Can a dealership void your warranty?

[Fetch]

what about if the infiniti dealer is the one who installed the mod... I purchased my 06 coupe in 07 with 12k miles on it. The car has aps everything on it.. single turbo kit, exhaust, front mount, intake, 3.5" exhaust new clutch and flywheel all installed by the dealer. before I purchased the car I contacted the dealership and confirmed that it was infiniti who installed the parts. Should I expect a problem if I need warranty work ? just curious

[SxSkyLinexS]

Originally Posted by gary c

They may not be able to void your warranty under law, that doesn't mean they won't refuse to replace or fix what ever's wrong with your car. Am I the only one that recalls the member that had a blown engine and replacement was refused because of his HKS exhaust? We all know that wasn't the cause but Nissan denied replacement so you're SOL! It helps if you have a mod friendly dealership, obviously some aren't....
Gary

i remember the member that was denied for his HKS exhaust.
this is where 12th grade government class plays a role you know your rights, you can protect them.

[pfarmer]

Originally Posted by Fetch

what about if the infiniti dealer is the one who installed the mod... I purchased my 06 coupe in 07 with 12k miles on it. The car has aps everything on it.. single turbo kit, exhaust, front mount, intake, 3.5" exhaust new clutch and flywheel all installed by the dealer. before I purchased the car I contacted the dealership and confirmed that it was infiniti who installed the parts. Should I expect a problem if I need warranty work ? just curious

Remember that dealers are independant. The dealer may in fact warranty the item, the install, or the package, but it may well apply only at this dealership. This may be well and good if you have access to the dealership but what occurs if you are on the open road someplace? If I had the dealer do this I think I would ask in writing about the issue of another dealer doing warranty repairs.

[RaginRaj11]

I was denied an engine replacement because of my FI exhaust and pop charger. When i brought up the Magnuson-Moss act with the dealer they said they never heard of it and they cant do anything since the decision was already made. They didnt give me any proof that the mods caused the problem which is illegal.

[pfarmer]

Originally Posted by cimabeu

I recently posted a response that stated that if you modify your car, a dealer can void your warranty--- well, I was very wrong.

Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975, mods alone cannot void your warranty and the dealer must show PROOF THAT MODS DIRECTLY AFFECTED your car problems. For details, enclosed are some sights for fun reading (they say much the same thing):

http://www.impalaclub.com/naisso/magmoss.htm
http://www.mlmlaw.com/library/guides...s/undermag.htm
http://www.mustangmemory.com/Magnuson_Moss.htm

Read the tie in exemptions of the act. It is possible to have an exemption to this basic rule if the manufacturer can show cause that the use of such parts can impair the proper functioning of their product.

For example using Mobile 1 5-30 which meets the requirements for engine oil as stated in the warranty would be allowable but the use of a different at fluid other than Nissan's may void your warranty if Nissan can demonstrate that it may not provide proper characteristics for their transmission. The act is not a one way street for the consumer it can work in the manufacturers direction as well.

[pfarmer]

Originally Posted by mjg

they can't void your warranty, everyone knows that... What they can do is refuse to replace apart that they can say broke because you added such and such mod. You can always go to another dealer, or remove some parts before you get warranty work. Voiding the warranty as a service guy would say is probably just easier to say to a guy to get him to pay out the pocket since the warranty won't cover it.

Just because you have a warranty, doesn't mean the dealer has to unconditionally fix whatever you break on the car... If you mod the car, you need to pretty much throw all the special warranty treatment out the window, or just learn to play their game and take the parts off when you need to.

Maybe not as simple as that but that is the risk that is run with mods. A manufacturer can state that the use of inappropriate aftermarket parts or service will void the warranty. What then is inappropriate? It may come down to a part that modifies various characteristics of the product and guess who defines the characteristics. If they designed an engine to be reliable for 60k miles that puts out at various rpms certain torque and hp values they may well be able to void engine repairs if a mods puts out 25% more over design.

Inappropriate use can void a warranty. Racing for example is stated as one such item by Infiniti, should a manufacturer warranty engines used for racing (which doesn't have to take place on the track)?

One of the issues with removal of the parts is that you need to consider the consequences of such actions if it became known. Even taglines that define what your machine has in the way of mods could end up handy for a dealer if it came down to a battle over coverage.

[MNINFIN]

When I owned an 03 Mustang Cobra I frequented the mustang forums and this subject came up quite a bit. There are disclaimers in the warranty contract that spells out certain modifications which will void your whole warranty. Ford's method would be to have a factory "engineer" look at the car for certain warranty repair items, usually high $ and engine related. Not only is he looking to see if they will cover a repair, but he is also looking at reasons to void the warranty. I have heard of people loosing their warranties for things like "excess" rubber build up in the wheel wells or evidence of an octane booster. The CPU also contains engine data on some cars.

On the other hand why would a manufacturer cover a car that has had force induction added to it? Even if a dealer added it doesn't mean it would still retain the factory warranty unless it is in writing.

[elperuano]

Im going in tomorrow at Sawgrass Infiniti for a simple oil change. Im fully modded.. ztube popcharger 5/16 spacer mrev2 test pipes n exhaust.. Idk if anyone here has been to Sawgrass Infiniti but can i go to the dealership for a simple oil change without going thru the hassle of everything on my car? Or perhaps them taking note of all my mods n denying my warranty? Would be a pain to have to de-mod n then mod back up just to get a simple oil change to keep the warranty up-to-date?

[SxSkyLinexS]

^ i think they wont give u a hassle with oil change, but defintely note that ur car is modded, and not cover you once u get into big things like oil consumption etc.

if u want to keep the warranty up-to-date and not get RICK-ROSSED take em all off

[pfarmer]

Originally Posted by elperuano

Im going in tomorrow at Sawgrass Infiniti for a simple oil change. Im fully modded.. ztube popcharger 5/16 spacer mrev2 test pipes n exhaust.. Idk if anyone here has been to Sawgrass Infiniti but can i go to the dealership for a simple oil change without going thru the hassle of everything on my car? Or perhaps them taking note of all my mods n denying my warranty? Would be a pain to have to de-mod n then mod back up just to get a simple oil change to keep the warranty up-to-date?

I doubt you will have an issue for oil change, but I wouldn't go to the same dealer I plan on using.

As far as an oil change goes I go to Nissan which charges me half what Infiniti does for nearly all my work.

[Blue Dream]

Originally Posted by elperuano

Im going in tomorrow at Sawgrass Infiniti for a simple oil change.

Why not just do it yourself? Takes all of 30 minutes.

[elperuano]

Originally Posted by Blue Dream

Why not just do it yourself? Takes all of 30 minutes.

Well because i'd like to keep the warranty up-to-date.. Should I do the oil changes myself and just go in for the 30k n 60k service to keep my warranty up-to-date? Thas basically what im trying to do is just keep warranty updated..

[thescreensavers]

Originally Posted by elperuano

Well because i'd like to keep the warranty up-to-date.. Should I do the oil changes myself and just go in for the 30k n 60k service to keep my warranty up-to-date? Thas basically what im trying to do is just keep warranty updated..

DO it your self... imo just keep the receipts and you'll be ok. takes 30 min. I have ramps/tools if you want to borrow them or what not. They will notice the intake right away and they will write that down that you had that when you brought it in.

And I would not bring my car to Sawgrass Infiniti... This is the dealer I got my car from. The Sales guy was ok. but the Service Department sucks.. the mechanics also don't want to do their jobs and give attitude. They also joy ride the cars. and I even saw some guy go get Pizza in one, I don't know if it was one of the loaners or someones car but fuu that place... They order the wrong parts, they dont fix things. and Half a$$ things. Also if they ask you if you want your car detailed say no, just in case they ask you they do a horrible job, mine was detailed before I picked it up, buffer trails like mad

They will make you wait 2 hours + for a 30 min job. Be Prepared. oh and the Dish TV they have in the waiting room has almost all the channels blocked. BBCA (ch 135)works but top gear was never one when I was there

Also I would watch your car personally and make sure they are doing the $hit correctly.


Hope you have better luck then I did.