Which car-makers offer the best warranty?

UPDATED 01/07/2025: When you buy a new vehicle, you will not only get that new-car smell but also – in most cases – better warranty coverage than ever, adding significant peace of mind when making one of life’s bigger purchases.

All top-10 automotive brands now offer a new-vehicle warranty of at least five years, after Volkswagen, Subaru and Toyota and finally Nissan joined Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Subaru in 2019.

However, since October 2020, Mitsubishi offered the Australian industry's first 10-year factory vehicle warranty, with a 10-year/200,000km plan available — if owners stick to Mitsubishi dealers for their 10-year capped-price service program. Otherwise the standard five-year/100,000km warranty applies.

MG and Nissan also offer 10-year warranties now, with distance limits of 250,000km and 300,000km respectively, however both offerings are service-activated, meaning if you service outside of MG or Nissan dealers, you don't get the same lengthy warranty.

In the case of Nissan, it drops to a five-year/unlimited km coverage when servicing outside Nissan dealers, while MG owners using non-MG dealerships for servicing will be covered by a seven-year/unlimited warranty.

Honda weighed in with an eight-year/unlimited-kilometre term, while Hyundai offers eight-year/160,000km coverage for its full-electric and hybrid models.

Next to that, there's a variety of seven-year/unlimited terms, pioneered by Kia but since matched by GWM (covering the GWM, Haval, Tank and Ora brands), MG, SsangYong and Skoda.

Toyota has a five-year warranty that extends to seven years for the powertrain, provided the vehicle was “properly serviced and maintained”, while Isuzu offer six years for its D-MAX and MU-X.

Jeep, Suzuki and Renault have also joined the fray with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre factory warranty, while both Isuzu Ute and BYD offer a six-year/unlimited-km warranty.

As for luxury brands, Genesis was the first to offer a five-year/unlimited-km warranty when it launched in Australia in 2019. It was followed in March 2020 by Mercedes-Benz and a month later by Volvo. Jaguar and Land Rover joined the five-year warranty club in April 2021, followed by Lexus in November 2021, Audi in January 2022, Alfa in April 2022 and BMW/MINI in November 2022.

That leaves Bentley, Lamborghini, Maserati, Porsche and Ferrari at three years – although Ferrari recently announced extended warranties for its plug-in hybrid supercars – while Tesla halved its new-vehicle warranty to four years (joining Rolls-Royce) or 80,000km in August 2019, but continues to offer an eight-year battery guarantee.

Before we list exactly what each brand offers in terms of warranty (see below), there are a few other important things you should know.

Some brands set a kilometre cap if you use your vehicle for commercial purposes such as a courier, taxi, hire car or a driving school vehicle (but the warranty time period doesn’t change).

For example, Honda sets a 140,000km limit for vehicles used commercially (and its new extended warranty is not available to these owners), while Hyundai has a 130,000km limit (except iLoad, with its 160,000km cap), Kia’s is 150,000km, Mercedes' is 200,000km (250,000km for its commercial vehicles), Nissan’s is 200,000km, Suzuki's is 160,000km, Toyota’s is 160,000km and Volkswagen’s is 150,000km.

Ford and Mazda each have the same unlimited-kilometre warranty regardless of use and Mitsubishi’s 100,000 and 200,000km caps apply to all buyers.

There are plenty of warranty exclusions. The obvious ones are any faults caused by abuse or neglect and fair wear and tear. There are also other exclusions that you have to dive into the warranty terms and conditions to find.

For example, Mitsubishi has a list of components it covers for only one year/20,000km such as glow plugs, shock absorbers and “any component subject to regular servicing”.

Hyundai and Volkswagen cover paint defects for three years; Hyundai also puts a 100,000km distance cap on its paint cover.

Problems with your Hyundai or Kia audio/nav unit? Except for the MY18 Hyundai i30 onwards (which gets the full five-year cover), both manufacturers offer only three years of warranty cover for this equipment.

Most warranties do not cover faulty tyres (referring you instead to the tyre manufacturer), although Ford does, including any same-specification replacements fitted within the warranty period.

Apart from dropping its original seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty to just six years and 150,000km (and extending the warranty of the high-voltage battery in its BYD Atto 3 to eight years and 160,000km), curious exclusions from the Chinese brand's factory warranty include the fancy multimedia system (three years and 60,000km) and the suspension system (years and 100,000km).

Starting-battery warranty (for internal-combustion vehicles) often does not match the vehicle warranty. Ford, Mitsubishi and Nissan, for example, warrant the battery against defects for 12 months.

Meantime Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen and Toyota do it for two years (Honda will then pay up to 50 per cent of a defective battery replacement cost from 25 to 36 months). Unlike the others here, Hyundai also sets a 40,000km limit for its battery cover.

For electric vehicles and hybrids, their battery warranty period is much longer and can actually exceed the vehicle warranty period.

Most warrant the battery’s ‘state of health’ so, for example, the Nissan LEAF’s battery is guaranteed to not lose more than nine bars out of 12 battery capacity in eight years or 200,000km.

Hyundai and BYD give eight years/160,000km for its electric and hybrid models. Mitsubishi isn’t quite as generous, with a five-year/100,000km EV or PHEV battery warranty.

Toyota will extend its hybrid battery warranty from five to up to 10 years, but only provided that annual hybrid health check inspections are completed.

Among the luxury brands, Lexus offers an industry-leading 10-year warranty for its EV batteries.

Warranty provisions can’t exclude your statutory rights under Australian Consumer Law, which gives you the right to a refund or replacement in the event of a major failure.

Both Volkswagen and Toyota have potentially made this path easier for consumers – during the first two months of ownership, at least.

And both offer a refund/replacement (or repair, if desired) where a car has suffered a manufacturing defect that renders it immobile and no longer driveable within 60 days of purchase (or has had repeated unsuccessful repair efforts in the case of the Toyota).

Volkswagen stipulates it needs “a reasonable opportunity” to find what caused the defect, including confirmation that a manufacturing defect caused the failure.

If a manufacturing defect renders the vehicle undriveable, some brands offer free towing to the nearest authorised dealer as part of the warranty terms (Ford, Hyundai, Kia and Toyota) and Toyota even offers a free loan car while yours is being fixed.

10-year warranties:
Nissan 10 years/300,000km
MG 10 years/250,000km
Mitsubishi 10 years/200,000km

Eight-year warranties:
Honda Eight years/unlimited km

Seven-year warranties:
GWM Seven years/unlimited km
Haval Seven years/unlimited km
Kia Seven years/unlimited km
Skoda Seven years/unlimited km
SsangYong Seven years/unlimited km

Six-year warranties:
Isuzu Ute Six years/150,000km
BYD Six years/150,000km

Five-year warranties:
Alfa Romeo Five years/unlimited km
Audi Five years/unlimited km
BMW Five years/unlimited km
Citroen Five years/unlimited km
Ford Five years/unlimited km
Genesis Five years/unlimited km
Honda Five years/unlimited km
Hyundai Five years/unlimited km
Jaguar Five years/unlimited km
Jeep Five years/100,000km
Land Rover Five years/unlimited km
LDV Five years/130,000km
Lexus Five years/unlimited km
Mazda Five years/unlimited km
Mercedes-Benz Cars Five years/unlimited km
Mercedes-Benz Vans Five years/250,000km
MINI Five years/unlimited km
Peugeot Five years/unlimited km
Renault Five years/unlimited km
Subaru Five years/unlimited km
Suzuki Five years/unlimited km
Toyota Five years/unlimited km
Volkswagen Five years/unlimited km
Volvo Five years/unlimited km

Four-year warranties:
Rolls-Royce Four years/unlimited km
Tesla Four years/80,000km

Three-year warranties:
Alpine Three years/100,000km
Bentley Three years/unlimited km
Chrysler Three years/100,000km
Ferrari Three years/unlimited km (extended PHEV warranties available)
Fiat Three years/150,000km
Fiat Professional Three years/200,000km
Lamborghini Three years/unlimited km
Lotus Three years/unlimited km
Maserati Three years/100,000km
Porsche Three years/unlimited km
RAM Three years/100,000km

Notes:
Audi — Three years paint and 12-year corrosion warranty in addition to five years/unlimited km
BYD — Apart from dropping its original seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty to just six years and 150,000km (and extending the warranty of the high-voltage battery in its BYD Atto 3 to eight years and 160,000km) curious exclusions from the Chinese brand's factory warranty include the fancy multimedia system (three years and 60,000km) and the suspension system (years and 100,000km)
BMW — Three years paint and 12-year corrosion warranty in addition to five years/unlimited km
Citroen — Three years paint and 12-year corrosion warranty in addition to five years/unlimited km
Fiat — Eight years paint and corrosion warranty in addition to three years/150,000km
Fiat Professional — Eight years corrosion warranty in addition to three years/200,000km
Honda — Doesn’t apply to cars used for commercial purposes and vehicles must be within their original warranty period as of June 3, 2024; scheduled servicing must also be completed by an authorised Honda service centre: the warranty period will extend each year at the time of servicing until the vehicle reaches a total of eight years
Hyundai — Eight years/160,000km for full-electric and hybrid IONIQ models
Kia — Seven years/unlimited km includes paint and corrosion
Lamborghini — 12-year corrosion warranty
Land Rover — Six-year corrosion warranty
Lotus — Eight-year corrosion warranty
Mitsubishi — 10-year/200,000km extended factory warranty only available to private buyers and small businesses (with up to five vehicles), and only if they service their vehicle at a Mitsubishi vehicle for the first 10 years; otherwise the standard five-year/100,000km warranty applies
Peugeot — Three-year paint, 12-year corrosion warranty
Five-year/200,000km warranty for commercial vehicles (three-year paint, five-year corrosion)
Toyota — Seven-year corrosion warranty. Warranty extends to seven years for engine and driveline if vehicle is maintained and serviced as per the vehicle’s warranty and service book and up to 10 years Hybrid Battery warranty with unlimited kilometres with annual hybrid health check according to Toyota specifications
Volkswagen — Three-year paint, 12-year corrosion warranty. Amarok corrosion warranty is six years

* Unless noted, paint and corrosion warranty periods do not have a kilometre limit