Warranty Voided for mods?
 

Has anyone had or does anyone know what mods will void out a warranty?

I want to buy the fog light kit, the actually JDM kit. But i was told it could void my warranty, and i have an extended warranty so i definitely do not want to throw my money away just for the fog lights. Also would like to do other mods, like the pulley systems and few other mechanical tunes.

I heard also, putting HIDs (not that i want to put them rather put PIAA bulbs but for the sake of this thread) can cause Toyota to deny work on the car...

thanks in advance for the info.:thumbup:

Anything you upgrade will void the warranty for that part.

If you change the exhaust out, it will not void the warranty on the stock exhaust, but they will not cover warranty issues caused by your new exhaust. If (using that same situation) you replaced the exhaust and then had a fuel pump go out, you would still be under warranty, as long as the exhaust didnt cause the problem. And the dealership has to prove that your aftermarket part caused the problem to void the warranty.

So..you should be fine with the fog light kit.. make sense?

(edited to ensure mav1187 was happy with the wording)

makes sense.
but if the kit ties into the electrical cant that be a cause to void?

well i guess it depends on the kit right?

or the install!

+1 Pretty easy and simple way to explain it there. OP if you want a more detailed view into that, SEMA put out an article that can explain it more in detail for you:

http://www.sema.org/sema-enews/2011/...ermarket-parts

:party0030:

Again...they have to prove that what you installed caused whatever issue to void the warranty. So yes, it could void your entire electrical system warranty if they can prove that the fog lights or install caused your..fuse box to explode? Or a bad ground issue causing the car to be unable to start, etc.

I dont think there is much concern from you installing a JDM fog light kit, especially if there isnt any wire cutting/stripping involved. If there is, maybe ask a dealership or a shop to do it for you, one that feels comfortable with doing the electrical work.

ok

so to clarify, if i installed or had an ASE cert tech to install a fog light kit that has the stalk and the complete system then it would not void any other warranty due to the fact that it is a new part that did not exist previously but should the new part affect of harm any other part it will void that particular part.

sorry if i keep going in circles

Yes..you will only void what you touch/modify. If your fog light goes out, they wont fix it. If your headlight stops working, they will fix it provided the issue wasnt caused by the fog light install.

:happyanim:Awesome

:thanks:thank you for the info

now i can be excited about getting the kit rather than worry about it!

PROPER USAGE OF WORDS please.

Dealers can DENY you warranty coverage, either at their discretion or after consultation with manufacturer.

Warranty CANNOT be voided as that is offered by the manufacturer.

The usage of the two words is very important... you ALWAYS have warranty coverage during the mileage/time duration, it's a question of whether the warranty can be used to cover repairs on your car or if you are paying out of pocket.

-alex

Not true.

Just because I chose to replace my foglights does not mean I am denied warranty coverage of my stock lights.

Example would be:

I swap out BRZ foglights to aftermarket kits from Diode Dynamics. I then swap back to stock lights because of a problem with the aftermarket kit. I inspected the electrical lines before/after each install, no issues were found.

Then I burn out the factory foglight housing from a short in the bulb (which was never removed). I take it to dealer, they inspect my lights and wiring and find no problems with the wiring, but attempt to deny me warranty because the housing was "modified".

This is where I would argue for warranty coverage, because my modification clearly did not impact the repair in question.

The only word of caution I would present for any newbies to car modifying, is that if you are doing your own work via some DIY on an internet forum, you are responsible for the burden of proof. This often requires a lot of back and forth with the service advisor/manager/GM/dealer owner/regional rep/manufacturer/lawyer, depending on how deep in the rabbit hole you go.

-alex

So I always read that the dealer(or manufacturer) has to prove that the aftermarket part caused the failure in order to deny the warranty. Prove it to who, exactly? I'm guessing it will end up in a court of law? So how much will court costs, attorney fees, etc. run? And what if they win? Dealers(and manafacturers) usually have deeper pockets that most, and probably smarter lawyers too. And what if the judge isn't a "car guy"? Something I've always wondered about...

A modified housing could be a reason for them to suspect tampering to the equipment that you are asking to be warrantied. If i was in their shoes, I would suspect that you broke something or damaged something and would refuse to pay for it out of my pocket (as a dealership). So I stand by my previous statement that, while there is probably some story that can be fabricated to create a loophole, is 99% of the time true. Unless you want to do lots of arguing with dealerships and lawyers, assume that if you modify it, they wont cover it.

Also, thank you for the "proper usage of words" above. I'm not trying to be perfect, just trying to give the guy a general idea of what he's getting into modifying the car. As someone else said, further research can be done to get full clarification from my (and your) words, as long as you want to get into legalities and legal speak.

I've never been in the situation, but remember that while they have deeper pockets, they are also aware of the cost of such court trips and the damage that it could cost to their PR. And they usually seem to go for "its cheaper to repair whatever is damaged than to pay the fees and fight a PR battle". (usually doesnt mean always. There is one vendor on this forum that lost such a battle..because there were videos of them tracking the car. They lost the DI seals (i think) and blew the engine. Even though the car is stock, they won by saying that the car was not used as it was intended.)

It's cool, I'm Asian.
Oh as long as you don't butcher the wiring and fry the wiring harness you'll be ok.

The improper choice of words started with the thread itself, not your doing... but read my example carefully.

Just because a part is removed does NOT void the warranty coverage of that part. Even if you swap exhaust systems out, and put on an aftermarket system, that does not void your warranty on your stock exhaust.

If you put an aftermarket exhaust on day 1 of ownership, run it for 15000 miles, sell the exhaust, put stock exhaust on, and after 2 years and 35000 miles find the stock exhaust is rusting on one of the ends of the muffler, this does not void your warranty because you took the stock exhaust system off.

It's all very careful wording, but what it comes down to is this: if you are UNSURE about mods or are afraid of being denied warranty coverage, ALWAYS consult a qualified mechanic or have the install documented. Many times a car shop or a mechanic exists as a way to guarantee proper labor work being done, and could end up being cheaper in the long run if you have no prior experience wrenching on a car.

That said, if you are unable to afford $1-2k worth of mechanical work done on your car over the next 2-3 years, you should NOT be modifying your car to begin with. That just reeks of a larger underlying financial issue that seems to permeate these forums...

-alex

Fair enough. My point, however, is that if you swap out a piece (say the exhaust as it seems common) and something else breaks because of it, they can refuse warranty because of it. Also, if something breaks and you swap back to stock knowing that, they can still refuse warranty work if they suspect that you had something else swapped in that wasnt stock.

I bolded the part for you... this statement is inaccurate.

Just because you removed a factory part does not mean you are losing warranty on that factory part.

This is important for everyone to understand, especially anyone wanting to mod their car.

-alex

Very well, thank you for correcting me. I will correct the post. You dont lose the warranty on the original part (that nobody cares about because they removed it..), but if your aftermarket part fails and causes more failure to the rest of the engine/car, warranty wont cover the rest of the car that broke because of your aftermarket parts.

Does this law apply in North America or usa specifically? Canadians like to mod as well :)

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

Thank you... I only care because there's just too much wrong info on internet forums with regards to modifying, and there's something inherently wrong with the way car enthusiasts are modifying cars when they seek out advice from internet forums instead of attempting to build a relationship with a dealer service adviser that is going to be the person approving/denying warranty work/claims.

Buying and maintaining a car is very much like buying and maintaining a house... some things you can easily do on your own, others should be the responsibility of a qualified 3rd party worker, either for technical or liability reasons.

-alex

This is an old topic but will replacing the header on our car void the warranty? Or is it only when it's tuned that it would void

Read the thread, the answer is already there for you.

Just replace whatever part was discussed earlier with the word "header" and you have your answer.

-alex