Articles by Tom White

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An upstart brand from China, GWM, or as it used to be known, Great Wall Motors, and its Haval SUV sub-brand have competitive ownership terms.Vehicles sold under the GWM Ute, Haval, or incoming Ora electric brand are all offered with a seven-year, unlimited kilometre warranty promise.This was increased in 2018 from a previous warranty offering of five years or 100,000km. GWM products are also currently covered by a five-year roadside assistance program.The Haval range is covered by a five-year fixed-price service program. For the Jolion this means visiting the shop once every 12 months or 15,000km (aside from the first service, which is due at 10,000km). The average cost for the five visits comes in at a very competitive $310 over this period.For the larger H6, servicing is required at the same intervals, but pricing varies depending on whether a front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD) model is chosen. Pricing remains competitive for the five visits, which average $312 for the FWD variants or $352 for the AWDs per visit.The GWM Ute Cannon pick-up requires servicing more frequently than the Haval SUVs, with intervals set at 12 months or 10,000km, aside from the first service, which is required at six months or 5000km. Pricing is still competitive, averaging out to just $340 per visit for the duration of the program.In summary, GWM’s ownership and service price structure is designed to outperform its more mainstream rivals. The warranty terms are long, and its vehicles are among some of the cheapest to maintain, at least during the fixed period according to the on-paper figures - 8/10If you want to find out more about a specific manufacturer's capped price servicing, please see below:

Thanks to a more simplified range of variants and a more competitive luxury car environment which now puts a focus on inclusive service packs, Jaguar products are now more affordable to own.All cars and SUVs in Jaguar’s current line-up are covered by five-year service packs which are purchased separately from the car up to and including the date of the first service interval.Each pack has a set value, and also includes a matching five years of roadside assistance. This also matches the five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty.High-voltage battery components in electrified vehicles, meanwhile, are covered by a separate industry-standard eight-year and 160,000km warranty.Service intervals will vary depending on vehicle and usage. Like BMW models, Jaguars now have condition-based servicing, so the vehicle computer will inform you when it is time to service it.Buying an F-Type sports coupe or an I-Pace electric SUV includes five years of complimentary servicing.In summary: Jaguar’s simplified range and a more competitive premium car environment have resulted in a much more impressive ownership promise for a brand that was once known for being particularly expensive in this department. In the past few years it has improved out of sight. However, there are still question marks over the condition-based servicing or what happens when the first five years of included services run out. Some rival premium brands also have more comprehensive ownership packages - 7/10If you want to find out more about a specific manufacturer's capped price servicing, please see below:

Land Rover was once notorious for expensive servicing but since the introduction of all-inclusive service plans in a more competitive premium car market, things are significantly better.Servicing for Land Rover models is now purchased as a five-year plan, to be bundled in with the car, or purchased separately up until the time of the first service interval.Each plan comes with a matching five years of roadside assistance, and Land Rover models are now also covered by a five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty.Like its Jaguar sister brand, Land Rovers now have condition-based servicing, meaning the car’s computer will tell you when it is time to visit a workshop.The five-year plans are also competitively priced and cover either 102,000km worth of servicing or 130,000km of servicing depending on the drivetrain chosen.While the brand fields a large array of models, its increasingly simplified number of powertrains makes pricing of each program a bit more easy to understand. As a bonus for owners, servicing for all variants of the halo Range Rover for the first five years is complimentary.In summary: Land Rover fixed-service plans are well worth bundling in at the time of purchase and demonstrate vastly improved value over servicing as-you-go. However, some rival premium brands offer additional extras under their ownership programs so things could always be better - 7/10If you want to find out more about a specific manufacturer's capped price servicing, please see below:

Mitsubishi's Eclipse Cross SUV gets a host of minor tweaks to its price and features for 2023.