Volkswagen's wonderful six-year/72,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty is going the way of the Beetle. The automaker recently confirmed it will be performing some changes to its new-car-guarantee, instating a shorter four-year/50,000 mile warranty with two years of free maintenance as its replacement program.

The change in itself is bittersweet. While it means that new VW owners will have the advantage of not paying for the first two years of oil changes and scheduled vehicle maintenance, it also means that they should expect to begin paying out of pocket for repairs two years and 22,000 miles ahead of current owners.

"Volkswagen is committed to listening and addressing the needs of its customers and dealers as we look to increase market share in the U.S.," a Volkswagen spokesperson told The Drive in an email. "The previous warranty was a valuable tool to introduce customers to the Volkswagen brand and to give them peace of mind. Our new vehicle limited warranty builds upon those benefits by still providing robust coverage and further lowering the cost of ownership with carefree maintenance for the first two years."

The updated vehicle warranty policy will take effect beginning with model year 2020 vehicles. As VW does not currently offer any of these for sale in the U.S., the warranty modification is being considered a change to the automaker's future lineup.

And while it is disappointing to see what is often ranked as America's best new car warranty disappear, it doesn't exactly mean that VW is headed to the bottom of the list. In fact, Volkswagen's revised warranty puts the manufacturer in-line with a number of luxury automakers; Lexus and Mercedes-Benz, for example, offer comprehensive warranties for the same four-year/50,000-mile stint as VW. BMW extends the same offer but also ups its free maintenance to three-year/36,000-miles. More modest brands like Hyundai, Kia, and Mitsubishi which offer five-year/60,000-mile warranties, but do not bundle in maintenance.

So if you're in the market for a new Volkswagen and warranty is important, it may be a good idea to head over to a dealer before the 2020 models begin hitting the lot.