Your Car May Have a “secret” Warranty
Owning a car is expensive: Even new cars require tune-ups, regular maintenance, and periodic repairs , all adding up ( about $1,452 per year on average). Car warranties help reduce these costs, but they typically only cover three years or up to 36,000 miles , which goes by pretty quickly considering most people drive about 15,000 miles a year.
This forces people to look for ways to save money on car repairs, especially if the car is out of warranty. But are you sure that your car is not under warranty? It is possible that even if your official warranty has expired, your vehicle will be covered to some extent by so-called “policy adjustments”, “service campaigns” or “goodwill programs”. Whatever the official name, let’s call them what they really are: “secret guarantees” that can potentially save you a lot of money.
What is a secret guarantee?
A secret warranty occurs when an automobile manufacturer discovers that a part or component of one of its vehicle models is defective, usually due to an unusually high failure rate or other problem. To cope with the situation and protect themselves from liability, they extend the warranty on the part by offering free replacement parts with newer versions or discounts on service labor.
So what makes them secret? These warranty extensions are not official recalls – they are voluntary programs by the manufacturer, so there’s really no law requiring them to notify people. Although vehicle owners are sometimes notified of extended warranties, this is usually done by mail, and many people simply don’t read the letters. Additionally, no effort is made to contact secondary owners who have purchased a used vehicle, and dealers rarely contact us to advertise free or discounted repairs.
The Center for Auto Safety estimates that there are more than 500 classified warranties in force at any given time from all car manufacturers combined. Each one represents repair and safety jobs that you can get for free or at a discount if you can find out about them.
How to check
Secret warranties are usually communicated to dealers through something called a technical service bulletin (TSB), which tells the dealer that it can replace a part or perform some type of service on certain models (sometimes even certain vehicle identification number, or VIN, ranges) at a reduced cost or free of charge.
There are potentially three ways you can learn about TSB and secret guarantees:
-
State laws. Although there is no federal law requiring the disclosure of secret guarantees, five states have such laws: California, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia and Wisconsin. These states require car dealerships to notify you when your vehicle’s warranty is extended or otherwise changed.
-
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website. NHTSA maintains a TSB database . You can enter information about your vehicle and view a list of Manufacturer Messages. Reading and understanding them can be a challenge, but it will be worth it if you find that you can get your car serviced for free. For example, here’s a memo from Ford detailing the extended warranty on a number of Escape SUVs and Fusion sedans.
One caveat: Having a TSB (or several) for your car’s make and model doesn’t mean there’s a secret warranty—they just indicate that a problem exists and the dealer has been given instructions on how to fix it. But having a copy of this message from the manufacturer will help you ask your dealer if there is a secret warranty you can take advantage of.
-
Call your dealer. Finally, you can try simply calling the dealer who sold you the car and asking. Have your VIN ready and ask them to check for warranty changes or extensions.
Please note that, like the original warranty, these “secret” warranties have a time limit. If you learn about them after they have expired, you will not be able to use them.