{"id":1216634,"date":"2025-02-18T14:00:48","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T19:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1216634"},"modified":"2025-02-18T14:00:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T19:00:48","slug":"your-car-might-have-a-secret-warranty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1216634","title":{"rendered":"Your Car Might Have a ‘Secret’ Warranty"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Owning a car is expensive\u2014even new cars need tune-ups, regular maintenance, and occasional repair<\/a>, and it all adds up (to an average of about $1,452<\/a> every year). Car warranties help mitigate those costs, but they typically only cover three years or up to 36,000 miles<\/a>, which goes by pretty fast, considering most people drive about 15,000 miles per year.<\/p>\n

That drives people to look for ways to save money<\/a> on car repairs, especially if the car is outside the warranty period. But are you sure<\/em> your car is out of warranty? It\u2019s possible that even if the official warranty has expired, your car is covered to some extent by what\u2019s variously known as \u201cpolicy adjustments,\u201d \u201cservice campaigns,\u201d or \u201cgood-will programs.\u201d Whatever the official name, let\u2019s call them what they really are: They\u2019re \u201csecret warranties,\u201d and they could potentially save you a lot of money.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a secret warranty?<\/h2>\n

A secret warranty<\/a> comes into being when a car manufacturer realizes that a part or component in one of their car models is defective, usually due to unusually high failure rates or other problems. To manage the situation and protect themselves from liability, they will extend the warranty on that part, offering free replacement parts using new versions or discounts on service work.<\/p>\n

So what makes them secret? These warranty extensions aren\u2019t official recalls\u2014they\u2019re voluntary programs from the manufacturer\u2014so there\u2019s actually no law that compels them to notify people. While vehicle owners are sometimes notified of these extended warranties, this is usually done by mail and many people simply don\u2019t read the letters. Additionally, no effort is made to contact secondary owners who bought the vehicle pre-owned, and dealers<\/a> rarely reach out to publicize free or discounted repairs.<\/p>\n

The Center for Auto Safety estimates that at any given time there are more than 500 secret warranties<\/a> active from all the auto manufacturers combined. Each one represents repair and safety work you might be able to get at no cost or at a discounted rate\u2014if you can find out about them.<\/p>\n

How to check<\/h2>\n

Secret warranties are typically communicated to dealers via what\u2019s known as a technical service bulletin (TSB), which lets the dealer know that they can replace a part or perform some kind of service on specific models (sometimes even specific ranges of Vehicle Identification Numbers, or VINs) at a reduced rate or no cost.<\/p>\n

You can potentially find out about TSBs and secret warranties in three ways:<\/p>\n