Top To Bottom - Who Has The Best And Worst Auto Warranty?

One of the best reasons to buy a new car or truck instead of a used one is the peace of mind of having a manufacturer’s warranty that will cover the cost of needed repairs for the initial years of ownership. But warranty terms can vary significantly from one brand to another. 

To that end we're listing all the major automakers' warranties for the 2018 model year in the chart below, and have ranked them from best to worst according to their lengths of coverage, which is expressed as a set number of years or miles racked up from the original purchase date (for example, three years/36,000 miles), whichever comes first.

Generally, new-vehicle warranties are broken down into two major components, comprehensive and powertrain coverage. Comprehensive ("full") coverage applies to parts and labor costs for covered repairs; this usually excludes scheduled maintenance service, wear-and-tear items like filters, brake linings and windshield wiper blades, and failure deemed to be caused by abuse or improper maintenance. Powertrain coverage applies to major mechanical components like the engine, transmission and axles, and is subject to the same exclusions.

Truthy - 7/23/2018 3:15:09 PM

+5 Boost

Or you can just buy a well-built dependable car.

mre30 - 7/23/2018 10:32:35 PM

+1 Boost

Bentley, Ferrari, and Aston Martin warranty is 3/36,000.

Lambo warranty is 2/24,000 I think.

Porsche is 4/50,000.

Rolls Royce has 4 year/unlimited mileage warranty.

They will all sell you warranty extensions at about $4K/$5K per year added.

TomM - 7/24/2018 6:58:10 AM

0 Boost

A warranty on a car is meant to cover DEFECTS - in Parts or assembly - and most often these show up LONG BEFORE the first year of a car is over. Longer term "service contracts" cover repairs that are most often based on usage of the car more than defects.

A long term warranty is often offered by manufacturers when their cars are determined to have RELIABILITY issues - noting that engineering for a price often cuts corners. A long warranty is often perceived as confidence in their product. If you really wanted to buy cars low on the reliability indexes - then a LONG warranty and longer Service contract are a plus -if YOU plan to keep the car or drive more than normal miles. However - for those who LEASE their cars for 3 years- or do not keep their cars more than 3 years - it is a waste of money - and YES - the BUYER pays for this somewhere.

mre30 - 7/24/2018 1:19:10 PM

+1 Boost

Agreed 100% - but if the 'check engine' light comes on in your 4 year old Bentley, it will cost $10,000 to fix.

Extended warranties are basically pre-paid repair arrangements anyway, a way to cap your costs in any given year. Doug DeMuro on Youtube has some hilarious stories about his use (abuse?) of an extended warranty on his 7 year old Range Rover.