TORONTO – If you unwrapped a present with a lifetime warranty this holiday season, you might think it’s the gift that will keep on giving.
But experts say the meaning of a lifetime warranty varies from product to product and doesn’t always grant the eternal repairs or replacements many imagine.
“There’s no standards with lifetime warranties,” said Alissa Centivany, an assistant professor at Western University in London, Ont., and co-founder of the Canadian Repair Coalition.
That means some manufacturers might guarantee their products forever, while others offer a much more limited warranty window where items are protected for a few months or years.
“A lifetime could be the lifetime of a particular product, which might only be a few years, it could be the lifetime of a particular purchaser or let’s say you’re buying a window for a home, the lifetime of that home,” said Josh Hanet, a Toronto-based partner at law firm Gowling WLG.
And it’s not just the timelines that can vary. Lifetime warranties can have a whole litany of circumstances under which they won’t apply. For example, some manufacturers will consider a warranty null and void if they detect damage beyond normal wear and tear.
Others will help with a wider range of troubles but may only offer a repair, instead of a replacement, and may charge a fee either for the warranty itself or for making use of it. Many will also say if you don’t have a receipt or some other proof of purchase, you’re out of luck.
The wide range of scenarios is why Hanet and Centivany think consumers should think of lifetime warranties as a marketing pitch companies use to lure you into a purchase rather than a foolproof means of protection.
“It’s about generating goodwill with customers, brand loyalty,” Centivany said. “There was a time when creating high-quality, durable products was kind of a key motivation for some manufacturers or sellers, but that’s more of an exception rather than the rule these days.”
To figure out what a lifetime warranty really means, read the fine print on the product’s package, in the manual or on the manufacturer’s website.
If they don’t define what period of time their lifetime warranty covers, don’t be afraid to contact the manufacturer to find out, Centivany said.
Once you know what your lifetime warranty entails, you can start considering how valuable it really is and if it’s worth purchasing the product or the guarantee.
Hanet often thinks about how much it will cost to both buy and replace an item.
He recommended asking yourself “Is this going to be a huge endeavour or can I replace this product without it being a significant burden to me?”
If you can easily and cheaply replace an item in the unlikely event it fails, he said the lifetime warranty probably isn’t that valuable.
If the warranty lasts only a short period of time, it may also indicate the manufacturer isn’t that confident in the quality of the product they’re offering.
But having a warranty, no matter how futile it may seem, can also deliver peace of mind, especially when it comes to purchases that you’ll use often, that are expensive or that are related to big-ticket items like your home or car.
“If they’ll offer to replace it or fix it at no cost to you for X amount of time, then perhaps that gives you some comfort in choosing that product over a competitor who didn’t give you that particular warranty,” Hanet said.
Centivany agrees — and she speaks from experience.
“I bought a Patagonia down jacket, like, 15 years ago, and over time, the zipper broke and I had a few little tears in it. I took it into the Patagonia store thinking I would be happy to pay a repair fee because these are not defects, but damage from wear and tear,” she said.
“They took it and they fixed it and they sent it back to me for free and now, I’m a Patagonia customer for life because of that.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 25, 2025.
