{"id":76651,"date":"2023-01-12T14:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T14:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/"},"modified":"2025-03-24T19:06:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T19:06:06","slug":"what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear","status":"publish","type":"knowledge","link":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/","title":{"rendered":"What is classed as &#8220;wear and tear&#8221;?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #00a9e0\"><strong>What is classed as &#8220;wear and tear&#8221;?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The term \u201cwear and tear\u201d is often defined in a warranty agreement, and covers the degradation of vehicle parts through normal use and the vehicle ageing over time. This applies to items, such as tyres, brakes and clutches, but wear and tear can affect any mechanical components or areas such as the cabin trim or furnishings.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking to make a claim under your warranty agreement, it is always best to check how \u201cwear and tear\u201d is defined on the <span style=\"color: #00a9e0\"><strong><a style=\"color: #00a9e0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge-base\/my-warranty-claim-was-rejected-for-wear-and-tear-what-can-i-do#:~:text=If%20your%20claim%20is%20rejected,of%20an%20independent%20technical%20report\">policy<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, as this will be central to your contract and a successful claim.<\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #00a9e0\"><strong>Is \u201cwear and tear\u201d considered unsatisfactory quality?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n<p>With the use of a car over time, wear and tear will become a factor as to the state and condition of a vehicle and its components. This is particularly relevant to used cars, and simply because a car is showing signs of wear (either aesthetic or mechanical), this does not mean the vehicle is of unsatisfactory quality in its current state or when it was manufactured.<\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #00a9e0\"><strong>Can \u201cwear and tear\u201d cause mechanical failures?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n<p>With use of a vehicle over time, and the wearing of components in line with this, this may lead to a mechanical failure. Some parts, such as a clutch, will have an expected lifespan before routine replacement.<\/p>\n<p>If a premature failure occurs due to wear and tear, this may be covered subject to the terms of the policy, so it is worth checking the conditions to see if this is the case.<\/p>\n<p>If a mechanical failure through wear and tear occurs later in the part\u2019s lifespan, this may not be covered by the warranty policy, as the component would have been ordinarily subject to routine replacement in line with age and usage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":79059,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"knowledge-base-category":[617],"class_list":["post-76651","knowledge","type-knowledge","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","knowledge-base-category-car-ownership"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is classed as &quot;wear and tear&quot;? - The Motor Ombudsman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The term \u201cwear and tear\u201d is often defined in a warranty agreement, and covers the degradation of vehicle parts through normal use\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is classed as &quot;wear and tear&quot;? - The Motor Ombudsman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The term \u201cwear and tear\u201d is often defined in a warranty agreement, and covers the degradation of vehicle parts through normal use\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Motor Ombudsman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-24T19:06:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/knowledge-banner.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"476\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/\",\"name\":\"What is classed as \\\"wear and tear\\\"? - The Motor Ombudsman\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/knowledge-banner.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-12T14:00:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-24T19:06:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"The term \u201cwear and tear\u201d is often defined in a warranty agreement, and covers the degradation of vehicle parts through normal use\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/knowledge-banner.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/knowledge-banner.png\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":476},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Knowledge Base\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"What is classed as &#8220;wear and tear&#8221;?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/\",\"name\":\"The Motor Ombudsman\",\"description\":\"We are the Ombudsman for the motor industry\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Motor Ombudsman\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/logo.svg\",\"caption\":\"The Motor Ombudsman\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is classed as \"wear and tear\"? - The Motor Ombudsman","description":"The term \u201cwear and tear\u201d is often defined in a warranty agreement, and covers the degradation of vehicle parts through normal use","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is classed as \"wear and tear\"? - The Motor Ombudsman","og_description":"The term \u201cwear and tear\u201d is often defined in a warranty agreement, and covers the degradation of vehicle parts through normal use","og_url":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/","og_site_name":"The Motor Ombudsman","article_modified_time":"2025-03-24T19:06:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":476,"url":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/knowledge-banner.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/","url":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/","name":"What is classed as \"wear and tear\"? - The Motor Ombudsman","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/knowledge-banner.png","datePublished":"2023-01-12T14:00:39+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-24T19:06:06+00:00","description":"The term \u201cwear and tear\u201d is often defined in a warranty agreement, and covers the degradation of vehicle parts through normal use","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/knowledge-banner.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/knowledge-banner.png","width":1440,"height":476},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-classed-as-wear-and-tear\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Knowledge Base","item":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"What is classed as &#8220;wear and tear&#8221;?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/","name":"The Motor Ombudsman","description":"We are the Ombudsman for the motor industry","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#organization","name":"The Motor Ombudsman","url":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/logo.svg","caption":"The Motor Ombudsman"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledge\/76651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledge"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/knowledge"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"knowledge-base-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledge-base-category?post=76651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}