year auto warranty in detail.
Who Offers Them?
Most of the vehicles with a 10 year warranty are from Korea or Japan. For example, Hyundai, Kia, and Mitsubishi carry these warranty deals. There’s no doubt that these are good cars, but the big warranty numbers are partially a marketing ploy.
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What Is Covered In A 10 Year Warranty?
If you read the fine print, the 10 year warranty is a limited powertrain warranty. This means that only selected engine, transmission, and transaxle parts are covered. Any other part that fails has other coverage terms.
What Is Not Covered In A 10 Year Warranty?
Basically, anything else you can think of falls under only the basic warranty which in most cases is 5-years / 60,000-miles. This is actually a pretty solid warranty as well, however, the things that are not covered in the 10 year warranty are:
- All non-powertrain components
- Radio and audio system
- Paint and finish
- Sheet metal perforation or rust
- Battery
- Air conditioning
- Catalytic converter
- Brakes, belts, clutch, filters, lights
In fact, many of the above mentioned items are not even covered under the 5 year warranty. For example, the AC system typically has a 1 year warranty coverage.
Is A 10 Year Warranty Transferrable?
In most cases the 10 year warranties are not transferrable, that is, only the original owner enjoys this benefit. However, some dealers do allow for a downgraded warranty if the vehicle is sold. For example, Hyundai offers a 5 year / 60,000 mile limited warranty for subsequent owners.
If the vehicle is used for commercial purposes, such as a taxi or delivery vehicle, this warranty does not apply.
Consider An Extended Vehicle Protection Plan When Factory Coverage Expires
After the first year of owning one of these vehicles, part of the warranty coverage begins to expire. One way to hedge against this is to purchase an extended vehicle protection plan. These plans are similar to the original factory warranties in that they pay for repairs due to mechanical failure.
There are many different options to choose from, and as the factory warranty expires you can purchase coverage to nearly match the original new factory warranty. Unlike the 10 year warranty, these extended vehicle protection plans are fully transferrable.
Conclusion
The cars that carry 10 year warranties are good cars, but the warranties are limited. If you don’t want to get caught paying out of your pocket for uncovered repairs, you should consider and extended vehicle protection plan.
