Is a car warranty transferable?

By Roger Houghton

Yes, in most cases manufacturers and importers are prepared to transfer a vehicle’s remaining warranty to another owner on resale. Ask the relevant dealer for the details. However, one important proviso is that the vehicle has been serviced according to the maker’s recommendations, which are based on time interval or a prescribed number of kilometres, with a thousand kilometre or so variance either way.

Being able to transfer a manufacturer’s warranty is an important benefit for both the buyer and seller, as some warranties can extend to seven years or 200 000km, although most of them are in the region of three years or 100 000km.

In many cases, car or bakkie warranties are linked to the vehicle identification number (VIN) and the warranty is valid regardless of ownership. It is important to check the outstanding warranty period when negotiating to buy a pre-owned car. This can be done by phoning a dealership for the brand and quoting the VIN number – they can check this information on their systems.

What is happening with certain franchises these days, is that some vehicles are being pre-sold to meet incentivised sales targets. Once the sale is recorded, the warranty (and service- or maintenance plan) starts running even though the (brand-new) cars are now in the dealer’s used car stock. This means when they are eventually sold a certain amount of the warranty has run out already, reducing the benefit to their buyers.

There are many companies offering extended warranties on vehicles, although some are limited to passenger cars only. These can be purchased for vehicles up to 15 years old, provided the vehicle in question has not exceeded 250 000km. It is also possible to transfer some, but not all, extended warranties to a new owner. Here you must refer to the provider of the extended warranty. Transferability is also something one should ascertain when buying an extended warranty.