Car warranties are an important part of vehicle ownership. You want to make sure you are covered in the worst-case scenario. Rather than pay out of your own pocket for repairs, it’s always nice to have a warranty on your vehicle to help lighten the load and ease your mind after the stress of dealing with an unreliable car. Mitsubishi dealerships are known for selling vehicles with a 10-year warranty that Mitsubishi claims is the best in the world.
But how does Mitsubishi’s warranty really stack up to the competition? Is its 10-year offering really as good as Mitsubishi claims? We’ll look at three different warranties from major manufacturers––Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Hyundai––to determine the benefits of each and compare them to determine if Mitsubishi’s warranty really does exceed the standards of its peers.
Mitsubishi’s 10-Year Warranty
Mitsubishi provides a powertrain limited warranty that is valid for 10 years or 160,000 kilometres. This warranty comes standard with every new vehicle sold at Mitsubishi dealerships. A powertrain warranty covers the repair and replacement of critical components such as your car’s engine, transmission, or all-wheel drive system. In short, it covers everything involved with making your car move. Understandably, Mitsubishi treats your vehicle’s powertrain like they’re experienced surgeons!
However, that 10-year powertrain warranty is not the only warranty that comes with new Mitsubishi models. The brand also includes a five-year or 100,000-kilometre new vehicle limited warranty covering nearly every component in your vehicle. If your infotainment system won’t work or your air conditioner stops blowing cold air, this warranty will cover it. If you buy a hybrid model from Mitsubishi, you will also benefit from a special lithium-ion battery limited warranty that lasts for 10 years or 160,000 kilometres. This provides extra assurance that investing in a new technology won’t mean reduced reliability.
What stands out to us in Mitsubishi’s warranty plan is its roadside assistance coverage. New Mitsubishi models have a five-year, unlimited kilometres roadside program that will cover you should you ever break down and need assistance. Mitsubishi assures its drivers that they will respond accordingly regardless of your issues, including “free towing, battery boosts, flat-tire tire service, emergency fuel and fluid delivery and more.” Your car breaking down during a long drive can be anything from highly annoying to downright devastating; it’s nice to know that there’s a company that cares enough about its customers to have their back in situations like these.
Keep in mind that these limited warranties do not cover damages caused by an accident or collision; you or your insurance provider would have to pay for those. Natural wear and tear, environmental damage, and routine maintenance are similarly excluded. Manufacturer warranties are for cars that malfunction or have issues caused by manufacturer defects or faults. However, these limits are the case with all new vehicle warranties, so they are not something unique to Mitsubishi. Before we jump to any conclusions about the value of Mitsubishi’s warranty program, let’s examine some competitors to see how their warranties work and what they do better or worse than Mitsubishi.
Nissan’s Warranty
Nissan has a blanket warranty policy that includes a five-year or 100,000-kilometre powertrain warranty and basic coverage lasting for three years or 60,000 kilometres. Right off the bat, we can see that the Nissan powertrain warranty is valid for only half as long as Mitsubishi’s 10-year powertrain warranty, and its bumper-to-bumper warranty only lasts for three years rather than five. But to be fair to Nissan, let’s take a closer look at what their warranty offers. For Nissan vehicles sold in 2023, Nissan offers a Warranty Information Booklet that details the ins and outs of all the warranties available to Nissan vehicle owners, but it is rather dense, so we’ll summarize it for you.
Nissan covers general repairs and replacements under its three-year or 60,000-kilometre basic coverage. This coverage protects all aspects of the vehicle, including infotainment, interior, and electrical components. As with Mitsubishi, this warranty does not cover issues stemming from accidents, collisions, or other normal wear and tear. The three-year warranty period also includes roadside assistance, rental car reimbursement, and towing assistance for unlimited kilometres. It is not dissimilar to the roadside assistance service offered by Mitsubishi, although Nissan provides coverage for a shorter duration.
Nissan’s Powertrain Warranty covers repairs and replacements for the powertrain components for up to five years or 100,000 kilometres. This warranty covers the engine, transmission, transaxle, and drivetrain. While it is similar in scope to the Mitsubishi equivalent warranty, the extra five years of coverage from Mitsubishi is hard to compete with. As many Nissan and Mitsubishi enthusiasts already know, Mitsubishi is partially owned by Nissan, and the two Japanese brands share many components. This means you can find similar vehicles with much more extensive warranty coverage by visiting a Mitsubishi dealer instead of a Nissan dealer.
Hyundai’s Warranty
Hyundai describes itself as having “one of the best-backed warranties in Canada,” but let’s see for ourselves how it actually performs for its customers. Hyundai does have a five-year or 100,000-kilometre comprehensive limited warranty that matches Mitsubishi’s similar offer and easily exceeds Nissan’s three-year or 60,000-kilometre coverage. The Korean brand also has a five-year and unlimited kilometre, 24-hour roadside assistance program, again similar to Mitsubishi’s. However, Hyundai’s powertrain limited warranty lasts for the same five years or 100,000 kilometres as Nissan’s powertrain warranty, falling far short of Mitsubishi’s incredible 10-year warranty.
The unique benefit of the Hyundai Warranty is Hyundai Extended Protection, a unique system that “provides uninterrupted protection for your vehicle once the factory warranty expires, with additional benefits that you may enjoy from day one.” These include a 24-hour roadside assistance program that is nearly identical to Mitsubishi’s. In the event that you need “fuel delivery, flat tire changing, lockout services, battery boosting, mechanical first aid, towing, winching,” and more, it’s an excellent service package on par with Mitsubishi’s. If, for whatever reason, it isn’t working out for you, it’s also important to know that Hyundai Extended Protection is fully refundable during the first 45 days. However, you must pay extra for this package as it does not come standard with every new vehicle.
Truth in Advertising
Every major manufacturer has its own warranty plan, but they are not all created equal. From our research, we found that Mitsubishi has one of the best warranty plans available. With 10 years or 160,000 kilometres of powertrain coverage, five years or 100,000 kilometres of bumper-to-bumper coverage, and five years of roadside assistance, Mitsubishi provides coverage that lasts longer than the average Canadian will keep their vehicle.
This stands in sharp contrast to industry-standard warranty coverage, such as Nissan’s three years or 36,000 kilometres of basic coverage and five years or 60,000 kilometres of powertrain coverage. While Hyundai has an above-average warranty program with five years of bumper-to-bumper coverage, its five years of powertrain coverage simply isn’t long enough to be up to the same level as the ten years of coverage that Mitsubishi offers. Those of us who choose Mitsubishi can rest assured that its warranty coverage truly is among the best in the world.
