Cars for Sale Ireland Blog

WE may be seeing a huge price war on the forecourts this January as the new selling season begins, but Kia has released a major assault.

This car maker is banking on people being seriously swayed by a seven-year/ 150,000km warranty on all its cars. The firm announced the move this week and it will send shivers through the industry where warranties, in the main, extend to two years and rarely beyond.

Far Eastern car makers offer a three-year warranty and one or two European models benefit from three-year cover. But putting a seven-year backing on a range of new cars – from the city car Kia  Picanto to the Kia Sorento SUV – at a time when potential buyers are looking for reassurance and backup will have a huge impact and should get buyers queuing up to buy their vehicles if its value they re after.

Even better, the warranty passes on from one owner to the other over the course of the seven years’ cover. That means if you buy a four-year-old Kia, you should effectively have a three-year warranty.

The aggressive move is part of the company’s drive to make itself the world number one for customer satisfaction. The new deal applies to all vehicles sold and registered in more than 20 countries across Europe.

The company said it was a ‘bumper-to-bumper’ full manufacturer’s warranty, which covered each vehicle for up to seven years. And, depending on the model, there is a seven-to-12 year anti- corrosion warranty.

Of course there are always caveats and the normal ‘wear and tear’ on items such as tyres, brake pads and clutch linings is excluded from the warranty.

Kia Ireland chief James Brooks said: “This will appeal to all Irish motorists but will, we think, and appeal especially to scrappage customers who may be planning to hold on to their new cars for another 10 years – seven of these years can be worry-free if they chose Kia cars.”

Other qualifications include:

● Paintwork covered for five years (depending on model). ● Audio and navigation equipment for three years.

● Service replacement parts, accessories and batteries covered for two years.

In my opinion this is the best deal yet in 2010