did your mods void your warranty
06-24-2003, 05:35 AM
#2
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Columbia, South Carolina
Posts: 515
Hell Yeah! 
HTF am i suppose to stay stock?
My buddy has an 03 Cobra and just got his warranty voided after he blew his motor... He had nitrous, chip, pullies, intake, mods to the actual blower, full exhaust ect ect.. I was running him and all of a sudden he started walking me and i heard BOOOM! I let off and he shot ahead... A little smoke came out and i figured it was from nitrous... Then it became a huge cloud and i could barley see his car... We returned it to 100% stock that night to have it ready for him to take back to ford the next morng. We reinstalled the stock headers, stock chip, pullies, ect.. No trace of nitrous... The next day he took it to ford and they had to call an SVT Rep to come look at it... He voided his warranty becaus he found 'evidence of a chip'... The PCM box had scratches on it. sooooo, SVT voided his warranty and he was left with a blown motor.
But, lucky for him he has money and just ordered a new motor hisself.. 
HTF am i suppose to stay stock?My buddy has an 03 Cobra and just got his warranty voided after he blew his motor... He had nitrous, chip, pullies, intake, mods to the actual blower, full exhaust ect ect.. I was running him and all of a sudden he started walking me and i heard BOOOM! I let off and he shot ahead... A little smoke came out and i figured it was from nitrous... Then it became a huge cloud and i could barley see his car... We returned it to 100% stock that night to have it ready for him to take back to ford the next morng. We reinstalled the stock headers, stock chip, pullies, ect.. No trace of nitrous... The next day he took it to ford and they had to call an SVT Rep to come look at it... He voided his warranty becaus he found 'evidence of a chip'... The PCM box had scratches on it. sooooo, SVT voided his warranty and he was left with a blown motor.
But, lucky for him he has money and just ordered a new motor hisself..
Last edited by KamaroL98; 06-24-2003 at 08:47 PM.
06-24-2003, 08:03 AM
#5
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: fl
Posts: 97
How can the dealership say anything about DR, I have them on mine and if someone said anything to me I would tell them their the best performance tires you can buy for $150. each unlike goodyears F1 and if they would like to put a set of F1 on my car for free then go a head other wise their is nothing that states you can't have them.... Only if you are running larger and wider rims that came on the car then if something breaks related to that then they can say it was due to the aftermarker rims
06-24-2003, 09:59 AM
#7
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 165
It really depends on the dealer. I don't think GM has a set corporate checklist that all dealers have to follow.
Some dealers are really cool about mods, other dealers will try to blame an air conditioning problem on a Flowmaster, or an engine misfire on an aftermarket stereo.
So, in reality, the best thing you can do is be honest with the service manager and see if he wants to be cool about it. In my opinion, if you were like the Ford guy and blew a highly modded motor with nitrous, thats your problem, and you shouldn't expect them to honor it.
Every single one of us knows the risks when we start modding our cars. Sometimes we don't want to beleive it, but we all knew ahead of time.
Some dealers are really cool about mods, other dealers will try to blame an air conditioning problem on a Flowmaster, or an engine misfire on an aftermarket stereo.
So, in reality, the best thing you can do is be honest with the service manager and see if he wants to be cool about it. In my opinion, if you were like the Ford guy and blew a highly modded motor with nitrous, thats your problem, and you shouldn't expect them to honor it.
Every single one of us knows the risks when we start modding our cars. Sometimes we don't want to beleive it, but we all knew ahead of time.
06-24-2003, 11:58 PM
#9
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Chicago
Posts: 966
My belt tensioner was making a hissing noise and they claimed it was b/c of my cutout. I had to argue for almost an hour with some guy at the dealer over the phone explaining to him that a problem with the belt tensioner is simply belt related and is unaffected by the exhaust. Well they replaced it and said the noise was gone, it was still there I took it in 3 more times to have it checked out, it still makes the noise every once in a while and it goes away in about a minute so I decided to just live with it since it doesnt to happen to often anyway. But thats not the point, the point is the dealer blows. They have never fixed anything properly yet that has broken exceept when my trans blew. But even that is probably only a matter of time before something goes wrong with their repair. When my car was 100% bone stock down to the paper filter it was throwing the 02 sensor code that usually happens with mods. I had it in 5 times for the SES light and 2 days later the light was back on, now they wont fix it b/c the car is modded. Water pump was leaking once, went in to have it fixed, everything seemed fine when I picked it up went home took a nap, woke up left for work, on the way the car started overheating like a motherf**ker, I drove it straight back to the dealer and waited there while they fixed it again, I was over half an hour late for work. Then there is the story of my speakers. Half the time I dont listen to the radio b/c I would rather listen to the cutout, but when I do listen all the settings are in the middle and I dont crank the volume to high and every week the speakers are blown. I have gone through nearly 10 sets of speakers in my rear seats and I dont even drive around bumping. I really want to invest in some aftermarkets so I never have to get new ones from the dealer but Im broke and when I do come across some money for mods I cant concieve forking over money for something that doesnt make my car faster. My window was rattling, same thing had it fixed, the problem was worse than before, had it fixed again, now I suppose its much better but I still hear it once in a while. Well Im done ranting now and I guess that covered every problem Ive had with the dealer, they are fuggin a-holes about everything.
06-25-2003, 02:56 AM
#11
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 38
well i just want to throw some basic bolt ons. no nos or heads and stuff like that. well when i get my hooker headers installed i just want to know if that will maybe void my warranty? thanks for the replies once again!!
06-25-2003, 09:26 PM
#12
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 161
Like someone else said, it depends on the dealer. If one won't warranty it, take to to another dealer, they might warranty the part. It should only make a difference if the dealer can prove the parts you put on, caused the failure. Typically, if you have a driveability problem and have an engine mod., the dealer will blame your parts. Remember, the dealer only gets paid by GM to fix factory parts, not aftermarket parts. If they start replacing parts that failed because of an aftermarket modification, their factory rep. will start scrutinizing all of their warranty claims. This can lead to a factory audit that can cost the dealer thousands of dollars. To be quite honest, if I were a dealer, I wouldn't risk it. You take the risk when you start modifying your vehicle, the dealer shouldn't have to take the heat and pay the price. Keep your mods. reasonable until you get out of warranty and you should be safe. The guy with the blown Mustang w/nitrous was really pushing it and I'm sure he knew it, thats why he put it back to stock before he took it back. I guess it was worth a try. Hope this helps.
06-26-2003, 07:42 PM
#13
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Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: FTW, TX
Posts: 4,508
SVT voided his warranty and he was left with a blown motor.
06-27-2003, 11:01 AM
#15
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Illinois
Posts: 264
Originally posted by Greed4Speed
He needs to look on the SEMA website about the Magnusson-Moss act. This is federal law, so don't let dealers jack with you. It states VERY clearly that a dealer can NOT void a warranty simply because you have an aftermarket part. The part HAS TO be the cause of the failure for them to void the warranty. Even then, the warranty is only voided for the specific related parts. Ex. A muffler can't void the warranty for the engine, just the exhaust pipes.
He needs to look on the SEMA website about the Magnusson-Moss act. This is federal law, so don't let dealers jack with you. It states VERY clearly that a dealer can NOT void a warranty simply because you have an aftermarket part. The part HAS TO be the cause of the failure for them to void the warranty. Even then, the warranty is only voided for the specific related parts. Ex. A muffler can't void the warranty for the engine, just the exhaust pipes.
Anyhow, the SEMA advice is good. You can start here http://www.sema.org/content/?ID=8124