October 23, 1999
Chrysler owners, eat your heart out. Isuzu is offering a ten-year,
120,000-mile drivetrain warranty.
That gives Isuzu an edge over Hyundai, which has enjoyed a 71 percent increase in U.S. sales since introducing a ten-year, 100,000-mile warranty earlier this year.
Hyundai still holds the lead in the basic warranty race -- with a five-year, 60,000-mile plan. Isuzu's basic warranty, for non-drivetrain items, is three years or 50,000 miles.
The new plans put both manufacturers miles ahead of the competition. Toyota, for example, offers a basic warranty of three years or 36,000 miles and a drivetrain warranty of five years or 60,000 miles.
With the average American keeping a new car for 7.5 years, a longer warranty covering expensive drivetrain components can mean big savings if an engine or transmission rebuild is needed.
Hyundai's move to a longer warranty was in response to quality problems that plagued the Korean automaker earlier in the decade. With its quality problems largely fixed, Hyundai wanted a cost-effective way to win back consumers.
Isuzu, which makes only sport utes, has a good reputation for quality but the small Japanese company need a way to differentiate itself from its huge competitors and their enormous advertising budgets.
Consumer leaders are generally enthusiastic about the longer warranties and dealers say they are bringing customers into the showrooms.
