I see several dealers in central florida offer lifetime warranty on engine and tranny. Are they good? Are you obligated to do all service with that dealer? What's the catch if any? Transferable? Thanks for your input. Looking to buy or lease an ascent by April the latest.
Dealers that offer lifetime drivetrain warranty
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In my experience the third party, "Lifetime" warranty isn't with the paper it is written on. The terms and conditions make it **** near impossible to make a claim. I ran into this on my wife's Toyota RAV4. It had bad alternator ($850 repair) at the 32k mile mark durning the ~38 month of ownership. Because I didn't purchase the car for my local dealer, they were not interested in helping me out with a goodwill repair. So, down the "Liftetime" warranty path I go. Which went absolutely no where because I didn't have documentation of the tire rotations.
TL;DR Read the fine print and see if it works for you. Just know it is an insurance policy and they are in the business of not paying money.
BTW, here's are the lifetime warranty terms for my wife's RAV4.
https://imgur.com/a/Innvgxm
TL;DR Read the fine print and see if it works for you. Just know it is an insurance policy and they are in the business of not paying money.
BTW, here's are the lifetime warranty terms for my wife's RAV4.
https://imgur.com/a/Innvgxm
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My dealer provides a Free lifetime warranty on the powertrain. Again, you need to provide documentation of ALL services and they must be performed by ASE certified mechanics. So going your own route on oil changes hoping to show receipts as proof will go nowhere.
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Right, my experience with Pine Belt in Lakewood, NJ about this was the same - not only did you have to follow your owner's manual services at that specific dealership - can't use anyone else, even other Subaru service departments - you also had to do their recommended services.
Again, it appears to be exceptionally difficult to file a claim.
Make sure you read the terms and conditions.
Again, it appears to be exceptionally difficult to file a claim.
Make sure you read the terms and conditions.
We have had this with our previous Nissan Pathfinder, and will again with our Ascent. The fine print for us is that all manufacturer recommendations have to followed and service fall between 200 miles either way. We can do our own oil changes and long as we call in for the authorization number, save that email and attach the receipts. Otherwise we can have it done at the dealership.
Nissan has SO much more service intervals than what I can see the ascent has. For instance even with synthetic oil it says change every 3000 miles. So you have to follow that. They also want brake fluid changed every 5000 miles. Cabin filter every 6 months where most is once a year and all work had to be done by a Nissan dealer.
From what I can tell so far the Subaru dealer we have has a much easier lifetime warranty to follow and being it’s free and I plan on getting my service done anyway it’s just an added bonus for us!
Nissan has SO much more service intervals than what I can see the ascent has. For instance even with synthetic oil it says change every 3000 miles. So you have to follow that. They also want brake fluid changed every 5000 miles. Cabin filter every 6 months where most is once a year and all work had to be done by a Nissan dealer.
From what I can tell so far the Subaru dealer we have has a much easier lifetime warranty to follow and being it’s free and I plan on getting my service done anyway it’s just an added bonus for us!
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One of the dealers here offers it but says not valid on Turbo motors. When I asked they said they would honor it but I would have to get all services done at the dealership. That was a no go for me as I know they charge an arm and a leg for service compared to others and they would only do the recommended schedule of every 6,000 miles when I would rather do oil changes sooner.
The wording for these appears to different at each dealer that offers them. As others have suggested, I suspect it will be difficult to get a claim honored. With that said, I am planning on purchasing from a dealer that has such a plan and I will be keeping meticulous records in case a situation arises.
Here is the fine print from a local dealer in Milwaukee, WI.
"Customer Responsibilities:
Have their vehicles serviced as recommended in the Manufacturer's Owner's Manual at the prescribed mileage intervals.
Keep copies of all Repair Orders for all maintenance services performed.
Ensure that both the Oil and Temperature Warning Lights are fully operational."
Here is the fine print from a local dealer in Milwaukee, WI.
"Customer Responsibilities:
Have their vehicles serviced as recommended in the Manufacturer's Owner's Manual at the prescribed mileage intervals.
Keep copies of all Repair Orders for all maintenance services performed.
Ensure that both the Oil and Temperature Warning Lights are fully operational."
I hope you never need to use the "lifetime" warranty. How many miles does it extend to? One of the main problems I envision, is when you take it to the dealer, they will recommend such and such a service and if you decline, that will be the end of the warranty. Subaru may not even require that specific service at that mileage/time interval, but the dealer holds all the cards. Good luck!
This is very true. I know with Nissan when I went in with oil change they recommended I change the cabin air filter, when I said it’s not recommended for another 10,000 miles they told me if I refused they would mark it as such and could (which means it probably would have) void my warranty! We took the extended warranty and the lifetime paperwork said as long as you own the vehicle. The Nissan dealer required them to do the service work, but the Subaru only stares any ASE certified mechanic, or a receipt if doing own work. We normally just go to the dealer anyway so it’s an added bonus if it works, if not it was a free warranty anyway. Haha! All of our local Chevy, Ford, GMC, Buick, Caddy, Subaru, and Nissan dealers offer the lifetime warranty.
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I'm somewhat mechanically competent, but that's some BS! How does the average customer ensure these lights are "fully operational", run the engine at max RPMs for extremely long periods to see if the warning lights come on? I'm glad I don't have to deal with that. I hope your dealership's extended warranty is more realistic. I'd rather have my sanity than jumping through hoops while dotting my i's and crossing my t's. Good luck!
We really weighed our decision is even purchasing the extending warranty from Subaru. The dealership lifetime was free so no biggie. Even the subaru gold plus will have to be follwed to a T I’m sure to qualify. If you are one to do all service yourself or not follow exactly then you really are just wasting money purchasing any extended warranty. Our daughter learned this the hard way unfortunately with Chevy. Her motor went out at 33,000 miles but she skipped one oil change and Chevy would not pay a dime. My hubby said as long as I wanted to take the car to the dealership and keep up with it he would pay it, lucky for me they have a great waiting area ?
I agree. That sentence caught my eye as well.
Different dealer warranties will be...different. We offer a Limited Lifetime Powertrain on used cars (under 10 years old, under 100,000 miles, non-transferable) included with the vehicle at time of purchase. It covers basic mechanical issues with the power and drivetrain. The warranty is called MAP (Motorist Assistance Program) from EFG Companies and is honored nationwide (not everyone, but not just our dealership). You do have to maintain the vehicle, as repairs are not warrantied in the case of neglect, improper maintenance, or backyard mechanic work. Essentially that means keeping your car on it's normal maintenance schedule. One thing it does not cover are checks/gaskets/seals/cv boots. If those need replacing, you have to get the checkbook out. If they result in a failure, the warranty will not cover the work (i.e. torn CV boot leads to CV issues, warranty does not cover because you should have had the boot replaced). All of that can be caught on a routine inspection done every 12 months. If you want everything covered, there are options for that offered at an additional charge.
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WOW! so in order to keep the warranty, and after you've used up the FREE maintenance service they provide, you still need to bring your subaru into that same dealership for maintenance to keep the warranty? If so, thats a rip off because every 5k miles of $490.00 will cost a lot.
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