Volkswagen locks in five-year warranty

Volkswagen Australia has announced a permanent five-year/unlimited-km warranty for all new vehicles sold from January 1, 2019.

Confirmation of the German brand’s new permanent factory warranty from next year follows its move to offer a five-year warranty for all new VWs sold between October 1 and December 31 this year as part of a temporary sales campaign.

Therefore already effectively in place for more than two months, Volkswagen’s more generous warranty leaves Nissan and Toyota – Australia’s best-selling auto brand -- as the only mainstream vehicle brands without at least a five-year warranty.

New-vehicle warranties have become the latest battleground in Australia’s competitive -- and declining -- automotive market in 2018, when a five-year warranty has become the norm for mainstream brands.

This year alone, Ford, Holden, Mazda, Honda, Renault, Peugeot and Citroen have upped their warranty coverage to five years, but Volkswagen is the first German brand in Australia to implement a permanent five-year warranty.

SsangYong recently matched Kia with an industry-best seven-year/unlimited-km warranty (excluding Tesla’s eight-year/160,000km warranty), leading the Korean brand to consider extending its coverage to an unprecedented 10 years, as it offers in the US.

Hyundai is also considering a seven-year warranty – up from its once-benchmark five years.

VW brand Skoda introduced a five-year warranty in January 2017, but Volkswagen previous three-year/unlimited-km warranty has stayed unchanged since it was first introduced to Australia in September 2010.

“Each year more than 80,000 customers provide us feedback on Volkswagen products and the dealership experience,” said Volkswagen Group Australia’s Director of Customer Experience and Marketing, Jason Bradshaw.

“The business has gauged reaction to its five-year warranty campaign and so decided to implement it on an ongoing basis.”

Customers who purchased and had their new Volkswagen delivered before October 1 can purchase an extra two years of warranty prior to the expiration of their three-year factory coverage.

Volkswagen customers get 12 months of free roadside assist and those who service their vehicles at VW dealers may extend their roadside assistance each year.

“Making five-year warranty permanent assures newcomers to the brand that they can buy with confidence,” said Bradshaw.

“In addition, they can fix their ownership costs with a Volkswagen Service Plan that costs as little as $1137 for three 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.”

Volkswagen’s five-year warranty extends to authorised accessories purchased with the vehicle, but service parts are only covered by a two-year warranty.

Volkswagen – Australia’s top-selling German brand -- is fresh from launching its new Polo light-car and its first seven-seat SUV, the Tiguan Allspace.

Next on Volkswagen Australia’s new model launch list – next May -- is the new Volkswagen Touareg, which Bradshaw says is a direct rival for large luxury SUVs like the Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE.

“The new Touareg is an unequivocally luxury SUV, another new step forward for our brand. Unlike its German competitors, the Touareg is underwritten by the best warranty in its class,” he said.

The 2019 VW Touareg will be followed on sale here by the all-new T-Cross small SUV in late 2019 and the redesigned Golf 8 hatch in 2020.