Marine Chevrolet of Jacksonville NC voided my warranty for drag racing

[Malice]

I took my 2010 camaro to a local chevy dealer to have the rear tires replaced with OEM pirellis. I also asked the shop to check my trans fluid level, since the transmission seems just a little noisier than I remember. (I just got back from afghanistan and hadn't driven the car in 8 months.)

The dealer told me that my transmission was in perfect working order. Then, the guy takes an agressive tone of the phone with me and explains the following:

"Mr. XXXXXXX, even if you did have a problem with your transmission, we wouldn't fix it for you. Your warranty is void. We see that you scraped numbers off your windshield, indicating that you've been drag racing your car, and that you're trying to cover it up. GM's warranty does not cover cars that have been abused, and your car has been abused by racing. The car was not designed to be raced or driven in such a harsh manner."

That caught me a little off guard. I have an aftermarket cold air intake, but the car is otherwise stock. I would have totally understood if he tried to void my warranty for having aftermarket parts. Furthermore, I have a dozen timeslips in the glovebox. Why did the guy bite off on the fact that I have white flecks on windshield that look like old sun-baked bird crap?

I didn't realize that the warranty could be voided by driving the car at a legal track. Am I the stupid one for not realizing this? Is this common knowledge among camaro owners? It was my understanding that the car was designed for casual competition. The owners manual even has a paragraph about it. Porsche, BMW, and other performance car makers relish the opportunity to cover racing under warranty.

Are the camaro 1LE, ZL1 also voided by racing? How about the Z06 or ZR1?

I held this dealership in very hi regard, but I don't think I'll be going back there again based on these shenannigans.

[camaro-dreamer]

See page 14/48 from this document: http://www.chevrolet.com/assets/pdf/...hev_lim_wm.pdf

Damage which can be attributed to racing would not be covered.

[SleepWarz]

I love places like this, after they include that horrible launch control feature they try to say it wasn't designed to be driven hard? Lol.

[SSMickey]

Just another dealership looking for any excuse to get out of covering your car. Unfortunately, there are a lot of them out there. Can't wait to see what they try to do about the ZL1.

[fsusmithc2]

This kinda plays into a similar thing that some people say along the lines of "why do they make cars that can go faster than the speed limit". The answer is because the government lets them and we want to buy them. Also because what we do with them on a private track is none of the government's concern.

Window chalk or timeslips aside, I doubt a cursory glance at the tranny would tell them you've been racing. Pretty sure the law says they have to directly and clearly prove that not only did you race but that the part broke precisely because you were racing.

Does this mean your warranty is void no matter where you go? I smell at least a BBB complaint here.

[justa25thTA]

what point would a dealership have in voiding a warranty? don't they get paid by GM to do warranty work?

[SC2150]

After the gov bail-out and the reorganization the warranty reimbursement rates to the dealer ships hardley cover their time so the cheap ones that dont care about the customer will use any excuse to void a warranty (the good dealers will take care of their customers as they value hte repeat business unlike the one you are with) in hopes you will come back and pay them full rate on work needed. They have the right to do it, but IMHO you should tell everyone NOT to buy a new car from them. We watch the commercials and read the articles and print adds bragging the performance, track times, lap times, etc. and then when you drive like the adds enticed us to then they use it as an excuse to void the warranty? They suck and dont deserve your business.

[DINGO]

All the videos i saw for the production of the ZL1, were from race tracks and 1/4 tracks.... And they have the nerve to say that they aren't ment to be run like that...am i missing something..
I guess that's GM's way of saying, we should have all bought the "Cruze"..
0% finance is looking good now...NOT

[Malice]

These are all valid points. I'm going to check my 2010 warranty docs, to see if the racing clause is in there as well. I'll bet it is.

I was really considering a 1LE or a corvette of some sort for my next car. This is making me strongly reconsider. I might look into a Porsche Cayman S or something like that.

When I go to pick up the car, I'm going to ask if I've been "blacklisted" in GMs master database. If so, F&%$ me. If not, I'll just find another dealership to go to for repairs.

[ParisTNDude]

The 2012 Mustang User Guide had this to say about competition:

Drive your new vehicle at least 100 miles (160 km) before performing
extended wide open throttle maneuvers and at least 1,000 miles
(1,600 km) before towing a trailer or before performance/competition

conditions. For more detailed information about towing a trailer, refer

I did a search for Camaro user guide in pdf and found the guide. The only time it used the word competitive was this:


The Camaro User Guide says this:

Competitive Driving

Competitive driving may affect the
vehicle warranty. See the warranty
book before using the vehicle for

racing or other competitive driving.

Then it goes on to tell you how to launch the car in competition mode:

COMPETITIVE MODE AND LAUNCH CONTROL (V8)

Note:

Competitive Mode and Launch Control are recommended only for use during closed track

events and competitive driving venues. See your Owner Manual.

Seems to me that if a voided warranty claim could be taken to court and won fairly easy with these comments in the user guides. Especially if the damage could not be attributed to use in competition. IMO

[strych9]

Bottom line: no dealership can "void" your warranty. A DSM (district service manager) has to do it. To further that, they must prove that a failed component was damaged from abuse, as opposed to defective. Automakers tread very lightly when it comes to voiding a warranty, due to the Magnuson-Moss Act.

Notwithstanding, they CAN void your warranty if you do things to your car that they say upfront you cant: programming, unauthorized add-ons, etc.

The dealer was very foolish to say that to you without cause. Just plain stupid, IMHO.

[hokiez28]

Wow I bought mine from there in February, thanks for the heads up. I will never go back after reading this post, I'll take mine to the Chevy dealer in Greenville (Phleps) to have any warranty work performed.

[awfarley]

Tell him about two of your best buddies Magnuson and Moss. Unless he can give data proving that running your car down the track a few times messed anything up, or that anything you have aftermarket has solely led to the fault, he is a fool.

I'd suggest finding a new dealer even though you can easily win this one. My dealer plainly told me they would help me in any way possible but did say that a tune would cause some trouble with GM. I asked him about exhausts, intakes, and lots of other mods.

Oh and like others have said, the simple fact that the car comes with "Launch Control" pretty much solidifies your case. Why the hell would the car be factory made to LAUNCH a take-off and in doing so void your warranty... Let's get him.

[awfarley]

Originally Posted by SC2150

After the gov bail-out and the reorganization the warranty reimbursement rates to the dealer ships hardley cover their time so the cheap ones that dont care about the customer will use any excuse to void a warranty (the good dealers will take care of their customers as they value hte repeat business unlike the one you are with) in hopes you will come back and pay them full rate on work needed. They have the right to do it, but IMHO you should tell everyone NOT to buy a new car from them. We watch the commercials and read the articles and print adds bragging the performance, track times, lap times, etc. and then when you drive like the adds enticed us to then they use it as an excuse to void the warranty? They suck and dont deserve your business.

+1
After I talked to the service manager about my future mods, I let him know that any work done to the car would be done through him. I'm glad my dealer is/was willing to build a relationship with me. I've bought two vehicles from them and my family recommended me to them.