Will Racing Void the GM warranty?

[strych9]

Originally Posted by ZL1-V

Great points some people ignore completely. I have purchased a few vehicles over the years and have had very little problems with modded cars. As you stated the dealer wants repeat business from you. My Cadillac dealer covered my drive train on my AWD Escalade even when I had added an aftermarket supercharger. I really hit it off with the service manager who was into cars himself. It seems some service managers are burnt and hate their job. I know having to deal with the public all day will wear on you. IMHO it appears that the cool dealers are the ones with service managers that aren't bitter and angry at the customers because they have nicer cars. I have had that happen to me. I have noticed that the dickheads usually fold after a few years anyway due to mismanagement.


Doesn't the dealer have to show that the particular aftermarket part caused the failure? That would certainly apply to internal mods but who takes their modded ZL1 with 600 plus RWHP to the dealer to fix it once it's been torn into? Define abuse please? Is it subjective and case by case? I was pretty sure I read that the dealers will ding you when you re-flash the computer. You are making it sound like if you change anything the dealer will blame you and not the part itself. How many posts have you read on here that are titled GM denied my warranty. There's an old post here the owner had modded it slightly and GM gave him a new engine.

Q: Doesn't the dealer have to show that the particular aftermarket part caused the failure?
A: They do, but only if the case makes its way into a courtroom. Most cases never do. A lot of people will fold and take the denial with only a little fight. The customers that push and escalate usually get satisfaction before it goes to court. However, the sweet little disclaimer of warranty in the event of modification or abuse that all manufactures use, gives them a lot of latitude to deny warranty. Straight from my owner's manual:

"As the vehicle owner, you should
also be aware that GM may deny
warranty coverage if your vehicle
or a part has failed due to abuse,
neglect, improper or insufficient
maintenance, or modifications not
approved by GM."

Q: Define abuse please?
A: Notice that GM does NOT define abuse in the above statement. Again, abuse can be anything they deem it to be. From a dealership standpoint, abuse is defined by a component that failed for any reason outside of wear, or manufacturer defect. When abuse is suspected, the dealer will look for other clues. How much tread is on the tires? Are the rear tires worn more than the fronts? Excessive tire wear as compared to mileage? Excessive brake dust? Etc.

Q: Is it subjective and case by case?
A: All warranty is subjective, and treated case-by-case.

Q: You are making it sound like if you change anything the dealer will blame you and not the part itself.
A: I am stating the they could try and blame your mods, or you. Some dealers love to blame mods for failures before they even get a full diagnosis done.

Again, this is not about GM specifically. This is about new car warranty, period. You would be amazed at the lengths dealers and corporate regional managers will go to in order to deny a warranty where abuse or modifications are suspected. Dealers get dinged for excessive warranty claims. They lose dealer incentive dollars because of them. Also, when performing a warranty repair, the dealer collects 25%-45% less than if the job were customer-pay. Since a service manager's pay is based wholly on shop dollars, there is a direct motivation to deny your warranty. Good dealers won't do this, since they value the long-term relationship and your future business.

It's a dicey game.

[gen=5]

The fact is if your worried ,and cant afford to fix it if it blows up,don't mod it period...
No matter what the case is there is some truth in most of all the statements,but you wont find out until you open up that can of worms...

[kaamacat]

Considering the ZL1 is advertised as a track worthy vehicle, specifically with 5 driving modes of which three sport, and the final two track oriented... if you are doing a "drivers education" session which is NOT racing with clubs such as PCA, BMW, MVP, CHIN...etc, and your ZL1 has no modifications other than a semi-slick (eg. sport cup, 60ish tread wear) then if lets say a suspension part fails. You are covered. Your engine blow and you have not done a missed shift with an extreme over-rev, you are covered. GM has nothing to stand on because they have this car designed as such.

[BRcar]

a good example of warranty denial even though it is an obvious parts failure, brake pads corroding - separating from their backing. ive seen this happen at very low mileage & within 1 year old. they are considered a wear item

[kaamacat]

Originally Posted by BRcar

a good example of warranty denial even though it is an obvious parts failure, brake pads corroding - separating from their backing. ive seen this happen at very low mileage & within 1 year old. they are considered a wear item

Agreed. Any form of wear item like brake pads, clutch...etc would not be covered unless in xx miles you had excessive wear from just normal day-2-day driving. Pads...rotors with normal use could hit an easy 30K miles if not much longer. I'd suspect though on the ZL1 with the Brembos and on floating rotors they have a more track oriented pad compound on them...not pure race by any means but obviously meant to stop the car when on the track.

[tomster]

I know this is an old thread but thought I should update it by Letting everyone know that Gm just warrantied my front rotors for heat spots and cracks and noise no questions ask at 20,600 miles. I told them that I track the car at Mid Ohio and they said no problem we will have the rotors here in a couple of days! just a little Proof that GM is standing behind their warranty claims with this car.

[BigBoyBlue]

Originally Posted by SSSylentZL1

Headers require a tune as well? Im doing Rotofab next month, just trying to see how much I can do without voiding anything. Probably will stick to cosmetic mods after that like the technogstalia tail lights, P13W for Fogs and DRL, oracle side marker(eventually), and electric cutouts(noweeds diverting system)

Be careful with electrical mods. If they cause a problem with your car's electrical system, you could be stuck with a big bill.

Some guy had a BMW M3 and put in aftermarket lights. Somehow it caused a short or something, and started a fire. Neither BMW or his insurance would pay.

[hognutz]

Originally Posted by tomster

I know this is an old thread but thought I should update it by Letting everyone know that Gm just warrantied my front rotors for heat spots and cracks and noise no questions ask at 20,600 miles. I told them that I track the car at Mid Ohio and they said no problem we will have the rotors here in a couple of days! just a little Proof that GM is standing behind their warranty claims with this car.

that is cool to hear. brakes would be something easy for them to try to bs there way out of if they wanted so it is nice to see them just stand behind it.

[Stephen12ZL1]

Originally Posted by hognutz

that is cool to hear. brakes would be something easy for them to try to bs there way out of if they wanted so it is nice to see them just stand behind it.

wow...I purchased a new set of rotors recently due to track torture...thought there was no way GM would cover a "wear item". Amazing.