08 / Warranty
Federal battery cover transfers · our own 30 days on top
Two warranties: the one that comes with the car, and the one we add
Most of the protection on a used electric car is already attached to it, belongs to the car rather than to its first owner, and follows the pack to you. We add a second, shorter layer of our own on top — and we will tell you honestly which one applies to your fault.
Federal battery cover
8 years
or 100,000 miles, on most cars here
Our powertrain cover
30 days
and charging system, from handover
Longest cover on the lot
10 years
on two of the cars here
Battery cycles behind us
1,240
the same equipment a claim runs on
Warranty one
The manufacturer’s battery cover
Federal rules require car makers to warrant the battery in an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle for at least 8 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. That cover is attached to the vehicle, so it transfers to whoever owns it next — it does not expire because the first owner handed back the keys.
Several cars here carry longer terms than the minimum, and one carries a pack that was replaced under recall, which restarts the clock from the date of replacement rather than the model year.
The federal battery warranty — 8 years or 100,000 miles on most cars sold here — transfers with the car, and we give you the manufacturer documents. On top of that you get our own 30-day powertrain and charging-system cover.
Cover on every car here
8 cars · terms as sold
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2021 Tesla Model 3
VB-2011
8 years / 120,000 miles from first delivery — transfers
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2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5
VB-2012
10 years / 100,000 miles on the battery — transfers
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2021 Volkswagen ID.4
VB-2013
8 years / 100,000 miles on the battery — transfers
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2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV
VB-2014
New pack fitted under recall 21V-650 — 8 years / 100,000 miles from replacement
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2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime
VB-2015
10 years / 150,000 miles on the hybrid battery — transfers
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2020 Kia Niro EV
VB-2016
10 years / 100,000 miles on the battery — transfers
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2019 Nissan Leaf
VB-2017
8 years / 100,000 miles on the battery — transfers
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2018 BMW i3s
VB-2018
8 years / 100,000 miles on the battery — transfers
The manufacturer documents that prove all of this go into your file at handover, and the shortest term on this list is the one to read first — the battery report tells you how much of that cover is likely to matter.
Warranty two
Thirty days of ours.
A month is enough time for the faults that were always going to show themselves to show themselves. It covers the powertrain and the charging system, it starts on the day you take the car, and it runs whether or not the manufacturer warranty is still alive.
Covered
5 groups
- Drive units, their mounts and the reduction gearing
- Driveshafts and the joints at either end of them
- The onboard AC charger, the charge port and the DC inlet
- The pack cooling circuit: pumps, valves, radiators and lines
- Any battery or charging fault our own test equipment can identify
Not covered
6 groups
- Tyres, brake friction parts, wipers, filters and fluids — consumables and wear items
- Cosmetic damage: kerb marks, stone chips, scuffs and trim, disclosed in the defect log before you buy
- Glass damage, and anything that follows a collision
- Damage from misuse, from driving a car with a known fault, or from repairs we did not agree to
- Cars used for hire, delivery work or driving instruction
- Anything the manufacturer warranty already covers — that goes to the franchised dealer, at no cost to you
Why the list is short
Fewer parts, fewer arguments
An electric drivetrain has far fewer components than a petrol one: no oil to change, no belts, no exhaust, no turbocharger, and brake wear cut roughly in half by regenerative braking. The expensive item is the pack, which is exactly why its condition is published on every listing and why the federal cover behind it matters more than any dealer promise.
A claim
How it works when something goes wrong.
No claim form, no portal, no case number you have to keep. You call, you describe it, and the conversation starts with somebody who has already had the car apart.
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01
Telephone us
The number on this site rings in the workshop rather than a call centre. Describe what the car is doing: a message, a noise, a charge that stops early, a range that has dropped.
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02
We book the bay
Bring the car in, or have it recovered to us if it cannot be driven. We put it on the same equipment that produced its battery report, so the comparison is like for like.
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03
We tell you what it is before we touch it
If the fault is ours to pay for, the invoice is zero and we say so up front. If it sits outside the cover, you get the diagnosis and a price, and the decision is yours.
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04
Manufacturer work goes to the dealer
Where the car is still inside its federal battery warranty, the work belongs to the franchised dealer. We book it, hand over the documents from your file, and follow it until the car comes back.
Beyond the first month
What is still running after our cover ends.
The manufacturer battery warranty usually has years left on it when our thirty days are over, and it is measured in years rather than miles for a reason: these packs are expected to last.
Recall and service campaign work is free at a franchised dealer whenever it arises, whatever the age of the car. No car leaves with an open battery, software or charging recall. The paperwork proving it goes in the file.
Where a car sits outside both warranties, we still work on it — diagnosed, quoted before we start, and invoiced at our own labour rate rather than at a franchised dealer’s. Nothing about that changes the fact that you bought the car from the people who tested it.
Answer within four business hours, from the technician who ran the battery test.
Paperwork
The FTC Buyers Guide
Every used car sold by a dealer carries a federal Buyers Guide on the window. It is a short form and it is worth reading properly: it states whether the car is being sold with a warranty or as is, what the terms are, and what the dealer will pay towards a repair.
Our cars are sold with warranty rather than as is, the spare parts and labour terms are written on the form, and the same terms appear in your file in plain language. Nothing in it is a surprise added at signing, because the form is printed before you arrive.
Before you buy
Read the battery report first
Warranty tells you who pays if the pack fails. The battery report tells you what condition it is in today, and that is the more useful document of the two when you are choosing between cars.
Both are free, both go out before you commit to anything, and neither requires a form on this site — only a telephone call or an email.
Warranty / question
If something feels wrong with the car, call
A message on the dashboard, a charge that stops early, a noise under the floor, a range that has dropped further than the weather explains. Describe it and we will tell you whether it is our thirty days, the manufacturer warranty, or simply how the car behaves in the cold.
Answer within four business hours, from the technician who ran the battery test.