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So, you bought a brand new ATV (Polaris, Arctic Cat, whatever), and you purchased 2 years of extra warranty coverage, on top of the 6-month factory warranty.
Three months go by and one of your u-joints breaks. You bring it to the dealer and no problem, it gets fixed, free of charge, under your original 6-month factory warranty.
Now 18 months goes by, you’ve driven a couple thousand kilometers, and a universal joint fails again. You remember you bought 2 years of extra warranty so you gleefully hop and skip to the dealer to get it fixed under factory warranty once again; or so you think. SURPRISE! The dealer says your claim was denied and that you are on the hook to pay for it. What changed?
Well, the difference lies in understanding manufacturer defect versus wear and tear.
Warranty covers defects in materials and workmanship. Now when your universal joint went 3 months after buying your new ATV, very clearly the manufacturer, whoever it is, is not about to say that it failed due to wear and tear. Failure within 3 or 6 or even potentially 12 months of ownership is likely manufacturer defect – a defect in materials and / or workmanships.
Many if not all of the moving parts, exposed or not, are considered wear parts. Common examples of these parts are ball joints, bushings, universal joints, and cv joints. They get hard miles on them. They haul stuff, they bounce on rough terrain, and they ride on (and in) dirt, mud, grass, and water. They simply wear out, and much quicker than the comparable parts on your car or truck, which ride on beautifully made roads and highways. This is why, that second time you went to the dealership looking to have your universal joint changed under warranty, that it wasn’t covered.
This was a quick lesson on manufacturing defect vs wear and tear, brought to you by Axis Dealer Solutions – providing the very best in extended warranty coverage in Canada for your toys and your wallet!
Feb 14, 2017
