Important Details About the Fiat Warranty You Should Know | Autance

What IS Included with the Fiat Warranty

The Fiat vehicle’s basic manufacturer’s warranty covers the costs of materials and labor needed to repair and replace any part that is defective after leaving the dealership. The basic warranty essentially covers all components except for a few wear items.

Comprehensive Coverage

Fiat offers a four year/50,000 mile combined powertrain and bumper to bumper warranty. Between the two coverages, the warranty includes nearly all major components of the vehicle that can break down due to a factory defect. When repairs or maintenance are required to address such defects, the cost of the service will be covered as long as it is done at an authorized dealership or garage.

Roadside Assistance

Roadside assistance is included in the basic warranty up to four years and unlimited miles. In case of the breakdown, the assistance offers free services like towing, jumpstarting, flat tire repair, and more to get you back on the road. If further repairs are required, you can expect some fast service and thorough inspection from a Fiat-certified technician once you get to an authorized dealership or garage.

Emissions Warranty

Fiat offers basic coverage for emissions components that are required to be on the vehicle to comply with state and federal laws. Services are generally provided if the vehicle does not meet the expectations of a local admissions inspection. Repairs and replacements can include components such as climate control, fuel injection, exhaust manifold, exhaust ports, sensors, and transmission.

Corrosion Warranty

To prevent the degradation of the exterior of the vehicle, Fiat offers an anti-perforation warranty that will cover the cost of any repairs related to rust. Minor or surface rust, however, are not covered.

What’s NOT Included with the Fiat Warranty

While the basic factory warranty covers a lot of components on a vehicle, there are a few exceptions you should know about before buying a Fiat model.

General Repairs and Replacements

The warranty is fairly restrictive when it comes to the repairs covered outside of factory-defect-specific services. Specifically, it excludes virtually any kind of repair or replacement for damage not caused by a factory defect.

In other words, if the issue was caused by the factory itself, they will cover the repair costs. In all other circumstances, however, repair costs will not be covered. This can include things like general wear and tear, component modification issues, accidental damage, and more.

Maintenance Costs

In addition to the lack of incidental damage coverage, the factory warranty lacks any potential cost-saving benefits related to maintenance. As a result, vehicles that suffer from a poor maintenance schedule or experience a greater degree of wear and tear won’t be covered except for the usual factory defects. Furthermore, damage caused by contaminated fuels or liquids (usually from products not recommended by the owners manual) will need to be repaired out-of-pocket.

Great Things about the Fiat Warranty

In general, Fiat has a high degree of service and focuses on offering customers extra peace of mind when buying one of its models. This is why the overall comprehensive coverage goes a long way towards saving you money and keeping your vehicle running the factory defects arise.

The parts coverage between the bumper-to-bumper and powertrain warranties, for example, provide the bulk of this money-saving value. In other words, the most important parts on a vehicle are covered by the warranty from these defects, so you can enjoy using the vehicle without worrying about things unexpectedly breaking and costing you money.

This value is extended even further by the inclusion of the roadside assistance and trip interruption packages. With these, Fiat makes it easy to use a vehicle for longer road trips while still remaining covered in case of a jam.

Ugly Things about the Fiat Warranty

The main drawback of the Fiat warranty is the fact that it is shorter compared to some other auto manufacturers. While it is longer than the industry standard of three years, the lack of a longer powertrain warranty is where the shortage really comes into play. Without a couple extra years on the powertrain warranty, you will essentially be out of coverage when the comprehensive warranty expires.

At this point, you may find yourself needing an extended warranty or auto repair insurance to continue the coverage. This may also be true if you are looking for extra help in covering the costs of normal repairs or maintenance work required to keep the vehicle running. The warranty is limited in both the services it covers and where repair work can be done since only authorized personnel and repair facilities will be included in the factory warranty.

Takeaway Value

While the basic limited warranty from Fiat goes a long way towards reducing or eliminating some of the maintenance and repair costs associated with factory defects, it is certainly not as comprehensive as it could be for a factory warranty. The number of components that are not included in the warranty, combined with the lack of flexibility in where you can get repairs done, means you won’t get a lot of use from the coverage itself outside of addressing these defects.