How much do you know about car warranties? Here are three types of car warranties that many people don't know about:
Emission Warranty
Emissions warranty covers emission problems that may arise after the purchase of the car. Just like other forms of warranty, emission warranty has a time or mileage limit after which it expires. In most cases, emission warranty is included in the standard warranty, but there are also a few cases where it is issued separately.
Here are some of the common features of emission warranty:
- It applies both to brand new cars as well as used cars purchased at authorized dealerships
- It applies regardless of ownership
- It does have exclusions, which include emission failure caused by tampering or wreckage damage
Rust and Corrosion Coverage
Rust and corrosion warranty protect you from damages your car may experience as a result of rust and corrosion. This warranty may be included in the basic warranty, it may be offered separately or it may not be offered at all (that is, not all companies offer it). Here are some of the important things to note about rust and corrosion warranty:
- In many cases, the warranty only kicks in if the rust has made a significant damage to the car, for example, if it has created a hole and not just a cosmetic damage
- In some cases, the warranty only covers specific parts of the car; for example, parts of the car above the window line may be excluded
- The warranty tends to have age limit alone, and not age and mileage limit like other forms of warranties
Implied Warranty
Just as the name suggests, an implied warranty is not a specific form of a warranty that manufacturers issue. Rather, it is the expectation any reasonable person would have about the performance or safety of a car they want to buy. For example, when buying a used truck at a dealership, you expect the car to run even if there is no express warranty saying that the car runs. Therefore, if you buy a car and realize that it has a malfunction and you cannot even drive it out of the lot, you expect the seller or manufacturer to remedy the issue. Anyone would expect that to be the case even if you were not given a warranty covering the car's operations.
Here are a few things you should know about implied warranty:
- It only covers defects or malfunctions that existed at the time of the purchase of the car
- Many car sellers avoid implied warranty by advertising their cars on "as is" or "with faults" basis
- The warranty doesn't have a specific time limit unless stated on the basic warranty
