Car warranties

[thrytis]

Are car warranties typically based on absolute mileage, or the mileage from when the car was delivered? I just barely passed the 36000 mile mark and one of the power lock mechanism on my Subaru Legacy stopped working.

Thanks.

[crokett]

I think they are based on absolute mileage.

[LinuxRandal]

From experience years ago, of them trying to get out of one.

Mileage AND date of manufacturer. (this is TOTAL mileage, not from time of delivery)

I had a failure on part that was covered by the federal emissions warranty. It would have cost $300 to replace and I was 18 at the time and couldn't have afforded it. My father helped me determine the cause (had to break out the multimeter to do it), and found it was listed as part of the emissions warranty. I called the local Ford dealer, found out who their warranty tow was and had it taken in. I was just slightly more then 100 miles from the warranty expiring, and they tried to get around it by the date. I had 12 days from the date of manufacturer left.

They replaced it, and this is what led me to decide to NOT buy a new vehicle.

[paintandbodtman]

I could be wrong but I think usually the warranty on new vehicles are time and or milage whichever comes first.Usually 36 months or 36,000, 12months or 12,000, 120 months or 100,000 whichever comes first. Also it used to be that incidental things were only warrantied for 12,000 and the drive train carried the 36,000 or 100,000 mile warranties when they started extending the warranties for greater mileage. Sometimes if a component has a high failure rate the manufacturer will cover it even if out of warranty as a goodwill gesture. They do this hoping to avoid a forced recall.

Wayne

[thrytis]

Thanks guys! I knew the time part of the warranty was based on delivery date and not manufactured date (actually spelled out clearly in the manual), but i drive enough a year that the time is never the limiting factor. The lack of any comment on the mileage made me think it was absolute mileage, but i figured i would check here in case anyone had other experience. I hope this failure isn't a sign of things to come!

[Uncle Cracker]

Feel out your dealer, even if you are slightly over the mileage limit. I believe they have some latitude in the matter. My Lincoln munched a tranny slightly more than 1000 miles beyond the mileage limit, and my dealer worked it out with FoMoCo and got me a new (not rebuilt) tranny for about $500 (saved me $4k). They do want to keep your business.

[Ed62]

I can almost guarantee you that if that happened with my car, my dealer would take care of it as soon as possible. They can work around things like that.

I had a '95 Buick that I bought new. Usually I take my car to the dealer for repairs because it will be done right. But when it gets old enough, I do the work myself, if possible.

I had a brake problem with that car, and replaced the brakes several times within a short period of time. I did all I knew to do, and finally took it in to the dealer. They put new pads on, checked everything out, and told me it was done. After driving the car for a short time, I realized the problem was not fixed. Back to the dealer I went. I don't remember exactly what they did, but they told me to drive the car for a period of time to see if everything was O.K. If everything was good to go, I would come in to pay them, but not for the parts they already replaced the first time (and replaced again). No charge until I knew it was a successful fix. It was successful, and I paid the bill.

At some later date, I had some body work done, and I was talking with one of the owners. I mentioned to him the fact that they let me take the car without payment, and I later paid the bill because it was successful. He told me they can do that because of the type of clientele they have. So a good dealer will take care of you whenever possible. This was not the first time they bent the rules for me.

Ed

[LCHIEN]

Thanks guys! I knew the time part of the warranty was based on delivery date and not manufactured date (actually spelled out clearly in the manual), but i drive enough a year that the time is never the limiting factor. The lack of any comment on the mileage made me think it was absolute mileage, but i figured i would check here in case anyone had other experience. I hope this failure isn't a sign of things to come!

you can always take it in and see what they say...
it might end up being a defect that they will take care of regardless of the miles, or they may just bend the rules. (basically they look at the odometer, declare it to be warranty and then send the bill to the manufacturer), who's to question the reading of the odo?
Just don't wait *too* long.

[herb fellows]

I would go in and ask them about it without mentioning the mileage. If they balk about doing it under the warranty, and the mileage is close (like 37,000 on a 36,000 warranty) I would tell them It happened while I was away on an extended trip while the car was still within the warranty and this is the first chance I've had to bring it in.
Usually they are going to do the right thing, but if they don't sometimes you have to play the game, even if it's distasteful.

[tfischer]

A good dealer will fudge it if you're just barely over the limit (a couple thousand maybe). It's not like they have to take a pic of the odometer and send it in to the manufacturer for reimbursement...

-Tim

[just started]

It is on delivered mileage. You should have gotten a 'True Mileage' statement with the paperwork when you picked up the car. If the car had say 500 miles on it when you picked it up as a new car then the warranty ends at xx501.