Forklift News - Warranties vary on material handling equipment

Suppliers differ on extended warranties. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

A US-based maker of booms, scissors and telehandlers has expanded its extended warranty program and prompted a Forkliftaction.com News review of existing coverage for some material handling equipment.

JLG Industries Inc has expanded an ES scissors warranty program that it introduced in early 2008.

In recent months, "the feedback has been outstanding," says Tim Morris, JLG vice president of sales and market development for North America, in a statement. "As a result, we’ve expanded this program to help customers enhance resale value and limit exposure to costly repairs."

As part of JLG’s aftermarket Ground Support initiative, the program constitutes a continuation of the JLG standard warranty, offers optional coverage lengths and provides for the transfer of an unused portion of an extended warranty upon sale of the equipment. The program expansion was announced earlier this month.

Genie, Toyota and Clark have other warranty approaches.

Currently, the Genie operation of Terex Corporation’s aerial work platform segment does not offer an extended warranty program.

"Genie is a leader in the industry with its 1-3-5 warranty" representing one-year electrical, three-year hydraulic and five-year structural coverage, says a statement from Genie in Redmond, Washington. While no extended warranty program is offered now, Genie "will continue to evaluate our customer’s needs with regards to extendable warranties".

Terex of Westport, Connecticut acquired Genie Holdings Inc in September 2002.

Toyota Material Handling USA of Irvine, California has been offering extended warranty programs for forklifts since 1995.

"As Toyota grows in the aerial work platform market, Toyota will determine if extended warranties are necessary with the extensive standard aerial lift coverage currently offered by Toyota," the company says in a statement. "Toyota offers various extended warranty coverage for lift trucks. Fees vary on the basis of length and type of coverage and if the lift truck is on a planned maintenance program."

Clark Material Handling Co offers extended warranties as an option for all products, continuing a policy in place for decades at the forklift manufacturer.

Clark in Lexington, Kentucky offers three-, four- and five-year plans through its Flexguard program. Alternative pricing levels reflect whether or not a dealer maintenance contract is used.

A Clark dealer may order the warranty at the time a factory order is submitted for a forklift. In the case of a stock forklift, the dealer notifies the Clark order entry department of the sale of an extended warranty on that unit. A Clark extended warranty may be purchased up to six months after the installation date.

JLG says structured prices for its extended warranty program could vary depending on if the warranty is being offered in combination with a purchase, as an add-on to existing orders or priced separately.

JLG, the access equipment segment of Oshkosh Corp since December 2006, does not have a single price list for extended warranties because of the possible variables.

Under JLG’s recently expanded program, an extended warranty is available for buyers of JLG-brand ES, RT and LE scissor models, telescopic booms, articulated booms, electric and mast booms and all-wheel steer-and-rear-pivot telehandlers; Lull-brand telehandlers; and SkyTrak-brand telehandlers.

McConnellsburg-based JLG offers a three-year/3,000-hour and a five-year/5,000-hour extended warranty for booms and scissors. Both of those options are available for telehandlers plus another option offers a five-year/5,000-hour telehandler powertrain-only warranty. A buyer must buy the extended warranty at the time of the original equipment purchase.

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