Photo: Jeep
If you would turn back time to March 2015, you might feel disappointed with the fact General Motors lowered vehicle powertrain warranty to 5 years and 60,000 miles. It took Fiat-Chrysler the better part of 2 months and here we are today, in the middle of a similar announcement. From the former 100,000 miles of powertrain warranty over 5 years, 2016 MY FCA models now get only 60,000 miles.
In March, General Motors declared about the warranty cut that they “have determined that when purchasing a new vehicle, included maintenance and warranty rank low on the list of reasons why consumers consider a particular brand over another.” Yeah right. General Motors decided on this “following modifications to align closely with our customers’ needs and expectations.” What about FCA?
The peeps from Fiat-Chrysler replied in a statement to AutomotiveNews: “Following changes already made by competitors, FCA US is adjusting powertrain warranty coverage for 2016 model year vehicles to be more consistent with industry practices”.
We’ll leave you readers to decide what was the actual reason behind both of the powertrain warranty cuts. For what it’s worth, Ford still offers a 5-year/60,000-mile warranty for most of its vehicles.
It should be mentioned though that FCA’s 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty applies to gasoline-fed Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler and Ram vehicles from the 2016 MY. An honorable mention: the initiative doesn’t apply to diesel-fed, Alfa Romeo and Fiat-branded cars. These carry a 4-year/50,000-mile warranty.
Before Chrysler filed for bankruptcy at the end of the ‘00s, the company lured potential customers by offering them a lifetime powertrain warranty (introduced in 2007). There’s a catch with this bit of history too: the warranty was only applicable to the first registered vehicle owner, it required a powertrain inspection every 5 years and didn’t cover the manufacturer’s SRT, hybrid, diesel or commercial models.
The peeps from Fiat-Chrysler replied in a statement to AutomotiveNews: “Following changes already made by competitors, FCA US is adjusting powertrain warranty coverage for 2016 model year vehicles to be more consistent with industry practices”.
We’ll leave you readers to decide what was the actual reason behind both of the powertrain warranty cuts. For what it’s worth, Ford still offers a 5-year/60,000-mile warranty for most of its vehicles.
It should be mentioned though that FCA’s 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty applies to gasoline-fed Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler and Ram vehicles from the 2016 MY. An honorable mention: the initiative doesn’t apply to diesel-fed, Alfa Romeo and Fiat-branded cars. These carry a 4-year/50,000-mile warranty.
Before Chrysler filed for bankruptcy at the end of the ‘00s, the company lured potential customers by offering them a lifetime powertrain warranty (introduced in 2007). There’s a catch with this bit of history too: the warranty was only applicable to the first registered vehicle owner, it required a powertrain inspection every 5 years and didn’t cover the manufacturer’s SRT, hybrid, diesel or commercial models.
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