Kia ready for 10-year warranty

Kia is sticking with seven-year warranty coverage in Australia, but is ready and willing to raise the bar as soon as another brand encroaches on its turf.

"If we were challenged seriously we would look at what our options are, and we will continue to look at our options," said Kia Motors Australia Chief Operating Officer, Damien Meredith, during this week's launch of the updated Kia Sportage.

"I don't think that anyone's really come hard at us at seven-year warranty/unlimited [kilometres]. But we've got a patch to protect, and we think that it's given us a great amount of impetus in the market.

“Other manufacturers don't seem to think so, but that's fine. We think it has.

"We'll protect that patch."

And there's already a precedent for Kia to upgrade the warranty cover on its new cars.

"We would probably look at a 10-year option for warranty only. That is done in other parts of the world... [like] North America, with our brand. So we'd look at it... seriously."

To date, no brand has posed a warranty threat that Meredith and his management team at Kia Australia could take seriously.

"The reality is that there are still a couple of manufacturers playing around the fringe of seven-year warranty, and they're in and out; then some models are on and some models are not."

Meredith believes this is potentially confusing for vehicle owners.

On the subject of the 10-year/limited-kilometre North American warranty program, Meredith says: "We've done the sums; if we get seriously challenged, we would move as quickly as possible."

And the importer would have approval from the factory as well.

"KMC [Kia Motor Corporation, the head office in Korea] understands our situation; they understand that the warranty has accelerated growth for the brand in Australia.

“There's no question about that. We think it's a unique selling proposition, and we'd protect it."

Chinese brand MG is offering buyers a seven-year warranty on the MG GS and MG ZS and six-year warranty on the MG3 and MG6 Plus, which is close to the Kia coverage, but Meredith doesn't appear to consider MG a "serious" competitor.

When asked to define 'serious' in the context of a potential warranty war, Meredith replied: "'Serious' is when you have a couple of direct competitors that have seven-year warranty all the time."

That precludes Holden, for instance, which offers seven-year coverage for "some of their models and none for others."

"You've had Holden and Honda nibbling away at seven-year; then they've dropped off and they've gone back...

"Example: If Honda... did it and a couple of others did it, then we're being attacked."

Meredith acknowledged that a “serious threat” would have to come from a strong brand – like Honda – but didn't answer the question of whether brands such as Ford or Holden offering seven-year warranty coverage would pose the same threat.

He did, however, make the observation that it would be good for consumers if all car companies were to offer longer warranties of up to seven years or even longer.

"I think if every brand went to seven years it would be great for the consumer. It would alleviate Australian Consumer Law [ACL] issues, and the ACCC [Australian Consumer and Competition Commission] would be far happier with motor vehicle companies.

"It just makes common sense to me."

He reserved some muted criticism for the country's largest-selling brand, Toyota, which currently offers three-year, 100,000km coverage.

"Toyota... they say it's protected by Australian Consumer Law. I think it should be the other way; they [Toyota] should make [the warranty coverage] seven years... and no one has to worry about anything going wrong.”

Whether the ACL applies in disputes between vehicle owners and the car companies selling the car is open to interpretation, whereas a longer factory warranty would remove the potential for a dispute to go to the courts, Meredith suggests.

"That's why I think that seven-year/10-year warranty comes into play – because... that's doing the ACCC's work through the ACL, for the consumer.

"It makes sense to me to have that cover – as we stand at the moment: seven-year warranty. Personally, I think if you're buying a motor car and you look after it, probably 10 years is what you should get out of it. It should be fair and reasonable..."

Which is Meredith's interpretation of what the ACL demands of a car company. It's not unreasonable, but nor is it certain that other car companies necessarily agree with that interpretation.

Best and worst warranties:
Kia – seven-year/unlimited-km
Tesla – eight-year/160,000km
MG - seven-year/unlimited-km (MG ZS, MG GS)
MG – six-year/unlimited-km (MG3, MG6 Plus)
Citroen – five-year/unlimited-km
Ford – five-year/unlimited-km
Holden -- five-year/unlimited-km
Honda -- five-year/unlimited-km
Hyundai – five-year/unlimited-km
Peugeot – five-year/unlimited-km
Renault -- five-year/unlimited-km
Skoda -- five-year/unlimited-km
LDV – five-year/130,000km
Haval – five-year/100,000km
Jeep – five-year/100,000km
Mitsubishi – five-year/100,000km
Rolls-Royce – four-year/unlimited-km
Infiniti – four-year/100,000km
Lexus – four-year/100,000km
Audi – three-year/unlimited-km
Bentley – three-year/unlimited-km
BMW – three-year/unlimited-km
Mazda – three-year/unlimited-km (except BT-50)
Mercedes-Benz – three-year/unlimited-km
Porsche – three-year/unlimited-km
Subaru – three-year/unlimited-km
Volkswagen – three-year/unlimited-km
Alfa Romeo – three-year/150,000km
Fiat – three-year/150,000km
Ferrari – three-year/100,000km
Jaguar – three-year/100,000km
Maserati – three-year/100,000km
Nissan – three-year/100,000km
Suzuki – three-year/100,000km
Toyota – three-year/100,000km

Which car-makers have the best warranties?