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Hyundai has become the latest brand to offer a seven-year warranty, but unlike Kia and rival Chinese brands, it requires customers to service exclusively at its dealerships to unlock the full coverage.
Hyundai has finally announced a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty for new vehicles in Australia – after months of speculation and discussions – replacing the five years of coverage it has marketed since 1999.
However, vehicles must be serviced within the Hyundai dealer network for the first seven years of their life to unlock the extended coverage, otherwise it reverts to the previous five-year/unlimited-kilometre offering.
And it only applies to Hyundai passenger vehicles and SUVs, not the Staria Load van – even if customers do not use it for "commercial purposes" such as deliveries, rentals, or others "in the course of trade for the purpose of carrying passengers or goods."
Rival Kia does not market the same clause on its seven-year warranty – which it was first to introduce upon launch in 2014 – nor do similar programs from the likes of GWM, Chery and Skoda.
It is common for 10-year warranties to mandate servicing within the dealer network to unlock the full coverage – as offered by Nissan, Mitsubishi and MG passenger vehicles – but not for seven-year versions.
Car brands have argued the dealer servicing clause is necessary to ensure they are backing vehicles that have been maintained correctly, using genuine parts fitted to the manufacturer's standards.
It has the side effect of ensuring Hyundai dealers continue to benefit from servicing revenue as the vehicle gets older, when customers may be incentivised to take their car elsewhere.
Helped by the inclusion of the servicing clause, the extended warranty option will be backdated to Hyundai passenger vehicles registered from June 1, 2025.
Excluded are vehicles used for "commercial applications", such as taxis, rentals, ride-sharing, deliveries, and driving schools, as well as Staria Load van across all purposes.
Passenger cars and SUVs used for a commercial application carry five years/130,000km of coverage, while people movers used for commercial purposes, and all Staria Loads carry a five-year/160,000km warranty.
An eight-year/160,000km battery warranty for high-voltage hybrid and electric-car batteries remains unchanged.
Hyundai is keen to stress its seven years of coverage extends to "key components such as corrosion, paint durability and multimedia system ... which are sometimes excluded from competitor brand offerings".
Toyota's five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty includes seven years of corrosion protection as standard, and can be extended to seven years of coverage on the engine and driveline – excluding hybrid batteries – through dealer servicing.
Hyundai will also extend the car's Bluelink phone app connectivity to seven years, as long as the dealer servicing conditions are met.
It has also renamed its capped-price servicing program from iCare to myHyundaiCare. It continues to apply for the lifetime of the vehicle.
"As the first automotive brand in Australia to offer a 5-year unlimited kilometre warranty, we recognise the strategic importance of competitive warranty coverage," Hyundai Australia CEO Don Romano said in a media statement.
"Over the past few months, we have worked closely with our National Dealer Council to develop a compelling and highly attractive warranty package that provides further peace of mind for our owners."
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
