Toyota says three-year warranties are here to stay … for now

Mazda’s surprise decision to extend its warranty from three to five years doesn’t appear to be having a flow-on effect with other popular manufacturers.

Main rival Toyota, which offers a three-year, 100,000km factory warranty, told WhichCar it has no plans to extend it to match Mazda, or other manufacturers which have recently pushed out their guarantees to five years such as Ford, Holden and Honda.

3

“There’s been a lot of commentary on five and seven-year warranties, but we certainly think our warranty provisions are adequate for our customers,” Toyota Australia marketing and sales boss Sean Hanley told WhichCar.

“We don’t see a [longer] warranty as a sales tool.”

Hanley’s comments have been echoed by other manufacturers which are holding on to the once-standard three-year warranties, which slowly become the exception since Korean carmakers Kia and Hyundai began offering seven- and five-year periods in 2014.

Of the brands still holding out, Volkswagen has hinted it could be swayed if customers demanded a longer warranty period, though VW Australia spokesman Kurt McGuinness told WhichCar that isn’t currently the case.

3

“We see Volkswagen customers responding to our drive-away pricing and finance offers. We do not detect the same interest in five year warranty, though we are monitoring its increased prevalence.”

“We work closely with dealers to resolve any issue that customers might encounter after the expiration of their warranty.”

Nissan and Subaru, which both dabbled with five-year warranties on selected models in September last year, are also on the record as saying they are continuing to assess the merits of a longer warranty period, but have no plans to change things for the foreseeable future.