VW makes five-year warranty permanent

VOLKSWAGEN Australia has introduced a permanent five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty on all of its new passenger, SUV and light-commercial vehicles sold after January 1 next year.

The German car-maker has been promoting a limited-time five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty running from October to the end of this year, but the new offer is permanent.

It also matches the service offers of rivals including Mazda, Holden, Ford, Honda, Hyundai and fellow VW Group brand Skoda, but it can’t match the industry leading seven-year, unlimited kilometres offering from Kia.

VW says it is the first German brand to move to a five-year term, with Audi, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz all opting for three-year, unlimited kilometre plans.

The new five-year warranty will include authorised accessories that are purchased with the vehicle and owners will also get 12 months free roadside assist, which can be extended each year if the vehicle is serviced at a VW dealer.

Volkswagen Group Australia director of customer experience and marketing Jason Bradshaw said the new plan was led feedback from its customer base.

“Each year more than 80,000 customers provide us feedback on Volkswagen products and the dealership experience,” he said. “The business has gauged reaction to its five year warranty campaign and so decided to implement it on an ongoing basis.”

The move marks a change in tune for the German car-maker, after its managing director, Michal Bartsch, said in August that the company did not need to increase its offering from three years to five as none of its customers were asking for it.

“But if you have a look at what’s putting us on the consideration list, nobody is walking in saying ‘I need a five-year warranty’,” he said at the time. “We don’t lose sales at the moment. What happens down the track I can’t tell you.”

Mr Bradshaw said the new offering would ensure buyers had peace of mind when purchasing a new vehicle.

“Making five year warranty permanent assures newcomers to the brand that they can buy with confidence. In addition, they can fix their ownership costs with a Volkswagen Service Plan that costs as little as $1137 for 3 years and less than $2000 for five years.

“These plans also guarantee that your vehicle is serviced only by specially trained Volkswagen technicians using Volkswagen Genuine parts.”

VW says that all parts come with a two-year warranty.