"marshknute" (marshknute)
09/02/2015 at 09:08 • Filed to: None
0
27|
"marshknute" (marshknute)
09/02/2015 at 09:08 • Filed to: None | 0
| 27 |
So I scheduled a 6K mile service for my 15’ WRX and was wondering if aftermarket modifications will cause me any trouble.
I track the car with the Northern New Jersey Porsche Club (both autocross and full track days), but obviously know better than to advertise/admit that to the Service Manager. Besides, I already changed out the racing brake pads for the stock pads (so no more low-speed squealing).
Two things are not stock: 1) I replaced the stock brake fluid with dot-4 racing fluid, and 2) I replaced the stock wheels (I still have the stock wheels If I need to swap them back on).
There’s nothing wrong with the car that would need replacing under warranty, I’m only bringing it in for the (required?) 6K-mile service.
Just curious if taking a modified car in for service will void the warranty or hurt me down the road. Any experience with this, Oppo?
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 09:12 |
|
No and no. Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. The wheels don’t really matter (if you had a hub failure I can see them trying to blame the wheels, but that’s not going to happen), and brake fluid is just an amber liquid. They won’t be able to tell stock from aftermarket, and even if they could, they wouldn’t care. If your master cylinder failed and you told them that you put something else in, they might try to pin it on that, but that’s another thing that I wouldn’t be worried about.
jariten1781
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 09:14 |
|
Unlikely to cause problems unless the dealer is beyond shitty.
And nothing voids a warranty in the US outright...that's weird tribal knowledge that won't die.
|
marshknute
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
09/02/2015 at 09:14 |
|
Thank you kind Sir!
crowmolly
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 09:15 |
|
No on the wheels, and no if the fluid is not easily distinguishable from stock. If it’s supposed to be straw colored and now it’s purple (yes I know that’s DOT 5, just an example) then VOID.
Sam
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 09:16 |
|
Nope, you’ll be fine as long as no warrantied part failed because of your wheels. And I highly doubt any warrantied parts have failed because of your wheels.
There’s also no way for them to tell if you changed the brake fluid. That’s like non-Subaru motor oil voiding the engine warranty.
Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 09:18 |
|
For service, no. If something broke and you were trying to make a warranty claim, then yes, there could very well be issues when dealing with the service dept. It really depends on the dealership though. I know a dealership or two that will laugh in your face if you try to make a warranty claim and have anything modified. They’ll say that the modifications proved that you were abusing the car more than what it was intended for and therefore whatever issue you have is your own fault.
Ash78, voting early and often
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 09:18 |
|
I have seen and heard of numerous VW dealers giving people shit about both, but only if they’re tangentially related. For example, any brake trouble? It’s obviously because you used DOT 4 instead of DOT 3 (and woe unto anyone who uses Super Blue!)
The wheels shouldn’t be a problem unless you run into alignment issues. They could blame it on you, even if it makes no sense, so buy Steve Lehto a case of beer and maybe he can get you a strongly-worded letter :D
Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 09:20 |
|
No. Unless they caused the failure of some part.
McMike
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 09:22 |
|
I’m also curious about modern warranties. I have never had a car with a warranty, and
our
her last new car was 12 years ago, before we were married.
Mrs McMike just signed the papers for a 2015 Accord the other day, and as we were denying all the wonderful added coverage/protection/service the finance guy was trying to sell us, he mentioned that any modification would void the factory warranty.
The example he gave was “Like if you go to BestBuy and buy a GPS and wire it into the car. If the wires are hacked up, it can void your warranty”
I’m not sure exactly what he meant by that. Maybe he meant head unit? I think it was just a bad example, since when most people mention “GPS” they mean a window mounted Garmin or similar that uses the 12 socket... but it got me thinking....
I have nothing to put in this car (once delivered) except for her Stebel, that just requires a relay and a fused wire to a 12v source.
How the hell could a properly installed aftermarket horn void a warranty?
|
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy
09/02/2015 at 09:24 |
|
Yeah, I’d like to see them get away with that one in court. When that happens, you go to another dealer or call a lawyer. Unless it’s painfully obvious that your mod caused the problem (huge turbo on an NA motor and then the motor blows - that kind of thing), aftermarket mods do not void your warranty.
|
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> McMike
09/02/2015 at 09:30 |
|
It can’t. That guy was talking out of his ass.
Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 09:30 |
|
I've had a few new cars in recent years, and I've never had an issue with any mod I've done denying any type of warranty claim. I've dropped my cars off a few times for service with the snow tires on, and I never had an issue. As long as your mod didn't screw something up, you should be fine.
|
Sam
> McMike
09/02/2015 at 09:32 |
|
I think anything that could damage a warrantied part that your trying to make a claim on would be void. Also, the meant hard wirin the power for the GPS, installed like a dash cam.
|
Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
> McMike
09/02/2015 at 09:33 |
|
First I've heard of a Stebel. Have a sound clip, perchance? Does it use the factory wiring? The horn on my '15 Civic is weak, especially compared to the'13 Crosstrek I traded it in on that I put Hella Twin Tones on.
|
jariten1781
> McMike
09/02/2015 at 09:37 |
|
Nothing ‘voids’ the warranty, it’s claim by claim. If the aftermarket horn develops a short and melts the wiring loom then they can deny that specific claim...if the driver’s door handle falls off it doesn’t matter what horn you have/other mods, they should (must by law) cover it.
|
McMike
> Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
09/02/2015 at 09:45 |
|
It uses the factory horn leads for the relay, but requires its own hot/ground. I use 12awg and a 15a fuse. Grounds are easy enough to find, and I’m sure I’ll find a quality 12v source to fuse it to.
They are compact air horns (compressor and trumpets in one unit)
There are soundbytes on the website, but here’s a comparison of the two-tone vs a stock bike horn
signintoburnerlol
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 09:46 |
|
You’ll be fine, just buy better quailty wheels next time around...
|
Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
09/02/2015 at 09:51 |
|
Exactly. Luckily, this hasn’t ever happened to me. Just stories I’ve heard from other people who’ve dealt with some disreputable dealerships.
BREADwagon
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 10:04 |
|
The only way an aftermarket fluid would void a warranty is if the fluid was TOTALLY the wrong fluid causing a part failure (like the wrong weight diff fluid causing the diff to fail). But even then, they’d have a very hard time proving it was the fluids fault unless you outright tell them. I’d equate brake fluid (of the right specs) to be equivalent to motor oil. Does using a different brand motor oil (of the same or better spec) void your warranty? No. Look up the “magnuson moss act”, which is generally used as the legal support for using OEM equivalent aftermarket parts without voiding warranty. Check out http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0138-… for some good info.
As for rims and tires, if they have improper offsets or sizes, I’m sure they can push to void something. It’s super rare, but it may be possible if the rims & tires are WAY off. If they’re properly sized, with no rubbing, and a proper offset, you’d probably get a compliment from the tech before they try and scr3w you.
I’d swap the rims and tires back to the stock set since you have it, not because I’d be worried about the warranty, but because 99% of techs use impact sockets that will scratch the hell out of the rim. The last set I had on my focus got scratched like none other around the studs because the tech used an impact that was too large for the recessed mounting of my rim...and this was after I told them not to rotate the tires!
Last thing, you’re 100% right in not telling them you went to a track or autocross. I’d go one step further and remove any stickers that may show your affiliation to PCA or whatever club you’re with. Granted, that may be very paranoid, but better safe than sorry!
|
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy
09/02/2015 at 10:04 |
|
Yeah, I’ve heard it too. Seems to be really common for GTI people. I don’t know if it’s because they break more often, everyone and their mother has to do a questionable “Stage 2” tune, or because VW dealerships are terrible.
|
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> McMike
09/02/2015 at 10:10 |
|
Grounds are easy enough to find
If, for some reason they’re not or you don’t want to patch into your harness, your entire chassis is the ground, so you can run that directly to any bit of exposed metal. May seem obvious, but it’s not to alot of people.
OCD-CO
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 10:18 |
|
I just wanted to tell you that I now might not be buying a CWP 2016 Premium. I may need to indeed choose the WRB. Damn you for shifting my mind after taking months to decide on CWP.
Oh and for the warranty on brake fluid, pads and wheels - the dealership has much better things to do with their time then to look for things like that when doing an oil change or 6k service.
Now take a stage 2 WRX in for warranty work and you might have a few eyebrows raised.
|
McMike
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
09/02/2015 at 10:24 |
|
I would never patch something with that much draw into a factory harness. Often the mounting bolt of the horn itself is a nice, short run.
Here one is living under my van. Rubber PVC cap is for waterproofing the leads.
Shark-Attack
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 10:59 |
|
Nope. For future reference, DOT 4 isn’t racing fluid, its actually standard on quite a few performance vehicles. The difference is the higher boiling point. When you say racing anything especially when talking about warranties, it has a negative connotation.
|
marshknute
> Shark-Attack
09/02/2015 at 11:17 |
|
You’re telling me the label lied to me?!? :(
|
Shark-Attack
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 11:38 |
|
Yes, precisely. It’s just marketing.
TahoeSTi
> marshknute
09/02/2015 at 13:08 |
|
No and no, but Posting pictures of your car on Opposite Lock might void the warranty.