Modifying and warranty Void

[mkhank7865]

First off, the "7 year, 100k" warranty, or any extended warranty at car purchase is the biggest sham there is. You don't know if you will own the car that long. You might be bored with it in 2 years. It might get totaled and you buy something else instead, and so on. After your base warranty expires you get 5000 letters in the mail asking if you'd like to buy more warranty. Anyway, the manager was just blowing sales smoke up your ass. If you blow your engine, and it has an aftermarket tune on it, they WILL deny the claim. Extended warranty or not. An aftermarket intake and (catless) downpipe usually requires a tune these days so those go hand in hand.
Since you bought the extended warranty, don't do anything that messes with the ECU, intake, or catalytic converter. A catback is fine.
Lowering springs MIGHT get your warranty claim denied if you blow a shock, that's dealer dependent usually. But cosmetic mods and mods that don't alter the powertrain are usually safe.

I paid like 1600 for the warranty through toyota, i think its a good value being that i am daily driving the car, its the first model year, and essentially has a BMW motor and electronics. If it was a camry i would have never bought it and if i bought it after the manufacturer warranty expired it would have been at least double the cost with less coverage. Coming from a current BMW owner also it was a great value at around 1600 bucks.

also an aftermarket DP or intake does not require a tune... a tune would maximize the output but in no way does any DP or intake on a turbo car require a tune

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[Dannyvandelft]

I paid like 1600 for the warranty through toyota, i think its a good value being that i am daily driving the car, its the first model year, and essentially has a BMW motor and electronics. If it was a camry i would have never bought it and if i bought it after the manufacturer warranty expired it would have been at least double the cost with less coverage. Coming from a current BMW owner also it was a great value at around 1600 bucks.

also an aftermarket DP or intake does not require a tune... a tune would maximize the output but in no way does any DP or intake on a turbo car require a tune

Then you've never modified a Subaru STI lol. Because they do require a tune with an intake, and with a downpipe.
When you alter the intake, the MAF gets too much air, and the ECU has to compensate. The BMW ECU might be able to, but the Subaru ECU will make the car run too lean and damage the engine. Same if you put in a catless DP. The Supra hasn't been around long enough yet, so if we see untuned intake and/or DP runners blow, that'll be why.

 

[LS3Twins]

Warranty companies are like insurance companies. They are in the business of making money not paying claims. So you will pay more to them than they will pay you otherwise they wouldn't be in the business. There might be a small percentage of people who covered some repair that might have been more expensive but it still didn't cost them as much as they paid you. All repairs at a dealership are negotiable by the way so you don't just have to settle for what they tell you upfront.

If some people feel safer with the warranty then by all means get it for peace of mind but I wouldn't do any mods to my vehicle I couldn't quickly take off if I purchased a warranty.

I def woudn't say that no intakes and downpipes require tunes because some definitely do. An intake and catback could be switched pretty easily if you need to go in for warranty work but I wouldn't do a catless downpipe without a tune. Some might choose to do it, but that's a huge difference for the engine to deal with. As the famous saying goes "just because you can doesn't mean you should". I also think that the people that don't get the warranty might put a little effort into finding other ways to get repairs done for a fraction of what the dealership may charge you.

 

[s219]

The other problem with those warranties is buying them up front. That is a chunk of money that you won't even get a benefit from for many years/miles, until after the factory warranty expires (so if you're convinced you need it, then wait to buy it later). You'd be better off putting that money somewhere it can earn interest, then pull it out to repair the car *if* you have problems.

I know some people like to buy it up front to roll it into a finance package, but now we're getting into insanity territory, since you're paying interest on the warranty spread over many years.

These things are insurance scams but people go for it so I guess the warranty companies are on to something.

 

[Dannyvandelft]

The other problem with those warranties is buying them up front. That is a chunk of money that you won't even get a benefit from for many years/miles, until after the factory warranty expires (so if you're convinced you need it, then wait to buy it later). You'd be better off putting that money somewhere it can earn interest, then pull it out to repair the car *if* you have problems.

I know some people like to buy it up front to roll it into a finance package, but now we're getting into insanity territory, since you're paying interest on the warranty spread over many years.

These things are insurance scams but people go for it so I guess the warranty companies are on to something.

Exactly! When I bought my 2015 STI new they sold me the car 5600 below sticker, only to try to sell me 9000 worth of warranties. Powertrain, bumper to bumper, wheels, even tire warranty!

I'm like, the car comes with 5 years, 60k miles from factory. Take a hike lol. And they send enough letters over the next 5 years to sell warranty with, to wallpaper your living room lol.

 

[XtremeMaC]

The other problem with those warranties is buying them up front. That is a chunk of money that you won't even get a benefit from for many years/miles, until after the factory warranty expires (so if you're convinced you need it, then wait to buy it later). You'd be better off putting that money somewhere it can earn interest, then pull it out to repair the car *if* you have problems.

I know some people like to buy it up front to roll it into a finance package, but now we're getting into insanity territory, since you're paying interest on the warranty spread over many years.

These things are insurance scams but people go for it so I guess the warranty companies are on to something.

Well every warranty feels like a "scam" until you need it. I purchased Warranty + GAAP coverage. I didn't do these on my FRS, but Supra is considerably more expensive and I don't have millions laying around, so I want to protect my "investment". If I total it, I want to get the whole amount of what I paid, plus it's brand new collab with BMW, things can do wrong and wishful thinking, but I'd rather spend less time on if that shit is covered in the Powertrain warranty or not and get the fullest coverage and drop the car of and be done with that..
I may modify it or not, but gives me a piece of mind for $1500 over a $60K car.

Say you financed it over 3 years with 10% APR at $60,000 with tax and warranty. Interest on that vs without coverage $58,500 in total is $243!!!.. If that'll break you, don't but it. I'd rather pay and have piece of mind..

That goes for health insurance and accidental death, etc. as well. I'm healthy now and I drive carefully. Today I was in a friends car with 3 other people. Driver was making a left and somehow didn't see the oncoming car. We yelled, he stopped. crises averted. if not, I may not have been able to type this here now! sure health and living vs broken car part is not the same, but you get the picture....

 

[Dannyvandelft]

Well every warranty feels like a "scam" until you need it. I purchased Warranty + GAAP coverage. I didn't do these on my FRS, but Supra is considerably more expensive and I don't have millions laying around, so I want to protect my "investment". If I total it, I want to get the whole amount of what I paid, plus it's brand new collab with BMW, things can do wrong and wishful thinking, but I'd rather spend less time on if that shit is covered in the Powertrain warranty or not and get the fullest coverage and drop the car of and be done with that..
I may modify it or not, but gives me a piece of mind for $1500 over a $60K car.

Say you financed it over 3 years with 10% APR at $60,000 with tax and warranty. Interest on that vs without coverage $58,500 in total is $243!!!.. If that'll break you, don't but it. I'd rather pay and have piece of mind..

That goes for health insurance and accidental death, etc. as well. I'm healthy now and I drive carefully. Today I was in a friends car with 3 other people. Driver was making a left and somehow didn't see the oncoming car. We yelled, he stopped. crises averted. if not, I may not have been able to type this here now! sure health and living vs broken car part is not the same, but you get the picture....

We're not talking about GAP insurance. Totally different. Should always get that.
The car comes with X amount of miles and Y amount of years of insurance from the factory on the powertrain. Z amount of years bumper to bumper. Why buy extended warranties that you aren't using at car purchase? You get lots more opportunities to buy it, and cheaper, as the car comes close to XYZ. it is literally a waste of money.

 

[tisdrew]

If they wanted to, they could pick a partner and install in their own dealers - like Jeep used to do with AEV and BMW does with DINAN. In both cases the warranties stay intact.

Hopefully Gazoo Racing comes through and not Dinan. As a BMW enthusiast, Dinan is roughly triple the price of any other mod of similar quality. It's absurd.

 

[justbake]

Hopefully Gazoo Racing comes through and not Dinan. As a BMW enthusiast, Dinan is roughly triple the price of any other mod of similar quality. It's absurd.

But Dinan creates a parallel warranty covering the part of the factory warranty they just voided which is why they are priced higher. I don't think it is unreasonable for GR to charge similar to Dinan prices as long as there is a warranty

 

[thedude]

But Dinan creates a parallel warranty covering the part of the factory warranty they just voided which is why they are priced higher. I don't think it is unreasonable for GR to charge similar to Dinan prices as long as there is a warranty

Exactly. Pay the premium if you want the warranty, otherwise take your chances and pay less.

 

[Gearbangin]

Bottom line is that if you are worried about warranty coverage leave the tune alone. You're probably safe with a catback and intake but any type of tune will most likely be found and if you do have to go through the process of filing a suit you may end up regretting it. That same money could have been used for a built motor. If you're like me or others that accept understand the risks then find yourself a very reputable tuner and you shouldn't have to worry. Never ever ever skimp out on the tune. I don't care if I have to drive the car 8 hours to get to them because I don't have to worry about if the tune was safe. I have been using reputable tuners for almost 20 years and never had an issue with a tune.

I have always accepted the fact that if I did lose an engine that I wouldn't be at the dealership looking for answers if the car was tuned. My parents had a 2012 328i that lost the engine at 55k miles in 2015 and it was completely stock. They had a hell of a time getting it replaced and had to go through multiple levels of management to get anything done. This was 100% covered in their warranty but the dealership still wasn't going to cover it. 2 months had gone by and they agreed to replace the engine which took about 3 weeks. They were out of a vehicle for basically 3 months on a warrantied part.

Most dealerships are going to try their hardest to not pay for anything but that comes down to you making sure to stand your ground. Make legitimate claims and provide reasons why the modifications you did would absolutely not have anything to do with the defective part. If they still don't do anything then either pay for it yourself or contact a lawyer. If you decide to contact a lawyer just understand it will cost you thousands and a ton of your own time. Also be aware that Toyota's lawyer may be well versed in this type of thing so do your research.

Yeah but I’m a lawyer so I give myself a deal on my hourly rate lol.

 

[LS3Twins]

Yeah but I’m a lawyer so I give myself a deal on my hourly rate lol.

Well that changes everything. Haha.

 

[Supra Dupra]

lol I’m a lawyer too and while I think I would use that fact in my favor in dealing with a dealership that was trying to void valid warranty claims, I don’t think I would ever represent myself in a lawsuit against them. You really have to be a litigator to know what you’re doing there and people (even lawyers) often screw things up when they go pro se. Federal securities law knowledge does not translate very well into vehicle warranty claim litigation skills, unfortunately...

 

[LS3Twins]

lol I’m a lawyer too and while I think I would use that fact in my favor in dealing with a dealership that was trying to void valid warranty claims, I don’t think I would ever represent myself in a lawsuit against them. You really have to be a litigator to know what you’re doing there and people (even lawyers) often screw things up when they go pro se. Federal securities law knowledge does not translate very well into vehicle warranty claim litigation skills, unfortunately...

Agreed and I was just saying that your access to resources and your background puts you well ahead of someone that is not a lawyer, whether or not that is the type of law you practice. I would rather build the car with that time and money involved in chasing down a warranty claim to eliminate that weakness for the future. Aftermarket support is very strong on this platform which is good for all A90 owners.

 

[Gearbangin]

lol I’m a lawyer too and while I think I would use that fact in my favor in dealing with a dealership that was trying to void valid warranty claims, I don’t think I would ever represent myself in a lawsuit against them. You really have to be a litigator to know what you’re doing there and people (even lawyers) often screw things up when they go pro se. Federal securities law knowledge does not translate very well into vehicle warranty claim litigation skills, unfortunately...

Im an bankruptcy lawyer but have handled breach of contact claims before. Id suspect that once they received service of the complaint at the local dealership seeking treble damages and attorneys fees they would come around quick. lol

73 P.S. §§201-1 - 201-9.2 PENNSYLVANIA UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES AND CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW

(xiv) Failing to comply with the terms of any written guarantee or warranty given to the buyer at, prior to or after a contract for the purchase of goods or services is made;

§201-9.2. Private actions (a) Any person who purchases or leases goods or services primarily for personal, family or household purposes and thereby suffers any ascertainable loss of money or property, real or person, as a result of the use or employment by any person of a method, act or practice declared unlawful by section 3 of this act, may bring a private action to recover actual damages or one hundred dollars ($100), whichever is greater. The court may, in its discretion, award up to three times the actual damages sustained, but not less than one hundred dollars ($100), and may provide such additional relief as it deems necessary or proper. The court may award to the plaintiff, in addition to other relief provided in this section, costs and reasonable attorney fees.

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