It’s not always convenient to take your car back to the dealer for regular maintenance and service, but are you jeopardizing your warranty by taking it somewhere else? Roman Soroka, service manager at Nihon Automotive Specialist helps debunk some common car warranty myths.

Most people are surprised to learn that they don’t have to take their car to the dealer. As long as the service repair shop follows the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule and provides a computerized print out of all the work preformed, the work will be covered under your warranty. Soroka recommends keeping all your paperwork and invoices from any service completed on your vehicle to ensure you’ll be reimbursed for the cost of the service.

When you return to the dealer to have car repairs done under warranty, make sure you bring all the service records that clearly indicate when the work was done according to the manufacture’s schedule, the parts used were correct and the service was done at the appropriate mileage.

For those car owners who want to anticipate repairs, Soroka suggests bringing the car in early .

“The manufacturer provides a service indicator on a lot of the newer vehicles and it will tell when they want the car in for service, but that’s not necessarily the time you should be bringing your car in. You can bring your car in earlier,” Soroka explains. If you bring the car in on a regular basis for simple things like oil changes and fluid flushes, the life of the car is extended and it doesn’t cost much extra.

If your vehicle’s warranty is about to expire, Soroka suggests bringing it in to Nihon for a no charge service to see if there are any imminent repairs that need to be done while still covered by the warranty.

“We’ll check all the issues on the vehicle that might pertain to the warranty and if it needs anything, you can get it back to the dealer to have those items performed before the warranty expires.”

Remember that some parts of the vehicle are not covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. Normal wear and tear items like tires, windshields and wipers, and brakes need to be replaced by the owner of the car. To prevent any car repair surprises, Soroka encourages customers to bring their vehicles in to Nihon for preventative maintenance. Checking the belts and hoses, and having them replaced before they break or leak will help prevent any unexpected repairs.

For more information on servicing your vehicle at Nihon, call (905-270-0448) or visit www.nihonauto.ca.