[GTO]

PART ONE : Standard Warranty

I firmly believe that warranty coverage is indicative of a brand's belief in the cars that it makes. After all, who should pay for part failures in the 1st - 5th years of ownership? The manufacturer or the customer? If the manufacturer believes that his product will last the mile, and part failures will be down to a minimal, they will offer wider warranty coverages. After all, if their cars indeed wear top-notch quality (and resultant reliability), why will they not back it up with a comprehensive guarantee. Modern cars are generally reliable, yet the odd part failure can happen to even the best of them. When things go wrong in the cars of today, spares are usually very expensive. I remember a BHPian paying Rs. 50,000 to replace the defective brake master cylinder on his 2 year old 5.5 lakh rupee hatchback. Would any manufacturer want to cover such damaged parts, unless they are absolutely certain of their product's quality? Remember, warranty repairs work out very expensive for any manufacturer (given the volumes).

Who offers the best standard warranties in India?



NOTES:

• The median point for standard warranties, as is fairly obvious, is 2 years / unlimited kms coverage. A whopping 8 manufacturers offer exactly that.
• The Indian driving average is between 12,000 - 14,000 kms p.a. That's why, you'll see Honda with its 4 year / 80,000 km warranty ranking above Chevrolet's 3 year / 100,000 km coverage, or Hyundai's 2 year unlimited mileage standard package. Similar reasoning applied to the extended warranty rankings, where Hyundai's 5 year / 100,000 kms protection is ranked above that of Audi's 4 year / unlimited mileage.
• Mercedes' excellent standard warranty is not indicative of their product's reliability; rather, the company is willing to stand by its customers when things go wrong (which they do).
• You'll see Tata occupying two spots. Reason? The brand offers 2 year / unlimited coverage on its modern cars (Vista, Manza etc.) and expensive UVs (Safari & Grande Mark II), yet only 1.5 years on the older platforms (Indica, Indigo and Sumo). The Nano's warranty is as cheap as its ex-factory price = Only 18 months & 24,000 kms.
• Mitsubishi also at two spots. In a strategy that's nothing short of ridiculous, the 50 lakh rupee Montero SUV gets a warranty that's worse than a Nanos. A mere 12 month / 20,000 km coverage (likewise for the 20 lakh rupee Pajero). Shame on HM for treating its premium 20 - 50 lakh customers in such a shabby way.
• Equal shame on Maruti. Despite holding 40% of the Indian market, the warranty ranks 17th / 19. The only brand that's worse off is Mitsubishi.
• While Hyundai offers 2 year / unlimited mileage warranties on all of its cars, the Sonata is an exception. This D segment sedan receives 4 years / unlimited mileage cover as standard!
• GM is giving the Captiva step-motherly treatment. The SUV gets only 2 years warranty coverage, versus the 3 years that all other Chevy cars in India enjoy. Yup, its because of the pricing of CBU spare parts.
• Thanks to Dippy for procuring all warranty details.

[GTO]

PART TWO : Extended Warranty

As a Team-BHPian, you will know of our belief in extended warranties. For barely 1 - 2% (with rare exceptions) of the car's original purchase price, you can get as much as 5 years of complete warranty coverage. Remember, and again, an alternator or air-con compressor of some B segment hatchbacks will run you for Rs. 40,000. C & D segmenters will be priced even higher. I see extended warranties as an insurance policy that gets me invaluable piece of the mind. Team-BHP highly recommends extended warranties; Full details & reasoning over on this article.

Extended warranties make for a win-win situation. The car owner is protected against part failures for 4- 5 years, the manufacturer gets additional $$$, while the dealer is assured additional service station income. You see, every extended warranty is subject to this clause : Valid only if manufacturer specified service intervals are strictly adhered to. Therefore, while some uncovered car owners will begin considering the after-market for service / repairs when their car is 3 years old, extended warranty customers will use only the authorised service station in order to keep their coverage intact.

Who offers the best standard + extended warranty in India. Observe how the rankings tumble once we bring maximum offered coverage into the picture:



NOTES:

• While Tata offers a 2 year / unlimited kms warranty as standard, the minute you take extended coverage, the upper kms cap is 150,000 kms (not unlimited). Likewise for Fiat.
• Polo extended warranty details not available yet.

[aargee]

I just compared Maruti & Honda out of random basis & observed the following.
1. Honda gives a total of 2+2 years 80000 Km warranty that includes extended warranty (FOC)
2. Maruti gives a total of 2+2 years 80000 Km warranty that includes extended warranty with a price varying for each cars

Now aren't both the manufacturers offering the same type of warranty? How can we position Maruti at 7th place in terms of best standard warranties?

If I've understood something incorrectly pls help me understand. Tks.

[civic-sense]

Does Honda really provide 4 years warranty? According to the warranty booklet of my Civic, it is 2 years. You have an option to purchase an extended warranty package for 1 year or 2 years. Not sure about the ANHC and Jazz.

[GTO]

Honda gives a total of 2+2 years 80000 Km warranty that includes extended warranty (FOC)
2. Maruti gives a total of 2+2 years 80000 Km warranty that includes extended warranty with a price varying for each cars

The difference is, Honda now offers 4 year warranties as standard. Maruti's standard warranty is 2 years.

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Does Honda really provide 4 years warranty? According to the warranty booklet of my Civic, it is 2 years. You have an option to purchase an extended warranty package for 1 year or 2 years. Not sure about the ANHC and Jazz.

Made standard in the recent past (since the Jazz' launch IIRC).

[shamanth]

Originally Posted by aargee

I just compared Maruti & Honda out of random basis & observed the following.
1. Honda gives a total of 2+2 years 80000 Km warranty that includes extended warranty (FOC)
2. Maruti gives a total of 2+2 years 80000 Km warranty that includes extended warranty with a price varying for each cars

Now aren't both the manufacturers offering the same type of warranty? How can we position Maruti at 7th place in terms of best standard warranties?

If I've understood something incorrectly pls help me understand. Tks.

Simple Maruti will charge you for extended warranty, Honda gives you free of cost.

[Gilead]

When a typical Honda costs 2.5L more than a typical Ford, they had better give a 4 year warranty! If I pay Ford just 8.5K, I can get a 4 year warranty with double the mileage of Honda's. Now which one is more VFM as far as warranty goes?

[aargee]

Originally Posted by GTO

The difference is, Honda now offers 4 year warranties as standard. Maruti's standard warranty is 2 years.

Ok, then, I assume Honda should be collecting some premium money for that extra 2 years that would be way too less compared to Maruti. Will that not be the case? I'm not trying to defend Maruti, but just making sure that the warranty provided by Maruti is nothing less compared to Honda.

[kiku007]

Excellent article GTO & Dippy.

3 Year warranty should be made Std across the companies. Polo's 6 Year Anti-corrosion warranty is a trend setter

Will it be possible to collate information on how rigid the different manufactures are wrt modifications done to the vehicle and the impact on warranty?

Eg. Aftermarket alloy wheels, tampering with the electrical wiring to install ICE, car security etc, using synthetic engine oil etc.

Note: FFE is totally out of question and I guess people remove the tuning box/swap the K&N Air Filter for the std before giving it to service?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Gilead

When a typical Honda costs 2.5L more than a typical Ford, they had better give a 4 year warranty! If I pay Ford just 8.5K, I can get a 4 year warranty with double the mileage of Honda's. Now which one is more VFM as far as warranty goes?

As you will see from the excel sheets, there is NO blanket correlation between the price of the car and the warranty it offers. This is a discussion on warranty coverages only. We do have other threads to discuss pricing policies of different cars.

Originally Posted by aargee

I'm not trying to defend Maruti, but just making sure that the warranty provided by Maruti is nothing less compared to Honda.

Maruti definitely sucks when it comes to warranty coverage. Its direct and identically priced competition (example = Hyundai) offers an unlimited kms standard warranty, as well as extended options for upto 5 years.

[Gilead]

Originally Posted by GTO

As you will see from the excel sheets, there is NO blanket correlation between the price of the car and the warranty it offers. This is a discussion on warranty coverages only. We do have other threads to discuss pricing policies of different cars.

I believe Honda's 4 year warranty, which is definitely better than the 2 years offered by the competition, is already baked into the premium that Honda charges. Maybe due to more reliable parts and better engineering etc. I agree there is nothing in the figures to prove this, but there is nothing to disprove it as well.

Now the question is why don't Hyundai and Ford bake that additional 8-9K into the price and offer a standard 4 year warranty? Does any research indicate that 2 years is the 'sweet spot'?

[car-dent]

extended warranty is not available for i20 crdi (as told by a dealer)

[shivasuma]

Hyundai does offer 3rd year extended warranty on i20 crdi costing around 7.5K. The dealers for some reason never tell the customers about it. I just checked it last week when I visited Advaith motors.

[car-dent]

Originally Posted by shivasuma

Hyundai does offer 3rd year extended warranty on i20 crdi costing around 7.5K. The dealers for some reason never tell the customers about it. I just checked it last week when I visited Advaith motors.

thats good then. i specifically asked the dealer at indore. he said its not available.

[jkdas]

Tata do have Extended Warranty but talk to the dealer about it ; they will blink at you and give very funny answer ! In other words they are ignorant.

When I went for my Safari, I was told I can get it later as they forgot to sell EW package during the process. Somehow in my mind, I thought I can get EW anytime before my 2 year period expires. Either they changed they deal or I had the wrong info.

Anyway, I guess Tata is coming up with great AMC package but again, with some funny deal that one has to get it before the odo does 10k or so.

Skoda should start giving EW to pull customers. Sadly their 3year 45,000kms package doesnt cover all cars. Buy it, use it and sell it before 2 years?