What lifetime auto parts warranties usually cover (and what we’d double check) – Jalopnik

No one likes needing car repairs. Unfortunately, repairs and maintenance are part of car ownership, whether it’s a brand new Tesla or a four-decade-old Honda. Troubleshooting often means taking time off work, saving money, or relying on elevators and public transportation while your car is in the garage.

Sure, it’s annoying, but not as frustrating as the repair failing. Imagine buying a new starter motor, having your car towed to a shop, paying for the labor to disassemble the old motor, only to find out that you were sold a defective or incorrect part. That means potentially more free time, more money out of your pocket for a new starter and just more headaches you don’t need.

This is why warranties exist, and in many cases auto parts suppliers offer what is called a lifetime warranty. The idea behind this is that you buy the part and if it breaks again during the life of the vehicle, you get a free replacement. It sounds great on paper, but there are limitations to it. It’s also important to understand what these warranty packages typically cover – and what they don’t.

If you have purchased a new part (perhaps you want to replace a faulty crankshaft sensor) and when you go to install it it becomes apparent that the part is incorrect or defective, a lifetime warranty will cover its replacement. The same goes if you installed the part and it worked fine, but then it failed weeks, months, or even years later. Provided the part has been installed correctly and has not been abused in any way, a lifetime warranty should absolutely cover its replacement.

But what the warranty usually covers is one replacement of the item. A lifetime warranty is not an endless ticket for free replacement; the warranty can generally be used once to repair the original item, and then the warranty has expired. That said, if the part you get again is immediately defective or simply incorrect, you should also be entitled to a refund or a new item, although that’s only due to the warranty; Many states’ laws allow stores to have whatever refund policy they want.

It’s also worth knowing that you don’t need a qualified technician to fit the part for the warranty to work. You can take it to a shop or do it yourself, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s properly assembled. However, there are conditions attached to the replacement of these parts, and these are the things it is best to double-check before relying on a lifetime warranty.

Sometimes the part is not the problem. If a sensor fails deep in your engine bay, the part might cost you as little as $20, for example – but getting to it might require removing a host of accessories, leaving you paying $200 in labor. Now imagine that the new sensor fails after just a week or two. The warranty promises to cover the $20 cost of another new sensor, but that $200 labor cost is back up to you.

Here’s another scenario. You buy a car from your friend and he says the alternator has given up the ghost. To prevent the alternator from breaking while driving, he will have it repaired before selling it. The alternator will run him a few hundred dollars, and you buy the car. The problem strikes and the alternator fails the following week, but no problem: the lifetime warranty covers this, right? Wrong. Lifetime warranties on car parts usually stipulate that they are only valid if the owner of the car is the same person who purchased the part, and vice versa.

Other things to double check include whether the parts supplier requires you to purchase the replacement first before filing a warranty claim, whether a refund or store credit will be provided, and whether any parts are excluded. For example, products like aerosol cans can be exempt, which can be frustrating if they fail.