Hyundai extended warranty: cost, coverage and plans

Hyundai’s own extended warranties can help protect you from expensive repair bills all the way until your car hits 120,000 miles. But, considering the fact that Hyundais are pretty reliable to begin with and their factory warranties already last for five years or 60,000 miles, do you even need an extended warranty?

Keep reading to find out what Hyundai’s extended warranties cover, what they cost and whether they’re right for you.

Key insights

• Hyundai’s official extended warranties are called Hyundai Protection Plan Vehicle Service Contracts.
• Coverage is available in Platinum, Gold and Powertrain tiers, and the price quotes we collected ranged from roughly $1,800 to $3,500.
• Most buyers choose Platinum coverage because it covers more than 1,500 parts for only $100 to $150 more than Gold coverage.
• While Hyundai’s extended warranties are affordable, its vehicles have above-average reliability and below-average repair costs, potentially diminishing the appeal of an extended warranty.

Hyundai extended warranty coverage

Hyundai calls its extended warranties Hyundai Protection Plan Vehicle Service Contracts, or Hyundai Protection Plan VSCs for short. (“Vehicle service contract” is another name for an extended warranty, and it’s technically more accurate.)

Hyundai Protection Plan VSCs are designed to extend Hyundai’s already robust factory warranty coverage, which includes 5 years/60,000 miles of bumper-to-bumper coverage and 10 years/100,000 miles of powertrain coverage.

Hyundai’s extended warranty terms start from the in-service date, so a 10-year/100,000-mile plan ends when your vehicle turns 10 or hits 100,000 miles.

These optional extended warranties can cover your vehicle all the way until it hits 10 years old or 120,000 miles on the odometer (whichever comes first), and you can purchase them as long as your vehicle hasn’t already reached your plan’s age or mileage limit. That being said, the prices do rise significantly as your Hyundai begins to age, so it’s best to invest in one before your factory warranty expires.

You might be wondering why anyone would buy an extended powertrain warranty that ends at 10 years/100,000 miles if Hyundai’s factory powertrain warranty already lasts 10 years or 100,000 miles. Simple — once the first owner sells a Hyundai, the factory powertrain warranty period drops to 5 years/60,000 miles, which is worth keeping in mind if you purchase a pre-owned Hyundai.

» LEARN: What does a car warranty cover?

Hyundai extended warranty benefits

Hyundai Protection Plan VSCs can come with the following benefits:

• 24/7 roadside assistance, including flat tire service, fuel delivery, jump-starts and locksmith service
• Towing to the nearest authorized Hyundai service provider following a breakdown covered by your warranty
• Rental car reimbursement of up to $35 per day for up to 10 days while your Hyundai is in the shop for a covered repair
• Trip interruption coverage of up to $200 per day for up to five days if your Hyundai experiences a covered breakdown over 200 miles from home
• Disappearing deductibles, which erase your $100 deductible if you bring your vehicle back to the authorized Hyundai dealer that sold you the warranty for service (not available on all vehicle/plan combinations — check your terms and conditions)

All in all, these are average benefits for an automaker-backed extended warranty. The one curious anomaly is the trip interruption coverage. Most automakers offer around $100 in coverage if you break down 50 or 100 miles from home; Hyundai offers double the assistance at double the distance.

Hyundai extended warranty plans

Hyundai Protection Plan VSCs come in three coverage levels: Powertrain, Gold and Platinum. Check out the chart below for a visual breakdown of each Hyundai extended warranty plan and which component groups they cover.

Platinum plans come with what’s called exclusionary coverage, which means that they cover every part of your vehicle except for what’s specifically named in the contract. That means you can protect over 1,500 parts with a Platinum plan. (In contrast, most vehicle service contracts only cover parts listed in the contract, with everything else not being covered.)

As for which plan is right for you, consider this: Multiple Hyundai dealers we spoke with said they don’t even offer Powertrain or Gold warranties anymore because nobody bought them.

“Everybody buys Platinum because it covers twice the parts for just $100 or $150 more,” one rep told us.

Speaking of cost, let’s take a look at what a Hyundai Vehicle Protection Plan VSC will set you back.

Hyundai extended warranty cost

Unfortunately, you can’t price out and purchase Hyundai Protection Plan Vehicle Service Contracts online, so we had to call multiple dealers to get the best possible prices. For context, extended auto warranties cost around $2,500, on average.

As we gathered quotes, we also started noticing a trend that the dealers confirmed — Hyundai’s pricing algorithm for these plans heavily favors newer cars. That means the company wants you to buy one when you purchase a new Hyundai, and it will ramp up prices accordingly if you choose to wait.

This was evident in the huge price gap between the new and used Hyundais listed above. All three cars are essentially getting the same protection for the same period of time — and they’re even close in original price — yet the used cars are significantly more expensive to get under an extended warranty.

Hyundai extended warranty terms and conditions

Typically, this is where we’d analyze a Hyundai extended warranty contract and share any terms and conditions you should know about that aren’t listed in the brochure.

However, multiple Hyundai dealers told us they were unable to send a sample contract simply because it must be pre-populated with buyer details to generate. The reps were able to verbally answer our questions, but considering these details were received secondhand, take them with a grain of salt and analyze any contract put in front of you carefully.

• Maintenance: To keep your warranty valid, you must perform all recommended maintenance listed in your Hyundai owner’s manual (like oil changes, tire rotations and alignments). Be sure to keep your receipts, since Hyundai may request proof of maintenance before approving any claims.
• Preexisting conditions: Any breakdown that occurred prior to the warranty’s activation date will not be covered. That includes any breakdown you can’t prove happened during the warranty period, which is why we strongly recommend getting a full dealer inspection of your vehicle (about $200) in tandem with an extended warranty purchase.
• Exclusions: Our dealer contacts told us that the Platinum plan is essentially a direct extension of the factory bumper-to-bumper warranty, which means it covers virtually everything but cosmetics and wear-and-tear items (like tires and clutches).
• Transferability: If you sell your Hyundai, you can transfer your Hyundai Protection Plan VSC to the new owner within 30 days by submitting a request and paying a $50 transfer fee.
• Cancellations and refunds: You can cancel your Hyundai Protection Plan VSC within 60 days of purchase for a full refund, provided you haven’t submitted a claim yet. If you have submitted a claim or it’s been more than 60 days, you can cancel for a prorated refund.

Is a Hyundai extended warranty worth it?

Generally speaking, extended warranties are a better choice if any of the following statements are true for you:

• You drive a less reliable vehicle.
• You don’t have enough savings to pay for a surprise repair bill, but you can budget for a warranty.
• The cost of your warranty is less than what you’d expect to spend on the repairs it covers.
• You don’t mind paying for additional peace of mind even if you’ll likely spend more on your warranty than you would on repairs.

We can’t make assumptions about your financial situation, but we’ve included some relevant information below to help you decide whether an extended warranty is worth it for you and your Hyundai.

In its 2023 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, J.D. Power ranked Hyundai as the eighth most reliable automaker out of 32 brands. Consumer Reports, which draws from a wider array of model years, ranked Hyundai 13th out of 24 automakers in 2022. As for the expected cost of repairs, RepairPal estimates that your Hyundai will cost you just $468 in unplanned repairs per year, well below the industry average of $652.

These sources indicate that Hyundais are fairly dependable, and when a breakdown does occur, the repair bill probably won’t be too bad.

We don’t want to make it seem like your Hyundai is immune to major expenses, though. Tommy, a ConsumerAffairs reviewer from Illinois, took their Hyundai into the dealership when the engine started knocking, only to be told it would cost $6,700 to fix. “I won’t be buying a Hyundai car again,” they wrote.

The key thing to remember is that stories like this are unfortunate but not the norm. That’s all to say: You probably don’t need to spend roughly $2,500 on a Hyundai Protection Plan VSC unless you really want the additional peace of mind and protection against a catastrophic breakdown.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to see if a third-party warranty company can offer an even better deal.

» MORE: Pros and cons of extended auto warranties

Hyundai extended warranty alternatives

Generally speaking, it’s worth getting quotes from different extended warranty providers just to give yourself context for how much a warranty on your vehicle should cost. Prices vary from company to company and vehicle to vehicle, and we’ve seen companies offer significant savings with little rhyme or reason.

With that in mind, we wanted to see how the prices we were quoted for Hyundai Protection Plan VSCs compared with rates from third-party warranty companies. Note that all the prices below are based on a $100 deductible and do not include tax.

In a rare turn of events, the automaker’s own extended warranty plans are much cheaper across the board than the third-party options we consulted. While we’d still encourage you to get multiple quotes for your own vehicle (you may be surprised), it appears that Hyundai may offer great options for keeping your Hyundai on the road long-term — if it even needs the help.