Toyota 3 yr warrant - whats covered ?

fliston12

Hi

My girlfriend has a 2 year old toyota corolla which is now giving a bit of trouble regards brakes and battery - shes been told the brakes and tyres are not covered under warranty (fair enough - depends on how hard the car is driven), but now the battery is hardly starting, now she has been told by the garage that the battery is not covered - is this correct ? what exactly is covered ? it is hard to find an exact answer on what is covered under the 100,000 or 3 year warranty ?

Anybody have any answers please ?

cheers
frank

ninty9er

Batteries can be mistreated, i.e regularly leaving lights on.

Engines, mechanics, electrics and safety equipment would be a reasonable guess on my part

bazz26

fliston12 wrote:

Hi

My girlfriend has a 2 year old toyota corolla which is now giving a bit of trouble regards brakes and battery - shes been told the brakes and tyres are not covered under warranty (fair enough - depends on how hard the car is driven), but now the battery is hardly starting, now she has been told by the garage that the battery is not covered - is this correct ? what exactly is covered ? it is hard to find an exact answer on what is covered under the 100,000 or 3 year warranty ?

Anybody have any answers please ?

cheers
frank

Batteries like bulbs and tyres are defined as consumables. This means their life expectancy is alot shorter due to more frequent use under normal wear and tear conditions. Consumables are generally not covered under warranty. Similarly if a bulb blows or a tyre wears out you cannot expect Toyota to pay for a new one.

Car batteries however usually come with a seperate 12 month warranty. In other words if the original battery goes on a new car within the first 12 months then Toyota will replace it. If it dies 3 years down the road then you replace it yourself. They cost between €60 and €70.

In fairness if you define a faulty battery or worn brakes as having car trouble then you have been lucky.

Regarding what exactly is covered under your 3 year warranty should be covered in the owner's manual that came with the car.

I found this on the net:

Toyota warranty

3 Year mechanical warranty:
3 years or 60,000 miles whichever comes first, covering your car against the unlikely event of a mechanical fault attributable to a manufacturing defect - includes full RAC recovery service for the first 12 months.

3 Year paintwork & surface rust warranty:
3 years unlimited mileage cover protecting against defects and surface rust occurring as a result of a manufacturing defect.

12 Year anti-corrosion & perforation warranty:
12 years unlimited mileage cover* protecting against rust perforation affecting any sheet metal body panel occurring as a result of a manufacturing fault, transferable to subsequent owners.

Lex Luthor

The battery is debateable...you would expect one to last longer than 2yrs, but as mentioned, depends on whether lights were left on, etc.

The brakes I'd expect not to have any issues with on a 2yr old car, especially a Toyota. It could be a mechanical issue with them, so I would get them checked out pronto. You don't want them failing when she needs them the most.

Tyres...depending on the mileage, they could be due for a change.

You haven't said what is exactly wrong with either.

bazz26

Lex Luthor wrote:

The battery is debateable...you would expect one to last longer than 2yrs, but as mentioned, depends on whether lights were left on, etc.

Afaik car batteries only come with a 12 month guarantee. If it goes in a car less than a year old then the car manufacturer has to replace it under warranty. If the car is more than a year old and the battery goes then the owner will have to buy a new one. If then the new replacement battery dies within 12 months then the battery should be replaced free of charge by the manufacturer of the battery under the warranty.

Yes on average batteries do last a bit longer than 12 months.

Lex Luthor wrote:

The brakes I'd expect not to have any issues with on a 2yr old car, especially a Toyota. It could be a mechanical issue with them, so I would get them checked out pronto. You don't want them failing when she needs them the most.

The OP is not very clear on this. If there is a mechanical problem with the brakes themselves then yes Toyota should sort this out.

But if the problems is (and I guessing this is the what the OP is talking about) that the brade pads are worn and need to be replaced then that is not a warranty issue. Worn brake pads are considereed normal wear and tear, this could be down to the driving habbits of the owner. Driving too close to the car in front, slamming on the brakes at the last minute approaching a t-junction, not slowing down using your gears, etc. Those things would be classed as poor driving not defective parts.

Lex Luthor wrote:

Tyres...depending on the mileage, they could be due for a change.

You haven't said what is exactly wrong with either.

Tyres are usually classed as consumables that wear with time. Tyres can wear out at 15k miles or 40k miles depending on how poor the road conditions are or how poor the driver is. Again the OP doesn't give much details but I am assuming they are just worn and need to be replaced. If so this is normal and not a warranty issue.

Maybe I am wrong but I just get the impression that the OP may be under the impression that normal wear and tear is covered by the manufacturer's warranty which is not the case i'm afraid.

colm_mcm

Bazz, that's the Toyota GB warranty. Irish cars get 3 years Eurocare which UK cars don't get.

Also Toyota Itreland covers for 100,000km (slightly longer)

TempestSabre

I'm curious how you guys think running the battery down would wear it out? I could imaging if it was checked for water level and you let it run low and it damaged the plates. But simply leaving lights and other equipment on. Why would that kill it in 2yrs?

byte

TempestSabre wrote:

I'm curious how you guys think running the battery down would wear it out? I could imaging if it was checked for water level and you let it run low and it damaged the plates. But simply leaving lights and other equipment on. Why would that kill it in 2yrs?

Car batteries suffer if heavily discharged, damaging the cells as well as failing to start the car. So, if the charge warning light comes on, or if the battery seems very sluggish on starting, get the system checked as soon as possible

http://www.aatrust.com/files/reports/01082003_car_battery.pdf#search=%22car%20battery%22

bazz26

colm_mcm wrote:

Bazz, that's the Toyota GB warranty. Irish cars get 3 years Eurocare which UK cars don't get.

Also Toyota Itreland covers for 100,000km (slightly longer)

My bad Colm. Could not find anything on the Toyota Ireland website about the warranty. Didn't know there was that much of a difference between the Irish and UK warranty.

@ Tempest, I wasn't really saying running the battery down would wear it out. The point I was trying to make was that batteries do fail and as such are usually not covered under the manufacturer's standard warranty. They are usually classed as comsumables and most only come with a 12 month warranty.

Lex Luthor

The Toyota Eurocare warranty is fantastic. I drove through France last summer with my sister and she has a Avensis Verso '05 and she was very comfortable in the knowing that if anything happened they were covered. Nothing did with her, but my car (non-toyota) had a burst water line and cost me €280 in repairs and car rental.

fliston12

cheers all

had the brake pads replaced and they are now fine, tyres - had them replaced already, and just wasnt sure whether the guy in the garage was making up an excuse that the battery wasnt covered to cover his ass and bill a dumb customer, but fair enough if battery is a "consumable" item subject to wear and tear, makes sense.

thanks again

TempestSabre

In my experience running a battery down even a couple of times doesn't effect it that much. I assume you'd have to be running it down on a regular basis to damage down. Perhaps not.

colm_mcm

Toyota are giving 12 months Eurocare with services now. (cars over 3 yrs old)