What Does the Mazda Warranty Cover in 2020?

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Drivers have appreciated the quality and affordability that Mazda has offered for years. But how long does the Mazda warranty cover repairs? Not that long, relatively speaking. While Mazda is among the most reliable brands, repairs do come up as mileage increases.

When your warranty is about to expire, you might consider getting an extended warranty to cover repairs. We’ve researched a number of the best extended auto warranty companies and will compare some of these options to Mazda’s extended coverage.

Table of Contents:

• Mazda Warranty Overview
• Mazda Warranty Review (2020)
• Benefits of an Extended Warranty
• Mazda Warranty Extended Confidence
• Mazda vs. Third-Party Extended Warranties

Mazda Warranty Overview

All 2020 Mazda vehicles come with the following warranties: 

Mazda Warranty Review (2020)

The meat and potatoes of Mazda’s warranty coverage are the New Vehicle Limited Warranty and the powertrain warranty.

The New Vehicle Limited Warranty is a bumper-to-bumper contract that covers thousands of parts on the vehicle. Since the warranty covers so many items, the contract only lists the things that are excluded.  This warranty will cover part failures due to defects in workmanship or materials. Basically, if anything fails prematurely, it’s covered. However, there are a number of exclusions.

The Mazda warranty won’t cover regular wear and tear or any standard maintenance items. That means it won’t cover things like brake pads, wiper blades, filters or oil changes. Here are a few more exclusions:

• Cosmetic damage
• Chips in paint or glass
• Environmental damage
• Salvaged vehicles
• Damage from misuse or lack of maintenance
• Damage from accidents

Mazda’s powertrain warranty covers the essential components that propel your car forward. Powertrain components include the engine, transmission and drivetrain. Mazda bumps up coverage for these components for a total of 5 years/60,000 miles. 

Unlike the bumper-to-bumper warranty, Mazda’s powertrain warranty lists every item covered. This type of contract is called a stated-component contract. You’ll find extended warranties that offer both exclusionary and stated-component coverage. 

Compared to other car warranties, Mazda’s powertrain warranty is standard, though some companies offer longer coverage terms.

Mazda RX-8 Rotary Engine Core Warranty

From 2002 to 2012, Mazda made the RX-8, which used a rotary engine. In this type of engine, triangular rotors compress gas and expel exhaust as they spin around a central shaft. The engine is lighter than traditional piston engines, but it’s prone to other types of problems. 

Any RX-8 has an 8-year/100,000-mile on the rotary engine core. Remaining warranty coverage will expire at the end of 2020, or eight years from the last 2012 model sale. 

Over the years, Mazda has hinted at bringing back the rotary engine. Recently, there have been rumors that the engine will appear in some form in the Mazda MX-30, a hybrid crossover to be released around 2021. The jury is still out.

Mazda Warranty 24/7 Roadside Assistance Program

All new Mazda vehicles come with lockout assistance, gas delivery, battery jump-starts and spare tire assistance. This coverage applies for 3 years/36,000 miles.

Mazda will also provide towing to the nearest dealership if the breakdown is covered either by the bumper-to-bumper or powertrain warranty. Similarly, if an RX-8 breaks down because of the rotary engine core during its warranty, Mazda will provide towing, as well.
 

Replacement Parts and Adjustments

The Mazda warranty covers adjustments for 12 months/12,000 miles. Adjustments are minor repairs that don’t require replacement parts, like wheel alignment and fitting the engine hood.

Genuine Mazda parts installed by a Mazda dealer are warranted against defects for the first 12 months/12,000 miles after installed or purchased. This warranty period includes brake pads and shoes.
 

Your Responsibilities

To maintain warranty coverage, you have to keep good service records. For example, if you are out of town, you can get an oil change from a local shop, but make sure to record the service. The good thing is that your Mazda warranty information booklet comes with a service schedule that lets you know exactly what to do. There’s also an alternate version you can use if your car experiences severe driving conditions.

Logically, if a part fails because you neglected to maintain your vehicle, Mazda can deny coverage. That’s true with extended warranty programs, too.
 

Where to Find Mazda Warranty Information

With various parts covered under different warranties, it can be hard to remember whether something is covered or not. You can perform a Mazda warranty check by entering your vehicle identification number (VIN) on the company’s ownership website.

Mazda’s warranty transfers to secondary buyers. Any owner can sign up on Mazda’s website to get current warranty information.
 

Is Mazda’s Warranty Good?

Overall, Mazda’s warranty is comprehensive. It should cover any major repairs you would encounter in the first few years. However, it doesn’t win any points for the length of coverage. 

The Kia powertrain warranty lasts for 10 years/100,000 miles, for comparison, and the Hyundai bumper-to-bumper warranty lasts for 5 years/60,000 miles.

Benefits of an Extended Warranty

If you have a good emergency fund saved up for repair costs, you might not need to get an extended warranty. On the other hand, it can be hard to save enough money. Plus, repair costs are unpredictable. One year, you may only spend a couple hundred dollars. The next year, you could encounter a $1,000 repair.

An extended warranty can help soften the blow when expensive repairs come up. If the repairs are covered under the contract, you will only pay a small deductible, if anything. Many plans also offer $0 deductible options.

Another nice thing about using an extended car warranty is you don’t have to deal with paperwork when you go in for repairs. You just connect your mechanic to the warranty provider, and they will figure out the rest. Of course, if you use a Mazda extended warranty, you’ll be going to the same authorized Mazda dealer as before.

One of the main benefits of an extended warranty is the peace of mind that your budget is predictable. Even if you’re able to cover an expensive repair out of pocket, it can still be stressful having to postpone other purchases or move plans around.

Speaking of stress, extended auto warranty plans come with added perks like roadside assistance, rental car coverage and trip interruption coverage. These can help smooth the breakdown and repair process.

Mazda Repair Costs

RepairPal ranks Mazda in fifth place overall according to its reliability and maintenance costs. Mazda drivers spend about $462 per year on ownership costs, which is considerably lower than the industry average of $652.

In real life, you shouldn’t expect to pay $442 every year. Repair costs fluctuate, and they also grow as time goes on. Here are a few different repair costs that Mazda drivers have encountered in the past, according to RepairPal data:

Mazda Extended Confidence

The company’s extended protection plan is called Mazda Extended Confidence. There are two main options for coverage: Total Confidence and Powertrain Confidence. Total Confidence extends almost all factory coverage under the bumper-to-bumper and powertrain warranties, while Powertrain Confidence just extends the powertrain warranty.

According to the Southern Palms Mazda dealership website, you can extend coverage up to 12 years/100,000 miles from the in-service date. It doesn’t look like there’s a way to purchase extended plans online, so you’ll have to fill out a quote form to find out what Mazda’s extended warranty would cost. Finally, these plans require drivers to visit Mazda dealerships just like the factory Mazda warranty.

Mazda vs. Third-Party Extended Warranties

In general, third-party extended warranties offer more freedom than Mazda’s extended coverage plans. For example, providers like Endurance and CarShield allow drivers to visit any repair shop certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE). This means you can choose from over 30,000 different repair shops nationwide.

Third-party providers also let you add coverage many years after your factory warranty has expired. Most dealer-backed options require you to purchase a plan before that time.

Mazda’s extended warranty does offer a long coverage term of 12 years. However, the limit of 100,000 miles is still not that long in terms of extended warranties. For example, CARCHEX plans can cover Mazdas with up to 250,000 miles.

With Mazda’s relatively low repair costs, you should be able to find good prices on extended warranty plans. That’s because third-party providers know they won’t have to pay out as much for Mazda repairs as for, say, Audi repairs.

To get started, check out coverage options from a handful of reputable extended car warranty companies and compare quotes from each of them.

Best Provider	Best for High-Mileage Cars	Most Affordable
Endurance	CARCHEX	CarShield
Editor’s Rating:	Editor’s Rating:	Editor’s Rating:
★★★★★	★★★★½	★★★★½
Get Quote	Get Quote	Get Quote
(877) 374-1840	(866) 254-0205	(800) 563-2761