Mazda moves to five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty

The Japanese brand has finally moved into line with the wider industry push for more comprehensive coverage.

Scott Collie

09:2001 August 2018

0comments

2018 ford mondeo v mazda 6 mazda6 comparison 52

Mazda has joined the likes of Holden and Ford, extending its three-year warranty to a five-year, unlimited-kilometre program.

The longer term applies to all vehicles sold from August 1, and brings the company into line with Holden, Ford, Hyundai, Honda, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Renault, Skoda and Citroen. The industry is still led by Kia and its seven-year, unlimited-kilometre coverage period, however.

The Mazda warranty is transferrable, and applies to all customers – including commercial BT-50 owners.

"The new warranty will give customers another reason to choose Mazda, bolstering confidence in our already solid reputation for quality, hard-wearing cars" said managing director of Mazda Australia, Vinesh Bhindi.

With Mazda moving to five years of coverage, there are very few mainstream companies left with three years of coverage. Toyota, Volkswagen and Subaru have stuck with their shorter coverage terms, in spite of the wider industry move to at least five years.

Of those laggards persisting with a three year program, Volkswagen hasn't expressed any desire to extend its coverage, with managing director Michael Bartsch telling CarAdvice a longer term isn't on the agenda.

“But there’s a point we see it moving that way, at this stage it’s not on our agenda, we’ll monitor it closely but again we aren't seeing any impact as a consequence,” Bartsch said.

“I think what you see and who's offering it, it becomes a war at certain price points, but where we sit it’s not the battleground."

“With Hyundai and Kia etc. you need something to make a fast and rather loud statement, and those games are short-lived, it’s sort of like a drug, you know. Do they really need a seven-year warranty? Probably not.”