In response to some of threads about mods to the car with dealers then refusing to honor warranties, I thought to address this issue here.

From my vantage point, significant modifications (lowering kit, adding lifters, putting significantly over-sized tires so one can race, etc.) to a car are akin to changing your medication prescription or taking someone else's (b/c their symptoms look like yours) on your own, without the MD prescribing the change, and then coming in to the office to complain that the original script was incorrectly prescribed to begin with so you modified it on your own (because you know better of course) and now you want your money back or to be "cured" w/o paying for the service. Then if you're informed that the medication you're taking is the incorrect one for your illness (remember, you self prescribed it), you become angry , complain, file suit and bad-mouth the MD for his insensitivity and callousness.

Common sense thoughts for the day- firstly, save all receipts and perform all regular maintenance work as scheduled (most dealerships will ask for this prior to performing some warranty work). Secondly, realize that modifications will usually make your warranty null and void (which gives you no recourse in small claims court) for that part of the car; however, the car is a system and they will tell you that a mod in one area (e.g., changing tire size) affects other areas (e.g., ABS, mpg, odometer, etc.) and as such, the mod may void affected areas of the system (and yes they have a leg to stand on here). Thirdly, perform your own regular checks on all fluids, oils, belts, tires, etc, on a least a weekly basis (this takes <5 minutes and can save you mucho $$$$$).

Hopefully this will bring out good discussion and maybe even help someone think through this issue.

 

Firstly, if you unknowingly mismatch your tires and rims combined outer diameter to the point that you're no longer on the prescribed ratio and it fvcks your system up.... well congratulations, you're an idiot imo.

Hopefully this doesn't start a flame war. But i agree with you on certain points. If you mod stuff like pulleys, cams (do ppl even do that to vq's?), or go forced induction... you run a risk of messing some junk up.

However i don't wholly see the relationship in your analogy to modding the car, per se. I'll start out by saying i don't know what "lifters" are, so pardon my ignorance. But lowering springs? I don't see that doing much harm other than making you akin to more body damage from stuff like speed bumps and sonic drive-in curbs. I really hope a dealership wouldn't dump on you b/c your car is 1-2" lower. Same for something like an intake.

I guess the argument could possibly be made for exhaust systems considering it will slightly (or moderately) affect back pressure. But thats just my $0.02

 

This may be b/c you're viewing soley as the customer or car owner. Look at it from the perspective of the small claims court judge or an insurance rep and the equation changes. In a serious car accident, for example, an insurance representative and cop will immediately look at your tires, are they the same size and rating as stock (not necesarily the same brand)? If not, some fault can easily be asigned to you the "modifier (who is not an auto engineer or designer by training)" of the car, for alterations not approved of or even recommended by the manufacturer. In court (which is where you would end up if you filed suit for the dealer's failure to honor the warranty), you would lose fairly quickly, unless you had a Johnny Cochran or Greta van Sustren on your side (which would ultimately cost more).

My point is, whether you think the modifications significantly alter the cars operation, safety or whatever, you still lose since the warranty is generally clear that modifications will void it. This is a contractual arrangement that we acccept when we purchase the car and if we modify, we're in breach of contract; ergo, we have no leg to stand on. Do lowering springs do change the stopping distance for a car? If so, thn the liability shifts to the owner, especially if your sued in court if another party is hurt (or a party in your car is hurt and sues you).

No flame war here, just a healthy discussion to help folks thinking about modifications and warranties in the same breath. thanks for the ffedback by the way.

 

you can mod your car and still have warranty... now no warranty on forced induction cars because the engine can blow very easly.