# Lifetime guarantee? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lifetime-guarantee/304484 "2005-05-18T21:55:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lifetime-guarantee/304484/21 "2005-05-19T07:34:54Z")
> [@Random](#): > > An existing warranty that’s part of a completed deal or contract? Generally, no. I figured as much, except I wasn’t sure if it was common for there to be a clause that would allow the issuer of the warranty to back out at his sole discretion, yadda yadda yadda. (Anyway, read the fine print if the warranty actually matters.) ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lifetime-guarantee/304484/22 "2005-05-19T15:03:48Z")
I purchased a pair of Harley Davidson leather boots a while back. They were great boots, but after long and hard use one of the zippers broke. I took the boots back to the place where I had purchased them, hoping they were repairable, and expecting to pay for the repair. I was shocked to find that HD had a lifetime warranty on the boots. The cashier gave me a new pair, even though I protested that it did not seem fair (to HD). I ended up buying another pair, different style. Yay, Harley Davidson!! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lifetime-guarantee/304484/23 "2005-05-19T15:12:36Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > In the case of the OP, I suspect that the “lifetime guarantee” is against defects in materials and workmanship in the product. So if twenty years from now, you can demonstrate that the driveway failed because the paving stones were improperly manufactured, they will compensate you appropriately. Practically speaking, how are you going to prove that the paving stones were defective? Dunno if it’s the same in your part of the world, but the above is normally part and parcel of your statutory rights in the UK; if an item is not ‘fit for its purpose’, or not ‘of merchantable quality’, then you have legal recourse, regardless of any guarantees the manufacturer may have granted you, and in spite of their limitations. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lifetime-guarantee/304484/24 "2005-05-19T15:55:24Z")
> [@unclviny](#): > > Dillon? > > Unclviny Yep. Bright blue machines that turns money into bullet holes. Of course the upfront cost isn’t cheap but they are competetive with the rest of the industry. I’ve been told that one of the reasons Dillon can do this is that the reloading equipment is almost a sideline to the primary business building and overhauling gatling type miniguns for the military. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lifetime-guarantee/304484/25 "2005-05-19T22:09:05Z")
My bike frame has a lifetime guarantee, from cannondale, a popular American bike company. They stand behind it as well, I’ve replaced two cracked frames with them. Anyhow, a few years ago cannondale decided that they were going to start making motorbikes, because it stands to reason that if you know how to build a bicycle, a motorcycle must be a piece of cake, right? :smack: So they’re bankrupt within a couple of years, and mountain bikers the world over are thinking that their effectively indestructible rides are suddenly looking _way_ more fragile. I was wondering what good the lifetime guarantee was going to be with a busted company, but cannondale make good bikes, and their cycling brand was apparently strong enough to keep the wolf from the door and pull them back from the brink. As an aside, I heard that their motorcycles were also very good, but competing with honda/yamaha and suzuki is a totally different story to the relatively small world of bicycle manufacturers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lifetime-guarantee/304484.md?page=1)