Denial of warranty because of tune?
 

Been doing alot of reading in here in regards of warranty and tuning. I'd like to know if anyone has been denied a warrantly claim because of a tune or a simple bolt-on?

I have never heard of anyone I know being denied but I am sure its happened. I would justsave the stock tune and reflash it before going in.

It all depends on what breaks on your car. You can get all kinds of warranty work done after getting a tune. A Camaro5 member just recently got his lifters replaced and his car is tuned. But there is a TBS out for noisy lifters.

But if you roll into the dealership with a busted transmission and your car is tuned, there's a good chance GM will not cover it. The only way GM would cover it is if they find a faulty part or something that's unrelated to the tune. But most likely you're paying for a new tranny.

But all issues unrelated to your modification should be covered.

A tune will only potentially impact the drive train portion of your warranty. If you have a drive train failure the dealer is required to run a scan for an aftermarket tune and forward the results to GM proper. They can detect it even if you reflash back to stock. If it has been changed they can deny the warranty claim. It is a calculated risk.

I'd really like to hear from owners who have actually had warranty denials, not speculation. If dealers are in fact checking on this I am sure there will be members who have had problems.

That approach will not work. They will know.

You may want to look at this article from GM.
http://www.sandyblogs.com/techlink/2...-coverage.html
:chevy:

A few years ago, the traction control quit working on my 1998 Firebird. The service manager asked if I had changed anything in the PCM. I said no (which was the truth). He told me they would have to check, and it would not be covered if the 'tuning' had been edited.

So in addition to affecting the powertrain warranty, editing the ECM firmware can void the warranty on anything monitored/controlled by this computer.

Personally i would not waste my money on a tune unless i was planning to go for major power 100+ HP gains and use the car as a drag or race vehicle. Why kill your warranty for an extra 10, 20, 30 ponies you will rarely use? I see the allure sure and have a CAI myself. I chose very carefully and bought what would not void my warranty. Just my .02

:word:

I agree ... What's the point unless you intend to go to the track on a regular basis. With just the few bolt on's I have, there is more than ample power for everyday driving. For me 90% of the roads I travel have a speed limit of 45. Also for me, I am secure in my manhood enough that I don't have to worry about who's is bigger ...

Yeah, you hear a lot of talk about it voiding the warranty, but I have yet to read a thread up here where it has happen to someone in their new Camaro. I may be wrong, but I sure don't remember one. I'm not doing it though. :thumbsup:

I broke my outputshaft with 10k on Pumpkin. GM demanded a ecm snapshot prior to approving the warranty work, even though I was in the vin range of tranny issues. So if you tune you take your chances. I have a JRE tune but yet to put it in.

:thumbsup:

It isn't speculation, there are service bulletins issued by GM to dealers that lays it all out.

It has happened. Someone tuned, destroyed a Half shaft at the track and all they had was a CAI and exhaust. They complained that the minor gains shouldn't have made the part break and that clearly it was defective. GM denied warrantty work and voided the powertrain warranty. Pretty much everyone here is in agreement that if you tune you give up that warranty. Some think you can get around it by restoring the original tune. GM can tell how many times it's computers has been flashed. Some still disagree and say you'll be fine. I'm gonna tell you now if something breaks and they deny you don't complain here. No one will care. They will just quote "You voided it when you tuned." or "You gotta pay to play." Most here will also say who cares and tune away which is fine because the likelyhood of an issue is slim. However they all know they're gonna foot the bill for one if it does occur. Also the cars warranty doesn't get voided just the powertrain. So window switches and radios and other things are still covered. Bolt-ons without a tune will only void the warranty of the part it replaced unless the bolt-on caused the damage. i.e. K&N filter oil clogs up MAF and requires cleaning to remove a check engine light. They will not cover this.