When you choose a car dealership to purchase a new automobile, you want to feel as though you’re being taken care of from the moment you drive off of the lot. This includes a good warranty to cover any unexpected thing that may go wrong with your vehicle that could cause it to break down or work improperly. However, it’s also a huge plus — both for the customer and the dealership — when the customer receives a complimentary maintenance package.

Kia and Hyundai are excellent examples of auto manufacturers that offer solid warranties to cover their vehicles. However, both Kia and Hyundai dealerships could benefit greatly from providing complimentary maintenance to every customer who purchases a new vehicle.

What Do Kia and Hyundai Warranties Cover?

South Korean auto manufacturers Kia and Hyundai are known for their reliable vehicles and were rated by USA Today as having some of the best new vehicle warranties of 2017. Both companies backup their products with similar warranties.

Kia and Hyundai warranties include the following:

• 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty

• 5-year/60,000-mile new vehicle limited warranty

• 7-year/unlimited miles anti-perforation warranty

• 5-year/unlimited miles 24-hour roadside assistance

While these warranties provide free coverage should their new vehicle develop a problem or break down, what these manufacturers don’t provide is free coverage for those in-between times when the vehicle needs maintenance. Hyundai offers three years or 36,000 miles of complimentary maintenance for customers of its Genesis luxury-vehicle line, but all other Hyundai customers are left to cover their own maintenance. Meanwhile, Kia offers customers the opportunity to purchase maintenance packages with the warning that “many vehicle factory warranties are valid only if you maintain your vehicle regularly.”

With no complimentary maintenance offered by the manufacturers, this provides a huge opportunity for individual dealerships to step in and offer free preventative maintenance packages. With vehicles that are already well-regarded and a warranty program that’s rated as one of the best, why would dealers invest the time and money into setting up their own complimentary maintenance programs? Let’s discuss the benefits.

Beyond Kia and Hyundai Warranties: The Benefits of Complimentary Maintenance

The point of running any business is to sell, which can make giving away free maintenance an unlikely strategy for boosting your bottom line. Offering complimentary maintenance, however, provides an excellent opportunity to build relationships and bring back the human touch when dealing with your customers.

When customers don’t receive complimentary maintenance from their auto manufacturer or dealership, it’s far more likely that they’ll take it to their local mechanic or mass merchandiser to get the job done. This is a missed opportunity to bring them through your doors to demonstrate the benefits of dealer-provided maintenance. This includes working with certified service technicians who have experience with that specific vehicle, as well as a personal connection and quest for satisfaction among your previous customers.

Why does all of this matter? Free maintenance isn’t the end of the story. When a dealership builds a relationship with their customers over the complimentary maintenance period, that free maintenance will eventually turn into paid maintenance and repairs. When it’s time for a new vehicle, those customers are more likely to come back into your dealership and buy from a team with which they’ve become familiar than head down the road to check out your competition.

Happier customers, expertly-maintained vehicles, and a larger percentage of customers returning for their next new vehicle … When your dealership moves beyond Kia and Hyundai warranties and offers complimentary maintenance, everyone wins.