[govigov]

This is more like an informational message to all new/existing car buyers.

When I bought the car is May 2016, the S-Cross had only an extended warranty of only 4 years and 80K kms. This was all that was available at that moment. I had bought this package. However, after a few months, the s-cross was offered with a 5-year 100K package.

So, in the last service that I had done at 70K kms, after completing 31 months, I explained to the SA that I wanted to go for the 5 year 100K package. It was then that he mentioned that he cannot do this, because the system cannot accept it, as the purchase date was over 24 months.

OK, fair deal, I asked them to show this documentation and they were unable to show this. However, a bhpian pointed me to this link - https://www.nexaexperience.com/nexa-...-warranty.html
The link clearly shows the max age as 730 days, which I had clearly exceeded.

OK, what next? I was still waiting for the documentation from SA, who then referred me to the TSM for kerala, which started off with an email and subsequently a phone call. During the phone call he explained that even though I was within the extended warranty, I cannot extend the extended warranty to the 5th year as their system DMS was not taking the input and he was unable to help. He was apologetic over the phone and I told him that a user should not be penalized just because their system cannot accept the extended warranty. I spoke to him about how my mom was paranoid about the warranty and that I may even be forced to sell the vehicle after the warranty got over. (This is true, as I was forced to change the Ritz. The ritz that I had exchanged had 5 years 100K on offer when I bought the car, and the maximum warranty was availed. )

The email conversation with Sivakumar sir, the TSM for NEXA


Now I am stuck with only 4 years and 80K kms warranty with no way to go to 5 years and 100K kms. With all the things that SA push during the service, I am sad that they did not inform me of this limitation. At least an SMS before the expiry of standard warranty and I would have got the warranty extended.

So this is a shoutout to all new/existing buyers. The MSIL's internal system called DMS will only accept the extended warranty is the car is less than 24 months and 40K kms. So, request all BHPians/NonBHPians to get their extended warranty checked and updated before the time runs out.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by govigov

So this is a shoutout to all new/existing buyers. The MSIL's internal system called DMS will only accept the extended warranty is the car is less than 24 months and 40K kms

Very true; I realized this when my SA pointed out during first service that the cost of extended warranty increases after 1 year (they were quite honest). Since I had other expenses I had postponed to subsequent year.

Since I had lot of time, I was least bothered. By 14th month, my ODO was almost 40K & during the service the SA cautioned me to extend the warranty as this was the last chance. Upon referring the service booklet, it was mentioned 2 years or 40K Km & immediately applied & had obtained 5 years now

Yes, its quite an eye opener as this point has been clearly mentioned in the service booklet. But, as usual, we folks know it all so we tend to overlook the service booklet.

[audioholic]

I had initially taken extended warranty for my Celerio for 4Yr/80k kms during car purchase. However, during the second service IIRC they had introduced the fifth year extended warranty. During that time, in the price list they had clearly mentioned that any extended warranty irrespective of 3, 4 or 5 years can only be purchased during the tenure of the standard warranty. Extended warranty has some more clauses AFAIK, like not being transferable between owners(?) and excludes some wear and tear as well as suspension parts. I brought it mainly for the AMT actuator in case it packs up.

[bkc]

Even I wish to continue the extended warranty on my Swift but, seems there is no option left.
The extended warranty expires in April, this year.

[hserus]

Unless you actually put 100k ++ on your car in those five years, the extended warranty is a waste. A 20-25k km run 5 year old car is almost like new, so that any repairs are likely to not warrant the cost of an extended warranty. [eg - your engine, transmission etc aren't going to go bust requiring lakhs of rupees in repair].

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by hserus

Unless you actually put 100k ++ on your car in those five years, the extended warranty is a waste. A 20-25k km run 5 year old car is almost like new, so that any repairs are likely to not warrant the cost of an extended warranty. [eg - your engine, transmission etc aren't going to go bust requiring lakhs of rupees in repair].

I never claimed anything on my WagonR under extended warranty. But for Ertiga, I had to claim for a steering rack at 57,000 Kms.

Secondly, most Maruti Diesels have this issue come up between 25-50K kms where the synchronizer rings associated with the gearbox gives up and requires replacement (Related thread). Thankfully a warranty or an extended warranty helps here. I had this issue at 97,000 Kms and I had to pay out of my own pocket!!

These are only examples from my own knowledge. There are many who have claimed Extended Warranty for many other parts and components too.

One must have Extended Warranty for today's car no matter what. This is mainly because most of the new models are too sophisticated when compared to their old-school counterparts - Thanks again for the quality of components and too much electronics!!

Related thread on why extended warranty is immensely useful for few thousand bucks.

Whichever car I buy next or those around my friends circle buy, if I know that the usage will reach above 50K before selling, I will insist on Extended Warranty against useless accessories for peace of mind.

[pavi]

When Honda could offer a 7 year extended warranty without any such time limitations, why is the customer centric MSIL having such a policy? A way to make money very much in advance?!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by pavi

When Honda could offer a 7 year extended warranty without any such time limitations, why is the customer centric MSIL having such a policy? A way to make money very much in advance?!

Here we are talking about a case where the Standard Warranty has expired and then you opt for extension of the extended warranty. As good as renewing a lapsed insurance policy for your car which requires inspection of the car's body but sadly one can't do that with the mechanical or the engine of the car and provide you with that extended warranty. However, an owner can opt for the 5th Year extension as long as he opts for it within the 24 months period.

I am not sure what is the arrangement with Honda in such cases but if you have a standard warranty, you can very well purchase the extended warranty till the end of the term (as per manufacturer). It would be good if you can check with your dealer. Will be certainly be insightful for most of us on how other manufactures deal with such cases.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by pavi

When Honda could offer a 7 year extended warranty without any such time limitations, why is the customer centric MSIL having such a policy? A way to make money very much in advance?!

I think you should do a fair bit of research and then come to conclusion. Before we start, please go through the two links.

https://www.hondacarindia.com/extended-warranty

https://www.hondacarindia.com/anytime-warranty

Now, extended warranty and the seven year coverage you mention are two different things. Similar to Maruti, you cannot purchase an extended warranty once the standard warranty expires on the Honda. This is the time limitation.

Lets come to the other part, which is Anytime warranty. You are wrong when you say it doesnt have time limitation. The biggest limitation here is you can buy ATW only for one year and renew it for the subsequent year.

Consider I buy an Amaze Petrol which comes with 2yr/40kms standard warranty. If I want to extend it to 4yr/80k kms, I will pay 7200 during purchase or 8800 towards the end of the standard warranty to purchase EW. Now, there is no option of buying a 5yr/1L kms EW package for the Amaze Petrol which is a bummer. Hence, if I need additional coverage I have to buy ATW for the fifth year which will cost 7500 for one year alone. Hence, the total cost is 14700 or 16300 based on when I take the EW.

If one decides to renew only ATW, then they need to pay for each year separately and thats the difference between offering EW and ATW. The premium in cost is what you pay to gain coverage without having restriction on when you buy the cover. The prices I referenced are as shown on the website and might have changed. But the ATW is not to be confused with EW.

[libranof1987]

This is pretty disappointing. By definition, Warranty doesn't cover wear and tear items. Instead, it is used to cover for manufacturing defects or cases where parts don't last/function as designed.

Why should there be a problem in availing Extended Warranty; what differentiates a car between the time standard warranty is active and when it isn't.

Not a customer-friendly stand from Maruti, in my opinion.

Originally Posted by hserus

Unless you actually put 100k ++ on your car in those five years, the extended warranty is a waste.

Sorry, but no. Given how common place electronics have become in all cars, and also the use of technologies such as DCT/AMT/DSG that haven't stood the test of time, there is ample reason why you should be covered as long as possible.

Originally Posted by pavi

When Honda could offer a 7 year extended warranty without any such time limitations, why is the customer centric MSIL having such a policy? A way to make money very much in advance?!

+1

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I am not sure what is the arrangement with Honda in such cases

When it was introduced, we took the 7th year Extended Warranty on our Honda City; a few months before the car turned 7! The horn and a rear power window motor was also promptly replaced under warranty a week before it expired.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by hserus

Unless you actually put 100k ++ on your car in those five years, the extended warranty is a waste. A 20-25k km run 5 year old car is almost like new, so that any repairs are likely to not warrant the cost of an extended warranty. [eg - your engine, transmission etc aren't going to go bust requiring lakhs of rupees in repair].

Sorry, no but that's a very limited (and flawed) view to the situation. The majority of personal cars will land up in the 40k-90k kms range around the end of 4th year mark; than being in the sub-25k or >1L kms ranges. For most of them, the probability of warranty of parts (going bad) and a peace of mind is much more important than the small cost of the warranty clause taken upfront.

Also the 4th year to 5th year is vital (and the following years), as many of the core parts (timing belt, etc) are expected to be replaced during this period; so it helps.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Sorry, but no. Given how common place electronics have become in all cars, and also the use of technologies such as DCT/AMT/DSG that haven't stood the test of time, there is ample reason why you should be covered as long as possible.

+1 to this

[pavi]

Originally Posted by audioholic

I think you should do a fair bit of research and then come to conclusion. Before we start, please go through the two links.

https://www.hondacarindia.com/extended-warranty

https://www.hondacarindia.com/anytime-warranty

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I am not sure what is the arrangement with Honda in such cases but if you have a standard warranty, you can very well purchase the extended warranty till the end of the term (as per manufacturer). It would be good if you can check with your dealer. Will be certainly be insightful for most of us on how other manufactures deal with such cases.

So let us consider the EW and ATW scenarios for Honda City,

1. As per the links shared, City has three years standard warranty and you can take the extended warranty up to 2 years on or before the end of standard warranty. So it covers the 5 years of standard+extended warranty. There are exceptions for Amaze, Jazz, Mobilio etc. as extended warranty can be taken up to 4 years.
2. Anytime warranty is nothing but taking warranty literally anytime provided your car is less than 7 years old and covered less than 1 lakh kms. You can take 6th year warranty with out taking 5th year anytime warranty. It does not require an active extended or anytime warranty while opting for a fresh anytime warranty.

Now let us consider someone who bought a 3 year old Maruti and Honda, both having extended warranty up to 4 years. The Maruti will not provide warranty after 4 years even if the owner wishes to, but through Honda he could get warranty up to 7 years (even if he don't have any extended warranty).

So out of the two business models, Maruti model lets you take 5th year warranty only if you buy it on or before 2 years which makes it more restricted, while the Honda model lets you take 5/6/7th year warranty (ATW) as you wish provided the policy criteria are met, hence it is flexible. When you pay for something well in advance, naturally the cost would be less. But considering the flexibility Honda offers I would prefer Honda model.

Note: The savings may be a few thousands, which may be only sufficient for a few full tank petrol spread across three years may be.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by pavi

So out of the two business models, Maruti model lets you take 5th year warranty only if you buy it on or before 2 years which makes it more restricted, while the Honda model lets you take 5/6/7th year warranty (ATW) as you wish provided the policy criteria are met, hence it is flexible. When you pay for something well in advance, naturally the cost would be less. But considering the flexibility Honda offers I would prefer Honda model.

That could be your choice. But IMO, paying double the money just for flexibility especially for a Japanese car, that too with limited coverage of parts and lots of fine print is nothing to harp about. I would rather buy a EW upto five years during the course of standard warranty by paying 10k for a Honda City petrol rather than paying 12k just for the fifth year warranty through ATW. I wonder what is the flexibility here especially when the only thing that I see being covered under this ATW is the engine and electronics which hardly fail within such a short time. The expensive stuff like headlights(LED), Tail lights, Music system, Climate control system, suspension, etc are anyway not covered. This is just like an additional insurance policy which has to be renewed every year. If I pay 12k for one year of warranty, I would at least want the LED headlights covered, given that it is around 25k each piece and there is no scope of replacing bulbs in case the LED conks. Instead in the Maruti fifth year warranty, at least the electronics and lights are taken care of (not halogen bulbs obviously) which is definitely a good option.

[pavi]

Originally Posted by audioholic

I wonder what is the flexibility here especially when the only thing that I see being covered under this ATW is the engine and electronics which hardly fail within such a short time

Consider the scenario I mentioned of buying a used car (we have a thread on lateral upgrades). But if you are considering the use case of City, WR-V or BR-V, then Honda is offering whatever Maruti offers with out the 2 year time limitation + 2 years of additional ATW. Basically business model of two companies can differ by a great margin, but what ever model they employ it will be based on profit.

Isn't electronics a vital part which can fail in cars? My remote key conked off last month and I was told it would have been covered in ATW if I had opted it.

When it comes to personal preferences, 'to each his own'. So you are right, so am I .

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by pavi

So... you are right, so am I .

So... Is Honda right, & also Maruti ?

Originally Posted by pavi

My remote key conked off last month and I was told it would have been covered in ATW if I had opted it.

If instead of just the remote key, paraphrasing AudioHolic, had any of the "expensive stuff like Headlights (LED), Tail lights, Music System, Climate Control System, or Suspension" failed, would Honda's ATW have helped ?