what aftermarket perfomance pieces void warranty

[terry5357]

I have heard so many opinions of what aftermarket performance items will void a new car warranty. I have heardthat it depends on the dealership, new car warranty can be voided if the aftermarket piece has nothing to do with warranty issue.

I am truly curious about this. I can not see where adding a different type of air cleaner that will improve gas mileage could void your warranty. I can however see where adding a super charger or a turbo charger could definitely have a negative affect on a motor.

 

Denying warranty because of an air cleaner and the ecu reprogrammed for the correct fuel/air ratio. I mean can we no longer have our cars tuned up by anyone other than Ford Motor company. without voiding our warranty. I truly would like to know the truth about this, as well as my question about warranty cannot be denied when the problem is not a direct cause of any replacement part

[NickF1011]

A warranty claim CANNOT be denied unless the dealer or manufacturer can DIRECTLY attribute the failure of the part to an aftermarket part on the vehicle. There was an article about the nitty-gritty details in MM&FF several months ago and it was pretty enlightening.

 

You may have to do a lot fo complaining to get the work done, but a new air filter is NOT going to void your warranty.

 

Additionally, even if a performance part does directly cause the failure of a warranty part, this does NOT mean that the entire vehicle warranty is voided. The claim for that specific part might be denied, but the remainder of the warranty should remain in tact.

 

In other words, don't worry about installing new exhaust, springs, shocks, air filters, etc, as basically none of those could possibly (with VERY few exceptions) cause a failure of any kind on your vehicle.

 

Now, with certain things like a PCM reflash, the dealer could pretty much blame that for anything that goes wrong with the engine. On the other hand, you could tell your dealer to go sit & spin if they try to deny your claim on your cruise control not working because you have a catback exhaust.

 

You just need to pick and choose your mods while under warranty or just accept the risk that some things are not going to be covered should they break. Also, you may expect to see some additional charges for repairs should the technicians have to remove/modify/replace any aftermarket component on your vehicle while performing warranty work on a non-related item (removing long tube headers to replace a broken transmission for example).

[RancorKeeper]

A warranty claim CANNOT be denied unless the dealer or manufacturer can DIRECTLY attribute the failure of the part to an aftermarket part on the vehicle. There was an article about the nitty-gritty details in MM&FF several months ago and it was pretty enlightening.

You may have to do a lot fo complaining to get the work done, but a new air filter is NOT going to void your warranty.

 

While this is technically true, in reality, if a dealership refuses to make repairs under warranty, you will be forced to take legal action to resolve the matter if you feel it's a valid claim. My parents went through this with their '85 Country Squire while it was still under the original 3yr/36K. The motor seized and three dealerships, including the one they bought the car from, refused to replace the engine, giving a litany of reasons why it wasn't covered. My parents consulted a lawyer, but the guy said it would probably cost more in fees to go to trial than to just pay for it out of pocket. Meanwhile, the car would just sit there completely useless until the issue was sorted out. Eventually, the dealership they bought the car from offered to do an engine swap for half the labor price if they bought the a new engine from them.

 

In other words, don't worry about installing new exhaust, springs, shocks, air filters, etc, as basically none of those could possibly (with VERY few exceptions) cause a failure of any kind on your vehicle.

 

This can backfire, too. A good friend who works at a garage that specializes in European cars (mainly Audis, BMWs & Mercedes) installed lowering springs on a friends new GTI a few years ago. When that kid had a warranty issue with suspension (some alignment issue with the front end), his dealership told him they wouldn't do the work because the springs weren't installed properly & contributed to the alignment problems. When he went to another VW dealer, his warranty claim was in the system as being denied, so that dealer told him they wouldn't fix it either. He ended up paying Dave's shop to do all the repairs.

 

From my personal experience, when I took my Bullitt into my dealer for the 1-2 shift fork replacement (which was a TSB) I got a call the next morning asking how long my aluminum driveshaft & aftermarket shifter had been on. I said I installed it them both the first week I had the car & the next thing out of the tech's mouth was one or both could have caused the bent shift fork & they probably wouldn't do the work under warranty. I had to argue with the Dept. head for about ten minutes (and threaten to write a nasty letter to the owner) before he begrudgingly agreed they would do the work, but he made it clear he felt he was doing me a favor.

 

Point of the story is while there are legal reasons why dealers can't refuse certain repairs based on certain mods or upgrades, it might require you to argue with them or even seek legal action. Might not be worth the aggravation - something to think about.