Hyundai stuns with warranty extension

Hyundai has extended the standard manufacturer's warranty on all its passenger vehicles and the H100 bakkie in southern Africa.

The manufacturer's standard three-year/100 000 km warranty has been increased to a five-year/150 000 km warranty in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland.

This change applies to all new passenger cars and H100s sold from November 1.

"Introducing a value-added product like this is the next best thing to launching a new vehicle," said Alan Ross, managing director of Hyundai Automotive South Africa.

"Hyundai's continued efforts to improve the quality of its products can not only be seen in recent industry surveys, but also in the number of loyal Hyundai customers that are experiencing hassle-free, day-to-day driving. This resulted in us not having a second thought about launching a product of this nature."

The extended warranty covers a range of components including the vehicle's engine, transmission and gearbox, drive lines and final drives, drive couplings, steering, front and rear suspension, brakes, exhaust, electrical system and air-conditioning system.

According to Hyundai, its customers replace their vehicles after approximately two and a half to three years.

With Hyundai's new five-year/150 000 km manufacturer's warranty a customer can either drive their vehicle for longer, or resell the vehicle with significant portion of the warranty remaining.

"This is quite significant and we believe that it will have a positive impact on the resale value of our vehicles.

"The residual values of our vehicles should also improve and as a result customers could look forward to reduced leasing payments," Stanley Anderson, marketing and aftersales director of Hyundai Automotive South Africa added.