Last night the Mrs. and I bought a 2016 Hyundai Tucson to replace her Jeep Liberty. We were somewhat surprised to find it marked “As-is no warranty.” Fortunately for us (and the dealership because we were ready to walk away), the car is covered by the remainder of the original warranty, 21 months or about 29K out of 60 months/60K to the second owner in our case.
When we mentioned the absence of a dealer warranty to the sales guy, he told us all their used vehicles are sold as-is (they’re a Nissan dealer and presumably certified preowned Nissans would be an exception). He also told us this is common. Maybe common for that chain of dealerships but not in general, at least in the St. Louis area. The Buick/GMC dealer next door, for example, offers a lifetime power train warranty with at least some vehicles. The Kia dealer down the road offers a 30 day warranty, except for vehicles that are specifically designated “as-is.”
Anyway, how common is the practice of selling all used vehicles “as-is” in your area? Thanks in advance.
Dave it just depends on the selling dealer and their policy . If you look at the CarMax web site they do have some type of warranty . But those Drive Line warranties have large loop holes.
That’s what these guys do. The sales guy told us outright that if we weren’t eligible for the transferable factory warranty he was supposed to try and sell us a “protection package.” He also told us their Hyundai dealership across town would be more than happy to honor the factory warranty. It just seems like there ought to be at least a “stand behind it to push it off the lot” warranty from the dealer.
Why? If the dealer thought they needed a xx day warranty to sell them, they would add that. If people will not only buy the cars but pay extra for an extended warranty, why would they need that?
CarMax has a 90 day or 4000 miles warranty on every car they sell that are out of factory warranty. You can always buy there.
True. I guess they know more about selling cars than they do. At least about selling cars to the majority of folks. As I said, though, if it weren’t for the Hyundai warranty we would’ve walked.
I believe that every dealer that I worked for marked “No Warranty” on the used car disclosure labels on brand X vehicles even if there was a 30 day limited warranty on the vehicle. I think marking them as no warranty protects the dealer in certain situations, some buyers are unreasonable when it come to scratches, interior flaws and rattles.
That’s possible and I can see where some folks would be unreasonable. I just don’t think that way. I mean, it’s a used car, it’s going to have a few flaws, quirks, etc. The last time I lodged a complaint about a used vehicle was in 1986. The Mrs. and I had recently bought a used 1984 Pontiac Sunbird and the tailpipe fell off. This was after the salesman had told me, “It’s supposed to sound like that.” I took it back to the dealership, the service writer looked under the rear end, and he immediately said an expletive that stands for excrement. They fixed the car at no charge. I like to think of myself as a reasonable guy and I give others the benefit of the doubt. If the terms of a warranty are spelled out, there’s less chance of unrealistic expectations. David A., the guy who sold us the Tucson, was very careful to point out that any repairs would have to go to an authorized Hyundai dealer and I can live with that.
Yes, I should have said “any WARRANTY repairs.” I also said, in my very first post in this thread, “the car is covered by the remainder of the original warranty, 21 months or about 29K out of 60 months/60K to the second owner in our case.” In any event, we live a block from a good mechanic whereas the nearest Hyundai dealer is 12 miles away. Where do you suppose we’ll be getting most of our mechanical work done? The dealership that sold us the vehicle did include a year’s oil changes and tire rotations with the deal and we’ll probably take them up on it since they’re within 6 miles. The current plan is to have the transmission fluid changed by the selling dealership at the next oil change since it hasn’t been done yet AFAIK.
When my former employer decided to begin selling used cars, our marketing department determined that providing a power train warranty on all cars sold would increase our sales. I found a large third party warranty company that would underwrite a lifetime power train warranty on every car we sold at a nominal cost to us. The warranty looked fairly sketchy to me, but our legal department approved it and the customers loved it. I’m still fairly active in the local auto dealers association, and the consensus is that there is no consensus. Most of the used cars sold on used-car lots are sold as is. Most of the used cars sold by new car dealers carry some sort of warranty.
Then what do you recommend? I was simply thinking of combining jobs since the Nissan service department would already have the vehicle in for an oil change. Presumably our regular mechanic could do the transmission maintenance. Would that be preferable or do we need to take it to a transmission shop or maybe a Hyundai dealer? Thanks.
Yes, I mentioned that myself in my very first post in this thread: “the car is covered by the remainder of the original warranty, 21 months or about 29K out of 60 months/60K to the second owner in our case.” We’re eligible for a bit over a year and a half of remaining warranty coverage as the second owners. We don’t put a lot of miles on our vehicles so the 29K miles (the vehicle has between 30 and 31K at the moment and I’m doing some rounding) probably won’t factor into it.
I have purchased two used cars from independent used car dealers that had the balance of the factory warranty. The one vehicle was a 1990 Ford Aerostar minivan. The engine had to be replaced while it was still under factory warranty. The used car dealer took the car to the dealer and gave me a loaner to drive while the Ford dealer had the Aerostar. I bought a 1993 Oldsmobile 88 from a different used car dealer. It had the balance of the warranty. I think I took it to the Oldsmobile dealer one time for a recall.
On the other hand, I bought a 1961 Corvair from the Rambler dealer. I purchased the Corvair “As Is”. I got it at a good price because it acted as though it needed a valve job. The dealer said his mechanics didn’t like to work on Corvairs. I figured that I had bought the Corvair cheap enough that I could have the valves ground. My wife and I went out to eat and a sudden heavy rain came up while we were at the restaurant. I didn’t think we would get home as the Corvair ran so poorly. In the middle of the night, it dawned on me that valves wouldn’t be affected by wet weather. I went out at 3:00 a.m. and started the Corvair. I saw sparks jumping off the spark plug wires. The next day I bought a set of spark plug wires and the Corvair ran great. Had one of the dealer’s mechanics looked at the car, he could have figured out the problem and replaced the wires and the dealer could have sold the car for a lot more. In this case, I was glad I bought the car 'As Is".
Around here unless a cream puff, they are all As Is. And if low mileage and current model year, they are covered by the factory warranty. There is a dealer here that has a lifetime warranty too. It sound good but a friend went to buy a car there and it would have been several thousand more than down the road a bit. So it’s not really free, they just collect the money up front, and usually it’s a drive train not bumper to bumper warranty.
There are a couple dealers around here doing the lifetime powertrain warranty but i believe the catch is you have to go to that dealership for service unless you get another shop approved every time.
The local Ford dealer has Gold/Silver/Bronze categories for used cars. Bronze only has 4 day exchange policy but is always the cheapest and oldest cars on the lot. 60 day warranty with the other levels though.
In NY any used car sold by a dealer, new or used, with under 100,000 mile or a very low dollar amount has to have a warranty.The warranty is short and limited, but it does cover you if you hear the engine knocking, the transmission slipping or the car overheating etc.
When my son moved to Florida he was surprised that no used car dealers he could find offered a warranty, and they all played a game where you negotiated a price for the car and when you went to sigh the papers, they had an expensive “car preparation fee” they added to the negotiated price.
Needless to say, he did not buy any used cars from dealers. He has bought 4 used cars since he moved there , all from private parties. If there is no warranty, what do you need a dealer for?