Warranty Eligibility
Be it domestic or international tyre brands in India, nearly all have similar warranty eligibility criteria. Any car tyre or tube that the consumer believes is defected will be first inspected by the tyre maker's engineers. If, as per the warranty conditions, they find that there was an actual flaw from their side, it will be replaced on a pro-rata wear basis. And the amount compensated to the consumer (for the tyre) depends upon the percentage of tread wear. An important point to note here is that the warranty is only applicable to the first owner and is non-transferable. Tampered tyre/tube-like distorted serial number, ply rating, tyre size, etc. - will not be eligible for any warranty terms.
Exclusions In Warranty
- Damaged tyre/tube due to rough/inappropriate use or storage
- Tyre/tube that has been repaired or re-capped during the warranty period
- Tyre/tube injured during a vehicle accident or due to mechanical faults in the vehicle.
- Exposed tread wear indicators (TWI) of 1.6 mm depth
- Unsuitable usage of tyre/tube size and/or specification.
- Tyre/tube injured during a vehicle accident or due to mechanical faults in the vehicle.
- Tyres shared or installed with any other vehicle other than the original vehicle on which they were fitted.
- Damage caused by the malfunctioning of wheel alignment, wheel imbalance, or defective shockers/brakes, improper inflation, overloading, etc. Other damages include improper mounting or demounting, tyre alteration, tampering, running flat and other abuse.
- Roadside damages include puncture,cut, impact damage, bruise, stone pierce or bulge.
- Purchase of tyre/tube made through unauthorized sellers, or unlawfully imported tyre/tube
Another important aspect that cannot be claimed under the warranty, and rarely people are aware about it, is the sidewall warranty. The warranty covers only the tread part of the tyre and not the sidewall damages. There have been many incidents where the consumer had approached the tyre brand with sidewall injury and has been turned down stating that the sidewall is not covered under tyre warranty.
Warranty Claim Procedure
If, as per the warranty conditions, the tyre becomes unserviceable, the consumer is required to bring the tyre under complaint to the respective brand's sales/service office or can walk into any authorised dealer of that specific tyre make. The deposited tyre will be inspected by the company authorized technical staff member.
The inspection details and result is communicated by email or SMS by the company on the given email id or mobile number provided during the deposit of the damaged product.
Ideally, the consumer receives the company intimation within 7 days from the date of deposit. In case the consumer is not contacted within 7 days, the consumer should contact or walk into the brand office/dealer, at which the tyre was deposited, to clear their query.
The consumer can be either provided with the replacement tyre (if applicable) or depending on the defect analysis of the tyre, the user can be charged on a pro-rata basis. In such cases some tyre manufacturers even provide with the reimbursement value. More or less, the standard procedure for the claim of warranty in India remains the same with all the car tyre manufacturers.
In case the tyre on which the warranty claim is made gets rejected by the company, consumer has to collect it within 21 days of intimation of rejection. If not collected within the stipulated time the product is disposed of by the company, for which it is not liable. So, make sure to collect the tyre from the brand outlet/dealer soon after the intimation.
Types of warranties by different tyre manufacturers in India
Many domestic and foreign tyre brands in the country offer warranties for their tyres. The warranties do not share much of difference with each other in terms of conditions related to the warranty cover, claim procedure, etc. If the warranties provided from the leading tyre manufacturers are compared, the major difference is of the number of years and the way they are disposed.
Standard Warranty
Goodyear
The Indian arm of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (U.S.) - aka Goodyear - offers its car/SUV passenger tyres with a warranty period of 5 years from manufacturing date or till the tyre tread is worn equal to the tread wear indicators (TWI) -out of the two whichever falls first.
Michelin
The French tyre maker in India, Michelin offers its car tyres with a standard warranty of 3 years. Depending upon the selling period of the product i.e. within or after 3 years from the date of manufacturing, Michelin provides its standard warranty. If the tyre is sold prior to the completion of three years of manufacturing date, the warranty of the tyre tread will be of 3 years or till the time tread is worn, whichever occurs first. If sold after 3 years of the manufacturing date, the warranty will be of 6 years from the date of manufacture or till the time tread is worn equal to the tread wear indicators, whichever occurs first.
Bridgestone
The Japanese tyre giant in India provides its tyres with warranty (manufacturing defects only) for 5 years starting from the date of manufacturing, or for 3 years from the date of purchase or, till the TWI (tread wear indicators) are exposed from the tread due to use. The warranty whichever of the three occurs first, regardless of the number of kilometres covered.
MRF
The passenger car radials from the homegrown tyre maker, MRF come with a warranty of 6 years from the month of manufacturing on the tyre. As per the company, the settlement (value)of the claim will be based on a pro-rata basis. If the manufacturing defect is found in the tyre tread, the claim can be made up to 85 percent of the tread depth.
Apollo
The standard warranty for Apollo brand passenger car tyres is of 5 years. The warranty - from week of manufacturing, or till the exposure of TWI, or invoice date(whichever falls earlier) - covers the defects of manufacturing and materials only.
CEAT
CEAT Tyres offer manufacturing defect warranty for a period of 5 years from the date of manufacture or by the time the tyre tread is worn up to the TWI (tread wear indicators), whichever falls earlier. The aforesaid two warranty conditions, number of years and TWI, will be considered irrespective of kilometres covered by the claimed tyre.
Other 'not-so-known' aspects in warranty
- The value or amount for compensation is calculated from the degree of wear, which actually applies to the "remaining tread depth" measurement system.
- The tyres that come with new vehicle will have the purchase date of the vehicle as the warranty date of the tyre. In case, the customer is unable to furnish any proof of purchase - guarantee card, online warranty registration - then the tyre warranty will be the manufacturing date of the tyre.
- The term 'exposure of tread wear indicators (TWI)' implies to the original tread worn out to the level of TWI - at the remaining tread depth of 1.6 mm.
- When you get your car tyre to the company for claim, the assessment of the tyre damage made by the company official is final and is to be abided in any condition.
- The claim will only be entertained when the tyre is presented with valid online registration or original warranty card.
- The warranty in the tyre is of tread, and not of sidewalls.
- If the warranty claim is rejected, and after the intimation from the company the tyre is not collected from the authorised dealer within 21 days, the dealer will not be liable for any loss of tyre and the tyre can be disposed off without notifying the consumer.
- The warranty is non-transferable to any other person and is valid only for the original purchaser of the tyre/tyres.