Mazda Unlimited Distance Warranty A Shot At Hyundai And Kia
Mazda's unlimited mileage warranty is a shot across the bow of competitors Hyundai and Kia, which are known for their 10-year drivetrain warranties in the United States but restrict coverage north of the border to just five years or 100,000 kilometres. Mazda's recent decision to eliminate the mileage limitation across the board for its entire suite of warranties - including its drivetrain coverage - indicates that automakers are raising the stakes in the bid for customer loyalty.
In fact, looking at Mazda's new warranty situation - which offers standard three-year bumper-to-bumper comprehensive cover with no mileage restriction (or 'unlimited distance' in Mazda metric-speak) - it's clear that the company's Korean rivals will have to respond in kind. Mazda already provided five years of drivetrain warranty coverage, just like Hyundai and Kia, but now with no restriction on how many kilometres can be driven during that period the deal is that much sweeter for anyone with a long commute. You also get three years of battery coverage, five years of safety restraint coverage, and of course seven years of anti-perforation coverage, all minus anyone looking at your odometer should you have to make a claim.
Another bonus for Mazda owners is that they can transfer this unlimited distance warranty protection to anyone who happens to buy their car from them. This is something even Americans can't do with Hyundai or Kia's 10-year program (but Canadians can within the distance/time window offered by each brand). Mazda's unlimited distance warranty is retroactive to anyone who has bought a 2015 model year car since September of this year.
Mazda's warranty is not a free ride to run your car into the ground: like most coverage plans, you still have to regularly change your oil, and prove that you've done so, as well as keep up on normal maintenance to be able to make a claim under the program. The only fine-print weirdness I could find in the new warranty agreement is the prohibition of coverage for any defects related to the vehicle being 'regularly operated outside of Canada,' which seems like it would be difficult to prove unless you were running the dunes in Baja Mexico in your CX-5.
Still, the new warranty policy indicates just how much confidence the automaker has in its new generation of Skyactiv drivetrains - and it's likely going to force Hyundai and Kia to make a hard decision about their own coverage programs in the very near future. That's good news for every Canadian looking to buy a new car.
