Dealer Visit - Warranty Voided - Taking mods off the car - Experiences with mods

[Angel]

Will be taking the car to the dealer today ... in 1 hour lol it will have muffler deletes and downpipes on .... wish me luck

 

[Callum]

I respectfully disagree.... the experiences that I have heard off and seen with some of my friends say otherwise ...

Okay...so here is how it goes...

Vehicle comes in and is bone stock, something is broken. The dealer diags it and orders replacement parts. The part is replaced and the "warranty" part is stored in a room and it's tagged. There is a clerk that files warranty claims at a dealership and they are reimbursed at a later date. If the part, or the claim is suspected the manufacture will call for the part and inspect. Dealers float warranty claims for 30 days before they are paid out. If a vehicle is in EWR phase (0-180 days after launch) all warranty cases must be looked into via techline. After that, the dealer is able to perform warranty work even if the Stinger has a V8 swapped into it...if the manufacturer doesn't look into the claim or send a corporate tech out, the claim goes through

The manufacture pays for the dealers back for parts and labor...the dealer cannot deny a warranty claim but they can turn work away if they believe the manufacture will deny the claim. They are often scared of having to eat a claim...

Any more questions champ? I've got 6 years in fixed ops at dealerships and a few years at KMA.

 

[Angel]

Okay...so here is how it goes...

Vehicle comes in and is bone stock, something is broken. The dealer diags it and orders replacement parts. The part is replaced and the "warranty" part is stored in a room and it's tagged. There is a clerk that files warranty claims at a dealership and they are reimbursed at a later date. If the part, or the claim is suspected the manufacture will call for the part and inspect. Dealers float warranty claims for 30 days before they are paid out. If a vehicle is in EWR phase (0-180 days after launch) all warranty cases must be looked into via techline. After that, the dealer is able to perform warranty work even if the Stinger has a V8 swapped into it...if the manufacturer doesn't look into the claim or send a corporate tech out, the claim goes through

The manufacture pays for the dealers back for parts and labor...the dealer cannot deny a warranty claim but they can turn work away if they believe the manufacture will deny the claim. They are often scared of having to eat a claim...

Any more questions champ? I've got 6 years in fixed ops at dealerships and a few years at KMA (Kia Motors America).

No more questions from me ... I got all the answer I needed from the local dealers I called. And you said it best they will turn work away aka deny warranty work ... is that not the same ?? .....point made by all service advisors said to simply not mod your car if you don’t want the risk of getting warranty work denied ... they all had the same response on mods .... good you have all that experience in Kia motors ... I think this is pretty simple situation don’t bring the car into the dealer with mods that will raise red flags ... now if you have an exceptional relationship with a specific dealer then that can be a different story ....

 

[Callum]

No more questions from me ... I got all the answer I needed from the local dealers I called. And you said it best they will turn work away aka deny warranty work ... is that not the same ?? .....point made by all service advisors said to simply not mod your car if you don’t want the risk of getting warranty work denied ... they all had the same response on mods .... good you have all that experience in Kia motors ... I think this is pretty simple situation don’t bring the car into the dealer with mods that will raise red flags ... now if you have an exceptional relationship with a specific dealer then that can be a different story ....

The dealerships do not want the risk associated with working on a modified vehicle. It's not a denial of warranty, it's a denial of service.

We have done warranty work on many modified vehicles with no issues, it's not until the manufacture get's involved and see's the welded muffler delete, cut springs and a rats nest of wiring under the hood for the cheap ebay tune is the claim denied.

The safest bet, just remove the mods if it's easy. Post catalytic mods generally do not cause concern, intakes, lowering springs, wheels, etc do not....start swapping turbo's and parts touching the engine and the dealer will get concerned. KMA also does not have an internal "modded car flagging system"...not that I recall.

 

[Angel]

The dealerships do not want the risk associated with working on a modified vehicle. It's not a denial of warranty, it's a denial of service.

We have done warranty work on many modified vehicles with no issues, it's not until the manufacture get's involved and see's the welded muffler delete, cut springs and a rats nest of wiring under the hood for the cheap ebay tune is the claim denied.

The safest bet, just remove the mods if it's easy. Post catalytic mods generally do not cause concern, intakes, lowering springs, wheels, etc do not....start swapping turbo's and parts touching the engine and the dealer will get concerned. KMA (Kia Motors America) also does not have an internal "modded car flagging system"...not that I recall.

I understand your point ... I was told by the advisor that the dealer keeps mods notated on their system for their own personal use when you you bring the car for warranty work ... they can also flag the car to KIA and all dealers if they want too or feel the need too .... so I think the best bet is to be safe than sorry ... if your not sure about the dealer remove all mods when taking the car in .... now I am not disagreeing with you but I can’t apply that logic to my local dealers .... I personally would not reccoment anyone taking the risk ...but hey to each own that s why these conversation are good because everyone has different perspectives and experiences...

 

[Sales@Tork]

They have a Stinger in the show room with with $10000 worth of mods sitting in the show room that comes with warrranty. If you think something is going to cause major problems, don’t do it.

What mods equal $10K?

 

[Angel]

What mods equal $10K?

Dude 10 k on mods wtf ??? We’re the car panels replaced with carbon fiber ? Did the interior get done on Alcantera... I don’t even think torks car has 10 k on mods and that like full bolt on lol

 

[Kamauxx]

What mods equal $10K?

If the dealership installed it? Probably $7k tint and 3k pin striping.

 

[Angel]

I got
Intercooler- 1100
AP intakes 420
XS BOV 350
OCC 400
JB4 400
SSR DP 450
SSR muffler deletes 450
MS diffuser 100
MS spoiler 150
Roof wrapped 100
Wheels Vertini RF1.3 - With new indy 500 tires 3,500
Total = 7, 420

How they get 10k unless you add like a buncn of carbon fiber, and i dont think a dealer would have a full bolt on stinger with warranty i am sorry but i call BS on that lol...

 

[Angel]

got back from the dealer.....my harness is ok and they installed the plug.....the tech asked me if i had exhaust.... i told him i did and that it was installed professionally....luckily i did not see them put the car on the lift so they did not see the DP....but they asked lol, they said it sounded good....will be installing everything tomorrow morning should be warm 25 degrees...

 

[DaBears4Lyfe]

If the dealership installed it? Probably $7k tint and 3k pin striping.

Oh for sure. I saw a base gt with a Borla exhaust, k&n intakes, tints and blacked out emblems that had a price tag of 54k

 

[Soca Boy]

Remember I live in Canada, so 10K is in Canadian and we do pay more for a lot of stuff, but our Stingers are far cheaper the yours. They did suspension, exhaust, rims, intake, spoiler and bumper lip, something else I can’t remember. It’s on a GT limited trim(USA GT2) it’s a 2018 so it’s on discount and still cheaper then the GT2’s in the USA, lol.

 

[Socalstinga]

Went in for the recall, added the rubber piece, and got the shift logic tsb. All is fine, intakes/springs/exhaust/junbl secondary delete and all... no questions at Cerritos Kia, outside of Glendale Kia excellent marks from service and overall professionalism. Really busy but when you have that kind of service it’s expected.

Removed the jb4 and really felt the difference, even if I mainly use map1. Weather permitting, that bad boy goes back on pronto! Lol

 

[AV8R]

I guess you know now why they needed to "Detail" the car.
It's never a "Detail" its just a regular wash and vacuum, hardly qualifies as a detail. That's why I always say no to any "detailing" from the dealer.

Yep, i have a sign i got from the chemical guys which hangs off the rearview mirror that says NO WASH. Use it when i take for servicing. They know im fussy so they treat my car with kid gloves.

 

[Adamdan]

I’ve got my car pretty much where I want it. I wanted do do lowering springs but I worried that will reck the warranty on all the suspension parts. After I got the oem wheels panted black the wheel gap looks less noticeable at least.

 

[Callum]

I’ve got my car pretty much where I want it. I wanted do do lowering springs but I worried that will reck the warranty on all the suspension parts. After I got the oem wheels panted black the wheel gap looks less noticeable at least.

They cannot deny warranty unless they can prove the springs damaged the suspension components. It’s called “collateral warranty”. Lowering springs simply lower the neutral point of the shocks absorbers, you are not modifying those. It becomes a denial when you modify the shocks (i.e valving, electronic control, etc). As long as the shocks are not modified the shocks are still in their “OEM range” of spec.

 

[XZe]

Went in for the recall, added the rubber piece, and got the shift logic tsb. All is fine, intakes/springs/exhaust/junbl secondary delete and all... no questions at Cerritos Kia, outside of Glendale Kia excellent marks from service and overall professionalism. Really busy but when you have that kind of service it’s expected.

Removed the jb4 and really felt the difference, even if I mainly use map1. Weather permitting, that bad boy goes back on pronto! Lol

Kia cerritos did all everything without hassle? Im closer to cerritos than carson but i purchased at carson so i haven’t gone
Thinking of doing my recall there for minimal hassle

 

[Socalstinga]

Kia cerritos did all everything without hassle? Im closer to cerritos than carson but i purchased at carson so i haven’t gone
Thinking of doing my recall there for minimal hassle

I went to Carson car pros for my 1st oil change and I already had intake axle back and lowered w/ a stillen lip. No hassle BUT they are morons. Completely bent my tow hook plate and didn’t even notice driving my car out of the service area w/ a license plate hanging almost vertically! Unless you have a piggyback I don’t think any SoCal dealer will give you crap for bolt ons and springs.

Cerritos was recommended to me by the guys that work on my car at Concept3. I was told they are mod friendly...

 

[XZe]

I went to Carson car pros for my 1st oil change and I already had intake axle back and lowered w/ a stillen lip. No hassle BUT they are morons. Completely bent my tow hook plate and didn’t even notice driving my car out of the service area w/ a license plate hanging almost vertically! Unless you have a piggyback I don’t think any SoCal dealer will give you crap for bolt ons and springs.

Cerritos was recommended to me by the guys that work on my car at Concept3. I was told they are mod friendly...

I have gone to carson for my first oil change. Tried to go back to get an inspection for gettinv a burnt heat coming from the vents, but was never able to get through cause their only stinger tech is never there.
I might have to hit up cerrtios for this recall and try to get to know the stinger tech out there.
Much appreciated.

 

[YoonikornFartz]

I was thinking about adding catback exhaust, as my old WRX had that and I like the sound, and maybe adding a K&N filter, and also maybe some aesthetic stuff. I mentioned the catback to my dealer, and he seemed to think that their service department could add that on, and if so, would be covered under warranty since they do the work. I’m going to make some calls and find out.