Voiding a warranty

[EPyarisdriver]

anyone know what performance modifications will void a dealerships warranty? im planning to add headers, exhaust, and an intake to the yaris soon but i dont want to void anything.. help?

[yarrr]

*waits for some uninformed person to start spouting off about the magnusson moss act.

But in the mean time, yes those can all void warranties. BUT, done properly most dealerships will let them slide.

[EPyarisdriver]

ok i guess ill just have to ask the dealership if theyll let them slide

[sleey0]

Best thing to do is keep the oem stuff around just in case and u can swap parts if it comes down to that.

Dealer is going to have a hard time trying to prove anything with the oem parts on the car.

[EPyarisdriver]

Thanks ill do that too

[evoxgsr]

The MMWA is basically the answer, but if your doing your own work on your car your not really going to need the dealer to warranty anything except the tranny and engine in which case you might have your hands full. Best answer is always to save to stock parts and go back to stock if any problems do arise. You can always ask around and try to find a mod friendly dealer.

[Bluevitz-rs]

Put it this way, if you install a header and later down the road your O2 sensor failed they could deny you a warranty claim because the header could be the cause. But if you had a problem with the wipers, they aren't going to deny you warranty because of a header.

Catch where I'm going with this...

[ddongbap]

Originally Posted by Bluevitz-rs

Put it this way, if you install a header and later down the road your O2 sensor failed they could deny you a warranty claim because the header could be the cause. But if you had a problem with the wipers, they aren't going to deny you warranty because of a header.

Catch where I'm going with this...

Mississippi?

[cfeng]

does anyone know which aftermarket parts would void insurance? i've heard mixed things about this.

[why?]

Originally Posted by cfeng

does anyone know which aftermarket parts would void insurance? i've heard mixed things about this.

A dealer can only deny warranty coverage on an aftermarket part that directly affects the area of the warranty. Say you get an aftermarket header, and it blows and breaks the exhaust system downward from it, the dealer can deny that because the problem was directly caused by the aftermarket part.

Or if you installed a new suspension and it completely failed, any damage that happened because of the modified suspension would not be covered under warranty.

And yes, both those examples are absurdly far fetched.

What they cannot do is deny warranty coverage on the engine if you're car has aftermarket wheels and a spoiler.

And it is always good to check around and see if there are dealers that are mod friendly, or sell and install mods themselves.

[cfeng]

I was actually asking a different question. It is related so I was wondering if anyone here would have info.

I'm not worried about my warranty. I'm worried about my auto insurance with Metlife. I've heard that if you are ever involved in a crash with aftermarket parts, your insurance could be voided, leaving you without coverage. How are people insuring their cars with aftermarket parts?

[why?]

Originally Posted by cfeng

I was actually asking a different question. It is related so I was wondering if anyone here would have info.

I'm not worried about my warranty. I'm worried about my auto insurance with Metlife. I've heard that if you are ever involved in a crash with aftermarket parts, your insurance could be voided, leaving you without coverage. How are people insuring their cars with aftermarket parts?

ah. They cannot drop you because you have aftermarket parts. Some will drop you if they think you are racing, or have proof that you are racing.

Most insurers will not cover the aftermarket parts at all, they have special really expensive insurance for that type of thing.

So they will cover your car, but they will not replace aftermarket parts without special coverage.

Originally Posted by ross sez

Most insurance companies, when you fill out their policies, will ask whether or not your car has custom parts/aftermarket modifications that are valued over a certain amount. Progressive, I believe, won't cover anything worth over $1,000.

If I'm wrong please correct me.

While that would not surprise me, all insurers prolly have different limits, but asking is best if you are worried. heh, my wheels alone are worth more than 1k.

[Dragracer]

I am an Independent Mechanical Inspector. I'm the guy an extended warranty company sends in to inspect your car if there's a claim from a repair shop. I can't speak about the factory warranty, but I can speak about extended warranties. If you read your extended warranty contract, there will be a clause in it stating something along the lines that if you modify the vehicle, they can deny coverage based on the modification. Example, if you install headers, intake, turbo, nitrous, etc., and have an engine or transmission failure, the company can deny coverage based on the modification. It you raise or lower the suspension, and have a suspension failure, or a trans or axle failure, the company can deny the claim. They cannot stop you from modifying your car, but they can deny coverage. I have seen manufacturers and dealers deny factory warranty coverage to a couple of heavily modified Mitsubishi's. One had a full cage, with racing seats, race type tires & wheels, and some mods to the turbo system. It was a street driven car with less than 12k on it. It had wiring issues, and the dealer, with the factory rep's blessing, told the owner, they would do no warranty work on his car. I was there for the first refusal of work. I have no idea what happened later.

[ross sez]

Most insurance companies, when you fill out their policies, will ask whether or not your car has custom parts/aftermarket modifications that are valued over a certain amount. Progressive, I believe, won't cover anything worth over $1,000.

If I'm wrong please correct me.