What to do. What to do.

[lokey]

So you only have a problem with it if it's illegal? Okay, that's a bit different than what you stated earlier....

[SD_GR]

So you only have a problem with it if it's illegal? Okay, that's a bit different than what you stated earlier....

Where is the inconsistency so I can address it?

[lokey]

You made it sound as though one should shy away from dealers that permit, or even sometimes encourage, the use of aftermarket parts. I believe the key is a balance. A dealer should know better than anyone which parts could cause them issues later. My dealership, for example, sells and endorses products from the more quality and reputabe names (cobb, kartboy, whiteline, etc), but will not sell knock-off/ebay crap. I respect that.

[Trojan Baseball]

Thanks to everyone for the help. And clearing up the voided/denied thing. I guess I really should have been asking these questions before I purchased one so i could find a dealer that is mod friendly. But i'll ask the service fellas and see what they say. I guess worse case scenario I'll just get it bumpin on the inside before I get it rollin on the outside.

But if i do decide to say the heck with the warranty....should i just go straight to a tuner?

[teflon_jones]

No, I'd go with the Cobb AP. That way you can easily flash back to the stock map if you have a warranty issue and need to take the car in for service.

Personally, I've gone almost 10k miles on my STI and I'm finally getting around to modifying anything substantial. The only things I've done so far is a Nameless axleback, a winter set of rims & tires, and removed a bunch of badging. My AP arrives tomorrow so I can flash it to stage 1. That's easily reversible if you need to take it in for service since the AP has the base map on it too. The only thing the dealer will be able to tell is the map was changed somehow at some point because there's a counter on the ECU that allows them to see how many times it's been changed.

Other than stage 1, I'm going to stick with simple mods such as a short shifter, maybe some springs and struts, and possibly an intake. Maybe some sway bars and end links too. That's enough things to get rid of the mod bug down for a little while. I can live with the crappy stereo for now. I'd like to keep some semblance of warranty coverage.

Whether the dealer will cover something under warranty depends on whether they can get Subaru NA to pay for what's broken. Everything that's replaced under warranty gets sent back to Subaru NA for analysis of the problem. Subaru uses this to try and eliminate problems with materials or the manufacturing process because everything that breaks under warranty costs them money since they're the ones paying the parts and labor to replace something.

[MainFrame]

i personally dont believe in warranties.

+1



And as far as dealerships knowing what mods should be okay and what shouldn't.. In my experience the people at dealerships don't know crap about cars at all, let alone modifying them. I had the lead service tech at a dealership look at my car once and he just popped the hood, looked puzzled at my engine, then straight up told me he had no idea what he was looking at. Another time a call was made to the Subaru parts department and the parts department manager didn't know what a "STi" was.

Of course this isn't always the case.. just my experience. I will never have any car of mine worked on at a dealership.

[Geo-Aggie]

Yikes, it kind of scares me that you've had that much stuff replaced, SD_GR...

[Stu_Gotti]

I had the lead service tech at a dealership look at my car once and he just popped the hood, looked puzzled at my engine, then straight up told me he had no idea what he was looking at. Another time a call was made to the Subaru parts department and the parts department manager didn't know what a "STi" was.

Yeah people like that disgust me. I've had some bad issues with some local Toyota dealers on two separate occasions. I sure hope the Subaru quality, obviously if taken care of, shines with this WRX I have...

[xsolidice]

Warranties are good. Extended warranties is up to the individual buyer and how much you're willing to pay for peace of mind.. Extended warranties are essentially insurance policies that add to the price of your car. I've seen them range from $500-$5000. add the interest onto the financing of that warranty into the life of the loan of the car, and you've pretty much bought a new engine and then some for a brand new car...

It all depends on what you do the car and how "loyal" of a customer you are to your dealership. A repeat customer will always get VIP treatment over someone that comes in every 60,000 miles for an oil change that they just didn't have time to do themselves this month... Even if you install something that isn't covered, it will only void that that particular component. For example, an aftermarket brake upgrade will not affect the warranty on a stock drivetrain and vise versa. It also kind of depends on what you buy. Dealers are more likely to work with you if you drive a "top end" vehicle (such as the sti model) rather than the $15k base model family sedan.

When I worked at a local dodge dealership, Vipers are still subject to the same 3 year 36k mile warranty. However, i've seen our service department bend over backwards for a '95 rt-10 with 70k miles on it and the owners never paid a dime out of pocket, be it for a major repair or a simple oil change...

Here's some advice too... if you have mods on your car that are "questionable" of whether or not the warranty will cover it, November - February is the best time to ask the question. The vehicle maintenance industry slows down A LOT during the holidays. So much so, that your mechanics will probably be lining up at the door to greet you when you come in so they can get to work and collect a paycheck. The bigger the service department and the more mechanics they have, the more competition there is between the technicians to work on your car, and the more likely the service managers will work with you over warranty issues just to get some work in the door. (Mechanics service managers at dealerships get paid on commission, so they really could care less if they get paid by you or the manufacturer) They'd rather get paid by you because the paying customer always pays them more than the warranty work from the manufacturer, but warranty work is better than no work...

+1 to the OEM performance parts. They're usually a little more expensive, but almost never void any warranty.

[J_Maher_WRX]

I have never had a warranty problem with my WRX.

Here is what I have had replaced under warranty:

1. Radiator.
2. Clutch, throw out bearing, and flywheel.
3. ABS controller.
4. Gear box output shaft.
5. Valve cover gaskets.
6. Crank case breather gasket.
7. Respay on rear bumper.

Why? Because I use authentic parts, keep all receipts, and can document that I have done so. Every time I needed something done under warranty, I showed up with the binder of receipts and was simply told "no problem." I'd then drive off in the loaner car and that would be that.

Use authentic parts. Follow the schedule. Keep receipts. Enter agreements, keep your side, and expect the other side to be followed by the other party.

Using imitation parts and "tuning" or "modifying" the car is a reasonable basis for denying warranty work though, I agree.

Once in a while on threads like this someone will bring up the law (constitutional scholars are very common on car forums). However, expecting the Magnusson-Moss act or whatever legislation supported by imitation parts suppliers to help isn't reasonable or realistic because nobody has ever explained to me or anyone I know who is going to fix the car while the dispute is in progress.

Sometimes legitimate claims run into problems. That's very telling though - if it's the dealer, never buy from them again and tell everyone you can. If it's the maker, never buy the marque again, and also tell everyone you know.

How'd you manage to weasel your way into getting the dealer to replace the clutch/flywheel/throw-out bearing?? My dealership told me from the day I bought the car that the entire clutch assembly is not at all covered by warranty, which makes sense seeing as if someone doesn't know how to drive a manual correctly and is burning the crap out of the clutch all the time, its obviously gonna give out sooner. Please don't take offense to the 'weasel' joke :P