Vauxhall is to ditch its 100,000-mile lifetime warranty programme, returning instead to a three-year/60,000-mile offering as of January 2015.
Tim Tozer, Vauxhall’s chairman and managing director, cites the changing ownership landscape and significant investment in new technology as key drivers for the change.
"In today’s market, 65% of retail sales are supported by a finance package and within that, over 60% are PCPs. This has dramatically changed ownership patterns resulting in fewer customers retaining their cars beyond three years.
"Couple this with a €4 billion investment in high technology powertrains and state of the art new products and it no longer makes business sense to invest in 100,000-mile warranty cover.
"We will continue to focus our investment on providing our customers with a high quality and satisfying experience, both at dealer and company level, throughout their purchase and ownership period."
Existing vehicles with Lifetime Warranty will continue to be covered for up to 100,000 miles whilst the vehicle remains with the first owner, subject to annual validation.
The new three- year/60,000-mile transferable warranty is fully competitive with benchmarked competition, according to Vauxhall, and includes AA roadside assistance (with Homestart and full European cover) in the first year and is available with cost effective extension options up to four and five years.
Mr. Bean - 02/10/2014 10:25
Interesting reading but doesnt hide the fact it made no difference to anyone when this was interoduced a few years ago. Vauxhall believed this would influence leasing companies when setting their SMR data and see a reduction on rentals, this didnt happen. They hoped cars would be going in to main dealers to have the "check" done, also hoping the dealers would have extra work, overall I guess didnt happen either. Their terms and conditions were poor since only the 1st owner would get the warranty and only the dealers were able to sell used vehicles with it. It had great potential but poor planning made it fail.