All Cars, All the Time

GM and Ford Hop on the "Train" that Chrysler Just Hopped Off


It was Ford who increased its powertrain warranty to five years or 60,000 miles for Ford and Mercury vehicles and six years or 70,000 miles for Lincoln vehicles back in July of this year. Now GM weighs in with 5 years or 100,000 miles for powertrains (plus a few other perks). There is much fanfare that these new warranties will motivate customers to come back and see how much domestic car quality has improved. I’m a bit skeptical myself. Don’t forget that Chrysler announced a 7/70,000 powertrain warranty back in 2002 but scrapped it for the 2006 model year citing that consumer surveys showed that the 7/70,000 warranty protection was a low priority for buyers.

My question is “What has changed?” Why would an extended powertrain warranty now be a higher priority? Wouldn’t an extended bumper to bumper warranty create more noise and excitement? If someone is so confident in their product, why not back up the whole thing and not just a few select items?

Any added coverage is better news for customers, but I was hoping for something a bit bolder. Upping bumper to bumper warranties from 3/36 to 4/50 and those models already at 4/50 to 5/60 would have sent a strong message that “Quality is in the house!” This extended powertrain business is more of a murmur and certainly wouldn’t sway my buying decision.