Which cars have the best warranties?
New vehicle warranties are getting longer and more generous than ever. All top 10 brands now offer a new vehicle warranty of at least five years, after Volkswagen, Subaru, Toyota and finally Nissan joined Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Subaru in 2019.
As for luxury brands, Genesis was the first to offer a five-year/ unlimited-kilometre warranty when it launched in Australia. It was followed by Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover, Lexus and Audi. That leaves BMW, Mini, Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari at three years, while Tesla halved its new-vehicle warranty to four years/80,000km in August 2019, but continues to offer an eight-year battery guarantee.
There are plenty of warranty exclusions in the fine print. The obvious ones are any faults caused by abuse or neglect and fair wear and tear. You have to dive into the terms and conditions to find other exclusions. Some brands set a kilometre cap if you use your vehicle for commercial purposes, such as a courier, taxi, hire car or driving school.
A starting-battery warranty (for internal combustion vehicles) often does not match the vehicle warranty. Ford, Mitsubishi and Nissan, for example, warrant the battery against defects for 12 months with Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen and Toyota doubling that. Kilometre limits apply in some cases.
EVs and hybrids
EV and hybrid battery warranty periods can exceed the vehicle warranty period. Indeed, most warrant the battery’s “state of health” so, for example, the Nissan Leaf’s battery is guaranteed to not lose more than nine bars out of 12 battery capacity in eight years or 200,000km.
Hyundai and BYD give eight years/160,000km for electric and hybrid models while Mitsubishi isn’t quite as generous, with a five-year/100,000km EV or PHEV battery warranty.
Toyota will extend its hybrid battery warranty from five to up to 10 years on the basis that annual hybrid health check inspections are completed. Among the luxury brands, Lexus offers an industry-leading 10-year warranty for its EV batteries.
And remember, whatever the warranty, brands cannot sidestep your statutory rights under Australian Consumer Law, which gives you the right to a refund or replacement in the event of a major failure.
10 years: Mitsubishi (200,000km). Seven years: GWM, Haval, Kia, Skoda, SsangYong, MG (unlimited).
Six years: Isuzu ute, BYD (150,000km)
Five years: Audi, Citroen, Ford, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Land Rover, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz cars, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo (unlimited); Jeep (100,000km); LDV (130,000km); Mercedes-Benz vans (250,000km).
Four years: Rolls-Royce (unlimited); Tesla (80,000km).
Three years: Alfa Romeo, Fiat (150,000km); Alpine, Chrysler, Maserati, RAM (100,000km); BMW, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Mini, Porsche (unlimited); Fiat Professional (200,000km).