Aftermarket parts cannot VOID your warranty

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Dezoris

Burden of proof is on you. Point is you have to pay up front which is thousands in court costs and legal fees that you may lose, when either the OEM shows up to court of the dealer. Huge risk, lot of stress, and money just to file and start the process.

Not as easy as empty threats, most car owners are not going to park their car broken and waste half a year taking a manufacturer to court over a 1k repair bill.

Then find a better dealer... or a better car manufacturer.

To be honest, a smart dealer doesn't sell cars. They sell a service and an experience, so in the long run their marketing efforts are geared towards grooming new customers and not so much retaining old ones.

If some dealer does this to me, I do two things: 1) send a written complaint to Subaru, and 2) take my business elsewhere. Enough of the first, and the manufacturer will step in to resolve it as it is a hit on the manufacturer's reputation.

And if you were completely wronged and the dealer still refuses? Feel free to document it and let the local news station know. They love a good investigative story.

-alex

P.S. This is assuming you have a valid warranty claim to begin with.

[Dezoris]

I have been down this road with 3 cars. Even those un-modified.
It's good to know the laws that protect you. However the legal system costs money and time. The key thing is time. I am with you, use the law to your advantage. But it will rarely be a cake walk.

[IceFyre13th]

Originally Posted by Dezoris

Burden of proof is on you. Point is you have to pay up front which is thousands in court costs and legal fees that you may lose, when either the OEM shows up to court of the dealer. Huge risk, lot of stress, and money just to file and start the process.

Not as easy as empty threats, most car owners are not going to park their car broken and waste half a year taking a manufacturer to court over a 1k repair bill.

Fine, be a victim......no sense in arguing with you as all you seem to want to do is sit back and take it.

[Dezoris]

Originally Posted by IceFyre13th

Fine, be a victim......no sense in arguing with you as all you seem to want to do is sit back and take it.

Like I said I have already been through the legal route, it cost me more than the repair bills.

[Kelbyat07]

I've been wanting to get an aftermarket exhaust installed but I am afraid that the dealer might be sketchy and void my warranty.

I talked to many dealers and they all have different answers. The common answer I get is that as long as the exhaust does not cause any problems. So can anyone help out? I want my damn exhaust already..

[xXDeathMaliCeXx]

Originally Posted by Kelbyat07

I've been wanting to get an aftermarket exhaust installed but I am afraid that the dealer might be sketchy and void my warranty.

I talked to many dealers and they all have different answers. The common answer I get is that as long as the exhaust does not cause any problems. So can anyone help out? I want my damn exhaust already..

This ^^ My thing is that I want to install the exhaust myself because I know I won't mess anything up. And I don't want to fork out $100-$200 just for an install...

[Mikem53]

Originally Posted by IceFyre13th

Just to be clear, I am not a lawyer and no I wont stay at a Holiday Inn.

But, if you ever wondered if your CAI, Exhaust, LED's, UniChip, etc will void your warranty the simple answer is no.......UNLESS the manufacture can prove the aftermarket part caused the failure.

See http://www.thoroughbreddiesel.com/po...nuson-moss.htm for more information

On paper it looks great.. but in the real world.. it's not so easy nor would it be inexpensive in time and money.
The dealership and OEM know this..
I had my warranty voided in the past.. was easier to just get rid of the car than to fight it and deal with the BS. I also had a great dealership who
was mod friendly and reasonable to deal with.
keeping the mod bug at bay for awhile me thinks... trying to anyway..
i have a lifetime warranty on the car via the dealership.. every new Toyota and Scion get it.. then that evil innovate blower came to market..

[thill]

Originally Posted by Kelbyat07

I've been wanting to get an aftermarket exhaust installed but I am afraid that the dealer might be sketchy and void my warranty.

I talked to many dealers and they all have different answers. The common answer I get is that as long as the exhaust does not cause any problems. So can anyone help out? I want my damn exhaust already..

Why don't you just get the TRD exhaust and have Toyota install it? I know it costs a lot more, but I love the look and sound and it would be covered under warranty even if there was an issue.

As for the rest of this thread.. Well.. Let me tell you, it does not always come down to a dealership. The dealer is just getting reimbursed by corporate (Subaru/Toyota/Nissan, etc) for the warranty work. So if you get denied, it could be the dealer, or it could be SOA/TOA who, after reviewing your case, denies your warranty. You can dangle Moss Magnuson all you want, but they have armies of skilled lawyers who deal with legal threats all day long. So you better be prepared to front some money, get a really good lawyer, and go to court.

Some of this is definitely commonsense. If you get an aftermarket exhaust and you have condensation in your tailights, I cannot imagine a dealer denying warranty work. If you slap in a turbo, new radiator, modified ECU, etc and then start throwing CEL's and tell the dealer/corporate it is on them to prove your mods caused the issue? Good luck with that.

And some of this is your relationship with the dealer and how you communicate. If you come across as an egotistical prick, many dealers will show you the door.

I typically only do light mods to my cars (exhaust, maybe some suspension work, etc) and have never had an issue with any car I have bought from Nissan to Mazda to VW, to Hyundai.

[86_Insider]

Basically, if you add an intake and the steering race goes out, they cannot void the warranty.

Burden of proof is often on the consumer though. Best bet is to find a dealer who is mod friendly when taking it in for warranty work.

[rapidcars]

Originally Posted by Kelbyat07

I've been wanting to get an aftermarket exhaust installed but I am afraid that the dealer might be sketchy and void my warranty.

I talked to many dealers and they all have different answers. The common answer I get is that as long as the exhaust does not cause any problems. So can anyone help out? I want my damn exhaust already..

I was in the same boat as you but decided to just do it. You only live once. I did a lot of searching and couldn't find an instance where a warranty claim was denied because of an exhaust and multiple instances of SOA honoring engine claims with minor mods including catbacks. The chances of an exhaust causing any engine problems are slim to none. You're really only voiding the warranty on the exhaust itself.

[Gunman]

Back in my minitruck days, I had a Ford Ranger, lowered, different tires/wheels, exhaust, interior, paint, etc. Including the engine, which was internally stock, we had pulled out, painted the block to match, polished oem aluminum bits, made new aluminum bits, rewired it, so the harnesses were hidden...it was obvious when you popped the hood that it didn't leave detroit that way. Truck came with a 60,000mi warranty (this was a 1988) and at 59,100miles a piston decided to liberate everything below the bottom ring, sending pieces thru the cylinder wall. I had it towed back to the dealer, and they replaced the block, cylinder head, and piston, all under warranty. They even called me when the engine was reassembled, so I could take it to have painted again.

Now that is a mod friendly dealership. I hate hearing these stories about service managers claiming voided warranty due to unrelated stuff.

[Kelbyat07]

Originally Posted by rapidcars

I was in the same boat as you but decided to just do it. You only live once. I did a lot of searching and couldn't find an instance where a warranty claim was denied because of an exhaust and multiple instances of SOA honoring engine claims with minor mods including catbacks. The chances of an exhaust causing any engine problems are slim to none. You're really only voiding the warranty on the exhaust itself.

Is everything ok with your car so far? No check engine lights or anything?

I recently had to get my gas tank check out because someone rear ended me. The dealer said if I had installed a different exhaust it would probably void the warranty of getting it check out for free..

[rapidcars]

Originally Posted by Kelbyat07

Is everything ok with your car so far? No check engine lights or anything?

I recently had to get my gas tank check out because someone rear ended me. The dealer said if I had installed a different exhaust it would probably void the warranty of getting it check out for free..

It's only been on for about a week but no problems so far.

[Kelbyat07]

Originally Posted by rapidcars

It's only been on for about a week but no problems so far.

Just curious, what kind do you have?