What Does a Powertrain Warranty Cover?

What is a powertrain warranty?

A powertrain warranty is a type of car warranty that covers a few dozen parts in and around your vehicle’s engine and drivetrain, including your transmission, driveshaft, differential, drive axles and turbo/superchargers. In other words, it covers the essential components that make your car go.

Powertrain = Engine + Drivetrain

All new vehicles sold in the U.S. come with powertrain warranties, but you can also purchase an extended powertrain warranty from your vehicle’s manufacturer or a third-party provider. If you drive an electric vehicle, your EV powertrain warranty will typically cover your drive unit, too, which is the part that converts electricity into mechanical energy.

Real-world example

Let’s say your 2023 Ford Mustang starts having engine trouble. The dealership tells you that you need to replace an engine front cover gasket, quoting a cost of $950. Luckily, your Mustang is new enough that it’s still covered under Ford’s five-year/60,000-mile factory powertrain warranty. Since the Ford warranty booklet lists “seals and gaskets” under covered components, the dealer should fix this for free.

» LEARN: What is a manufacturer’s warranty?

What a powertrain warranty covers

While a powertrain warranty may only cover a few dozen parts out of the thousands on a typical car, it’s still a valuable form of protection because the parts it does cover are both essential and expensive to replace.

It covers your engine and drivetrain, but not all the time

It’s difficult to give an exhaustive list of what a powertrain warranty covers because details vary depending on your warranty provider and vehicle. To find out exactly what your powertrain warranty covers, check your warranty booklet or extended warranty agreement for the specific details. For example, here’s a list of components covered under Ford’s factory powertrain warranty.

In your engine: All internal lubricated parts

• Cylinder block and heads
• Electrical fuel pump
• Powertrain control module
• Engine mounts
• Flywheel
• Injection pump
• Manifold (exhaust and intake)
• Manifold bolts
• Oil pan
• Oil pump
• Seals and gaskets
• Engine thermostat
• Engine thermostat housing
• Timing chain cover
• Timing chain (gears or belt)
• Turbocharger/supercharger unit
• Valve covers
• Water pump

In your transmission: All internal parts

• Clutch cover
• Seals and gaskets
• Torque converter
• Transfer case (including all internal parts)
• Transmission case
• Transmission mounts 

For rear-wheel-drive vehicles

• Axle shafts
• Rear bearings
• Center support bearing
• Drive axle housing (including all internal parts)
• Driveshaft
• Retainers
• Supports
• Seals and gaskets
• Universal and constant velocity joints

For four-wheel/all-wheel-drive vehicles

• Axle shafts
• Bearings (front and rear)
• Center support bearing
• Driveshafts
• Final drive housing (including all internal parts)
• Hubs-automatic front locking
• Locking rings
• Seals and gaskets
• Universal and constant velocity joints

For front-wheel-drive vehicles

• Axle shafts
• Front bearings
• Seals and gaskets
• Universal and constant velocity joints

What a powertrain warranty does not cover

All car warranties — factory or extended, powertrain or not — only cover repairs needed due to manufacturing defects and build quality issues. That means powertrain warranties won’t cover repairs resulting from:

• Negligence, such as missing the recommended maintenance intervals listed in your owner’s manual (e.g., oil changes every 5,000 miles) or leaving your car unattended for months at a time
• Misuse or abuse, including off-road use, towing beyond the vehicle’s rated capacity, competitive racing or track events (with limited exceptions for some track-ready vehicles)
• Damage, whether it’s from weather, theft, vandalism, a collision or another outside cause (that’s what car insurance is for)
• Aftermarket parts that cause warranty-protected parts to fail, such as an added turbo that ruins your engine

Additionally, a powertrain warranty only covers repairs needed for the exact parts listed in your powertrain warranty agreement. That means most of your vehicle isn’t covered under a powertrain warranty.

Powertrain vs. bumper-to-bumper warranties

A powertrain warranty generally only covers a few dozen engine- and drivetrain-related components. A bumper-to-bumper warranty typically covers the vast majority of the parts on the car with a small list of exceptions, which is why it’s also known as an exclusionary warranty. Here are the key differences.

Powertrain warranty

• Covers only a few dozen engine and drivetrain-related components
• Significantly cheaper than bumper-to-bumper
• Typically lasts at least four years but can last up to 10 years

Bumper-to-bumper warranty

• Covers the vast majority of the parts with a small list of exceptions
• Average cost of around $1,000 per year of coverage
• Typically lasts around three years but more expensive warranties can last five years

Powertrain vs. drivetrain

The powertrain includes everything that makes the vehicle move — from the engine all the way to the wheels. The drivetrain refers to the group of components that deliver power from the transmission to the wheels, but it doesn’t include the engine or motor.

» LEARN: What is a drivetrain warranty?

How does a powertrain warranty work?

A powertrain warranty works like this: When something breaks, you take the car to a certified dealership or approved repair facility. The service team diagnoses the problem and determines if it's covered. If approved, the warranty covers the cost of parts and labor.

Let’s say you’re commuting in your BMW M3, and your check engine light suddenly comes on thanks to a bad head gasket. If you’ve always changed the oil on time and never thrashed it around the track, there’s a good chance that BMW (or a third party) will cover the cost of the repair.

However, if you haven’t changed the oil in 7,000 miles and recently set a record at the local track meet, your mechanic will probably diagnose the issue as your fault — not BMW’s — and it won’t be covered under warranty.

Now imagine that your BMW’s infotainment system goes out in the middle of your drive to work. Whether or not you’ve kept up with maintenance, your powertrain warranty isn’t going to do anything to help replace your interior electronics.

» MORE: How do you get your car warranty claim approved?

How long does a powertrain warranty last?

Powertrain warranty coverage is based on the number of years you’ve owned your vehicle and/or mileage. Factory powertrain coverage lasts between four years/50,000 miles and 10 years/100,000 miles, depending on the automaker. Typically, powertrain warranties offer five years/60,000 to 100,000 miles of coverage.

Powertrain warranties usually last longer than bumper-to-bumper warranties.

You also have the option to extend a powertrain warranty. Extended powertrain warranties last for as long as your contract states or as long as you continue making monthly payments. They can be purchased at your vehicle’s dealership or from a third-party extended vehicle warranty provider.

Manufacturer warranty comparison

How much do extended powertrain warranties cost?

While the average bumper-to-bumper extended warranty costs around $1,000 per year of coverage, the average powertrain extended warranty tends to be significantly cheaper.

To illustrate, we collected a few price quotes from two extended warranty providers, Endurance and olive, to show the price difference between bumper-to-bumper and powertrain warranties for a Ford F-150.

Compare warranty costs

Is an extended powertrain warranty worth it?

In general, an extended auto warranty of any kind is more likely to be worth the cost if:

• You drive a vehicle with below-average expected reliability.
• The cost of the warranty is expected to be less than your anticipated cost of repairs.
• You don’t mind paying extra for peace of mind, even if you never use the warranty.
• A sudden and expensive repair bill could put you in a tough financial position.

As your vehicle ages, the likelihood that it will face a major engine or transmission failure can go up. Those savings are nice, but they still don’t mean a powertrain extended warranty is worth it.

In our example, a powertrain warranty from Endurance would only save you about 13% versus buying bumper-to-bumper coverage. However, a powertrain extended warranty from olive was 60% cheaper than that company’s bumper-to-bumper price.

Our advice is that you research your vehicle’s expected upkeep costs online. Then compare the cost of an extended warranty for your vehicle with how much you expect to spend on repairs to see if a warranty is worth it for you.

» STATISTICS: A $1,000 repair would wreck most drivers' savings

FAQ