Guarantee and warranty on your car

If you bought your vehicle from a professional dealer and you discover a defect or technical problem, there are several types of guarantees and warranties for your car:

• two-year legal guarantee from the dealer
• a manufacturer’s warranty
• extra purchased extended warranty

2-year legal guarantee

You are entitled to a legal guarantee of two years on your car. This only applies if you buy your car as a private individual from a professional car dealer.

If the vehicle is second-hand, the dealer may limit the period to one year.

Under this legal guarantee the seller is obliged to resolve any problems on your car during the guarantee period, within a reasonable term and free of charge. This will generally involve a repair.

Please note: The seller is entitled – under the conditions of the guarantee – to demand that he repairs the car himself (or have it repaired). You are not allowed to have the car repaired by your usual garage without the permission of the seller. He may require you to show him the invoice of the repair.

Manufacturer’s warranty

Unlike the legal guarantee, the manufacturer’s warranty on your car is not mandatory. However, manufacturers still often offer this warranty on new cars. They are less common on second-hand cars.

The manufacturers are free to set the conditions of their warranty. Usually, a manufacturer’s warranty is valid all over Europe, and in the entire network of the manufacturer. This makes it easier for you to find a recognised brand representative in your home country.

The purchased extended warranty

This extra extended warranty on your car comprises an extension of the legal guarantee or the commercial warranty on your car. It is usually offered by a third party organisation and is therefore comparable to a kind of insurance.

Be certain to check whether this extension does not overlap the existing guarantee on your car, in which case you will be paying for nothing.

Maintenance of your vehicle

If you want to carry out maintenance or repairs on your car which are not covered by the legal guarantee, you are entitled to employ any repair service you wish – whether or not recognised by the car manufacturer. The seller is not allowed to use this as an argument later on to refuse any claim you may make. You will still keep your guarantee.

Please note: sometimes maintenance or a repair may be the cause of the problem. In that case, you must return your car to the same repair service.