Servicing Your Car Under Warranty

If you car is still under agent or dealer warranty from the dealership in Singapore, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) stated in December 2017 that you may service your car at workshops such as AVANTAGE VAG and still preserve your manufacturer warranty.

Read the CCCS Media Release on Warranty Policies on their website, or click here for a pdf version.

Extract:

CCS has, however, identified concerns with regard to car dealers requiring customers to service or repair their cars exclusively at the respective dealers’ authorised workshops, in order to ensure that the car warranty remains valid. These restrictions give car dealers the right to void car warranties or reject warranty claims if the car has been serviced and/or repaired at an independent workshop, regardless of whether the damage or defect to be claimed under the warranty is in fact caused by the independent workshop. The presence of such restrictions deters car owners from using independent workshops, thus restricting the ability of independent workshops to compete effectively with authorised workshops. This restriction on competition may in turn allow authorised workshops to charge customers higher prices for their car servicing, repair and parts.

To address this, CCS has raised its concerns with the major car dealers and have worked with them to remove the warranty restrictions from their car warranties and related documents... All the major car dealers have agreed to make the relevant changes to the warranty terms identified by CCS. 

“The removal of the warranty restrictions will facilitate a more competitive market for car repairs and servicing, with more choices for car owners, and opportunities for existing and new independent workshops. Market participants and consumers are encouraged to report any potentially anti-competitive business practices to CCS.”

There are two types of warranty generally packaged into a new car sale in Singapore.

A manufacturer warranty is provided by the factory to the local dealership. Most (but not all) new cars in Singapore are covered by a manufacturer warranty for the first 2 years. This depends on the agreement between the dealership and the factory.

An additional and separate warranty is purchased by car dealerships so that new cars can be sold with a warranty as long as 5 years. 

The terms of these warranty programmes do not prohibit you from servicing your car with a third-party.

If you - like many of our customers - prefer an independent workshop to provide honest advice and professional care, you should stand for your legal right to service your car at a workshop of your choice.