Accessories and Violating the Warranty

[lafountain]

Looking at the Chevy website specifically this is all I could find.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT ALTERATIONS AND WARRANTIES
Installations or alterations to the original GM-equipped vehicle (or chassis) are not covered by the General Motors New Vehicle Limited Warranty.
The special body company, assembler, equipment installer or upfitter is solely responsible for warranties on the body or equipment and any alterations (or any effect of the alterations) to any of the parts, components, systems or assemblies installed by GM.
General Motors is not responsible for the safety or quality of design features, materials or workmanship of any alterations by such suppliers.

http://www.chevrolet.com/warranty/

Not sure if that is helpful or not, but I didn't really see much in there.

[nUcLeArEnVoY]

Originally Posted by pinkcamaro10

well the only thing i am doing is painting the top half of my car. surely that wont cause any problems.

I don't think they'll complain about a hockey stripe, flat black tail light area and a larger rear spoiler but who knows.

[The_Blur]

I've posted this before. Do not believe your dealer or company. Only believe the law.

[Xanthos]

So, what exactly does the law mean in terms of - "Do my performance parts violate my warranty?" - sorry, I'm not up on all this legal mumbo jumbo and reading this whole thing is hard on my brain.
- Xanthos

[Xanthos]

I got a better site - or at least, one more expressly stated. It can be found here, but I've excerpted the important section.

"This means that, under the provisions of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975, an automotive dealership/carmaker cannot void your warranty because your vehicle has been modified with aftermarket parts. They (the manufacturers) have to prove that the failure was the direct result of the installed aftermarket part. Unfortunately, too many folks have gone to a dealer to have warranty service performed on their modified vehicle only to have the dealer refuse to cover the defective items. The dealer usually states, that because of the aftermarket parts installed, the warranty is void (without even attempting to determine whether or not the aftermarket part caused the problem). This is illegal...period."

So basically, if I install a short ram intake and mufflers on my camaro, and take it to the dealership for something under warranty, and they say its voided because of my parts, they have to prove that my parts actually caused the failure. Which I highly doubt a short ram intake and mufflers to do. Even headers should be fine, especially if you wrap them in thermal heat shielding. Awesome news! I should even be able to get away with a custom dual exhaust if the v6 doesn't come with one, and the high flow cats that I was thinking about! Wow, my wallet must hate this new find.
- Xanthos

[Xanthos]

Oh, and NE - unless you develop rust around where you bolted on the new spoiler, don't expect it to void any warranties. The paint would probably fall under whatever warranty is offered by the place doing the paint job though.
- Xanthos

[Txturbo]

Originally Posted by XanthosV6

I got a better site - or at least, one more expressly stated. It can be found here, but I've excerpted the important section.

"This means that, under the provisions of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975, an automotive dealership/carmaker cannot void your warranty because your vehicle has been modified with aftermarket parts. They (the manufacturers) have to prove that the failure was the direct result of the installed aftermarket part. Unfortunately, too many folks have gone to a dealer to have warranty service performed on their modified vehicle only to have the dealer refuse to cover the defective items. The dealer usually states, that because of the aftermarket parts installed, the warranty is void (without even attempting to determine whether or not the aftermarket part caused the problem). This is illegal...period."

So basically, if I install a short ram intake and mufflers on my camaro, and take it to the dealership for something under warranty, and they say its voided because of my parts, they have to prove that my parts actually caused the failure. Which I highly doubt a short ram intake and mufflers to do. Even headers should be fine, especially if you wrap them in thermal heat shielding. Awesome news! I should even be able to get away with a custom dual exhaust if the v6 doesn't come with one, and the high flow cats that I was thinking about! Wow, my wallet must hate this new find.
- Xanthos

Dealerships do that all the time. I knew a guy who switched to synthetic oil in his truck. A couple of years later he needed the lifters replaced. His warranty was declined because he used synthetic oil and the lifters were an oil related failure. Even though the oil had a GM spec and it was the same oil put in the Corvette from the factory. He had to get a lawyer and finally got it covered but it was a big hassle and took over a year. They will tell you it voids the warranty as a bluff so they don't have to deal with it.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by Txturbo

Dealerships do that all the time. I knew a guy who switched to synthetic oil in his truck. A couple of years later he needed the lifters replaced. His warranty was declined because he used synthetic oil and the lifters were an oil related failure. Even though the oil had a GM spec and it was the same oil put in the Corvette from the factory. He had to get a lawyer and finally got it covered but it was a big hassle and took over a year. They will tell you it voids the warranty as a bluff so they don't have to deal with it.

Look, here's how it is:

1. Jerky dealers will bluff like that to avoid covering you.

2. Nice dealers will be reasonable.

3. If you get a jerky dealer and talk about the law, expect them to work to the letter of the law and charge you full price for every bolt and every minute of work that the law doesn't cover.

4. If your part didn't cause the problem but they can associate it with the problem, don't expect to be covered. While the law says they have to prove that it caused the problem, you have to take them to court for that. Courts are populated with lawyers and laymen, who are easily convinced of "proof" that your chip or headers caused the oil pump failure that destroyed your engine.

Here are your options if you like modding:
- Buy a used car out of warranty
- Wait for your warranty to end
- Accept the risk. You have to pay to play!