What voids the warranty?
 

Does anyone know if a body kit, exhaust, new intake, wheels, coils & shocks void the waranty?

http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8102

Your warranty can NOT be voided for modifications to the car UNLESS it can be shown the modification was the cause of the failure you are claiming warranty work for.

For example:

Get a body kit and the transmission goes, Mazda must fix it.

Even if you get a turbo, which is not as black and white, and you have an engine problem. Unless Mazda can show that the turbo caused the problem and the problem would not have happened without the turbo, they must fix the engine.

Tis THE LAW!

Show add, that the new parts themselves are of course not covered under warranty.

Well that's not exactly true... Most car companies have figured out that 99% of the time when they turn down warranty claims the person is not going to go out and get a lawyer to dispute it, it's just not cost effective. More times than not if you have engine mods and have tranny or engine problems you're going to be denied. This will certainly depend on the dealer and how mod friendly they are and how big a jerks they want to be.

However, they can't really void your warranty, but they can deny claims for just about any reason they see fit. I've seen my fair share of posts on the WRX boards about tranny and clutch problems being turned down for minimal mods or even driver abuse. In short, the automakers have us by the balls, and they know it.

Ike

Bu the way, in general the mods you listed aren't going to be much of a problem when it comes to warranty work. That is guessing you're just talking cat back exhaust. If you put coilovers on and your struts go, you can prettymuch forget about those being covered. If you but much larger than stock wheels on, that could cause issues if you have any drivetrain problems.

Ike

True, but that's why the OEM's do it...because they do get away with it. However, you don't need a lawyer, just contact your states consumer protection division.

Of course in the months it take to hash it out you'll have a car with broken parts.

What happened to customer service and honorable business practices? Huh?

I've heard stories of engines blown because of aftermarket turbo kits that got repaired / replaced under warranty because the owner took the turbo kit out before taking it to the warranty dept. They weren't Mazda cars though

are the manufacturers providing a warranty by law? while i will agree they have a contract either way with the warranty, the fact that it is THEIR warranty means they have the ultimate veto power. therfore it behooves you to keep the mods simple/mild/subtle, or not expect a warranty. i used to work at a mazda dealer, we did warranty work on a 79 glc (this is in 2000), theres no reason they will deny your claim unless you give them one

mike

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty act is a Federal Law that protects the buyer of any product which costs more than $25 and comes with an express written warranty. This law applies to any product that you buy that does not perform as it should.


They don't have to give warranties, your right.

And I don't have to keep my obligations either I guess.

If they don't want to back up their cars with warranties, then they shouldn't.

Once they do, they make a promise. It is poor business practice to run from your promises when it becomes inconvenient. The promise (and the law) clearly states that any part will be repaired or replaced if it fails due to defect in design, manufacture or assembly.

Remember we pay for cars, it's not a favor they are doing for us. It's a business, not a charity.

All they need to do is not have warranties with cars. Problem solved.

This is a new problem because the OEM's (and I know I worked for Ford as engineer) are not making the profit margins they used. They are trying very hard to cut costs and after-sale costs are a big expensive. The Ford Focus makes a decent profit at time of sale, but ends up eating that and an extra $340 (on average) due to warranty work.

Blame the customer, save a buck.

BTW, Magnuson-Moss provides one big exception to allowing the use of aftermarket parts, and that' s it has a clause allowing the manufacturer to void a warranty for use of a non-manufacturer part if that part would have been replaced and installed free under the terms of the warranty.

So for example, Mazda cannot void your warranty if you decide to use a Fram rather than a Mazda oil filter.

However they can void your warranty if you decide to install, say, an aftermarket ECU as of course the original ECU would always be covered and replaced free under warranty.

Note also when I say "void" they can only void the warranty on that subsystem; if you chip your engine and blow it up, Mazda can decide not to cover it, but they can't deny a warranty claim on your glove box because you chipped your ECU...