Denial of warranty because of tune?

[Kahdir]

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

[GaryTucker]

Originally Posted by Kahdir

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

Not worth the paper it is written on unless the OWNER can afford to take a major corporation to court. Major corporations have the best lawyers money can buy... John Q. Esquire down the street that's willing to take your case probably isn't going to be able to keep up.

I've NEVER once seen a company jump forward to defend their aftermarket tune/headers/supercharger in open court in defense of a customer's car being denied warranty. I'd love to proven wrong on this fact...so if you are a company that has done so...please let me know. With today's online databases it should be easy to track down said case and use it as leverage in "discussions" with dealers/manufacturers prior to having to go to court.

[4rmMopar2MaroSS]

Thought long and hard on the tune....decided not to do it....car is already fast, and 10-20 HP more isnt worth my warranty. Now maybe after the warranty is over I will do some SERIOUS mods but for now I'm content.

[lewylew]

If you mod your car and the mod causes the failure just fix it yourself. If you play you have to pay. I will continue to mod my car and am not going to let warranty stop me.

[daygo1966]

I agree with the statement "you play you pay".....I choose to mod my car significantly so I better be able to pay any repair bill that comes my way. Each person chooses his or her own destiny and what they can afford.

[Badger]

I have said this before in all of these threads..I don't care how "nice" your dealership is...The Dealership does not Warranty your car..GM does....They make the call on Warranty work..NOT your dealership. If you have a Service department that can somehow manipulate GM and get you covered....Kudo's to you

[alfie43]

Originally Posted by Badger

I have said this before in all of these threads..I don't care how "nice" your dealership is...The Dealership does not Warranty your car..GM does....They make the call on Warranty work..NOT your dealership. If you have a Service department that can somehow manipulate GM and get you covered....Kudo's to you

I can guarantee you that my dealership is not going to jeopardize their relationship with GM by "manipulating" my dinky little warranty claim.

Dealership do not have to call GM for pre-approval on every warranty job. They are authorized to make their judgment calls.

Alfie

[ravensjeff]

Originally Posted by alfie43

I When I dropped my car off at the service dept, I was concerned that someone might inadvertently reflash my tune back to stock, so I hung a large sign on the rear view mirror that read: "Custom Calibration Do Not Reflash".

Lingenfelter puts this notice on the plug/cover that you take off to hook up for any re-tuning.

[ffrcobra_65]

Originally Posted by alfie43

I have Kooks LTs, a Magnacharger S/C, a Roto-Fab CAI, and a tune (561 RWHP). Before I did any mods I had "a warranty conversation" with my dealership's service manager.

I anticipated and agreed that they will not warranty any failure that is directly related to my mods. However, he did tell me that they will be reasonable in that assessment and many common warranty issues will most likely be covered. In other words, if my power window fails, it will be repaired, but if I come in with a sheared transmission output shaft, or smoked clutch...well I got his point.

Last august, I had a significant oil leak near the rear of my engine; around the oil filter housing and oil cooler lines. When I dropped my car off at the service dept, I was concerned that someone might inadvertently reflash my tune back to stock, so I hung a large sign on the rear view mirror that read: "Custom Calibration Do Not Reflash".

They fixed the leak under warranty without hesitation and left my tune intact. In fact, they had to remove one of the Kooks headers to access the leak. H*ll! They even offered me a loaner car, but I didn't need it.
Alfie

this is a prime example of "depends on the dealer." I happen to be around 2 dealers who would avoid warranty work as much as possible as there isn't much profit in it and they HATE doing the paperwork to submit to GM.

I was prepared to deal with probs and not having warranty, if I wasn't, I would not have modded my car. And No, I would not lie and try to hide the tune etc. etc. to get them to fix anything. Pay to play.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by alfie43

Last august, I had a significant oil leak near the rear of my engine; around the oil filter housing and oil cooler lines. When I dropped my car off at the service dept, I was concerned that someone might inadvertently reflash my tune back to stock, so I hung a large sign on the rear view mirror that read: "Custom Calibration Do Not Reflash".

They fixed the leak under warranty without hesitation and left my tune intact. In fact, they had to remove one of the Kooks headers to access the leak. H*ll! They even offered me a loaner car, but I didn't need it.
Alfie

Good to hear. I have the known issue oil pan leak. Not bad but will need to get fixed. If nothing else to keep it clean.

Originally Posted by alfie43

I can guarantee you that my dealership is not going to jeopardize their relationship with GM by "manipulating" my dinky little warranty claim.

Dealership do not have to call GM for pre-approval on every warranty job. They are authorized to make their judgment calls.

Alfie

Unfortunately one of the dealers I go to are not one of those kind. They are very strict. Recently I took it in for an oil change and they pointed out to me that my engine coolant indicator is showing dry. I asked them if I needed some dex added and they told me I need to do that. When I asked why, they told me because I had modified the engine. This was kind of surprizing to me so I asked what that mattered, and I explained that, though I had to drain the coolant and take the hoses free, the SuperCharger coolant was a completely seperate system.

Funny thing is they just couldn't understand that. I told them that I used Green coolant in my blower system and the dex in the engine. The guy said I should never mix them. ....... Huh......?

I explained that they never come together. It has it's own pump, and it's own heat exchanger, and it's own hoses. He told me again, "Ya, but you can't mix the dex with regular anti-freeze"

So I went out and showed him.

Now, even though this guy is not the mechanic, he IS the guy who writes it all up and decides warranty or not. So I showed him and WHILE I was standing there, he told the tech not to do ANYTHING but change the oil. NO WAY I get any warranty favors there.

The other dealer I have to go to is too big to get to know the service guys. I've talkied to them a little but they are either not there, or they stay busy as hell.

[mikeSS]

Originally Posted by alfie43

I have Kooks LTs, a Magnacharger S/C, a Roto-Fab CAI, and a tune (561 RWHP). Before I did any mods I had "a warranty conversation" with my dealership's service manager.

I anticipated and agreed that they will not warranty any failure that is directly related to my mods. However, he did tell me that they will be reasonable in that assessment and many common warranty issues will most likely be covered. In other words, if my power window fails, it will be repaired, but if I come in with a sheared transmission output shaft, or smoked clutch...well I got his point.

Last august, I had a significant oil leak near the rear of my engine; around the oil filter housing and oil cooler lines. When I dropped my car off at the service dept, I was concerned that someone might inadvertently reflash my tune back to stock, so I hung a large sign on the rear view mirror that read: "Custom Calibration Do Not Reflash".

They fixed the leak under warranty without hesitation and left my tune intact. In fact, they had to remove one of the Kooks headers to access the leak. H*ll! They even offered me a loaner car, but I didn't need it.
Alfie

what dealership do you go to. i might go there if i ever need to. they seem fair.
thanks

[PQ]

Oh.

And we've challenged all the tuners who made the claim that GM could not detect or they had a way around it, to back up their claim with a guarantee.

Simple. If I use one of your tunes, and I get a warranty claim denied BASED ON THE FACT I HAD A TUNE, you pay the repair.

NOBODY............... will do it. If they won't gaurantee it then they are, by default, admiting there is a chance GM will find it. OR that they are not sure.

The simple rule is this: DO NOT tune or break your warranty if you can't understand the warranty is void once you do.

Even if it's found to be a probable defect. Simple fact is, you voided under the rules. So don't complain later. You accept that, even if there was a previous defect, you are voided. PERIOD. If you can't live with that, don't do it. It's a gamble.

The car companies have to draw a line somewhere. And that's the easiest and safest place.

[2010 2-Tone]

Originally Posted by PQ

Oh.

And we've challenged all the tuners who made the claim that GM could not detect or they had a way around it, to back up their claim with a guarantee.

Simple. If I use one of your tunes, and I get a warranty claim denied BASED ON THE FACT I HAD A TUNE, you pay the repair.

NOBODY............... will do it. If they won't gaurantee it then they are, by default, admiting there is a chance GM will find it. OR that they are not sure.

The simple rule is this: DO NOT tune or break your warranty if you can't understand the warranty is void once you do.

Even if it's found to be a probable defect. Simple fact is, you voided under the rules. So don't complain later. You accept that, even if there was a previous defect, you are voided. PERIOD. If you can't live with that, don't do it. It's a gamble.

The car companies have to draw a line somewhere. And that's the easiest and safest place.

Well put Randy!!!! Getting mined tuned this week!!!

[mikeSS]

Originally Posted by 2010 2-Tone

Getting mined tuned this week!!!

welcome to the club