Toyota moves to five-year warranty
BY RON HAMMERTON | 4th Jan 2019
TOYOTA Australia has finally bitten the bullet and adopted a five-year new-vehicle warranty to counter similar offers from most of its rivals.
The Japanese giant – the Australian market leader for 16 years – has been one of the few hold-outs with a three-year warranty as other mainstream manufacturers have extended their cover to between four and seven years, with Tesla even offering eight years.
The move leaves Nissan and luxury car-makers such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW as those still sticking to a three-year warranty.
The warranty announcement comes just two days after Subaru disclosed it was moving to a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
Available on all new Toyota vehicles from January 1, the Toyota Warranty Advantage also includes a money-back guarantee on vehicles that break down and cannot be driven in the first 60 days of ownership.
And Toyota “guests” – Toyota jargon for customers – can also get free towing and a loan vehicle if a warranty repair needs to be made on an undriveable vehicle.
The five-year warranty will include unlimited kilometres for private buyers and up to 160,000km for fleets.
And to encourage “guests” to have their vehicles serviced at Toyota dealerships, the warranty can be extended to seven years on the powertrain for vehicles given scheduled log-book servicing.
“The warranty for hybrid batteries can be extended to 10 years/unlimited kilometres with an annual hybrid health inspection carried out as part of normal 12-monthly servicing from the fifth year,” Toyota says.
“Coverage can apply beyond the Toyota Warranty Advantage period where the dealer or Toyota determines a component has failed due to a manufacturing defect.”
Announcing the warranty advance today, Toyota Australia vice-president of sales and marketing Sean Hanley said feedback from Toyota customers suggested their main motoring priority was to “keep mobile”.
“Our guests have told us that being able to remain on the road, with minimal disruption and inconvenience was most important to them,” he said.
“Which is why we've taken the time to develop the Toyota Warranty Advantage, to ensure that we deliver what our guests are looking for – a consumer-focused warranty program that will ensure that Toyota owners feel confident and appreciated throughout an exceptional ownership experience.”
Mr Hanley said not all five-year warranties offered to Australian consumers were created equal, with some having a “great headline” but falling short in delivery.
He said the introduction of the new warranty came on top of Toyota’s existing capped-price servicing policy for all new Toyota vehicles.
Under the scheme, a new Toyota HiLux costs just $180 (petrol) or $240 (diesel) for each of the first six scheduled services over three years or 60,000km, whichever occurs first.
A Corolla hybrid costs just $175 for each of the first five annual scheduled services over five years or 75,000km.
