MY03 UK Impreza 3 year warranties
28 February 2003, 09:35 AM
#1
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Alot of talk recently about a 3 year factory warranty as stipulated by EU malarky.
Well am I going to get a new warranty handbook with my 3 week old car? I ask because it clearly states that years 2 and 3 are provided not by Subaru Japan but by International Motors/Subaru UK and goes on to clearly state that it is only valid if servicing done by a Subaru UK dealer.
Are the independent dealers highlighting the 3 year factory warranty aware of this statement in the handbook? Is in not possible that I.M. have bought the cars in on 1 year warranties and replaced years 2+3 with an equally comprehensive though more restrictive(with regards to service) policy?
I know I pay more to have my car serviced by an authorised dealer..but ultimately If they forget to put oil in during a routine service and the engine quits I'm much more comfortable than if a smaller independent does the same and I have to wait for them to fix it/get a warranty claim in and approved etc etc.
Assuming I keep the car for more than a year I shall be sticking with authorised dealers..at least untill someone brings a test case up and wins it.
Regards
Chuck
Well am I going to get a new warranty handbook with my 3 week old car? I ask because it clearly states that years 2 and 3 are provided not by Subaru Japan but by International Motors/Subaru UK and goes on to clearly state that it is only valid if servicing done by a Subaru UK dealer.
Are the independent dealers highlighting the 3 year factory warranty aware of this statement in the handbook? Is in not possible that I.M. have bought the cars in on 1 year warranties and replaced years 2+3 with an equally comprehensive though more restrictive(with regards to service) policy?
I know I pay more to have my car serviced by an authorised dealer..but ultimately If they forget to put oil in during a routine service and the engine quits I'm much more comfortable than if a smaller independent does the same and I have to wait for them to fix it/get a warranty claim in and approved etc etc.
Assuming I keep the car for more than a year I shall be sticking with authorised dealers..at least untill someone brings a test case up and wins it.
Regards
Chuck
28 February 2003, 10:00 AM
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Can't comment on the legal ins and outs of this issue, but I have to admit that the senario you describe is why I've always chosen UK cars and dealer servicing. Sadly, I'm just a big wuss.
Josh
Josh
28 February 2003, 10:05 AM
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The strange thing is that you can have the car serviced by an independent for the first year (and always have been able to), and then have to go back to the main dealer for years 2 and 3. Pete Croney posted on here a couple of weeks back saying that the year 2 and 3 restrictions had been lifted now under European law.
Who knows?
Who knows?
28 February 2003, 11:39 AM
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All of this is what I believe to be the case - though may or may not be 100% factual.
As far as I understand it, under EU law now all new cars must be sold with a 3 year warranty.
FHI decided that the best way to do this was to offer a 'factory' three year warranty, at a cost, to the in-country distributors. Obviously this is in addition to the no-cost one-year warranty that they offer anyway.
IM, obviously knowing that generally warranties are a licence-to-print, opted out of the FHI scheme (apparently the only European distributor to do so) resulting in the situation now where a UK car has a FHI warranty for the first 12 months and an IM warranty (along with all the IM servicing conditions and restrictions) for years 2 and 3.
A European imported vehicle will have a 3 year FHI warranty, which in theory means that any servicing could be carried out by 'approved' service-centres (and not just Subaru UK franchised dealers).
As far as I'm concerned - this was a good reason to NOT get a UK car, rather than the opposite. I quite like the idea of being able to use good, reputable service centres for my (probably lower cost) servicing and warranty work - without being forced to go with Subaru UK dealers.
Also - I doubt whether any FHI warranty work will result in 'loss adjustors' coming to visit my garage/car and deciding not to cover the cost of a blown engine due to the fact that I've sprayed the bonnet badge pink.........
As far as I understand it, under EU law now all new cars must be sold with a 3 year warranty.
FHI decided that the best way to do this was to offer a 'factory' three year warranty, at a cost, to the in-country distributors. Obviously this is in addition to the no-cost one-year warranty that they offer anyway.
IM, obviously knowing that generally warranties are a licence-to-print, opted out of the FHI scheme (apparently the only European distributor to do so) resulting in the situation now where a UK car has a FHI warranty for the first 12 months and an IM warranty (along with all the IM servicing conditions and restrictions) for years 2 and 3.
A European imported vehicle will have a 3 year FHI warranty, which in theory means that any servicing could be carried out by 'approved' service-centres (and not just Subaru UK franchised dealers).
As far as I'm concerned - this was a good reason to NOT get a UK car, rather than the opposite. I quite like the idea of being able to use good, reputable service centres for my (probably lower cost) servicing and warranty work - without being forced to go with Subaru UK dealers.
Also - I doubt whether any FHI warranty work will result in 'loss adjustors' coming to visit my garage/car and deciding not to cover the cost of a blown engine due to the fact that I've sprayed the bonnet badge pink.........
28 February 2003, 12:02 PM
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Is it me? I thought all EU cars had to be sold with a minimum 2 year warranty. Most people choose to top it up to 3, but I thought the legal minimum was for 2.
[Edited by Brendan Hughes - 2/28/2003 1:01:32 PM]
[Edited by Brendan Hughes - 2/28/2003 1:01:32 PM]
28 February 2003, 12:19 PM
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Regarding EU and vehicle retail and aftermarket regulations...
Read this for more info and background:
Auto Industry: Retail regulation and the aftermarket
Not read it all, but it may help....
Read this for more info and background:
Auto Industry: Retail regulation and the aftermarket
Not read it all, but it may help....
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28 February 2003, 01:26 PM
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Look at question 1 here. But as with anything on the internet you have to decide what to believe.
This article is nearer the truth.
So goods sold within the EU do not have to have a 2 year warranty, but the manufacturer has some responsibility to the consulmer for a two year period.
HTH
This article is nearer the truth.
What is the effect of the "two years guarantee" that I hear about?
This is a longstanding myth, arising from a misunderstanding of the Directive. With regard to guarantees, the Directive merely says, in Article 6, that freely given guarantees will become legally binding contracts; outlines a few essentials that they must contain in their narrative and demands that consumers have sight of them if they want to read them (for comparative purposes). It says nothing about their length, does not demand they be offered and the Directive does not concern purchased guarantees (sometimes also called warranties).
Some of the confusion has probably arisen because in mainland Europe consumers' statutory rights are called their "legal guarantee". This does not mean the same as a retailer's or manufacturer's guarantee but the reference in Article 5 to a minimum two years liability period for statutory rights appears to have been confused with such guarantees.
This is a longstanding myth, arising from a misunderstanding of the Directive. With regard to guarantees, the Directive merely says, in Article 6, that freely given guarantees will become legally binding contracts; outlines a few essentials that they must contain in their narrative and demands that consumers have sight of them if they want to read them (for comparative purposes). It says nothing about their length, does not demand they be offered and the Directive does not concern purchased guarantees (sometimes also called warranties).
Some of the confusion has probably arisen because in mainland Europe consumers' statutory rights are called their "legal guarantee". This does not mean the same as a retailer's or manufacturer's guarantee but the reference in Article 5 to a minimum two years liability period for statutory rights appears to have been confused with such guarantees.
HTH
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