Nissan launches Australia’s longest new-car warranty – with a catch

Nissan now holds the title of offering Australia’s longest new-car warranty, but it comes with conditions akin to one of its fellow Japanese brands.

All new Nissans sold in Australia from January 1, 2021 will continue to be covered by the brand’s standard five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, however, owners will be able to extend this to 10 years and 300,000km (once again whichever comes first).

Dubbed the ‘Nissan More ownership program’, the extended warranty is available for both private and commercial customers, but only those who service their vehicles on schedule at a Nissan dealer, making the longer aftersales coverage a conditional warranty like Mitsubishi’s 10-year warranty.

The Nissan More program also extends to roadside assistance, which can be renewed for up to a decade if the same terms are met.

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Nissan’s adoption of a conditional warranty based scheduled servicing at an official dealer follows a similar move by Mitsubishi, which became the first Australian auto brand to offer a 10-year warranty in September 2020.

However, Mitsubishi’s distance coverage is shorter than Nissan’s, with a base five-year/100,000km warranty that can be extended to 10 years/200,000km.

While Mitsubishi was criticised for its requirement for owners to use its own dealership network, which was perceived by some to reduce competition and take business away from independent workshops, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ultimately allowed the conditional warranty to stand.

Last year MG introduced a standard 10-year/250,000km warranty, but only for private buyers and not customers that use their vehicles for commercial purposes, who receive a seven-year/160,000km warranty.

And to ensure that its existing owners can also benefit, Nissan’s new 10-year 300,000km warranty will be backdated to eligible vehicles purchased new since the start of 2021.

“Nissan vehicles purchased new since January 1, 2021 which have completed all scheduled services with Nissan (at the correct interval/time) automatically qualify for the warranty extension,” the carmaker said in a media statement.

“Vehicles that have not been serviced with Nissan are able to return to a Nissan Dealer to have a Scheduled Service and a Vehicle Assessment to assess their eligibility to enter the program.”

In addition to the warranty announcement, Nissan has introduced a new five-year capped-price servicing program, named Flat Price Service (FPS).

The FPS sees the service cost for the Leaf electric hatchback capped at $349 for the first five visits. Qashqai, X-Trail, Juke and Pathfinder owners will pay $399 for each of the first five services, while the cost increases to $499 for the Patrol, Navara and Z.

According to Nissan, owners of models with the highest service price currently will save up to $1145 with the new capped prices.

These prices are also identical regardless of powertrain, meaning it won’t cost more to service a petrol-powered X-Trail than an e-Power hybrid, for example.

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