What’s The Meaning Of A Lifetime Warranty

Thursday, 3. February 2011

When is a lifetime warranty not a lifetime warranty? When it’s a Vauxhall it would seem. When Vauxhall announced the warranty to a fanfare of press support other manufacturers that had extended their warranties to 5 years were shocked. But after careful examination it was found that the warranty only applied to the owner of the car and not the car as it only covered the car if it was still owned by the original buyer. So as soon as the car was sold the warranty became null and void. Enter the Advertising Standards Authority who gave Vauxhall a bit of a sore bottom for not making this clear in their advertising (which has since been changed) that the warranty only applied to the original owner. This has now been changed! Hoorah! The warranty can now be transferred to a second owner! Brilliant, but it has to be sold through Vauxhall’s Network Q scheme, must be less than a year old with less than 30,000 miles on the clock! Boo! So not really much change then but at least the goal posts have moved slightly. What we don’t know is what drops off the warranty cover each year, as I’ve highlighted over the years when it comes to manufacturer’s warranties they don’t cover all items forever, make sure you always check the terms. By Graham Hill