Mauzl

Hi everyone,

I've been doing a lot of reading lately of the popular mods members of the forum have made to their cars, and its gotten me rather excited. I (finally) pick up my 8 early next week, and in the wait time I've been picking out a few mods I'm interested in. My main concern however is how the mods will affect my warranty.

The following are the mods I'm interested in. I've divided them into what my expectations are for the warranty issues they cause. If one of the vets out there would be able to help me with there experiences I'd be very grateful.

Expected to have no warranty troubles:
Mazdaspeed Spoiler
Mazdaspeed Skirts
Clear corners (if ti-grey comes with orange corners)
Shiny rims :D

Might cause warranty trouble:
RP short shifter
Black mesh radiator grille (Gorzilla guard)
Sway bars
Engine grounding

Expected to break warranty:
Aftermarket exhaust
Forced induction (turbo, super), and the required mods to not make my car blow up

Some of these I'm sure I'll do, and some are pie in the sky. I'm interested in all of them right now, but I don't know that the bank balance will hold up to get them all. :D

Thanks!

M

takahashi

Only the last thing will void the warranty...

Appearance mod & Hymee Grill is certainly ok, and the grill even reduce the chances to claim warranty - better design to reduce stone damage. And even the short shift and the exhaust should be ok. Mazda have fitted them for some of us, although they are not responsible for breaking the warranty... but it is very hard to see how can blame the exhaust on anything else.

Sway bar wise, paint it black and I will bet 10 out of 10 mechanics will not tell the difference (even if you have told them).
.... come to think of it. I don't think they even know the stock sway bar is black

BTW: It will be harder to find an orange corner than a clear corner in Australia.

Zephyr

Welcome

good choices for mods
try out your new car first, get a feel of what the car really needs then get mods

the body kit pieces
original - japan only, expect $3000 when it comes to ur door all ready to go
replica - ship from perth and sydney, expect $1000 + paint cost and fitting

i think the best mods out for the 8 is suspension upgrades, coil overs and sway bars is the most best buy bit for performance.

the other intake and zaust stuff is all bling and so rice(avoid)

i did suggest hymees exhaust muffler if u really want the sound(cheap with good quality).

and the tc/sc i did suggest u wait. wait for more r&d

EZZY

the mod will void its related warranty.
for example.... upgrading to a larger brake components will not effect the warranty of engine components.
however, IMHO, if mazda australia can prove that a dodgy exhaust system fitted and caused engine operating issues, ie. incorrect pipe size, dodge bents, crap muffler etc, then the "part" warranty on the engine can be voided

thats a good idea

depends on your budget, you do get what you pay for


sway bar is the best bang for your buck for sussy mod, not so much for the coilovers. most coilover owners dont use 95% of the "functions".
alternatively, go for a lowered spring/rate adjustable shocks combo for bang for your bucks sussy mod.

any half decent intake and exhaust mod will give you some sort of performance gain, so it is not rice, bling maybe :D

alot of ppl have this setup, try before you buy is more accessable now... all you have to do is to attend the cruise/get-togethers :D


agreed.....
keep your eyes on the hymster and ciao projects :D

takahashi

EZZY, does the 3rd brake light logo void the brake light warranty?????? :o .

I better check before I line up cars for this mod at the Nats


Oh I think the MazdaSpeed front spoiler can be potentially voiding engine warranty, coz it changes the amount of air going into the radiator and the oil cooler

Mauzl

Awesome, thanks for the quick response guys. IMO, the skirts and spoiler are a must.. they're how I've planned the look of the car all along. I was going to get to the spoiler from japanparts.com based on Taka's recommendation, and I was thinking about the skirts from here: http://www.teamjetspeed.com.au. They sell replica skirts which are quite a good penny cheaper. I need to do some research into teamjetspeed and their replicas before I do, but I'm in no rush. Are these the guys you're talking about? I wanted to get at least 5-10km on the clock before I did any mods.

Awesome news that the Hymee exhaust won't void it. Thats what I'm looking at, and I really love how it sounds. Its a long term buy for me if I do go for it, which at this early stage I think I will.

Thanks guys!

M

takahashi

That certainly does not take long

I think there are many things that can void warranty... but Mazda should be reasonable and we so far have no one being refused of warranty replacement just yet.

We have a record number of warranty replacement in a car --- remain nameless but he is still happy with all this mods .

Mauzl

Doh. I meant 5000-10000. :o

EZZY

:p
nah, dont think it'd void the actual light components..... maybe just the perspex cover on the outside (where the sticker to stuck onto the perpex panel, and left a logo print :D )

who knows..... the dealers can be just as troublesome as the insurance companies :D

i have a "slight/annoying" steering column rattle, still cant pin point the exact cause, asked the service guy to check and fix it under warranty, was told, yep, no probs.
anyway, the rattle is still there, "we" still have no idea how/why, they arent going to do anything about it, because they have blamed it on my stiff suspension...... go f'ing figure

Revolver

My view is that it is really only FI set-ups on your hit list that are potentially going to cause you practical warranty problems and if the install is professional and well-sorted to begin with (and I don't think any of the 'developers' have got to that stage yet) you may have no problems at all.

If the modification is improperly installed and/or fails, leading to another failure on the car, or the modification places undue stress on an OEM component, then you will have difficulty claiming under warranty so it is a good bet to ensure you are only fitting quality aftermarket stuff suitable for the car and that you have someone who knows what they're doing fit the parts.

As for the fitting of any MazdaSpeed product voiding your warranty - I'd like to see any dealer or Mazda itself try that on. Providing it is correctly fitted, refusal of warranty is tantamount to Mazda admitting that it has marketed (under MazdaSpeed) products that aren't fit for the intended purpose. That, combined with the negative publicity potential, would, I think, see just about all legitimate warranty claims being met. Of course, we need to keep in mind the context here - wear and tear will not be covered. It has to be a genuine manufacturing fault or failure.

Zephyr

i have the exact problem, and i went to dealer several times to get it fixed. and on my third time they finally found out what it was and fixed it :D just tell your dealer to check the airbag wiring at the back off the steering wheel. i think it will be that 99% of the time. other owners have also reported this in some U.S. threads.

Revolver

Oh, I'm not touching that! :D :D :D

I got my driver's seat fixed too. It was squeaking with lateral loads (i.e. shifting weight around corners). They put in some padding, which my SM tells me is now a standard fix if someone complains about it. So if it is squeaking on you, tell them.

ILIV48

This was a known problem 12 months ago when I took mine in for the same issue. The dealer contacted Mazda Australia back then and was told it is a known issue and this is how you fix it!

ILIV48

Dont worry about me! Most parts have been replaced so you could say it's almost new again :D :D :D