Hyundai Is Killing Its Three-Year Free Maintenance Plan

Since 2020, Hyundai has had one of the most attractive selling points of any car brand: free maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles, whichever came first. Not all maintenance was free, of course, but routine stuff like oil changes and tire rotations were on the house. Those are the sort of savings that steals customers away from rival brands. Unfortunately for Hyundai customers, though, that limited “Complimentary Maintenance” plan ends with 2026 models.

First shared by CarsDirect, Hyundai reportedly sent a service bulletin to dealerships sometime last week, informing them of the upcoming change. The note told dealers that free maintenance is being axed because “the cost of the program grew to unsupportable levels.”

Hyundai PR hasn’t responded to The Drive’s request for comment, but we’ll update this story when we get one. However, an employee at a Hyundai dealer did confirm the validity of the bulletin.

It’s important to note that this is separate from the car’s original manufacturer’s warranty—this is just for routine maintenance. Both the 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty and five-year, 60,000-mile new vehicle warranty will remain.

“The HCM Program has provided coverage for Hyundai model years 2020 through 2025. As the program has matured, Hyundai has determined a new approach is necessary and will not be offering the HCM Program for model year 2026 and beyond,” the bulletin is said to have stated.

What’s the new approach? According to the note quoted by CarsDirect, “This also opens an opportunity for our dealers to shift focus to a different revenue stream, Pre-Paid Maintenance!” (Exclamation not ours.)

There will apparently be two different pre-paid maintenance programs: A “Pre-Paid Basic” and “Pre-Paid Schedule” plan. The Basic one will just handle oil changes and tire rotations, but the Schedule option will cover all of the scheduled maintenance mentioned in the vehicle’s owner’s manual. Customers can buy maintenance plans that span up to eight years, but there’s currently no word on price. I’d imagine it’s cheaper to purchase the prepaid plans than pay for each individual service interval as they arise, otherwise, what the hell’s the point?

Customers of 2020 through 2025 model-year Hyundais will still keep their Complimentary Maintenance plans, even if they run past 2026. So, if you’re a current Hyundai customer, you won’t lose your free oil changes because of this policy change. However, when it comes time to trade your car in, you’ll have to forfeit one of the bigger selling points Hyundai had over its competitors.

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