Why Nissan's new 10-year warranty has a big caveat

03/07/2025 05:00 PM

Nissan Australia says it will not match MG in offering 10 years of warranty coverage irrespective of where a customer services their vehicle as it cannot ensure independent workshops “do the job properly”.

The Japanese car giant last month announced Australia’s longest new-vehicle warranty, at 10 years or 300,000km – whichever comes first – available for all new Nissans sold since January 1, 2021.

However, it requires the vehicle to be serviced exclusively within the Nissan dealer network – and reverts to a five-year/unlimited-kilometre guarantee if customers take their car elsewhere.

MORE: Nissan Australia introduces 10-year warranty, applicable even on older cars

It is a similar policy that used by Mitsubishi for its 10-year/200,000km warranty, which reverts to five years/100,000km when cars are serviced outside of dealers – but not MG, which markets a 10-year/250,000km guarantee for private use without the caveat.

Nissan Oceania aftersales director Michael Hill told Australian media the company cannot provide its stamp on a 10-year-old vehicle unless it is sure it has been maintained correctly.

“The key thing is, servicing with Nissan, we can guarantee the quality of the servicing. I can’t guarantee [it elsewhere].”

He said: “I can’t guarantee an independent servicer, that they’re doing the job properly … I can make sure that [a Nissan dealer] does the job properly. That’s the difference.

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“We can guarantee the work has been done … they [technicians] have been trained for hundreds of hours in the Nissan way, they get updates on the models on a regular basis, and access to genuine parts.

“Those things, we’ve warrantied our work, our training, and everything we’ve invested in making our network what it is.”

The Mitsubishi warranty was investigated by the ACCC on its introduction in 2020 following criticism from aftermarket vehicle associations the dealer servicing clause limits competition by preventing customers from maintaining their car at independent workshops.

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The consumer watchdog ultimately allowed the Japanese car giant’s warranty to stand, stating “Mitsubishi's standard five-year warranty will still apply and does not limit consumers to any particular service provider.”

“There is no basis at present to conclude that the notified conduct has the purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition,” ACCC Commissioner Stephen Ridgeway said at the time.

Critics would argue forcing customers to return to the dealer for servicing to retain the 10-year warranty ensures Nissan continues to collect revenue from maintenance costs well after the normal five-year expiry of a vehicle’s warranty.

MORE: Mitsubishi's 10-year warranty officially permitted by consumer watchdog

Nissan executives have acknowledged the program is intended to reward “loyalty” for customers who service with a dealer.

It has even gone as far as to backdate the 10-year conditional coverage for vehicles purchased since January 1, 2021, with cars serviced outside the network since then able to be inspected for a $99 fee, and if they are given a clean bill of health, still take advantage of the warranty extension.

The Japanese brand’s capped-price servicing program is limited to five services, with years six to 10 subject to labour rates at that time.

The full length of the warranty is ‘service activated’, meaning a customer must conduct every service with Nissan to unlock coverage until its next scheduled visit.

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Hill said generic parts used by independent workshops – compared to Nissan’s genuine components – are not the best fit for its cars.

“To give you a simple example, an oil filter, one thing that gets changed every service … An oil filter has inlet and outlet pressure. So when the oil comes in, it comes in at a certain pressure, goes around and then spits back out again,” he said.

“A generic oil filter has a set pressure that’s made for multiple models. Ours are made specifically for that car and that engine.

“So a T32 [previous-generation] X-Trail and a T33 [new generations], whilst they both have 2.5-litre petrol engines, they’re different oil filters – because one’s slightly different to the other, one’s made for more efficiency than the other one.

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“If you replace that oil filter, how can you guarantee that oil is getting around the engine?

“If you’re coming back to us for a service, [there’s that] peace of mind, we guarantee [it]. That’s the real difference.

“I can go and get an aftermarket filter and put it on the car … but it might not work the same way it’s supposed to, and as we know after a car gets up to 300,000km, things start to wear out, but if it’s looked after properly, it will last that long.”

Alongside the servicing caveat, the Nissan warranty differs from that of Mitsubishi in the length of the standard coverage should a customer conduct maintenance outside of the dealer network.

MORE: MG introduces Australia's longest new-car warranty – 10 years or 250,000km

In that instance, Nissan reverts its 10-year/300,000km of available coverage to a five-year/unlimited-kilometre guarantee for privately-used vehicles, rather than quoting a distance limit for the latter.

It means that if a vehicle were to cover 301,000km in 4.9 years while servicing at Nissan dealers, it would be ineligible for the warranty extension – yet still fall under the standard coverage – as it has already exceeded the decade-long distance cap.

Nissan Australia says this applies to less than 0.1 per cent of its customers, given a vehicle would need to cover more than 60,000km in a calendar year on average to be in this position.

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