I Void Warranties

3364 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Bnelson, Apr 26, 2015

forteturbo

Discussion Starter · Apr 25, 2015

Ok, so my dad bought the gigantic bumper to bumper 10 year/100k mile warranty to ensure this car makes it through college. Well, I want to mod it. A lot. And he doesnt like any bit of that because he thinks the entire warranty is voided. Any responses to this to see if I can change his mind? It seems like every time I mention it he just shoots down the idea and I am planning on opening it up for real tomorrow. I just got the BPV to BOV mod a few weeks ago and he doesn't mind bolt ons like the torsion bar but he strongly defies a SRI or anything of the sorts that replaces or removes OEM parts.

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Bnelson

· #2 · Apr 25, 2015

I go through my dealership before I do anything. The usual answer I get from them is that "it will only void the warrenty if we can directly connect it to that mod." so say the engine blows because of oil (example) the warrenty would not be void as because the oil caused it. Not the intake. Also mentioning that. I believe I had a convo to the this guy while my car was being worked on and he said something that. Yes we can void the warrenty because of oil changes at home if you don't use recommended oil/filter. But again they have to link that as the cause.

I could me completely with this. As I only spoke to the person and this is my understanding with what he said. There are a lot of kia techs that will tell you and probably know what is set in stone

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honhon

· #3 · Apr 25, 2015 (Edited)

there is actual case law in the world where the dealership/car mfg has to prove your modified part caused the issue... so if you install an intake and then your door falls off they have to by law, fix the door unless they can prove the intake caused the door to fall off...

when i go to my local dealer, i deal with one guy, i dont disclose anything more than what they need to know and i dont let them do their "inspection" to try and upsell me or even get a look at whats been done to my car to try and document it for the future...

i usually play alittle dumb also, not giving my advisor any more of my knowledge than what is required... but when i start talking about certain things to him, he knows that i know my stuf.

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forteturbo

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 25, 2015

Ok thanks. I new about the law and I'm glad I can hear from you guys that you actually run it by your dealership. It makes sense that they shouldn't void the entire warranty and have to prove it was directly related to that part. I'll try to get my dad down to the dealership one day and go over something I want to do and see what they say.

How do they take an ECU tune?

Who do I talk to directly?

Thanks for the reply!

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Bnelson

· #5 · Apr 25, 2015 (Edited)

Ecu tune I think is another ball game. I don't think the dealer will do that... But tork will!!

I here the ecu is a very nice tune to the car as it fixes some issues the car has. I personally don't plan on doing it until I get all the bolt ons first. Well at least the cat back exhaust.

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Forte5

· #6 · Apr 25, 2015

Good luck if stuff happens and your modded. Kia didn't like my car modded at all. If you look at the VT forums they are getting denied even for just having simple mods. Just be careful

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forteturbo

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 26, 2015

Yeah. I agree with the ECU tune but is it noticeable on the outside of the ecu? Can they tell it's been touched? My thought would be to have a tune for like just being stock so it runs like normal. Smack that tune on before getting it serviced and then boom they don't know.

The fear is that they don't like it. But if I went and talked to them about certain mods (SRI, FMIC, Downpipe, exhaust maybe) and they said ok, then they wouldn't be mad right? Or at least they would show it if they were before I modded my car.

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Forte5

· #8 · Apr 26, 2015

It really depends on what happens to the car. If the motor blows they will blame it on anything you put on. I had a tune when one of my coil packs fried and they wouldn't touch the car then. I also have other upgrades but my dealer was fighting hard about my upgrades to Kia. If you do a tune I would get a second ecu and have it flashed for the tune and one stock. Also keep all stock parts that come off the car so you can put it to stock.

Most dealers won't freak on a CAI or a SRI and exhaust since so many people do it now. My dealer said Kia doesn't really mind the intake. The exhaust it doesn't matter also so if you did a axle back with no muffler you will be fine.

Even if you talk to the dealer it's really up to Kia if they will cover it. My dealer had to take pictures of all my mods and send them to Kia and Kia wasn't to happy

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Playwithmymind

· #9 · Apr 26, 2015

Soon we won't have to worry about voiding the warranty or doing mods for that matter lol

Proposed Restriction Would Make It Illegal To Modify Your Own Car - EngineLabs

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4npower

· #10 · Apr 26, 2015

Playwithmymind said:
Soon we won't have to worry about voiding the warranty or doing mods for that matter lol

Proposed Restriction Would Make It Illegal To Modify Your Own Car - EngineLabs

They've been trying to do that for years now, but it will never happen. The fact is, when you purchase a car, it is yours, and you can do whatever the hell you want with it(Court cases have ruled that). Sure, the Manufacture can void your warranty, but that's about it. The same thing has happened with the black boxes being put into cars. They want to make it illegal to remove them, but every time it comes up in court, it's ruled that once you purchase a car, it's yours, and you can take whatever you want out of it. You can also do whatever you want to your car, as long as it doesn't infringe on a copyright or violate any local laws.
To the OP, if you want to keep your warranty, and not be hassled to death, then leave it alone and buy a project car to mess with. If you do something to the car, and the Manufacture decides to violate your warranty, you will have years wrapped up in appeals anyways(not counting lawyer fee's). Years ago, when the Subaru STI came out, they were offering owners a free rally style track experience, but all they were doing was tracking the VIN numbers from the people that showed up, then instantly voiding their warranty when they tried to use it. A few other Manufactures have also tried that over the years, but i'm pretty sure court cases got that shut down. Manufactures have also been known to send reps to racing events to document the VIN's of cars participating so they could flag their warranty. It's shitty practice, but at the end of the day, no Manufacture wants to pay for warranty work, and most of the time, Dealers only get reimbursed for the part, not the labor.

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Bnelson

· #11 · Apr 26, 2015

To add. I saw same thing and it listed manufacturers. KIA is not on the list. If that was to happen we all would be ok anyways.

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