Car Warranties Common Issues and Misunderstandings
There is a lot of fine print when it comes to car warranties. Here are some common issues and
misunderstandings when it comes to the ever important car warranty.
Statutory Warranties
Most states have some form of a , where buyers will be protected from cars that have significant
manufacturing defects. Some state's laws will apply to new cars only, used cars and new cars equally or
separately to new cars and used cars. The defect often has to be significant or a series of defects that together
are significant. For the statutory warranties, you will need to keep detailed and accurate records of
everything related to the car.
Extended Warranties
are most often seen on used cars or on new cars that are almost out of factory warranty. One of the major
issues with the extended warranties is that some companies that provide these will require you to pay out of
pocket for the repair and submit the bill for potential reimbursement.
Another big issue that is often the warranty is tied to the use of a particular repair shop. If that shop is
inconvenient or goes out of business, you may be out of luck for any reimbursement or coverage.
New Car Warranties
The type of coverage is set out in the agreement of sale. The bumper-to-bumper warranty be 10 years/10,000
miles, whichever is first, but there are other items in the fine print. The fine print is what limits the items in
the warranty. For instance, tires will obviously not be covered. Most manufacturers place time limits on the
overall car, the power train and the corrosion protection.
New car warranties also tend to come with one larger caveat. Most of the longer car warranties only apply to
the original owner. That means that when you sell it, or even possibly if you just transfer the car to a family
member, the warranty no longer applies. This may cause an issue with resale value.
Implied Warranties
If you purchase a car from a state that has warranties, this means that the car is warranted to the basic level
of use. The car cannot be sold as-is without the basic warranty. If while you are driving the car home, the
axle falls off due to the car being defective at the time of purchase, you may be able to get your money back.
The implied warranties are only in certain states and only apply to basic functions of the car.
used cars under 1000