New car buyers: does warranty impact your brand choices?

[Elkins45]

For those of you who buy new cars I’m curious how much sway a warranty has over your buying decisions. My reasoning for most of my car buying life has been just buy a Toyota and the warranty won’t matter, but in 2017 when I found myself in the market for a new truck the price differential between a Tundra and the equivalent Nissan Titan caught my attention and the 5 year/100k mile BtB warranty sealed the deal.

Would a couple of extra years and thousands of extra miles of full coverage matter enough to make you choose one vehicle over another?

I ask because Mitsubishi seems to be dangling a better warranty than most to lure buyers right now. OTOH so is Hyundai and that would never convince me to buy one of those. So I guess it depends for me.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

It did when I bought our Hyundai Santa Fe. On the other hand, it is doing well at 137K miles way past warranty.

 

[TiGeo]

Sure. My most recent VWs had 6/72 b2b. It factored in and I'm not a big warranty person.

 

[Passport1]

Yes once upon a time. When I bought my 2014 Mitsubishi in 2015 the warranty mattered. It lapses this June. If I bought another, outliving the warranty again might be a pipe dream.

Motor Biscuit

 

[I<3oil]

Nope. A long warranty on a mediocre vehicle is still a mediocre vehicle.

 

[DemoFly]

You're going to find that the people that don't have a good warranty will say they don't care, and the people that have a good warranty will say they care.

I overpaid for my last vehicle, but I fix that by telling others it doesn't bother me.

 

[KCJeep]

I consider warranty a factor to consider when pondering new versus used (I will not buy a 3rd party aftermarket) but not new versus new.

I figure I will know before any new car warranty expires whether or not the car is trending problematic or reliable and will adjust accordingly.

Warranty or not a car that is a garage bunny is a pain.

 

[Rand]

Its a factor just like many others such as interest rate.
subaru had 1.99% which is better than free money nowadays.

I'd consider a new kia or hyundai Strictly because it has a long warranty.

 

[eljefino]

When I bought my first new car its presence of a warranty was nice, but I didn't seriously cross shop any competition because there wasn't really anything comparable to a Prius hybrid with a little electric motor for AWD.

If I felt a 3/36 warranty was insufficient I'd have bought an extended factory warranty, and priced it into the price of the car in my head instead of being "surprised" at closing.

 

[TimeFlies]

Yes, it is a factor, but not so important that its a top 5 factor.

 

[ATex7239]

Here's the way I see it. Guy puts a fancy warranty on a new vehicle 'cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside. And of course, you do. Why shouldn't you? Ya figure you can put that little warranty under your pillow at night, the Warranty Fairy might come by at night and leave a quarter, am I right? The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Build model airplanes" says the little fairy; well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser, and your daughter's knocked up. I seen it a hundred times.

 

[GON]

I purchase a vehicle where needing warranty repairs, and repairs post warranty are the exception, and not expected.

 

[John105]

I used to believe any good car is 4/50 bumper to bumper, not really thinking that it's factored in to the price. For example, we bought a Buick Enclave new, not the Chevy nor GMC. Never really thought that it had the fixed glass over the rear whereas the other 2 didn't. That was the real difference in reality. Thought I had heard Hyundai warranty is a myth lol they can simply deny claims

 

[fdcg27]

I don't consider warranty much of a factor in looking at a new car.
Manufacturers will often extend coverage for known problems, like the AC condensers in both our Forester and our HAH or the many engines replaced in Hyundai/Kia cars.

 

[Elkins45]

I purchase a vehicle where needing warranty repairs, and repairs post warranty are the exception, and not expected.

I’m having trouble understanding what the first half of this sentence means.

 

[GON]

I’m having trouble understanding what the first half of this sentence means.

Here is an extreme example.

Which is a more reliable vehicle, a Land Rover with a 100k bumper to bumper warranty or a Toyota Corolla with a 36k bumper to bumper warranty......

 

[Elkins45]

Here is an extreme example.

Which is a more reliable vehicle, a Land Rover with a 100k bumper to bumper warranty or a Toyota Corolla with a 36k bumper to bumper warranty......

I understand that point, I just didn’t understand that was what you meant.

Is Land Rover foolish enough to offer a 100k BtB warranty? Seems like you would reach a point where a good warranty on a bad car becomes unsustainable by the maker.

 

[GON]

I understand that point, I just didn’t understand that was what you meant.

Is Land Rover foolish enough to offer a 100k BtB warranty? Seems like you would reach a point where a good warranty on a bad car becomes unsustainable by the maker.

Let's reframe the question.

Which would you prefer, your daughter driving from Kentucky to Seattle in a new Land Rover or a used Toyota RAV4.....

Warranty is only important if it generally is not likely to be used. If warranty is likely to be needed---the vehicle is a pass.

The new Dodge Hornets recently caught my eye. After reading the reliability reviews---- the warranty is essentially useless as the warranty can't overcome the reliability design exposure the Hornet poses.

Another way of looking at it. I phone with a one-year warranty, or a cheap poorly designed with inferior parts Chinese phone with a ten-year warranty. I can't afford to send my cell phone in to a service center---- so I will take the I-phone with a one-year warranty than a cheap Chinese phone with a ten-year warranty.

 

[John105]

Imho warranty is a myth. There are extreme examples like the Nissan Rogue. 3/36 bumper to bumper and 5/60 powertrain. Coworkers cvt? Failed at 39k. Whew. Powertrain good 5/60.

Not covered. The part that caused the failure not covered under powertrain.

Then you had the Dougie DeM school of warranty. He bragged about how many things he got fixed on a Range Rover covered by extended warranty. He was giddier than Tony Romo back when he was dating Jessica once the car reached $19k in repairs. A more conventional person thinks gosh, I sure wish my car wouldn’t break so much.

 

[ls973800]

I used to believe any good car is 4/50 bumper to bumper, not really thinking that it's factored in to the price. For example, we bought a Buick Enclave new, not the Chevy nor GMC. Never really thought that it had the fixed glass over the rear whereas the other 2 didn't. That was the real difference in reality. Thought I had heard Hyundai warranty is a myth lol they can simply deny claims

Even Buick has the 3/36 bumper to bumper warranty now. Not sure why they did away with the 4/50 but I also had purchased several Buicks in the past and the warranty did factor into the decision at the time. Powetrain is still 5/60