Today Vauxhall released a Lifetime Warranty on their new cars. Essentially this new marketing idea protects your car for the first 100,000 miles (10 years), which is deemed by the car manufacturer to be a fair expectation for a car “lifetime”. According to the marketing spiel on this new idea, this Warranty protects the first owner of the car (so no buying a secondhand one and experiencing the benefits, of course) for mechanical and electrical component damage, and is obviously intended to be quite a big selling point for the brand.

So, is this new extended Vauxhall warranty a great idea, or is it actually more of a gimmick? Here are our thoughts on the matter…

1. How long do you actually keep a car for? If you are buying a new car, the likelihood is that you are doing so because you like owning new cars. After all, if that wasn’t the case you would save the money and buy secondhand. It seems that most people will sell the car way before it gets to the standard 60,000 miles, let alone an extended 100k!
2. This Warranty only affects the first owner of the car, meaning that any secondhand cars won’t benefit. This just seems a bit mean, although I can understand where they are coming from!
3. Warranties do make sense, of course they do, but they are very restrictive – meaning that most of us won’ be able to make use of them. The list in this case explains that it doesn’t cover: “normal wear and tear or tyres and does not apply to: damage due to accidents, misuse or alteration, damage or corrosion caused by the environment, chemical treatments or aftermarket products, lubricants, fluids, third-party repairs”. Ouch.

What do you think? Worth its weight in gold, or a bit of a damp squib?