33/2025: When lifetime runs out

Image © Jose 2025

More than 25 years ago I bought what was the most expensive thing in that category I had ever bought: a suitcase. I was traveling a lot, mostly for work, long and short flights, a lot of time in airports, and a lot of running around to make sure I didn’t miss flights. I thought I deserved a good suitcase, one that would last, and I bought a TUMI with a lifetime warranty.

I had it for a good 20 years, and then bought a new one, a TUMI again, but this one felt different from the start (Samsonite bought TUMI, now they offer 5 years). About 10 years into my first suitcase, something broke, pure wear and tear, and I reached out to the company. They sent me a kit of parts that allowed me to renew the product for another 10 years.

Come to think of it, this was one of the only times I ever activated a lifetime warranty promise on anything. And now that we need to make a tough decision about the windows for the first floor of our house, the warranty issue is front and center.

It used to be that a warranty on any consumer product, the longer the better, and lifetime warranty was the ultimate offering of a brand that wanted to be seen as serious about quality and the future. But it feels corporations and consumers have had a change of heart. Lifetime warranties are not making a broad comeback, but elements like durability, repair, take-back, and serviceability are strongly on the rise. Sustainability efforts focus on extending product life through design and infrastructure, not necessarily via a “lifetime” branding claim. While regulations and consumer sentiment are pushing manufacturers toward repairable, long-lasting products, I don’t see the trend going back to what we had.

In residential windows, it is complex. The product is a sandwich of many different components, each with different warranties:

• Glass: Often the headline item (“lifetime against seal failure”) but usually covers only fogging between panes. Chips, scratches, or condensation on the inside surface aren’t covered.
• Frames: Vinyl and fiberglass sometimes have “lifetime” protection against warping, cracking, or peeling. Wood windows usually have shorter periods (because they require maintenance).
• Hardware: Some brands promise lifetime coverage on locks/balances, but that may be limited to replacement parts only (we pay labor).
• Installation: Rarely included, even when offered by big brands, because they usually subcontract installation. If the problem is traced to poor installation (which is often the case with leaks or drafts), the manufacturer points to the installer, and the installer may or may not still be around.

Then there are issues of transferability (some warranties drop from “lifetime” to 10 years or less once you sell the house), prorated coverage (after 10-20 years, some “lifetime” warranties start reimbursing only a percentage of parts cost), and exclusions (fading, minor leaks, caulking, normal wear, and weather damage are often excluded… a lot of fine print to go through).

In the end, it seems it only makes sense to look for an extended warranty if we decide to buy from a large, stable brand, and if the warranty covers labor or at least accidental glass breakage (rare, but valuable). A more consequential question is how long we plan to stay in this house, and if we eventually sell it, will any future buyer even value all the investment we make in an extended warranty.

The other day I was visiting the 3M Innovation Center, a starship from the past with maybe 50 different consoles and PhD volunteers explaining what 3M does across industries via their periodic table of technologies. We spent some time on the cool granules they produce for roof shingles, literally cool because they reflect more sunlight. They also have algae-resistant shingles, smog-eating granules, and a bunch of other innovations they introduce in new products, with a premium. Meanwhile, if there is one place the specialists say you should still look for a lifetime warranty, it’s roofing shingles.

Makes you wonder.