Which used cars still come with manufacturer warranty in the UK?
On a used car the headline warranty length matters far less than the conditions attached to it, because the years are already partly spent and the conditions are what decide whether anything is left. Kia covers 7 years or 100,000 miles and Hyundai 5 years with unlimited mileage, both from first registration and both passing to a new owner — but Hyundai states that a warranty already invalidated cannot be revalidated by selling the car, so a gap in its service history is permanent. MG runs to 7 years or 80,000 miles, with the mileage unlimited only for the first 12 months, and attaches a servicing condition with a hard tolerance — each main service within 1,000 miles or 28 days of the recommended interval, on original-equipment-specification parts. Toyota is the outlier worth knowing about: its standard cover is 3 years or 60,000 miles, but a qualifying service at an authorised Toyota dealer re-applies cover until the next one, and a car bought privately and several owners down the line is still eligible up to 10 years or 100,000 miles.
The terms, and the condition that decides each one
Every clock below runs from the date of first registration, not from the model year in the advert, so the registration date on the V5C is the number that matters. The last column is the one to read: on a used car the headline length is the part already spent, and the condition is what decides whether anything survives.
Kia
7 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first- Clock starts
- Date of first registration
- Passes to a used buyer?
- Yes. Kia states that when a car is resold within the warranty terms, "the new owner will also benefit from the remaining time or mileage".
- What decides a used case
- The mileage cap is usually what decides a used case rather than the years: cover is unlimited-mileage for the first 36 months, then capped at 100,000 miles from month 37 to month 84. High-voltage battery cover is split by registration date — 84 months (7 years) or 100,000 miles for cars registered up to 31/12/2023, and 96 months (8 years, but 84 months for a plug-in hybrid) or 100,000 miles for cars registered from 01/01/2024, in both cases from the date of first registration and against capacity falling below 70%. So check the registration date on the V5C before assuming eight years. Kia’s terms then set out a SEPARATE table for 26-model-year-on electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars, with two thresholds rather than one: 60 months or 60,000 miles against capacity below 80%, and 96 months or 100,000 miles against capacity below 70%. Model year and first-registration date are not the same thing and a car near the changeover can fall either side, so confirm the VIN with Kia rather than reading the V5C alone.
Hyundai
5 years, unlimited mileage- Clock starts
- Date of first registration
- Passes to a used buyer?
- Yes, provided it is still valid. Hyundai states the warranty "remains with the vehicle and would be passed on to the new vehicle owner".
- What decides a used case
- Hyundai states plainly that "an invalidated warranty cannot be revalidated by transfer of the vehicle". A gap in servicing before you bought the car cannot be cured by the sale, so the service history matters more here than the age does — and because the mileage is unlimited, the history is effectively the only thing that can have ended the cover early.
Source: Hyundai UK — 5-Year Warranty
MG
12 months unlimited mileage, then up to 7 years or 80,000 miles- Clock starts
- Date of first registration
- Passes to a used buyer?
- Yes, to each new owner, so long as it has not expired.
- What decides a used case
- The mileage is what catches used buyers: it is unlimited only for the first 12 months, and from month 13 the 80,000-mile cap applies, so a high-mileage MG can run out of cover years before it runs out of years. There is also a servicing condition with a hard tolerance: MG’s warranty statement requires each main service to be carried out within 1,000 miles (1,609 km) or 28 days of the recommended interval or service anniversary, using original-equipment-specification parts and fluids. A late service is exactly the kind of gap that shows up in a used car’s history, so check the service record against the schedule for that model before relying on the remaining cover.
Toyota
3 years or 60,000 miles as standard on cars sold new from 1 June 2021, extendable to 10 years or 100,000 miles; earlier cars were sold with 5 years or 100,000 miles- Clock starts
- Date of first registration
- Passes to a used buyer?
- Yes — and uniquely among these, cover can be restarted after it has lapsed. Toyota states that "second, third and even fourth-hand vehicles traded privately or from other outlets are eligible".
- What decides a used case
- The extension is not automatic with age: Toyota's Service Activated Warranty is applied free each time the car has a qualifying service at an authorised Toyota dealer, and runs until the next scheduled service. Eligible services continue until the car is 10 years old or has covered 100,000 miles. So a used Toyota with no cover can often be brought back into warranty simply by having it serviced — which is the opposite of how every other warranty on this page behaves.
All four read from the manufacturers’ own published terms on 2026-09-19. Makers change these without announcing it, so confirm the terms for a specific car before relying on them. Other makes publish long warranties too — this page covers the four the questions we receive ask about most, and is not a ranking of every UK manufacturer.
Toyota’s is the one that behaves differently
Every other warranty here is a countdown: it starts at registration, runs down, and once it is gone it is gone. Toyota’s standard cover behaves the same way, but its Service Activated Warranty re-applies free at every qualifying service at an authorised Toyota dealer and lasts until the next scheduled one, with eligible services continuing until the car is 10 years old or has covered 100,000 miles.
The consequence is genuinely counterintuitive and worth stating plainly: a used Toyota with no cover left can often be brought back into warranty simply by having it serviced at a Toyota dealer, and Toyota says a car bought privately and several owners down the line is still eligible. If you are comparing a Toyota against a rival on remaining warranty alone, that comparison is measuring the wrong thing.
UK law sets no minimum warranty on a used car
No UK law requires a dealer to give a warranty, and none sets a minimum length. Every trade sale carries the Consumer Rights Act 2015 instead, which is stronger than most warranties and cannot be excluded by a contract term, a sign, or the words "sold as seen". A warranty is what a dealer adds on top.
Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.31 (terms excluding these rights are not binding on the consumer)
A manufacturer warranty sits on top of that statutory floor, never instead of it. What a dealer must give you regardless is covered in the used-car warranty guide, what to do when something fails in your rights if a used car breaks down, and why the words “approved used” carry no legal weight in is an approved used car always under warranty.