Eligible for guarantee

Purchasing a used or second-hand vehicle, hence a unique model with individual history, can always imply a certain risk. However, the risk of purchasing a used car can be reduced significantly nowadays, by buying a used car guarantee.

Contrary to liability for material defects, the used car guarantee is not stipulated by law, reason why it is not uniformly regulated. In the majority of cases though, vehicle traders in Germany offer their used vehicles with a used car guarantee that can be purchased. As a rule, an agreement between the buyer and an insurance company comes into effect in the case of a used car guarantee. The used car guarantee, in comparison with the liability for material defects, goes further. Therefore it is completely irrelevant whether the defect is detected upon the transfer of the vehicle or later on. This is where the advantage of a used car guarantee is visible. If the purchase of the vehicle took place prior to 6 months, the buyer must prove that the defect already existed when the vehicle was delivered. If he/she fails to do so, he/she might not be able to make any claim for liability of material defects, but under the used car guarantee, this is certainly possible. Hereby it is naturally important that the defect occurred within the guarantee time. As a rule, the guarantee time period is one year.  Whereby it is also possible to take out longer guarantee periods with the respective insurance company for an additional charge and taking as a basis higher performance prerequisites. Whoever wishes to take out a guarantee insurance for his/her “new” used car should pay attention to extent of guarantee. Of course we will be pleased to help you with this. After all, there is – as with every insurance – a whole range of exclusions or deductibles, for instance regarding wear parts. Some guarantee conditions even foresee declining benefits depending on the mileage or maximum amounts dissociated from the actual level of damage. Of course not every used car is eligible for guarantee, a fact which can be particularly true for older vehicles.

The difference between warranty and guarantee.

Even though the terms “Guarantee” and “Warranty” play an important role on a daily basis, often they are not correctly understood. In contracts these are consistently confused.

Roughly this is valid: Warranty is a matter for traders, guarantee is up to the manufacturer.  The question that remains: When is which one effective and what is the difference?