We recently saw Hyundai’s manufacturer’s warranty increase from 5 years to 7 years. This concurs with my June 2015 article, writes Noddy Schutte.

I then reported on the attempt by manufacturers to control the lucrative aftermarket industry and gain full control of their vehicles during their lifespan.

This action was brought about by the trend in the manufacturing process of new cars whereby data would no longer be stored in the vehicle, but rather on a centralised server, controlled by the manufacturer.

What this means, in practice, is that the independent aftermarket industry will no longer have access to nor the ability to do standalone diagnostics, unless access is allowed by the manufacturer.

It seems that Hyundai has opted not to go this route, but rather to extend their factory warranty which does not encroach on the customer’s freedom of choice as the option of keeping the data on a centralised server arguably does.

Now, qualified Hyundai passenger and light commercial vehicles are covered for a period of 7 years or 200 000km, whichever occurs first. The warranty applies to vehicles bought after 1 February 2016.

The Hyundai Basic 5-year / 150 000km and the prolonged 2-year / 50 000km Drivetrain Warranty extension, collectively add up to a 7-year / 200 000km warranty.

The warranty is only in effect if the vehicle is serviced and maintained at an Authorised Hyundai Service Centre, though.

In short this means that Hyundai collectively has control of the vehicle for the first seven years and with good service delivery, even beyond.

It will be interesting to see if the other manufacturers will follow suit.

Items covered by the 7-year / 200 000km Drivetrain Warranty include:

Engine
All internal engine parts i.e. engine block, cylinder head(s), gaskets, oil seals, water pump, turbo charger, intake and exhaust manifolds, flywheel, timing chain, timing gears and engine mountings.

Transmission and Gearbox
All internal transmission and gearbox parts, gears, housings, gaskets, oil seals, bearings, shafts, counter shafts, selector forks and shafts.

Drive lines and final drives
All drive lines and final drives internal gears, shafts and bearings, axle shafts, constant velocity joints, universal joints, drive and prop shafts.

Drive couplings
Torque converters and steering.

Torque converters, transmission and transaxle parts, front axle shaft, transfer case, constant velocity (CV) joint, front differential, universal joint, prop shaft, rear axle shaft and rear differential.

Suspension
Front and rear suspension hub bearings.

Clutch and pressure plates
The clutch plate / disc is only covered for a period of one year or 20 000 km, whichever expires first.
The pressure plate is covered by the Drivetrain Warranty against manufacturer failures for seven years or 200 000 kilometres.



Sales and trends within the IDA environment for February 2016

Top 5 passenger vehicle sales per manufacturer
VOLKSWAGEN
FORD
TOYOTA
BMW
NISSAN

Top 3 commercial vehicle sales per manufacturer
NP200 1.6 P/U S/C
RANGER 2.2TDCI XL P/U D/C
UTILITY 1.4 A/C P/U S/C

Top 10 derivatives sales
FIGO 1.4 AMBIENTE
POLO 1.4 COMFORTLINE 5DR
NP200 1.6 P/U S/C
RANGER 2.2TDCI XL P/U D/C
POLO GP 1.2 TSI COMFORTLINE (66KW)
UTILITY 1.4 A/C P/U S/C
POLO VIVO GP 1.4 TRENDLINE 5DR
POLO VIVO GP 1.4 CONCEPTLINE 5DR
POLO VIVO GP 1.4 TRENDLINE
RANGER 2.2TDCi XL P/U D/C

The average age of vehicles sold in February was 4.05 years.