Hi friends! So I have a plenum spacer, MREV2, intake, and wheel spacers on my G and I brought it in my local Infinity dealership today for a couple of issues (humming from rear which is prob a bearing and a high-pitched whining noise coming from the engine). As I half expected, they said that I shoud remove all mods before making a warranty claim.

After I left, I called a gshop I have gone to a few times and asked them if they think they'd have trouble fixing those issues under warranty with the mods in place and they said they don't foresee it being an issue (but that if the spacer was not too hard to remove I might as well).

Does anyone have experience with this? My fear is that they WILL come out to inspect it, see the mods, and i'll be flagged in their system or they void my warranty or something. But I don't know how it works.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

If I'm not mistaken, they can only void the warranty if the mod(s) caused/contributed to the problem(s).

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/cons...ts/alt192.shtm

 

i will still remove ur mods bro. i just took my G in and i took them off

 

You could be right Pepper, but conversely, they could say that I can't prove that the mod DIDN'T cause the problem (eg. I can't prove that the spacers didn't cause the wheel bearing to go bad, which I read can happen).

 

If I recall correctly from other previous experience and research they have to prove that it caused the problem, but that doesn't necessarily mean they won't give you a hard time and make things much more difficult than it needs to be to get them fixed. I would recommend removing them, but it seems you already took it in to the dealership? In that case they may remember and still give you trouble.

 

It all depends on you dealer tech/service director, if you can convince them, it's a go, it all depends on the whim of the person you are dealing with. Try few different dealers & tech writers.. you may not need to remove your mods. It's my experience. good luck

 

If you can, I'd remove all the mods you could. When it comes down to warranty claims, I'm pretty sure most companies will look for any reason they can to void it.

I've heard some dealerships say the warranty is void for just that component or any component directly affected by the aftermarket/modified part though.

 

Looking back at my original question, I realize I wasn't specific enough. It's not a warranty through Infinity. It's through an aftermarket warranty company. That probably changes most of your answers...

 

I would remove all mods that pertain to the part that you are trying to get repaired under warranty.

In your case, since you think a bearing is bad and want that warrantied, I'd remove your spacers. Heck, they can even blame aftermarket wheels with incorrect offsets if they wanted to (since a wheel with too small of an offset is just as hard on the bearing as a spacer).

And since you are claiming something on the engine - I'd take everything off that as well. The MREV is somewhat hidden so unless they tear into it, you might be safe. But since you have to pull the intake and plenum spacer, the MREV shouldn't be much more work. And plus, if they end up replacing your engine for some reason - you won't lose your MREV.

However, they can't deny you warranty on your radio head unit going out because you have an aftermarket exhaust.

 

That's a good point that you make about the fact that they can't void a warranty on a part that is not the issue. HOWEVER, what if I know the problem is the REAR wheel bearing, and so I only remove the rear spacers and leave the fronts on. I'm wondering if they'll see the fronts anyway and make a note of it in my file so that later if something goes wrong they'll give me a hard time.

The same could go for the spacer in regards to a completely separate part of the engine or any other part of the car.

 

It takes no more than 5 minutes to remove a wheel spacer. Are you really going to risk it over 10 minutes of work to pull the fronts as well as the rears?

Stop wasting time asking us - you could have removed the front spacers in the time it took you to make this post, check back to see if there were responses, read the responses, and reply to them.

 

I have to replace the studs with my spacers, which means I have to go out and buy new OEM ones because the originals were damaged on the way out... But that's besides the point. I'm really trying to get a feel for other people experiences with warranty companies, not really specific to spacers.

I guess the moral of the story is remove all mods.

 

I've had a dealer tell me that aftermarket wheels caused an intake manifold gasket to crack. Bizarre- but true. The best practice is to remove any mod possible before taking your car to get inspected. Even if it isn't related to the system that failed. As you suspect, they will do anything and use any excuse to get out of fulfilling warranty obligations.

 

Just to clarify my post.... I never said you should keep your mods or take them off. I was simply informing the OP on the guidelines of factory warranties.

 

Infiniti and dealerships have the ability to void your warranty for any reason. Couple years ago a member had OC issues, Nissan voided his warranty because he had a HKS exhaust system. They assumed because of the exhaust he was mistreating his car, as I recall he bought and paid for a new engine. I've never removed any of my mods, but I've never had any major issues only window motors and locks....Gary