Mercury Warranty Expired Options
Mercury Warranty Expired?
Coverage Options That Remain
Mercury's own Product Protection plan closes 36 months after registration and never reopens. That is not the end of the story. A separate Brunswick program covers a lot of the engines Mercury can no longer accept, and this page tells you plainly whether yours is one of them.
Start Here
Two different programs, two different doors
If your engine is still inside the Mercury window, stop reading and buy Mercury Product Protection. It is the factory program, it is backed by Mercury Marine, claims go through any of the 3,600 plus authorized Mercury dealers on genuine Mercury parts, and it is fully transferable. Nothing on this page beats it, and we will tell you so on the phone.
This page is for the owners Mercury has already turned away. Brunswick Product Protection Corporation, part of the same corporate family as Mercury, runs a program called Passport, sold in two levels, Passport and Passport Premier. It exists specifically to cover engines that are outside Mercury's own enrollment window. Whether it can cover yours depends on one question, and it is probably not the question you expect.
Not "how old is my engine." The question is whether your engine has any manufacturer coverage still running today, of any kind. Factory warranty, a promotional 4 or 5 year warranty, or an active Mercury Product Protection plan you bought earlier. If any of those is still alive, you are in the best lane the program has, and it is available to you right now without buying or selling a boat.
The Mechanism
Why the Mercury window closes at 36 months
Mercury Product Protection is priced on the assumption that the factory already knows the engine. During the first three years the engine is under factory warranty, Mercury is already carrying the risk, and it has a service history it can see. Once the engine passes 36 months from its registration date, that assumption no longer holds, and Mercury stops selling.
There is no grace period and no appeal. An application on day one after the window closes is declined exactly like one filed a decade later. We wrote the full timeline out, including the surcharge steps at months 12 and 24, in how long you have to buy Mercury Product Protection.
What trips people up is that the Mercury purchase window and their actual coverage are two different clocks. A great many owners are past month 36, and therefore locked out of Mercury's plan, while still sitting on live manufacturer coverage from a promotional warranty or a Product Protection plan they bought years ago. Those owners have the strongest option on this page and almost none of them know it.
Eligibility
Who still qualifies
Find your situation in the left column. This reflects Brunswick's own eligibility rulings as of August 2026.
| Your Situation | What Is Available | What You Should Know |
|---|---|---|
| Past 36 months, but factory, promotional, or Product Protection coverage is still running | Passport at new-engine rates | The best case, and the cheapest. No boat sale required. Brunswick confirmed in August 2026 that an existing owner can buy this with nothing else happening. Your coverage is added onto the end of what you already have. Arrange it well before your current coverage runs out, because it cannot be set up afterward. |
| Everything has expired, and you are buying a boat from a dealer | Passport pre-owned | Engine and boat must be nine model years old or newer, and in documented working condition. It has to be arranged at or before delivery, so raise it while you are still doing the deal, not after you get home. |
| Everything has expired, and you are buying privately from another owner | Case by case only | A private sale is not automatically eligible, because the program is built around a dealer inspecting the boat. Brunswick will often review one anyway if a dealer completes their inspection checklist, or if you have a clean third-party survey. We can submit the request. We cannot promise the answer. |
| Everything has expired, and no boat is changing hands | Nothing today | This is the honest dead end. Tell us anyway and we will flag your options the next time you repower, sell, or buy. |
| Mercury Racing engine, 300R through 500R | Eligible | Widely assumed to be excluded. They are not. Brunswick confirmed in August 2026 that factory Racing models qualify, as do the standard Verado 400, 500 and 600. Competitive racing use is a separate matter and is not covered. |
| Engine modified beyond factory specification | Not eligible | This is what the high performance exclusion actually means: changes to intake, exhaust, programming, or fuel delivery beyond what the factory built. Horsepower alone is never the problem. |
| Avator electric outboard | Not eligible | Neither Passport nor Mercury Product Protection covers Avator. Coverage exists only through a program offered on new boats. |
Eligibility is determined by Brunswick Product Protection Corporation, not by us. Anything on this page can be confirmed against your specific engine before you commit to anything.
The Coverage
What Passport Premier actually covers
Passport is a listed-component contract, which means the plan names what it covers and anything not named is not covered. That is worth understanding before you buy, and it is the main reason we usually quote Premier rather than the base Passport level.
Passport Premier includes
- The powerhead and its internals. Block, crankshaft, pistons, rods, bearings, camshafts, valves, valve seats and flywheel on four-stroke engines.
- Failures that are not a broken part. Overheating, heat-cracked or warped heads, preignition and detonation damage, scored pistons and cylinders, collapsed rings. The base Passport level excludes all of these regardless of cause, and on a modern engine these are exactly the expensive ones.
- Sensors and electronics. Crank and cam position sensors, coolant temperature, MAP, TPS, fuel and water sensors, the fuel supply module, the rev limiter.
- Supercharger and intake air cooler, which matters if you run a supercharged Verado.
- The lower unit and outboard transmission group, gearcase, planetary and reduction gears, hydraulic pump and valve body.
- Seals and gaskets as covered parts in their own right, plus the fluids, filters, belts, hoses and plugs consumed during a covered repair.
The deductible is $25 per covered gas engine repair, which is half of Mercury's $50. Repairs go to the selling dealer or any authorized repair facility, and parts are reimbursed at manufacturer suggested retail with labor at published flat-rate times. Service Assist contributes up to $125 toward a covered on-water or roadside call.
The honest limitations, which you should weigh before buying:
Know these going in
- There is a claim ceiling. Standard engine coverage is limited to $15,000 in total claims for the life of the agreement. It can be raised to $25,000 or $35,000 for an additional cost, and on a big or twin-engine rig that is usually money well spent.
- Pre-owned plans do not transfer. If you buy the pre-owned version and then sell the boat, the coverage ends with your ownership. Plans written while manufacturer coverage is still active do transfer once.
- Repairs need approval first. Authorization has to be obtained before work starts, and claims filed within 30 days of the failure. A repair done first and submitted afterward will not be paid.
- It is a Brunswick program, not a Mercury program. Brunswick is Mercury's parent company family and the contract is insured by Virginia Surety, but this is not the factory plan and we will not pretend otherwise.
The Hard Answer
Who has no options left
If your Mercury window closed, every scrap of manufacturer coverage has expired, and no boat is changing hands, then there is no extended coverage available for your engine today. Not from Mercury, not from Brunswick, not from us. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something that is not what they say it is.
That answer changes the moment any of those three facts changes. If you repower, the new engine starts a fresh window. If you sell through a dealer or buy your next boat from one, the pre-owned lane opens. So it is worth telling us where you stand even when the answer today is no, because we would rather flag your window a year from now than have you find out afterward that you missed a second one.
Common Questions
Expired warranty FAQ
My Mercury Product Protection window closed. Can I still get extended coverage?
Often yes, through the Brunswick Passport program rather than Mercury's own. The deciding factor is whether any manufacturer coverage is still running on your engine today. If it is, you can buy Passport at new-engine rates without selling or buying a boat. If everything has expired, coverage becomes available only when the boat changes hands through a dealer.
Is Passport the same thing as Mercury Product Protection?
No. Mercury Product Protection is the factory program, administered by Mercury Marine, and it is the better product when you are eligible for it. Passport is administered by Brunswick Product Protection Corporation, insured by Virginia Surety, and it covers engines that Mercury's program can no longer accept. Different administrator, different terms, different claim ceiling.
How old can my engine be?
For the pre-owned version, the engine and the boat must be nine model years old or newer. In 2026 that means model year 2017 and up. If manufacturer coverage is still running on your engine, engine age is not the gate at all.
Are Mercury Racing engines eligible?
Yes. Factory Racing models are eligible, and so are the standard Verado 400, 500 and 600. The high performance exclusion in the program applies to engines that have been altered beyond factory specification through intake, exhaust, programming, or fuel changes, not to engines that left the factory powerful. Competitive racing use is excluded separately, the same way charter and rental use are.
I am buying a boat from a private seller. Can I get coverage?
Not automatically. The pre-owned program is built around a dealer inspecting the boat before it changes hands, so a private sale does not qualify on its own. Brunswick will often review an exception if a dealer completes their inspection checklist or if you have a clean third-party survey. We can prepare and submit that request, but the decision is Brunswick's.
What does it cost?
It depends on horsepower, engine count, how many years you are adding, and which of the two levels you choose. Send us the serial number and we will quote it properly rather than guess. There is no charge and no obligation for the quote.
Find out where your engine actually stands
Send us the serial number. We will check your registration date, your factory warranty, and any coverage already on the engine, then tell you which of the options above applies to you. Free, no obligation, usually the same business day.
Request A Free Warranty Lookup