Engine Warranty Grader
"3 years / 100,000 miles" tells you almost nothing. Whether a warranty actually protects you lives in the fine print: who pays the labor, at what rate, at which shops, and what hoops the claim process makes you jump through. Pull up the warranty terms for the engine or transmission you're considering, answer the six questions below, and get an honest grade. Everything runs in your browser.
Grades weight labor coverage and claim mechanics over headline length, because that's where real claims succeed or fail. Get every answer in writing before you pay — verbal assurances grade an automatic F.
Why Labor Terms Outweigh the Headline
An engine swap takes roughly 15–20 shop hours. If a "covered" failure reimburses labor at $50/hour while your shop charges $140, the warranty pays $1,000 and you pay $1,800 — on a repair the marketing called free. That's why this grader weights questions 1, 2, and 6 most heavily. Headline length matters least: a seller offering decades of coverage is betting you won't read the conditions that disqualify most claims.
Comparing more than one seller? Run the full numbers through the quote comparison calculator, and see how the major companies' warranties scored in our 2026 rankings.