Is it legal for auto brands to make you service your car at their dealers to keep your warranty?

Extra auto manufacturers in Australia are providing prolonged new-vehicle warranties on the situation that house owners have their vehicles serviced solely by official dealership workshops.

MG is the most recent model to power clients to service their automobile inside its personal seller community to obtain the Chinese language model’s full 10-year/200,000km guarantee, which was applied in August 2024 with out such a situation. 

For autos bought from July 1, 2025, if clients don’t service their automobile at an MG dealership, they solely obtain the model’s commonplace seven-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee.

MG lately additionally introduced a reduced seven-year/200,000km warranty for personal consumers of its industrial autos together with the upcoming MG U9 dual-cab ute – due on sale in Australia later this 12 months – and solely a five-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee for patrons who select to service their automobile elsewhere. 

This drops additional to 5 years or 160,000km (as soon as once more whichever comes first) if the U9 is being pressed into industrial use.

Equally, Nissan and Mitsubishi additionally supply 10-year prolonged warranties for his or her new autos on the situation that consumers service the automobile at their respective manufacturers’ dealerships (restricted to 300,000km by Nissan and 200,000km by Mitsubishi). 

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House owners who service elsewhere are solely supplied a five-year guarantee, with Mitsubishi’s commonplace guarantee additionally restricted to 100,000km however Nissan’s stipulating no mileage restrict. 

Nonetheless, the follow is completely authorized, in accordance with the Australian Competitors and Client Fee (ACCC).

“Producer warranties can include circumstances, resembling circumstances on servicing or repairs,” an ACCC spokesperson advised CarExpert.

“Producers might supply such warranties as a promoting level to distinguish the merchandise they’re promoting.”

Such circumstances can solely be deemed unlawful if they’re anti-competitive – one thing Mitsubishi ensured wouldn’t be the case when it launched its 10-year ‘Diamond Benefit’ guarantee in 2020.