[anshumandun]

Originally Posted by seedyk

Now the masses still believe that VW cars have 7 years of warranty and are purchasing the same. Isn't this cheating the customer?

For people considering buying VW cars right now, 7 years warranty holds true. I had a word with my friend at VW and he confirmed this. New VW cars come with a standard factory warranty of 4 years. Plus 2 years extended warranty can be purchased at the time of buying the car which takes the coverage to 6 years. And then the add-on warranty can be purchased for 1 year taking the total coverage to 7 years. So your friends can go ahead and buy VW and they will get 7 years warranty unless these is again some change in the clause.

It is people like us who bought the cars some 3-4 years ago who cannot buy the 7 years warranty. But then to be fair to VW, at the time of buying the car, VW was offering a total of 4 years warranty (2 standard + 2 extended) and I decided to go ahead with the car purchase. Now I am able to get 5th year add-on warranty also so I can consider that as a bonus. It was only that news in 2018 that we can have warranty for 7 years and then VW silently adding a clause to change that policy is what made the customers distraught.

[GrandTourer]

Originally Posted by GTO

I wouldn't consider this a big deal at all. So, you can top it just once? Sure, best to do it at the time of car purchase (that's my preference) or in one shot later. That's simpler for me & simpler for the manufacturer. Why go on adding an extension every year?

If I were the manufacturer, I'd chuckle & say "customers, be decisive and make up your mind" .

It would have been great if one could buy it all for 7 years at once. But that is not the case here. When I purchased the 5 year extended warranty, I asked them if I could get the 6th and 7th year add-on and they flat out refused. I would have gladly paid the extra for peace of mind. But they say that only once the 5th year is about to expire, I can get an inspection done and purchase it. I'm sure they'll not let owners buy for 2 years again. So effectively, it will be 6 years for me if this holds true until my 5th year.

[RMN]

Originally Posted by anshumandun

For people considering buying VW cars right now, 7 years warranty holds true. I had a word with my friend at VW and he confirmed this. New VW cars come with a standard factory warranty of 4 years. Plus 2 years extended warranty can be purchased at the time of buying the car which takes the coverage to 6 years. And then the add-on warranty can be purchased for 1 year taking the total coverage to 7 years. So your friends can go ahead and buy VW and they will get 7 years warranty unless these is again some change in the clause.

It is people like us who bought the cars some 3-4 years ago who cannot buy the 7 years warranty. But then to be fair to VW, at the time of buying the car, VW was offering a total of 4 years warranty (2 standard + 2 extended) and I decided to go ahead with the car purchase. Now I am able to get 5th year add-on warranty also so I can consider that as a bonus. It was only that news in 2018 that we can have warranty for 7 years and then VW silently adding a clause to change that policy is what made the customers distraught.

But this would give VW an opportunity to re-write the conditions within the next 5 years and take the option of the 7th year off the table, right?

[anshumandun]

Originally Posted by RMN

But this would give VW an opportunity to re-write the conditions within the next 5 years and take the option of the 7th year off the table, right?

Yes, they can totally do it. In fact, they can change anything they want to because the clause in the first pic in the first post in this forum says "Policy on sole discretion of the manufacturer" which is a common line in any policy by any company.

But VW should not have done what they did. Rolling out a policy and then changing it is not illegal but it just takes away the confidence of the buyers. If you roll out a customer friendly policy and announce it in media, better stick to it!

[rkv_2401]

When I spoke to the VW service center where I get my Vento serviced about the extended warranty(for the 5th year), they mentioned that I could get up to 7 years of warranty as a yearly add-on plan. I'm still waiting on them to get back about some offers(discounts on the plan), but they seemed pretty confident about the 7 years of warranty even on a car bought in 2016, and mentioned that many people were waiting for the offers to renew their extended warranties. Maybe this plan is at the discretion of the dealer.

[seedyk]

Originally Posted by anshumandun

For people considering buying VW cars right now, 7 years warranty holds true. I had a word with my friend at VW and he confirmed this. New VW cars come with a standard factory warranty of 4 years. Plus 2 years extended warranty can be purchased at the time of buying the car which takes the coverage to 6 years. And then the add-on warranty can be purchased for 1 year taking the total coverage to 7 years. So your friends can go ahead and buy VW and they will get 7 years warranty unless these is again some change in the clause.

It is people like us who bought the cars some 3-4 years ago who cannot buy the 7 years warranty. But then to be fair to VW, at the time of buying the car, VW was offering a total of 4 years warranty (2 standard + 2 extended) and I decided to go ahead with the car purchase. Now I am able to get 5th year add-on warranty also so I can consider that as a bonus. It was only that news in 2018 that we can have warranty for 7 years and then VW silently adding a clause to change that policy is what made the customers distraught.

Originally Posted by anshumandun

Yes, they can totally do it. In fact, they can change anything they want to because the clause in the first pic in the first post in this forum says "Policy on sole discretion of the manufacturer" which is a common line in any policy by any company.

But VW should not have done what they did. Rolling out a policy and then changing it is not illegal but it just takes away the confidence of the buyers. If you roll out a customer friendly policy and announce it in media, better stick to it!

This is precisely my point. How can anyone trust any of Volkswagen Skoda Auto Group's word on anything here on?

Every policy has a fine print saying that "terms and conditions are subject to change without prior approval of its beneficiaries". However there is a sense of Trust that each customer holds in a brand, which is why they put in their hard earned money into purchasing its products.

Volkswagen Skoda Auto already isn't held in the highest regard when it comes to customer service in India and such phony warranty policies and the whimsical changes only worsens the brand image.

Isn't it high time we stop letting these manufacturers ride on their high horses and take us consumers for granted?

Originally Posted by rkv_2401

When I spoke to the VW service center where I get my Vento serviced about the extended warranty(for the 5th year), they mentioned that I could get up to 7 years of warranty as a yearly add-on plan. I'm still waiting on them to get back about some offers(discounts on the plan), but they seemed pretty confident about the 7 years of warranty even on a car bought in 2016, and mentioned that many people were waiting for the offers to renew their extended warranties. Maybe this plan is at the discretion of the dealer.

Request you to recheck now as the policy is issued by Volkswagen India and the dealer has no say in this apart from being an intermediary. Thanks.

[Varun_HexaGuy]

The 7-year warranty is only applicable to those who have the standard 4-EVER Care package right from day-1 (like I do). This includes the Standard warranty for over a period of 4-years. That aside, one can buy an Extended Warranty package for a duration of 2-years. So, all put together it's a warranty period of 6-years and one can only buy the extended warranty at the time of purchase.

With respect to the add-on warranty, it can only be purchased after the expiry of extended warranty (which happened to be the fourth year in most of the cases as discussed on this thread), so many of them could get the fifth year warranty in the form of an add-on. You guys sadly can't get the warranty for the sixth and seventh year. In my case, however, I can purchase the add-on warranty package when my 6th year warranty package is about to expire which makes it a total warranty period of seven years but you never know. By the time my car reaches the end of its warranty period in its sixth year (extended ofcourse), the add-on would still be available as an option or not.

Hope it's clear now

[GBX]

Without a written statement saying that the car is eligible for the 7th year warranty, I don't see why anyone will want to play the VW warranty lottery.

And do post-inspection warranties even make sense? Presumably VW will only grant the warranty if the car is not likely to fail under that warranty. Contradictory.

[Tucker48]

7 years warranty was announced in 2018 (not sure in which month) and I see no reason why a company will apply that policy retrospectively.

[RMN]

Originally Posted by anshumandun

Yes, they can totally do it. In fact, they can change anything they want to because the clause in the first pic in the first post in this forum says "Policy on sole discretion of the manufacturer" which is a common line in any policy by any company.

But VW should not have done what they did. Rolling out a policy and then changing it is not illegal but it just takes away the confidence of the buyers. If you roll out a customer friendly policy and announce it in media, better stick to it!

Yes, but the point is they should at least provide the option to take the 7 year warranty anytime as long as the policy exists. Not allowing customers to take the 7th year option until the 6th year and then re-writing policies to get rid of the 7th year option is cunning.

[seedyk]

Originally Posted by Tucker48

7 years warranty was announced in 2018 (not sure in which month) and I see no reason why a company will apply that policy retrospectively.

It was VW themselves who announced it that it shall be valid retrospectively and not just prospectively, may be to retain brand loyalty of the ones thinking of switching over from their 5 year old cars.

A company which can take unilateral decisions pertaining to policies affecting its customers just cannot be trusted.

[codwapeace]

Originally Posted by GBX

Without a written statement saying that the car is eligible for the 7th year warranty, I don't see why anyone will want to play the VW warranty lottery.

And do post-inspection warranties even make sense? Presumably VW will only grant the warranty if the car is not likely to fail under that warranty. Contradictory.

It is only called warranty. In reality it is a very expensive insurance policy (covering natural failure of parts) issued by a third party insurer. They do an inspection just like any insurance company before issuing the policy. It makes sense otherwise people would only buy the policy if something goes wrong.

[GrandTourer]

So this is what I read today on the website:

https://www.volkswagen.co.in/en/owners/warranty.html


Does this help a bit? So it seems that we'll be able to renew it in the 6th year (which will be the first add-on year) and not once it has lapsed?

They keep changing it so often, who knows what it will be by the time the extended warranty expires.

[rkv_2401]

I spoke to my neighbourhood VW service center again today. They clarified that it is possible to renew add-on warranty on a yearly basis, for the 5th, 6th and 7th years. Apparently, they had halted the option to renew the policy at some point in the middle? But as of July 15th, they'd reinstated the ability to renew the add-on warranty on an annual basis. The representative mentioned that they had done so for 2 cars this month.
Also, it seems the prices of the additional warranty packs have been hiked a bit since the 1st of August, last month they were quoting 18.5k for the 5th year add-on for my Vento TSi, and now they say the MRP has gone to 21.5k. Maybe the two are related somehow? I'm pushing them for a discount to 17-17.5k.


It's not confidence inspiring that they stopped the ability to renew in the middle, but I'm glad that I can carry on with it now. Request any members who've had trouble with this in the past to check with their service centers again.

[anshumandun]

Originally Posted by rkv_2401

I spoke to my neighbourhood VW service center again today. They clarified that it is possible to renew add-on warranty on a yearly basis, for the 5th, 6th and 7th years. Apparently, they had halted the option to renew the policy at some point in the middle? But as of July 15th, they'd reinstated the ability to renew the add-on warranty on an annual basis.

Thanks for sharing. I checked with my friend who works at VW and he confirmed that VW India has now opened the option of buying add-on warranty more than once.