relatively non-intrusive mods to preserve warranty?
 

Hello,

Since I'm pretty concerned about my warranty and it being voided if I have mods on the car, is there anything that's 'safe' in this regard?

So far I have only two on my mind (and I might be completely wrong)

1. Perrin Crank Pulley
2. Any sort of Short Shifter (maybe replace the bushings with Perrin's Rear Shifter Bushing)

What do you guys think?

I'm really interested in the Cat Back Exhaust too, but I think that might be too intrusive, plus I figure I'll take it easy first while it's still 'breaking-in'.


Thanks for any input, and sorry if my questions are stupid, still learning.

Will catback exhaust void warranty?

haha no idea, that's why i posted it too...

A CBE shouldn't void the warranty, but who knows they could try to void anything from what I've seen happen with some forum members. :iono:

So what kinda things would blatantly void the warranty?

Oh, also would the Pulley or the CBE require ECU tuning to realize the gains? I'm pretty sure dealers can view the logs that say when you flash.

catback should not void warrnty.
pulley is more likely of a problem.
cosmetics - shark fin wheels, etc. are fine.
Spring/coilovers are another story.

the pulley more than the CBE? huh, that's surprising to me...
Maybe i just figured it'd be a lot easier to swap out the pulley to the stock one before servicing lol

Pulley WILL void your warranty if its anything related to the engine and the dealer wants to give u a hard time

Like hanakuso said, a pulley will void your warranty.

exhaust, and most intakes are fine.

Agree. You're pretty much limited to Intake, catback Exhaust, Braces (strut tower, subframe).

Also IIRC: The service tech is the one who's call it is what and what does not void the warranty. But if the part can in any way influence the part that you're trying to get covered under warranty- they can legaly void it.

For engine/drivetrain related warranty work: Pulley, Tune, Catless-Header, Turbo(obviously), ECU mods, and even intakes etc CAN void warranty. (However, ECUtek tunes are apparently undetectable by the dealer- so it becomes a moral issue. Do you want to not void warranty, or do you want to get away with mods that they cant detect?)

Anything that increases power could potentially void transmission, dif warranty.

Anything that increases power or grip could potentially void warranty for chassis/suspension stuff.

If fraud doesn't bother you you can do a lot of stuff, and just revert back to stock when you go to the dealer as if it never happened. But a lot ultimately depends on the service tech, and the dealership what you can get away with.

Also im not an expert by any means, but how you talk to your service dept, and how you present the facts can be a big factor in what can and will be tolerated.

Hey man, thanks, this is a big help.
As far as the "moral issue" goes, I honestly couldn't care less about them. Don't get me wrong, the guy who sold me the car was a nice guy, but I'm sure they'd mug me and leave me for dead if they got the chance.

How is it that ECUtek is undetectable? They just can't see it or something? (probably a dumb question, but I'm really new to all this stuff)
This brings me to my next question, does installing a catback and/or intake necessitate an ECU tune to realize gains?

One last thing, in my mind, wouldn't the pulley be relatively easy to swap in and out before service?


Thanks for all the input.

ECUTek is undetectable so long as you flash back to stock before getting service done. If you leave it flashed, my understanding is that they won't be able to write to the ROM with their equipment, so they'll assume you've flashed it with a custom tune or more likely, assume there's something faulty with the equipment/ECU.

As for aftermarket mods - there are two things to consider - the law, and the service department. The law, by way of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, says that a manufacturer cannot deny a warranty claim because of an aftermarket part, unless the part in question actually CAUSED the problem that the warranty claim is about.

If that's all you had to worry about, things would be easy, but you also have to worry about the service department making a call on warranty work - they do not always agree with the law and since it's somewhat of a gray area, you're at their mercy.

If you value your warranty, the safest performance mods are intake/catback (do not even think about changing any part of the exhaust forward of that). Service departments see enough of these that they usually don't even blink an eye. Anything else? Your mileage may vary.

Best advice is to get to know your service department folks, especially the manager. Find out how mod-friendly they are and be honest with them. My local Subaru dealer happens to be owned by one of the local performance tuning shops and they are very mod-friendly. If your dealer isn't, it may very well be in your best interest to find one that is and start bringing your car there for regular maintenance and start building your relationship with someone who will take care of you (within reason). Don't expect anyone to cover your engine under warranty after you've boosted it to 400HP ;)

To avoid any kind of warranty hassle, you will be limited to pretty much cosmetics. Antenna, tint, wheels and tires, debadging and catback should all be okay. With the issues that people are having with rough idle and sensor/ECU/cam gear failures I would avoid any modifications to the engine until the manufacturing defects are sorted out permanently. It is no fun putting the car back to stock to take it in for warranty work. Probably a good idea to hold off on the more serious mods until next summer. Everything should be straightened out by then.

Well in Sweden, atleast, anything you put on the car which is NOT OEM parts will void your warranty if they are going to be hard on you. I'm actually not even allowed to change the wheels on my car :D