If there is one thing that I hate in this, world it’s deceptive practices.  Those where people tell you the truth, but don’t fully explain how something actually works so it becomes deceptive.  One of the biggest today, in my own personal opinion, is that of the manufactures warranty of a new or used vehicle.  Most people don’t understand how a manufactures warranty actually works so let me lay it down for you.

All vehicle manufactures of vehicles offer some type of warranty to their vehicles.  In most cases this is going to be a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty.  Whichever one of those two you hit first is when your vehicles warranty expires.  But is it really?  Yes and no.  Let me explain.

When you buy a new vehicle you get a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty.  The 36,000 miles is a given.  There is nothing that is going to change that unless the manufacture changes that on their own, which they have every right to do, but it’s not likely.  The 3 year part of the warranty is where the confusion comes in.  Most people believe that the 3 year/ 36,000 mile warranty begins the day that they purchase the vehicle, which is supposed to be the case, but may not always be the case.  Like I said, the 36,000 miles on a warranty is a given.  You already have that.  However, you may not have a full 3 years.

A manufacture starts their warranty the month that the vehicle is actually listed as sold by the dealer.  This is where the deception comes into play concerning warranties in some cases.  According to carsguide.com, dealers are prematurely advising manufacturers and importers that cars are sold to pocket sales incentives such as cash and overseas trips. Once the manufacturer is notified a vehicle is “sold”, the warranty starts ticking. However, it could still sit on the dealer’s lot for several months before it is actually sold to a customer who is then shortchanged on their warranty. An industry source predicts that as many as one in five new cars could have reduced warranties.

AMIF senior policy director Colin Duckworth said some car makers deem the warranty period to have started when they are notified of a vehicle’s sale, even though it can be sitting in the dealer’s lot. “This practice has been around for who knows how long,” Mr Duckworth said.

Another deceptive practice among car dealerships and warranties is the selling of a used vehicle.  This is slightly more complex, but still just as deceptive.  

If you’ve been in the market for a used vehicle, one of the biggest advertisements that dealers put on a vehicle is the model year of the vehicle.  Chances are that is you go to a used car dealership, the model year of the vehicle is going to be in big bold print on the front windshield.  It draws attention for people looking for a specific year model on a vehicle.  

So let’s say that you bought a 2014 Ford Mustang in March of 2015.  One year later in March of 2016 your having problems with it.  So you take it into the dealer, and alas, they tell you your vehicle has no warranty at all.  How could this be possible you might ask.  After all, the vehicle is only 2 years old.  Not so fast.  Vehicle manufacturers are allowed to start selling any given model year vehicle in January of the preceding year.  This means Ford could have made your vehicle on January 1st of 2013 and market it as a 2014 model.  So in this scenario, let’s say that Ford manufactures your vehicle in January of 2013, shipped it to the dealer which in turn sold it in February of 2013, starting the warranty clock at that point.  This would mean that your manufactures warranty would expire in February of 2016 meaning you just missed out on your warranty by a month.  Sad but true, and what makes it even worse is that it’s perfectly legal.  In the long run, it helps manufactures not have to pay so much out of pocket costs to fix vehicles.  They essentially pass the buck to unsuspecting customers.

So let me go back to used car dealers for a second.  It’s actually possible to drive off the lot with a vehicle that has no warranty yet your under the impression that it does.  This would go back to the not knowing when the actual manufactures warranty began.  The Used Car Rule, formally known as the Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule, has been in effect since 1985. It requires car dealers to display a window sticker, known as a Buyers Guide, on the used cars they offer for sale. The Buyers Guide discloses whether the dealer offers a warranty and, if so, its terms and conditions, including the duration of the coverage, the percentage of total repair costs the dealer will pay, and which vehicle systems the warranty covers.  Some unwitty customers may actually overlook this guide and simply pay attention to the model year of the vehicle instead.  In rare cases, a dealership might not put the Buyers Guide on one of their used vehicles.

Let’s use my example above of buying a 2014 Ford Mustang, but instead of having problems with it in March of 2016, this will be the date that you purchase the vehicle.  Everything else remains the same.  If this were the case, it’s possible to drive off the lot with a used vehicle with no warranty. Even though you think the vehicle still has a year of coverage left, it doesn’t because of when the vehicle was actually made and then sold.

So the moral of this story is when buying a new car, make absolutely sure that the manufactures warranty has not begun until you purchase the vehicle and the vehicle has been marked as sold.  The last thing you want is a brand new vehicle with only a 2.5 year warranty or maybe even something worse.  And when buying a used vehicle, make sure that the warranty has not expired if your looking to still have some sort of coverage on the vehicle.  Carfax.com is an excellent way of getting this information.  It will tell you when the vehicle was actually purchased and when the warranty began.  Most dealerships will offer the carfax to you for free if your on the dealers lot or you can go online and get it through the dealers website.