Anyone leave engine stock but mod the heck out of the cosmetics to save warranty?
 

Has anyone decided to leave the entire engine and all associated components stock but mod the hell out of the cosmetic stuff?

I really dont want to touch a thing with this car's engine, I am paranoid of warranty issues, dont ask why lol.

However I do have the itch to mod and was maybe thinking with this car to maybe just do a ton of small and classy cosmetic things.

I feel like I am the only one who probably wont touch the engine....anyone else out there kinda thinking of going the same direction as me?

We did somethign similar...

agree that it is too risky to touch the engine and give the dealership an excuse to void the warrantee, but I like the car as it is and fine no reason to make cosmetic changes. Except I did add a stainless steal plaque around the heater switches.

The only mechanical mod I'v made is removing the growl tube. I'm happy with it the way it came out of the box.

I've seen a dealership try to void powertrain warranty over the addition of a K&N drop-in filter so I don't blame you on your concerns at all. I initially was going to follow the same road, but succumbed to the mod bug. With how competent the car is out of the box, I see no fault in just focusing on aesthetic modifications until your warranty's up. I've never seen a car with this magnitude of customization possible so soon in it's lifecycle. I vote make it unique and enjoy :)

If you're worried about it, you can still go factory-installed TRD I/E. At least it will sound nice, although sometimes I feel like it really is a cosmetic upgrade (of course, unless you get a tune!)

Im only 26 but I am an old soul. I came from a heavily modified 370z so Ive had speed and power. I live in Tampa, which is a very stop and go traffic city so it really is hard to use but so much speed. For daily driving in sport mode, the car is fine for my taste. I may go TRD air filter and thats it. I just also came from trading in my modified Z and that was a nightmare with the exhaust and stuff I had on it. I think with this car it might be rare in a few years to catch one in its pure rare stock form unmodified engine wise. not to mention, better trade in value, better potential private sale value, and ZERO chance of an angry dealer screwing me with the engine all factory.

Maybe some Toyota badges, clear corners, new sleeker antenna and some exhaust tips will be fine.....

Stock motor, trd filter, slammed....happy for 20k miles, no issues, crickets etc.

I let her warm up for a minute every morning and i dont redline everyday.

basic bolts on tis not heavily modified at all. if you can keep all stock parts, you can go back to OEM and have warranty work if you need to

I just "test" drove my own car. I say "test" because I already bought the car but it's still at the dealership to get all the parts installed (TRD exhaust and TRD intake, spoiler, etc.) and I'm still new to manual and it was hard to drive for me. Plus, coming from a 140 hp Civic makes this car a huge upgrade and I accidentally spun the tires going from 2nd to 3rd and accidentally "drifted" while taking an exit off the highway, going from 3rd to 2nd, and it was scary lol.
This was the first time I've ever been scared and I fell even more in love with it. Definitely keeping the engine stock other than what I'm getting from the dealership, because this car has more than enough horsepower for a noob like me.

When it comes to warranty the dealership won't void it if you put a new part in (anywhere), they can't!
The way it works is: let's say you put an aftermarket catback exhaust on. Obviously the dealership won't cover it because its not there part, but they will not void warranty. The only way that you will void warranty is if an aftermarket part is responsible for damaging the engine (In this case).
So for instance, if you run a turbo and it blows the engine then your screwed, and same for the exhaust (which is unlikely). If you run new wheels and they so happen to ruin the suspension then your suspension isn't going to be covered.

I hope this all makes sense. I was told all this by the CEO of a major Lexus dealership here in aus. I am going in for my first 15,000km warranty service tomorrow and all the parts on my car are listed below in my signature and I'll let you know if I get any warranty issues after the service is complete!!


20% window tint, Full DB drive sound system, Trunk & footwell neons, Injen SES, Number plate, reverse, dome LED upgrade, Debadged 'TOYOTA', Injen CAI, Borla UEL headers

keeping my engine 100% stock down to the paper filter for 60k miles....after that, we'll see :burnrubber:

Plan on taking off the catted manifold, going with a nice header along with a tune and robispec's radiator/oil cooler. All reversible but I believe these mods will keep the engine away from the dealer the life of the car.

Sometimes when you are worried about warranty its best to mod for reliability and gaining a little performance is a side benefit.

That's my plan too!