I was talking with one of the guys in the office about going to an Autocross and he said be careful. I asked why and he relayed this story.

A friend of his was Auto crossing his EVO and had to bring it in for warranty work. Once it was at the dealer he was informed that his car's warranty was voided for racing it. He told them to prove it and they produced pictures of his car running at a local autocross with license plates in plain view. Apparently the dealer had sent people to the local auto crosses to shoot picture of any Mitsubishi cars that were there racing in order to void their warranties. This is one of the lowest things I have heard from a dealer. These cars are made to be driven but when you do the dealer voids your warranty.

 

ouch...

 

it's happened here to Abbid.

the cars are meant to be driven, not abused. because you own an EVO doesn't mean you can pretend you're a rally racer. at least that's Mitsubishi's angle, anyway.

 

I autocrossed for a long time. The only thing that gets abused if you drive properly is your tires. It really isn't all that hard on the car. The type of racing that absolutely abuses your car is drag racing. It's killer on your whole driveline.

I've never seen an Evo where the owner wasn't abusing it. It seems like every owner of Evo's, Sti's, SRT4's around here are all little punk kids with something to prove. Those guys try to race everyone and everything whther it's in their league (above or below) or not. That may not be true everywhere but those cars seem to get abused by their owners far more often than any other car. I still think it's crap that a dealership would pull crap like that by sending people out to autocross tracks. Send them to the dragstrips on weekends to see where the abuse really takes place.

 

I've heard of dealerships taking plates at drag strips too. They sold you a car and put a warrantee on it that probably distinctly states something of the effect that the car is for legal road use only or something. Show me an Evo dealer that honors warrantees for track cars and I'll show you a dealer giving away transmissions. When I bought my car, I pretty much knew full well that I would void the warrantee well before 50k miles. I just want the warrantee for a while so I know the car didn't come with any kinks.

 

That's what Credit Cards are for

 

Wow, I just read about his story and it is criminal what Mazda did. This guy drove 100mph and they void his warranty for that. What if he was in Germany on the Autobahn, then suddenly 100mph wouldn't be abuse? If Mazda felt that driving 100mph was abuse then they have the capability to limit the speed yet they didn't. The more I learn about Mazda the worst a company I think they are.

I think Autocross is out of my future until the warranty is over, so much for zoom, zoom.

 

^you could just cover your license plates, or take them off entirely while autocrossing.

 

I know a few people who autocross that still have the warranty on their car and take off their plates as well as put tape over their vin number that is behind the windsheild.

Seems like a good idea to me.

 

yeah mitsu is pretty popular for that .. their evo sales went the other way though .. hmm wonder why

i think mazda's been pretty cool about that so far

 

Evo sales going down is news to me.

 

the key is to do your 'offroad activities' discreetly, whether by taking your plates off or taping them up

 

similar experience with a friend of mine. he has an evo rs and took the car to the dealer for some drivetrain problems(i forget the exact part), and the mitsu dealer on route 1 in nj actually had pics of him at a local drag strip, plates and all.

 

That's my point. The cars are basically the same here as there so why would 100mph effect us here but not a German car.......it wouldn't. Mazda is just weaseling out of having to support their product. weaseling

 

Mazda Germany probably doesn't have nearly as good a warranty coverage as MNAO though.... 4yr/50k miles is a GREAT warranty....

 

and to be the devil's advocate, why should Mazda be your FREE racing support if you're purposely putting it in competition environment... racing parts are always sold AS IS for a reason.... it's a HIGH RISK activity....

 

I bought my 8 used, but didn't Mazda give a trip to "high performance" driving school to owners of new 8's? Seems a little contradicting.

 

nope, never heard of such things from Mazda

you must be thinking about Subaru's offer of 1 year of SCCA membership when someone buys a STi. They no longer do that now though.

 

A track day was done in England when you bought an RX-8. Don't know if it's still in effect, but it's certainly a good idea. Doesn't BMW give a 1 yr BMW-CCA membership w/a new car purchase?

If you're buying a sports car, it only makes sense you are taught how to drive it correctly and safely in a suitablely safe track environment..

 

i think if any company is going to make a car like an evo, sti, rx8, or whatever with horsepower over 200 supieror handling, sport suspension and advertise what it can do, then they shouldn't void a warrenty when the customer who bought their product does it. especially at a "safe" event like an autocross. but if i go barelling down the back roads or on public streets tearing up the attacking corners while endangering other cars on the road and breaking the law it won't void my warrenty? i'd sue if they tried something like that on me.

 

what i don't understand is why people are racing with their license plates on. 10 seconds and 2 screws could mean the difference between a warranty.

 

I have 64,000 miles so my Warranty is long gone. But if your going to drive on a track you have to keep it in the back of your mind that you could eat the total price of the car. Just one of the risks of driving on a track. If you can't afford to rack up your car / pay for a new motor etc. do not drive it on a track.