When it comes to cars, understanding the warranties that come with your car purchase can not only help you stand up for your rights when the dealership is lying to you, it can also give you a basis for what to expect out of your new car.
A warranty essentially means the entity providing the warranty is so confident in the quality of their product that if you have any problems during that warranty time frame, they will put their money where their mouth is and pay for any repairs that are needed during that warranty period. It also means that outside of that warranty period, you’re on your own.
There are two types of warranties that come with every new car purchase: the basic warranty and the powertrain warranty. Both of these warranties come directly from the manufacturer of your car, they are free as in they come with your car purchase, and they are the most important element of a lemon law case because without a warranty, you can’t have a lemon law case.
The basic warranty (also called bumper to bumper warranty) is generally going to cover a lot of cosmetic issues, audio, electrical, air conditioning, things like that. The powertrain warranty on the other hand covers major components like your engine or your transmission.
How do I find out what my warranty coverage is?
Most manufacturers put their warranty coverage information in the owner’s manual, but in case you don’t know where that owner’s manual is, you can always do a quick google search “2019 Land Rover Discovery warranty” and it should pop up. One thing to keep in mind: when the warranty says 3 years/ 36,000 miles, that really means 3 years OR 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. So if you tend to drive a lot, you might hit the mileage limit on your warranty a lot faster than you hit the time limit so just keep that in mind.
Why is this important to know?
You really can’t depend on other people to uphold your rights for you, and unfortunately there isn’t a lot of honesty in the automotive industry. Dealers are always trying to upsell you and some of the most prevalent ways they do that is by either telling you the repair you need isn’t covered under warranty, or that you no longer have warranty coverage at all and believe me, they do that a lot. Good news is, having even a basic understanding of what warranties you have will help protect you from a dealer that is trying to pull one over on you.
Have questions? Check out our principal attorney explaining more about warranties in the video below or call today for a free consultation for your California lemon law case from California’s trusted lemon law attorney.
