Toyota has launched a new type of warranty for its vans and pickups (and cars). Called Toyota Relax, at first glance it seems like a backward step from the five-year warranty that’s been offered since 2010. But once you learn how it works, and can cover you for you to 10 years at no extra cost, it starts to sound like the best warranty available on any light commercial vehicle sold in the UK.
The most revolutionary thing about Toyota Relax is that it’s available on existing Hilux pickup and Proace van models up to 10 years old. So if you’ve got one, no matter where you bought it, you can activate a full manufacturer warranty that matches a new vehicle simply by getting Toyota to service it.
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How does Toyota Relax compare with the old warranty?
The previous Toyota warranty was already one of the best available, covering every new Toyota van and pickup sold for up to five years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes sooner.
As of 1 June 2021, when you drive a new Toyota Proace or Proace City van or a Toyota Hilux pickup away from the dealer, it will be covered for just three years or 60,000 miles – whichever comes sooner.
Sounds like bad news. But what Toyota Relax means is that every time you visit a Toyota dealer for a service once the initial warranty period has expired you will automatically get full Toyota warranty coverage until the next service is due.
Not only can this continue until the vehicle is 10 years old – double the previous limit, albeit with the same 100,000-mile restriction – if you’ve already got an out-of-warranty Toyota commercial vehicle, Toyota Relax is available to you straight away.
As long it’s less than 10 years old and has covered fewer than 100,000 miles, all you need to do is go and get that vehicle serviced by Toyota, and you will get that full Toyota warranty coverage until the next service is due.
What’s the catch?
If the Hilux or van falls within the required time period, the only thing you might have to worry about is whether it needs any repairs to bring up to a basic standard that’s compatible with the warranty cover that Toyota offers on its new vehicles.
Toyota is confident that this won’t often be a big problem, but is also offering 0% APR finance on repairs in order to help you spread the cost if it does affect you.
What’s more, Relax is even applicable to Toyotas used as taxis (which is unusual for a manufacturer warranty of any type). And it applies to all powertrain types: petrol, diesel and electric.
How much extra does the Toyota Relax warranty cost?
Nothing. Toyota UK has no current plans to change the pricing of its existing servicing provision. Which is centrally fixed for the UK, so shouldn't vary between dealerships.
In other words, you pay the price the service would have cost anyway and you get warranty coverage at no extra charge.
How long does the warranty cover last after each service?
The service intervals on Toyota’s commercial vehicles vary between 12 months and two years. The Relax warranty covers that interval period as it applies to each vehicle.
How is Toyota able to do this?
It’s an indicator of the firm’s confidence in the reliability of its products – which are legendary for their dependability, and have won huge numbers of awards on this basis.
Essentially, Toyota is saying that there’s no reason why an eight-year-old Hilux should be any less reliable than a brand new one. It's also clearly happy to apply the same logic to its vans, which are actually built by Stellantis rather than Toyota itself.
Quite the statement, really.
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Why is Toyota doing this?
Partly it reflects the modern ownership cycle, which is typically less than three years now (2.7 years to be precise, says Toyota) – meaning the previous five-year warranty wasn’t really benefitting the original owner.
At the same time, the average age of vehicles on UK roads has now, according to Toyota, grown to 8.4 years. Older than it has ever been before. So now, even if you’re buying a used Toyota commercial with multiple previous owners you can have the reassurance of manufacturer warranty cover.
The benefit to Toyota is that it will encourage owners to have their vehicles serviced by Toyota – which is the only way to activate Relax on an out-of-warranty machine. This is good for the dealer network in terms of servicing and aftercare sales, as well as interacting with customers who may then go on to buy more Toyotas in the future.
The scheme is also likely to improve the resale value of used Toyota vans and pickups, since they’ll have the option of manufacturer warranty coverage – something not many older used vehicles can boast of at all.
How easy will it be to claim?
Toyota says this is not one of those insurance-type warranties available from aftermarket suppliers, and that even at 10 years Relax follows the usual Toyota ‘customer-first’ procedures. The benefit of the doubt, Toyota says, will be given to the customer.
The only thing you will have to keep in mind wear and tear, which will probably be worse for older vehicles and isn’t covered. Nothing unusual about that, though, it's the same for any manufacturer warranty.
The Relax warranty cover will support you break down in Europe, too.
What if I’ve already got a Toyota with a five-year warranty – does this mean I now only get three years of cover?
Not at all – if you’ve got a five-year warranty the introduction of Relax doesn’t mean this is reduced to three.
But after the five years is over you will be able to benefit the new cover as well.
Is this the best pickup or van warranty available in the UK?
That depends on your mileage – the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Volkswagen Crafter, for example, are covered by three-year unlimited mileage warranties. So if you’re a long-distance driver buying new, then perhaps these make sense.
However, the Hilux-rivalling Isuzu D-Max and SsangYong Musso do also give pause for thought: the D-Max comes with a five-year / 125,000-mile warranty as standard, the Musso a seven-year / 150,000-mile warranty.
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But no other brand offers you this new ability to activate factory warranty coverage on a used vehicle. In that respect, Toyota is currently unique.
As of 1 June 2021, the standard three-year / 60,000 Toyota warranty provision applies to all Toyota commercial vehicles, including the Hilux, Proace, Proace City and Land Cruiser Commercial.
Also read:
>> Our full Toyota Hilux review
>> Our full Toyota Proace review
>> Our full Toyota Proace City review
>> Our full Toyota Land Cruiser Commercial 4x4 review
>> VW launches ‘all-in’ aftercare package
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