Will the 4S shop still provide warranty if the car is maintained outside?
2 Answers
Car not maintained in 4S shop can still be warranted, the introduction of warranty is as follows: Warranty voucher: The key is to choose a qualified car repair shop and keep the maintenance voucher. During the warranty period, the owner can choose the maintenance location independently, but it needs to be maintained in a qualified repair enterprise and keep the maintenance voucher at the same time. When the car has problems, you can use the voucher for warranty. Warranty period: The new car warranty period is two years or 60,000 kilometers, whichever comes first. That is, there are two conditions during the warranty period, one is the time limit, the driving time is 2 years, and the second is the mileage limit, the driving mileage is 60,000 kilometers. As long as any one of these two conditions is reached, it means that the car's warranty period has expired.
I ran into this issue not long ago. After owning my new car for just over a year, to save money, I took it to a small shop for a basic oil change and routine maintenance. A few months later, strange noises started coming from the chassis. When I took it to the dealership for repairs, they tried to shift blame, suggesting it might be due to improper maintenance at the third-party shop, even hinting that my warranty could be void. I checked the warranty manual, and it indeed states that regular maintenance must be performed at authorized service centers, otherwise the manufacturer reserves the right to deny coverage. However, they can't just revoke the warranty unless they can prove the issue was directly caused by the third-party service. Eventually, I provided detailed records and invoices from the small shop, proving the correct oil specifications were used, and the dealership agreed to fix it—but not without a lot of back-and-forth. This whole ordeal taught me that while outside maintenance may be cheaper, it comes with risks. The warranty might technically still apply, but the process is exhausting. My advice? For critical services like this, stick with the dealership to avoid unnecessary hassle and wasted time, not to mention the worry of incomplete records leading to extra trouble.
