Just thinking about what would (theoretically) be my next trail bike after having tried a few different models

I like the Commencal Meta 5.5, and the Santa Cruz Heckler, and the Specialized Pitch Pro

probably what would influence my decision the most would be the warranties and after care if anything were to go wrong

So I was just wondering which manufacturers have the best warranties?

I'd rather buy a bike that won't need a warranty claim…

from what I've read on here and nothing else I'd go Specialized.

Specialized are usually excellent with warranty stuff, the Madison guys are pretty good as well though.
Buy the bike you want to buy and not the bike you think will be the least hassle if there is a problem at some point.

Your first point of contact for warranty issues would be the shop that sell you the bike so where you get the machine of choice from should also be a factor.

Not on that list but my dealings with Trek have been very good when claiming for cracked frames and the like.

When you buy a new bike, your warrenty contract is with the retailer. So your first port of call should be to buy froma shop you trust/can happily deal with.

Giant (for example) have a superb warrenty system, but it's worth jack if you buy from a useless shop.

I'll second Trek, the only quibble I can raise about them replacing my Gary Fisher was that it took 3-4 weeks and I'd have liked it sooner. Seems churlish to complain about that though when they gave me a brand new frame of the model up from my broken one 🙂

When there's a recession, and particularly when you've cocked up badly by thinking you can make better shocks for your own bikes that Fox did, you start to tighten up on warranty. At least that's my experience of Specialized's after sales service.

I have a 2009 Stumpy with a Brain shock. Specialized have reduced the maintenance window on this shock from 250 hours to 1 year or 150 hours, whichever is sooner. They've issued a correction to the manual but, if you have a 2009 bike, you'll never find it because they hid it in the 2007 bike manual section on their website. And they don't bother to post or email anything to notify you of the change even if, like me, you actually bothered to register your bike online with them.

And if, like mine, your shock did die 1 month/50 hours within the 1 year/150 hour window, they tell you that your shock needs a service soon anyway so pay us £95 and, whatever died in your shock will get done along the way. The bag of bits you get back, though, has a large and unusual collection of bits in it (including something that looks like the failed Brain cap) and hints that your shock may have been built with poor quality components. The first service therefore seems to be their opportunity to fix your shock at your expense instead of recalling it.

Personally, I might buy another Specialized one day but I wouldn't but a bike with their forks and/or shock. And I'd only listen to very recent, post recession advice on their almost mythical warranty.