New Hitachi Lithium-Ion Warranty Extensions

Our Hitachi representative just stopped by and talked with us about new extended warranties for all Lithium-Ion cordless Hitachi tools.  From the time your purchased the tool, you now have a full 2-year warranty on your batteries and a 10-year warranty on the power tool itself, effectively extending the warranty you received when you bought the tool.  This means that if your batteries go bad at any time during the first two years of ownership, you can have them replaced by Hitachi at any authorized service center free of charge.  As a seller of Hitachi parts and also a warranty service center, we are very interested in this news. Understand that this new warranty, which is quite impressive, covers only Hitachi's manufacturing defects.  Damage from use, misuse, or abuse is not covered.  If the tool falls from a ladder or gets left out in the snow for the winter, the tool is not eligible for warranty.   But if your use of the tool isn't responsible for the defect, warranty coverage is available. We see quite a few dead Lithium-Ion batteries in our local power tool repair shop.  While it doesn't usually happen, it's not terribly uncommon for these batteries to go bad soon after purchasing the tool.  It's a shortcoming of the Lithium-Ion technology that power tool manufacturers seem to be working through.  Hitachi seems to recognize this problem and they're answering it by offering a longer 2-year warranty on these batteries. While this warranty is among the best in the industry, it's not quite as comprehensive as the warranty offered on Ridgid batteries.  If you purchase a Ridgid cordless tool and apply for the lifetime warranty by entering your serial number on Ridgid's website, your Ridgid batteries are covered for life.  I'm not quite sure how Ridgid offers this kind of coverage on Ridgid parts and still stays in business, but it's a fantastic offer for the end user.  This means you can use your Ridgid tool for years and when the batteries finally wear out, you can have them replaced for free. Even so, the Hitachi warranty of 2-years is very reasonable and it will probably protect some of their customers from a bad experience.  The 10-year coverage on the tool itself is also very nice, although it's quite rare for defects to affect the tools themselves.  Things like worn out switches or burned out motors will probably not be covered by the Hitachi warranty because they result from use of the tool.