Transferring car warranty: Understanding change of ownership coverage plans

There is a wide variety of warranties available for car owners to ensure that they are well-protected. It is the owner’s choice which type of warranty is required. Moreover, when you purchase a brand new car from the manufacturer, you get the manufacturer’s warranty with the car.

However, once that warranty ends, you can purchase another warranty from a third-party organization. Nevertheless, you cannot do it without doing proper research about various warranty plans. Moreover, with a warranty plan, you can avoid various problems. For example, what if your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and you have warranty coverage, then your hassle would become an ease for you and your pockets.

Moreover, there are a multitude of benefits that you get if you have a warranty plan. One of them is; if you want to upgrade your vehicle, you can add value to the price when you are selling your old vehicle. Not only this, but it will also attract prospective buyers, and you would be able to sell your old car in no time.

However, the question is, are these warranties transferable to the new owner of the vehicle? If it is, then how do you do that?

We have done the hard part for you, so that you can reap the benefits of our research. Read further to know which warranties are transferable and which are not. Moreover, also get an idea, how does the transfer process take place.

Can you transfer a car warranty to the new owner?

There is a simple answer to this question, and to your surprise, it is a big ‘YES.’ However, the transferability criteria and process depend on the type of warranty that you had signed for. Moreover, the transfer also depends on the terms of your contract and from which organization you purchased it.

Apart from that, whenever you are talking about warranty transfer, keep one thing in mind, and that is, a warranty can only be transferred from person to person. It is not transferable from vehicle to vehicle.

The reason for these warranties to be transferable from owner to owner and not vehicle to vehicle is that a particular warranty plan is decided for a particular kind of make and model of the car.

Moreover, you can divide transferable warranty plans into two major categories; manufacturer warranty and traditional extended warranty.

Manufacturer warranties are those plans that you agree to before you sign the sales contract. It is a basic bumper-to-bumper warranty. On the contrary, extended warranties are when you purchase a new warranty plan to keep yourself covered once your manufacturer’s warranty expires. Or you can also purchase extended warranties while your manufacturer’s warranty is in place to get extra coverage.

Both of these warranties are transferable. However, the transfer criteria will differ according to the plan you have and your provider as well. Let us have a look at how the transfer process of each warranty works.

How to transfer a manufacturer’s warranty?

A manufacturer’s warranty is a coverage plan that we get when we purchase a new car. It is usually a bumper-to-bumper warranty, which covers almost all the vital parts that are expensive to repair otherwise.

The moment you get your new car out of the showroom, the warranty clock starts ticking. Usually, the length of these warranties is three to five years or a particular mileage count. However, during this time, if you decide to sell your current vehicle and purchase a new one, you can easily get this warranty transferred to the new owner.

For example, Hyundai and Kia provide warranty for five years or 60,000 miles along with a powertrain warranty of ten years or 100,000 miles. If you plan to sell your Hyundai car model, but if the warranty is not expired yet, you can easily enjoy the Hyundai warranty transfer without any hassle.

The reason, manufacturer’s warranties are so easily transferable is because it is attached with a specific VIN that is associated with the vehicle.

How extended warranties are transferred?

If you are planning to sell your car but have an extended warranty instead of the manufacturer’s warranty, here is how you can transfer it to the new owner.

Before we tell you how you’ll be able to transfer your extended warranty, let us discuss what extended warranties are.

These warranties are customizable warranties that you can purchase once your manufacturer’s warranty ends, or you can also pair it up along with your manufacturer’s warranty for extra care of your vehicle.

To transfer this warranty, you may be required to give transfer fees to the agent or company from whom you purchased your warranty. Moreover, you will be asked to provide paperwork, proof of maintenance, transfer title documents, and the documents showing when the vehicle was sold.