In the material handling equipment industry, extended warranties are often positioned as the ultimate peace-of-mind product. Their selling point? More cover. More years. More protection.
Stephen Mostert, National Technical Manager at CFAO Equipment, says TMH has been operating in Southern Africa for more than 40 years. “In this time, it has placed thousands of pieces of TMH equipment into some of the harshest operating environments imaginable: scrap metal yards, cement plants, foundries and furnaces, heavy manufacturing and logistics operations.”
What TMH has discovered is that its failure rate on warranty claims – after the standard OEM warranty period – is exceptionally low; statistically negligible. It is so low that extended warranties are simply not necessary to protect its customers.
Mostert says extended warranties usually exist to compensate for uncertainty around component life, manufacturing consistency and long-term reliability. “TMH equipment does not carry that uncertainty, because Toyota’s philosophy has always been simple: build it right the first time.”
From engineering and manufacturing to quality control, he says Toyota Material Handling equipment is designed for longevity, not warranty dependency.
That said, every piece of TMH equipment comes standard with a 12-month or 2,000 operating hours OEM warranty. “The part that many customers miss is that to qualify for the warranty, those who outright purchase their equipment are required to sign a Full Maintenance Agreement. This requirement is not a condition; it is a safeguard. This is because the real value is not the warranty document, but how the truck is maintained,” explains Mostert.
Full Maintenance Agreements are where true protection lies. Instead of selling extended warranties, TMH focuses on something far more valuable: a Full Maintenance Agreement that keeps operations moving, giving customers direct access to its aftermarket backbone and nationwide footprint, which is where operational reliability is protected.
So, what does this mean in practice?
“Customers enjoy maximum fleet uptime, quick response times, 95% parts availability, OEM-trained technicians, genuine Toyota parts, predictable operating costs and reduced unplanned downtime,” adds Mostert.
After all, a warranty only matters when something fails. TMH’s approach, however, focuses on preventing failure in the first place. This is because in real operations, downtime costs more than repairs; delayed production costs more than parts; and idle labour costs more than paperwork.
Toyota’s track record of reliability and product stability – underpinned by its Kaizen or continuous improvement philosophy – means customers are not exposed to sudden equipment withdrawals, rushed retrofits or operational disruption. That said, in the unlikely event a product has a defect, Toyota will provide the necessary support to avoid issues down the line.
This approach allows TMH to focus on what really matters: keeping equipment running, keeping operators safe and keeping businesses productive – ensuring the business is a trusted partner to its customers.
“This is why TMH is comfortable taking a different stance to the rest of the market. After all, when reliability is engineered into the product from the outset, extended warranties are simply unnecessary,” concludes Mostert.
