Do You Need to Service Your Car at the Dealership to Keep Your Warranty Valid? blog.reliablenv.com

If you buy a new car, you might be wondering if you need to service it at a dealership in order to keep your warranty valid. This is especially a concern if the dealership isn’t convenient — or if you’re on a tight budget and can get a better deal servicing your vehicle elsewhere. So, do you need to have regular maintenance performed at the dealership in order to keep your warranty active? Here’s the answer.

Short Answer: No

By law, automakers and dealerships are not allowed to make you perform regular maintenance at a dealership for a new-car warranty to remain valid. In other words, you’re free by law to get oil changes, tire rotations and other regular maintenance performed by just about any mechanic, and the automaker and dealership will still have to honor the new-car warranty.

Not That Simple

Of course, it would be easy if things were exactly that simple, but they’re not. Even though a dealership or automaker is supposed to honor a warranty regardless of who performed the maintenance, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will — especially because a dealership or automaker can easily claim maintenance wasn’t performed if they have no record of it. As a result, we suggest you document everything.