Quote:
Originally Posted by pacent
So many people site the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act whenever this question comes up, but think about this scenario...
what if you slap on an intake, and your transmission fails. The dealer might say, well, the transmission wasn't design to take on the extra horsepower from your aftermarket intake. They deny your warranty. Then what? You might be able to get Toyota to help you convince the dealership to help you, but what if they don't? You could take them to court, but who do you think will have the better lawyers? All the while, your car is sitting there with a broken transmission.
Long story short, anything you mod will risk part of your warranty going away. The dealership may play along and help you out, but there's always a possibility of getting screwed. |
Your example is a little extreme. With manufacturer warranties, the way it works is that they diagnose the problem, then call in a "warranty rep" from the region to inspect the car and review with the techs what the cause of problem was. If they can't show a direct link, as in literally a physical link between the mod and the damage, they will likely accept your claim.
Maybe I am taking things too literally, but In the case of an aftermarket intake affecting the transmission, there would have had to be something that showed, directly, that the intake had damaged the transmission. Without a dyno in the shop (which, last I checked, most shops don't have), they can't prove that the intake is creating enough HP/torque to damage the transmission.
There has to be solid data that shows the causality, or they are opening themselves up to lawsuits.