Intakes and catbacks warranty issues
 

Hey I would like to know if our warranty will be void if we will install the cold air intakes and also catbacks and exhaust systems? Any inputs?:hello:

Anything short of FI, internals and may some suspension mods etc . Shouldnt void. but...It really depends on the dealer, while some are mod friendly, many are not.

Safest bet would be factory backed Nismo S-tune parts, most of these parts will definitely not void your warranty.

Thanks that's what I thought and maybe will do but I heard Nismo might be more expensive

Dealerships like dealing with trusted parts, there is no doubt about that. We deal with hundreds of Nissan dealerships across the country, a lot of them have upfitting programs installing STILLEN parts on vehicles before they are sold.

But aftermarket parts acceptance can vary by dealership and their understanding of the aftermarket.

my dealer was fine with the parts, especially when I mentioned they'd be Stillen.

Even then it shouldnt void the entire warranty.

It makes no sense that a cold air induction would void the power train for instance.

Become familiar with the Moss Warranty act.

Yes, but they could claim that the air filters used were inferior to OEM which caused dirt to enter the engine for example. But that certainly didn't cause your differential to explode.

How about as far as running HPDE or auto-x, do they have any grounds to void the warranty if you've been "racing"?

I looked into this awhile ago after I had a number of people tell me about it. My understanding was that they can never void your warranty due to the installation of aftermarket parts. However, if they prove that the specific part in question was absolutely responsible for the mechanical failure, they can deny coverage at that point. A company can never require only a certain brand of parts to be installed in order to keep your warranty valid. This was only based off some internet research and talking to some people on other forums. I never really checked into the legality of it.

The problem with all of this is when it gets to the lawyer level. How deep are your pockets? That said I doubt Nissan will make too big a deal out of a cat back exhaust or intakes.

Porsche would void your MAF sensor warranty if you had K&N's on the car. My service advisor told me to save my stock filter in the event I had a MAF or cat failure. Glad he did because a cat failed, $3200 for the pair.

Yeah I hear you on that. The law seems to mean well, but in my experience, the companies are EXPERTS at finding some way to not cover your claim. It has happened to me a few times before and like you said, I am not willing to get a lawyer to fight it and all that. It simply wouldn't be worth it.

When you go for warranty, and especially a large ticket item, corporate becomes involved and reviews the entire picture: how much you paid for the car; if you purchased their extend warranty, and how much you paid for that; service reports (how much they have come out of pocket for other warranty issues, and whether you followed the major service mileage marks); aftermarket equipment. This is where having not squeezed every dime out of the deal pays off. A friend daughter works for Toyota corporate in their warranty claim department...interesting stuff to say the least on how they handle matters.

From a corporate point of view I don't see why they would care if I paid $300 or $3000 over invoice. Logic would have it that a dealer that sold cars at a lower price would move more cars. That would be good for corporate, no?

I agree on the rest.

It's a matter of your cash outlay, as they essentially make a judgment call and take into consideration what you paid; the dealers are a contracted extension of Nissan. Someone paying MSRP has a better chance of getting high ticket items fixed versus the same person who didn't, especially near the end of the warranty. I believe it is GT-R Man who is a dealer, and has received a beat-down here about buying a car, but he has some truth to the his points. I know several people in the business, and when we bought our 370Z we were fair about the deal, on all facets. We didn't pay MSRP, but we also didn't go rock-bottom...that was intentional on our part.

if health insurance companies can deny you a claim, so can car dealers. they have people especially to look ways to get them out of liability. liability = money to be paid. no company wants to have liability if they do not have to.

the dealer might say, "hey, we are cool with aftermarket performance stuff." but when something does happen, you never know what they will say next.

i mean this is stuff that COULD happen, not saying that all dealers are like this, but you never know.

Cost vs. payment must indicate that the factory has no intention of paying warranty on model year close outs and specials. We should all avoid 4th of July sales and such.

Current employee pricing for various brands would mean 'sold as is' in the above scenario.

Just putting my point of view out on this one.

Yeah, that is pretty much it.

Yes, in theory you are right on the money, but in real life it is unfortunately a different situation. Somewhat like going to court with a jury...you may win the case, but be awarded less than you were seeking.

This stuff about the manufacturer not honoring a warranty based on what you paid for the car when you bought it is completely unfounded. When the dealer sells you the car, they sell you everything that goes with it, including the full warranty. If they decide to cut you a deal, then that's their issue. The company has no grounds to void or fail to honor a warranty on the premise that they sold it to you for less than they would have preferred...unless you the buyer signed a contract during the sale agreeing to a change in the warranty coverage.

If Nissan ever said "Well, we sold you the car for the dealer list price, so we think that we don't have to honor your warranty as stated in the manual" I'd take their a$$es to court so fast their head would spin. Then they'd pay for the repairs as well as my attorney fees.

I'm not versed on how Nissan can interpret the warranty based on a modified car though.

They will never tell you that. Nissan like, all major companies, has the top law firms on retainers; legal cases are standard operating practice for corporations.

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...-breakers.html

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...-warranty.html

Are you talking about making a warranty claim when the car has been modified? If I keep my Z bone stock and get it for below invoice, there is no way they will deny my coverage!

Two things to remember:

1. Nissan isn't looking at just your vehicle when they deny coverage. They're thinking, "Do we want to cover every yay-hoo who blows up this expensive part by using that aftermarket ECU (or other part)?" The decision isn't made in a vacuum.

2. Nissan's legal staff is EXTREMELY stubborn and persistent. Nineteen years ago, I bought a new 240SX that wouldn't pass the emissions test. (The dealer stickered it the first time but it never passed a test at the state inspection stations.) No matter how many times to the dealer, no matter how many parts they replaced, it never passed the test. Nissan even admitted that the car would never meet the required tests. Their "solution" was that I should bring the car to them and let them fraudulently sticker the car every year. Should have been a slam-dunk case for me -- an emissions related defect from the manufacturer. Should have been a very simple fix. But . . . eventually, it was lawyer vs. lawyer. I fought the thing for THREE YEARS to get them to make it right and they never did. After three years, I moved to a jurisdiction that didn't require emissions inspection. If I hadn't, I suspect I would STILL be fighting those guys.

And, only now, 19 years later, am I finally willing to look at buying another Nissan.

Never underestimate any company's willingness to tick you off for a dollar.

If you want to modify a car be prepared to deal with no warranty. It's pretty standard in the aftermarket world. If you can't handle that responsibility financially then it's better not to get started with making modifications because like others have said in this thread - the warranty claim can easily be denied.

Went to my dealer, Bruce Bennett Nissan, in Wilton, CT yesterday. Spoke directly to the owner Bruce.

I told him I was going to purchase the Stillen Gen3 Intake and Stillen Catback Exhaust. His response was "Good for you! Let me introduce you to one of my service managers, he handles our race car".

Josh from Stillen had also told me that Bruce Bennett Nissan had done a lot of Stillen installs.

I was told warranty would not be an issue at all especially since the dealer would be doing the installation of the CBE.

My dealer said they'd be happy to install Stillen aftermarket parts, and not void the warranty.

A month later, I decided to cancel my extended warranty - not becuase I don't care fo r stillen (I'm neihter for or against Stillen - I have their G3 intake...) - but I just think it was a waste of money and would rather not be locked into a brand, especially considering how little I drive my Z. And, if I was doing forced-induction, it's all be shot to hell anyway. $1100 back in my bank account, which paid for my CBE...or paid off a credit card...depending on how you look at it - lol.

Funny...they probably spent so much on legal fees they could have just bought the car from you and scrapped it 2-3x over.

One of those things where they were thinking that you weren't going to push it, so the ante just kept getting bumped up.

They will deny it based on what ever reasons they can think of, such as abuse or negligence, and off you go to court to fight it.

It really comes down to which is cheaper - replacing the part or turning it into a legal battle - based on how far they think the consumer will persue the issue (in terms of dollars they will spend before giving up), how much it could damage their image should the issue be made public, and how much ground they have to stand on with their denial justification.