A collection of FAQ – Questions and Answers regarding Warranty Times

What is original equipment manufacturer (OEM) warranty time?

OEM warranty times are simply what the manufacturer is willing to pay an OEM dealership to perform a repair. The cost of vehicle warranty repair is factored in to the lifecycle costs of that new vehicle and are part of the cost-of-goods equation.  Therefore the OEM is interested in keeping the warranty costs low throughout the life cycle of the vehicle.

Why is the warranty time sometimes not included in ShopKey?

In some cases, ShopKey covers more repairs than are listed in a manufacturer’s warranty guide. ShopKey will only provide warranty times on repairs which exactly represent the manufacturers repair, and those warranty times are subject to change without notice from the manufacturers. An additional factor into providing warranty to our customers comes from the licensing agreements between ShopKey and the manufacturers.

Can OEM warranty times change?

As previously mentioned, yes, warranty times are subject to change without notice from the manufacturers. These changes are often a result from feedback from the OEM dealerships where technicians provide alternative repair processes to the OEM. The feedback can also provide insight into additional steps which are required and not currently covered under the warranty time which also can result in a change. These potential changes do not always result in a procedural change in the repair information, but this is left up to the manufacturers to determine.

Figure 1: Estimate Guide showing labor and warranty time for a water pump remove and replace

How do the ShopKey labor estimates compare to OEM warranty times?

ShopKey’s labor estimates have been created using a long established methodology where the manufacturers supplied repair procedures are a large majority of the determination of a ShopKey labor time estimates. Additional inputs to the estimates do include field research, time studies and warranty times. Over time, we have found that representation of the repair procedures to be the most accurate in creating and providing estimates for vehicle repairs.