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Voiding Factory Warranty

S

shafman1

GUEST
My Dealer told me it would void my warranty if I changed out my Instrument Cluster. Has anyone else heard this or have any info that would help. I hate to wait three years. Seems there should be a way around it. :cautious:
 
That sounds absurd - I see no sense in such thinking - and it certainly wouldn't be the first time that 'dealer-speak' was wrong . . .

There are other threads on this board discussing this. They discuss much more significant mods, do-it-yourself maintenance, etc. - with a general consensus that the warranty cannot be voided in a blanket sense based on mods that do not directly relate to problems discovered.

I've already switched mine for the Denali cluster - very nice.

I guess I could always swap it back if need be - though mileage numbers would be screwy.
 
Shafman1:

I called my dealer - Seaview Chevrolet in Lynnwood, Washington and talked to John who is a Service Advisor. I told him I wanted to install the 2500 cluster in my 1500 Avalanche and that I've researched it, understand what I need to do from a legal stand point. He immediately gave me a number without even asking to a shop that would change out my odometer and hours for me. I asked him if it would void my warranty and he told me no. :cool:

He said that because you are making no modifications to the Avalanche to either wire or mount that new instrument cluster, and because it just plugs and screws right in, and you have to make no electronic changes (with exception to switching out mileage) and it works out of the box - it not void the warranty. Now if you were cutting, and splicing, and changing, and attaching - different story. :p

Your dealer is feeding you a line of bull. Now with that said and your new found knowledge, I'd get an answer from Chevrolet Detroit, seeing how your dealer said no - AND I'd get it in writing, AND I'd keep that letter in your glove box. The only reason I suggest that is because your dealer has vetoed the change. :cautious:

Son, you've been hog tied...
 
Hey Folks,

Maybe this will help you guys when you go up against the dealer and they're telling you that a mod you made voids the warranty on the vehicle.
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (42 .S.C.2302(C))
was written to protect folks like us from a dealers bulls**t.

This federal law regulates warranties for the protection of consumers. The essence of this law concerning aftermarket auto parts is that a vehicle manufacturer may not condition a written or implied warranty on the consumers using parts or services which are identified by brand, trade, or corporate name (such as the vehicle makers brand) unless the parts or service are provided free of charge. The law means that the use of an aftermarket part alone is not cause for denying the warranty. However, the law's protection does not extend to aftermarket parts in situations where such parts actually caused the damage being claimed under the warranty. Further, consumers are advised to be aware of any specific terms or conditions stated in the warranty which may result in its being voided. The law states in relevant part:

?No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumers using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name....? (42 U.S.C. 2302(C)).

Below is the URL to where you can read the law in it's entirety. It's a little long winded, so be prepared. I made a copy of it and now keep in my glovebox just in case I ever need to pull it out at the dealers.

http://www.sema.org/fedleg/warranty/atta.html
 
Not true! I have the Caddy cluster in mine, and have had warranty work performed twice for water leaks and also having my pinion gears and bearings done, as well as replacing some paneling that I cracked when searching for the water leaks. No one said a word about it, even after one service advisor mentioning to me how nice it looked
 
Thanks for the info. I'm going to talk to the Service Manager and show him the print out from this thread.
I figured the dealer was wrong, but I wanted to see what everyone else had done. :D
 
I talked to the Service Manager. He's saying it would void the warranty of anything that goes through the instrument cluster. He said not an O2 sensor, but just anything that might happen to go wrong. He was basically no help. I can't even find anyone around here to do the reprogramming. Anyone else live in Illinois? The way the Service Manager talked, it seemed they would use it as an excuse if something did go wrong. :-[
 
Hey Shafman,
Sounds like they are not very service oriented, I would take the Av to another Chevy dealer for any warranty issues. To find who can do the mileage swap, call up any GM dealer in town and ask them if they can do the mlieage swap or who they outsource it to. Here in the Dallas area, all the dealers outsource to a company call Autocraft. I walked in with both clusters in hand and voila, mileage and hours combined and programmed.
 
I talked to another Dealer (They have a race team). Anyway, they said they could send it in and do the mileage for me for 60 or 70 dollars.
 
hey wrchism,

How do you like the Denali cluster? what color is the dash lighting for that one?

 
Any dealer who tells you that a properly installed and certified cluster voids the warranty is full of **** up to there eyes - and should be avoided by every truck buyer. Dealers such as this give good dealers a bad name and drive folks to other manufacturers in a heart beat. It is too bad that GM cannot control their dealers better and make them read the law that prohibits warranty voidance by customer addons.

This clown sounds like the type that would void the warranty over seat covers :8:
 
>:DShafman, sounds like you just found yourself a new service department...... ;Drace team, might even be able to give you some pointers.
My service manager runs a drag strip and is very open minded.. Good luck.
zeeya
 
Hmmmm.....instrument cluster swap voids waranty? If thats the case then my dealership just voided my waranty. They "owed me a favor" and I asked for the Cadilac int cluster. Next thing you know it, its in and installed!! Now that is a Service Dept for you! Oh yeah...it was FREE!
 
I haven't had my Av long enough to deal with warranty problems, but I can tell you from experience with my 01 Denali XL, GM was a booger to deal with on warranty issues. They blamed every little thing that went wrong on my "aftermarket items" -- from the alarm, to the television, to the Flowmasters, to the K&N filter. In fact, when driving through 10" of water resulted in a bent rod and a $6500 engine replacement, warranty replacement was "out of the question." Not only did they try to point the finger at K&N for that one ("our paper filter would have kept this from happening" ), but they even questioned the little "Tornado Air" thing I had installed in the breather duct. I hope and pray the Chevy dealer isn't as pissy about these issues.... ???
 
Shafman1, it sounds like the dealership was giving you the shaft, man! ;D Sorry, I just couldn't resist >:D Like the others have said, find a dealereship whose service manager is not suffering from "Cranial-Rectal Inversion".

MrJim

 
Dealers crack me up. They tell you to return to the dealership for all your accessories or it will void your warranty. They're just trying to push more business and to lock you in. You'll go back to them because of fear, but it's flat wrong.
I've taken my truck in many times and you know the only thing they would comment on was the white face gauges (when I had them, I have the silver Escalade now). I would just smile and go on my way.

Another thing I've noticed is that they like to point fingers. They look for anything to say that's why it happened. "Oh, that brush guard causes ALL kinds of problems. That's why your tires are wearing wrong."
It's total crap.
I know that the few bad dealers really ruin it for the good ones. There's a lot of good dealers out there, but you just have to find them.

It makes me sick to hear all the stories and crap some dealers pull.
Thanks to boards like this, we can put to rest all their misinformation.
 
Hey, Im just trying to help out the guys and gals who like to do performance mods. Many of you know my current situation with GM and such. But I was informed by a certain person that my exhaust and intake may have impacted my warranty. :8: Because "supposedly" the problems Im having are due to my aftermarket parts (which i know is untrue because I have contacted both manufacturers) so thats where the blame game is going. So just a warning to any modders out there to just remember this if/when a dealership might try this blame game.
Frank
 
Good topic ultravorx...

I think the consensus is that it depends on the Dealership and the relationship you have established with them...

I have found, that if you come forward as passive, and knowledgeable about your vehicle, it's workings, and it's mods, that they feel a little more "comfortable" with what you've done... Also, they think twice before speaking jibberish about any mods ! ...

I have a really good relationship with my dealership... They basically know where I'm coming from, and I don't think I would "present" them an issue if I had a possible related failure... For example, if you have a miss on cylinder #5, and you have done everything to try to solve it on your own, I wouldn't feel comfortable dropping it off at the dealership if I had Direct Hits installed... I may get guff from some members about this, but the truth is this... Some Dealers don't have the expertise others do, and they may "judge" a mod by it's cover, and not really know what it does or how it functions... But even though they are wrong and you are right, they hold the keys to your warranty record, and can note what they want on it...

Yes, you have SEMA to back you, but are you gonna raise a SEMA complaint over an O2 sensor? Or a plug wire? ...

Here's a little piece of advice also... If you get warranty work done, read all of the hand written info on your service tag/s and all paperwork associated with your repair... Not just what the cashier types onto the invoice...

The key is also, to remember the more "invasive" into modding you get, the more you risk a wrestling match with your dealership... I'm not saying "DON'T MOD", but I am saying there is a difference between a cat back exhaust, and Headers for example ... The headers might be emissions compliant on the surface but may not be technically... Just because they retain all sensors don't mean they won't threaten a warranty claim ... Also, it is more questionable if you have an emissions related failure in the exhaust tract; than say a catback...

just my .02

11H
 
Do either of you guys know of a list of mods that definitely will NOT void any warranties? I'm not talking about things like a mag-lite ;-) but like exhaust, induction kits, TBS, etc. Thanks...

David
 
Get to know your dealer well. Bottom line is that the only way GM is notified about aftermarket mods is through your dealer. The dealer does not have to relay the information to GM. OK...they should, but most don't because they want to collect the warrenty money from GM.

Most of the time they would rather submit a warrenty patment request than try and sell the customer on the repair and than collect. It is much less of a hassle, quicker vehicle turnaround, and guarranteed payment.

The only time you are really in trouble is if you moded part is responcible for the car misfunctioning. In that case, you should talk to the aftermarket company first.

RoRo
Just my $.02
 
The Magnuson-Moss Act protects the owner of a vehicle under warranty. In a nut shell, it says that a dealer/manufacturer has to prove that a modification caused a malfunction or breakage. Your warranty does not become null and void because you changed mufflers or changed plug wires.
 
The Magnuson-Moss Act protects the owner of a vehicle under warranty. In a nut shell, it says that a dealer/manufacturer has to prove that a modification caused a malfunction or breakage. Your warranty does not become null and void because you changed mufflers or changed plug wires.

This is absolutely true, but we all know (I hope) that if a warranty claim is denied by GM or a representative of GM due to a speculated or suspected mod, this may end up in court, or at the least in arbitration... This whole time, av sits or owner pays for repair with the hopes of getting re-imbursed...

So, if you have done a mod that may cause the dealership to take a hard stand in the face of a related component faiure (proof or no proof at the time), be prepared to fork out the duckets with or without Magnuson/Moss in hand ...

To also get technical, if they say an aftermarket part caused the failure, and refuse release of your vehicle until invoice is paid, you can argue all you want about proof... How do you expect they prove anything on the spot? ... It will end up in argument, they say, "ya aint getting your truck until bill is paid" (I think this is referred to as a Mechanic's Lein) ... You pull out gold card, and battle it out later... Again, through one of the avenues I mention above... So let's say it goes to court... Hmmm...

You show up in court with documentation in hand, and GM rep shows with corporate attorney... (Trust me, the aftermarket manufacturer who made the part in question will not go on record in writing or in person, so all you say about the product will be heresay...You are now a risk to them; they ain't goin' on record! ... Hey, hey, GM is involved now... They know you're gonna lose, and then blame it on them, and it is worse for them if they went on record, then you could sue them, using their own statements! ) ... You speak, they speak, Judge believes professional big company jargon no matter what Magnuson/Moss says... Your fluglebinder hoopdie doo MOD ran the motor lean, and you fried valves because of it... Your warranty claim will not be honored, because the Judge won't rule for you... And all future emissions warranty components are in question... So, after time spent, money spent on your attorney if you hire one, what's PROOF? ... It aint written this way, but if GM says NO, trust me they'll make their proof believeable to whomever presides that day ...

This is a pretty far fetched circumstance, and the Dealership will normally bend over backwards for the consumer, but don't think because SEMA, and Magnuson/Moss has spoken, that you're 100% safe...

It happened to me... I went down this road, and over a $130 MAF, it wasn't worth putting the rest of my warranty in jeopardy, and pulling out the swords... I just shut my mouth and bought the parts like I was asked... I mentioned SEMA, and they laughed... I called SEMA, and they said I should file a complaint which could take 2 to 3 weeks to review ...

It's not like having an atty on retainer... You have recourse if you've been wronged, but it can be articulated in court that ANY powertrain mod that interferes with the PCM will have caused the problem... The Judge aint a gearhead...

Please all, realize that this is worst worst worst case scenario, and I have only had one issue in the past 6 or 7 vehicles I've had... This is very far from the norm... And it comes down to dollars... If you have gone through 2 or 3 O2 sensors, and you have headers, DirectHits, other than oem plugs, and a cat back, your dealer might start to question...

So, the thread is not "will this void a warranty" they can't void the whole warranty for a basic mod... It just doesn't happen... But when I hear people bring up the Magnuson/Moss rule, and SEMA, as if they are some deterrent to GM and warranty denial, I gotta speak out... It just doesn't work that way...

Again, it depends on what your dealership can run through the system without alerting anyone beyond... Another thing that has been happening recently... Some dealerships have had problems with service writers writing up girlfriends, and families repairs on other customer's VIN as they are out of warranty... Joe Smith may have never had his tranny replaced, but he did according to the fraud commiting writer across the country... This has caused some dealerships to come under warranty charge spot checks... So, if your VIN has a large dollar amount of service written on it, it is possible your dealer might get a phone call from an auditor about your truck just to check if everything is kosher ... This situation alone has caused service centers to really watch what they say ok to and not ok to ... So, ever more, dealerships are getting stricter and stricter as GM is watching more and more what goes on...


11H
 
11H said:
.......Another thing that has been happening recently... Some dealerships have had problems with service writers writing up girlfriends, and families repairs on other customer's VIN as they are out of warranty... Joe Smith may have never had his tranny replaced, but he did according to the fraud commiting writer across the country... This has caused some dealerships to come under warranty charge spot checks... So, if your VIN has a large dollar amount of service written on it, it is possible your dealer might get a phone call from an auditor about your truck just to check if everything is kosher ... This situation alone has caused service centers to really watch what they say ok to and not ok to ... So, ever more, dealerships are getting stricter and stricter as GM is watching more and more what goes on...


11H

11H - Thar's a hell of a thing to post. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it really has no place in this thread. You are speaking to a large audience with every post you make and while most are very informative, the merit of this comment in this post I question. Stick with the facts that we can backup bro... >:D
 
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