Service plan, maintenance plan, extended warranty. These are terms that most car owners have come across. Understanding the difference between these three product options can be confusing. A critical first point to understand for all three options, is that they each have a limited life span.
Below we highlight the differences:
A Service Plan will cover you for the labour and standard parts of your car’s service. It doesn’t include wear and tear on parts such as the clutch, shock absorbers, headlight globes and brake pads. Each Service Plan is different, but they generally cover things like brake fluid, coolant, all filters, spark plugs, tyre rotations and cambelts.
Service Plans start when you buy your car, and continue for a set number of years or kilometres. Generally, the lengths are three years and 100 000 kilometres. Service Plans through MotorHappy now cover cars up to 12 years old.
When your Service Plan runs out, it is possible to purchase another Service Plan through a provider such as MotorHappy. When buying a Service Plan through MotorHappy, the chances are good that the plan will come standard with additional benefits such as Roadside Assistance. The Car Service Plan offered through MotorHappy includes free Roadside Assistance with benefits such as towing, car hire or overnight accommodation, message relay, fuel run, jump start and key lockout.
A Maintenance Plan is a level up from a service plan as it includes a warranty against mechanical failures, as well as wear and tear on items such as shock absorbers, brake pads and wiper blades. However, it doesn’t cover the cost of new tyres. Like with a service plan, a maintenance plan also lasts for a few years or a set number of kilometres.
Buying a car Maintenance Plan through MotorHappy comes with the following benefits:
- Provides peace of mind that your car servicing is taken care of
- Includes all **OEM required services and parts
- Qualified technicians
- Genuine parts
- Provides cover for specified wear-and-tear parts
- Car maintenance checklist – done
In addition to this, when buying a maintenance plan through MotorHappy, the chances are good that the plan will come standard with additional benefits such as Roadside Assistance. The Car Service Plan offered through MotorHappy includes free Roadside Assistance with benefits such as towing, car hire or overnight accommodation, message relay, fuel run, jumpstart and key lockout.
Maintenance and Service Plans are separate to a warranty. A warranty covers manufacturing failures and is the manufacturer’s promise that the car you’re buying won’t give you any problems, aside from the usual wear and tear that comes from driving.
A manufacturer will cover the costs if there are issues. It’s important to remember that neither a service nor Maintenance Plan will cover your car if you’re in an accident, so it’s important to have car insurance too.
When your Service or Maintenance Plan runs out
When your plans run out, either after a certain mileage or a set number of years, you don’t need to panic, nor rush out to sell your car when you’re not quite ready to.
You can extend your warranty, which is less expensive than buying a new car with a service or Maintenance Plan. A car warranty gives you peace of mind, knowing that all major replacements are covered to a certain limit. MotorHappy has a range of warranty options that can protect your car against mechanical or electrical failures after your original manufacturer’s warranty has expired.
With a MotorHappy Extended Warranty you’ll get:
- Fixed, affordable monthly cost
- Access to qualified technicians
- Access to genuine parts
- Peace of mind – less worrying about unexpected mechanical breakdowns and electrical failures.
- Free roadside assistance that includes towing, car hire or overnight accommodation; message relay to a family member, friend or colleague; tyre change; fuel run if you get stranded on the side of the road; jumpstart, and key lockout.
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