Mitsubishi Introduces 10-Year Car Warranty

In the never-ending battle for market relevance and dominance in the automotive industry in Australia, Mitsubishi hopes to stir sales by introducing a 10-year warranty across its entire range from October 2020. The extended warranty highlights the Japanese carmaker’s 40th-anniversary celebration in Oz this year.

If pushed through, the company will beat the country’s current longest car warranty offering of seven years, which was started by Kia and emulated by lesser known brands Ssangyong and MG.

However, there is a catch to the 10-year warranty offer: Mitsubishi only rewards it to vehicles that are serviced within their dealer network using the company’s fixed-price service program. It means that a car owner cannot get their car serviced by licenced mechanics outside the dealer network if they want to avail the extended warranty.

10-Year Warranty Coverage

Carmakers in Australia have started offering a longer warranty in the last three years following numerous investigations by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) into the entire car industry because of customer complaints of dodgy practices and systemic failures on repairing manufacturing defects under warranty and free-of-charge.

Mitsubishi believes that the 10-year extended warranty puts owners in control. According to Rob Nazzari, Mitsubishi Motors director of marketing and operations, “Every Mitsubishi already has at least a five-year warranty. Now, with our 10-year Diamond Advantage program, owners that complete their scheduled capped-price services with an authorised Mitsubishi Dealer will enjoy a 10-year warranty, 10-year capped price servicing and up to four years of roadside assistance.”

The new car warranty applies to original owners of new, retailed Mitsubishi models purchased from an authorised Mitsubishi Dealer and covers the following:

2020 Models

2020 Outlander PHEV

The Powertrain Limited Warranty covers the repair or replacement of select engine, transmission and transaxle powertrain components originally manufactured and installed by Mitsubishi that may become defective under normal use and maintenance, along with authorised Mitsubishi powertrain components installed by an authorised Mitsubishi dealer.

The Catch

Since the 10-year warranty coverage for powertrain components, as well as for main drive battery and PHEV components of Outlander PHEV, it prevents Mitsubishi car owners from seeking car servicing from licenced mechanics outside the company’s dealer network.

Instead of the 10-year warranty, they will only have a full factory warranty of five or seven years as disclosed at the time of purchase.

Because of this limiting condition, the ACCC has opened the proposal for public submissions and a decision has yet to be made. If approved, the longer warranty will come into force on October 1st, which is also the 40th anniversary of Mitsubishi Motors in Australia.