Warranties - why so different?

evsy

Hi everyone

Im buying a new bike
However, im confused by the warranties and was wondering if someone can offer some advice.

Been saving for ages and finally got 2k together and hoping to find something in the sales.
Because im spending so much i ideally wanted a bike with a great frame, and preferably a really good frame warranty.
Trouble is all the different manufacturers offer different warranties.
I mean i was looking at the Felt F4 and the Trek Madone 4.5. Like the look of them both. However, the Trek comes with a lifetime frame warranty but the Felt only has a 3 year frame warranty.
So does that mean that Felt frames aren't made to last as long as Treks?

It seems that every manufacturer has different frame warranties. But why is this?
To me those which offer only a couple of years are effectively stating that they dont believe their frames will last longer than that period.

Having said that, are the lifetime warranties from the likes of Trek, Cervelo etc really worth the paper they are written on?

I would be really grateful for advice, especially if you have had frame issues and had to make a claim.

Thanks

Evsy

Grill

Why do cars have different warranties? Warranty is built into the cost of the frame and is only for defects. Also it's not really a big selling feature based upon the turnover of new bikes.

rolf_f

evsy wrote:

So does that mean that Felt frames aren't made to last as long as Treks?

A warranty period isn't an indication of the likely lifespan of an object but how long it is likely to take for a defect to show up*. If you bought a lump of iron you'd probably be happy with barely any warranty as there's not much to go wrong.

In the case of bike frames - how long do you need for a defect to show that isn't down to normal wear and tear? The paint on the rear dropouts of my Ribble took a bit over a year to show so the two year warranty was fine. After 3 years, the likelihood that the seller of the frame with a lifetime warranty will beleive that a failure is down to a defect rather than wear and tear is probably fairly low - but they still might. So a lifetime warranty is good but it is highly unlikely you will need it or get anything from it after a few years.

I'd focus on peoples experience of falling back on the warranties rather than numbers of years given on the documents.

* This is important. If you do get a replacement frame, you should ensure that the manufacturer acknowledges that your warranty starts again. If your frame fails on the last day of warranty and is replaced, and then fails two weeks later, the manufacturer cannot argue that the warranty has expired. The warranty period is the time needed to prove that the product you bought isn't crap so a replacement always starts from scratch. I went through about a dozen Argos table lamps over 3 years before I got one that worked for more than 6 months! That one has been fine for 10 years.....

evsy

Grill wrote:

Why do cars have different warranties? Warranty is built into the cost of the frame and is only for defects. Also it's not really a big selling feature based upon the turnover of new bikes.

My point is that the frame is the bike, what makes up the rest of the bike is just replaceable parts. When a frame breaks/fails then its time to replace the whole thing right?

So by that way of thinking, why don’t all manufacturers offer lifetime warranties on the frame? Or at least longer than 3 years. Because the way im looking at it, and im sure others will think along the same line as me, is that I would always chose a bike with a lifetime frame warranty over a bike of the same price with just a 3 year frame warranty. It just appears to me that some manufacturers have more confidence in their frames than others.

londoncommuter

There are other quirks out there as well to watch e.g. Specialized's official policy is the warranty only applies to frames if built up by an authorised dealer (I don't think they actually enforce this though) and a Merckx warranty only continues if you get the bike serviced every year by an authorised dealer. Odd.

patrickf

evsy wrote:

Grill wrote:

Why do cars have different warranties? Warranty is built into the cost of the frame and is only for defects. Also it's not really a big selling feature based upon the turnover of new bikes.

My point is that the frame is the bike, what makes up the rest of the bike is just replaceable parts. When a frame breaks/fails then its time to replace the whole thing right?

So by that way of thinking, why don’t all manufacturers offer lifetime warranties on the frame? Or at least longer than 3 years. Because the way im looking at it, and im sure others will think along the same line as me, is that I would always chose a bike with a lifetime frame warranty over a bike of the same price with just a 3 year frame warranty. It just appears to me that some manufacturers have more confidence in their frames than others.

If/when the frame fails then you replace the frame. You just migrate components from the broken frame onto the new frame.

cougie

Warranties cost. I'm sure manufacturers could offer lifetime guarantees - but it would be at a premium. They would get people crashing their bikes or dropping them and then claiming the damage was caused 'just riding along'.

I'd suspect most people wouldn't plan on having a bike for more than a few years anyway until a new one caught their eye - so why pay out for long warranties ?

evsy

patrickf wrote:

If/when the frame fails then you replace the frame. You just migrate components from the broken frame onto the new frame.

Thats my point though. If you have 2 bikes the same price, but one offers 3 year frame warranty and the other offers lifetime warranty, then if you are planning on keeping the bike for a period of time (as i intend to do) you are always going to pick the one with lifetime warranty.
I mean if the frame fails for either within 3 years then the manufacturer of both will probably replace it under warranty (depending on the t&c of the warranty) but if after 8 or 9 years the frame fails then treks warranty would replace the frame (again depending on t&c), whereas with the felt you would have to pay for a new one.

I only mention those 2 as the bikes have similar spec and the prices are pretty similar

Monty Dog

In my experience, the brands that make the biggest play of warranty are the ones with the biggest littany of defective products - warranties are marketing 'tools' that have nothing to do with the quality of the product, makers simply take out an insurance product to cover themselves against faults.