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

[cncBilly]

anyone in Canada with some service experience ? did the dealer mentioned anything to you once you picked the car up ?

They liked all my CF and had no problem with my Injen or OCC.

 

[G-830130]

If I get a muffler delete on my 2019 kia forte & I have a oil change coming up in another 2k miles would they say anything to me? it’d be the only thing on my car that’s not stock I also lease it, really just wanna do it for the “noise” lmao but can anyone see me running into any issues or that raising “red flags”?

 

[Revvdmedia]

If I get a muffler delete on my 2019 kia forte & I have a oil change coming up in another 2k miles would they say anything to me? it’d be the only thing on my car that’s not stock I also lease it, really just wanna do it for the “noise” lmao but can anyone see me running into any issues or that raising “red flags”?

It's pretty much impossible for a dealer to blame a muffler delete on anything warranty related that could fail. Of course if you have any exhaust issues pertaining especially to where it was modified, that won't be covered.

What is more important is that you noted you leased it. Typically manufacturers want the car returned to them in stock form, so expect to be charged to change the exhaust back to stock, or you're going to need to do that before returning it if you're not keeping it. Most likely, anyway.

 

[Manuel Wilson]

I dropped my plan to do catch can for the same reason. And now dropping plan to do exhaust as well. Will do sways though.

The only mod that I have on my 2018 Kia Stinger GT2 is an oil catch can. I recently had warranty work done on my car without any problems from the dealership.

 

[Luc343]

I'm not sure how it works in the USA, but in Oz the dealer makes more money when you pay for a repair, then when KIA pays for the same repair. If there is any reason the dealer can charge you for a repair they will.

Also, most dealers will not care about mods until something goes wrong. When it comes to money, the dealer will always try to maximise their profits.

 

[Shrikecorp]

Greater Seattle area folks...along the lines of the posts above, can anyone recommend one dealer over the others? Particularly for not being squeamish about little bolt-ons. The word I hear is that the dealer where I purchased mine is definitely best avoided for service. I'm planning to take the car to a well regarded independent shop for scheduled maintenance, but warranty issues do come up.

Bumping this...I now have conked A/C and a rattle, so it's time for a dealer visit. Any recommendations on Seattle area dealers? I seem to recall someone DM'd a year or more ago (I've been busy), but....

And mine will possibly be for sale in summer, two reasons to get A/C fixed...

 

[Shrikecorp]

From my experience in talking with the service manager at West Hills (Bremerton), they don't have a problem with minor mods. I will say all I have is intakes though, and Bremerton may be a little too far out of your way. When I bought the car I specifically asked about basic mods and they told me as long as a problem doesn't come up that directly links back to one of those mods, they don't mind it.

Aha! This is the post I was remembering. Well, thanks again.

 

[Stinger310]

Hello Can everyone please share your experiences visiting the dealer with mods...Do you take them off? will the dealer flag your car? I am going in for recall visit...Should i take mods off...Will muffler deletes be an issues... please share all experiences and knowledge, thanks

Depends on what mod you have. All i have is downpipes and intake. They question me what mod did i put on here i told em the two intakes up there and the pipe. This was yesterday and they are working on my saftey recalls. Now if i tuned it or have a jb4 or lap3 mod, then ill be in trouble. Thats when you take those mods off

 

[GTdsz]

Depends on what mod you have. All i have is downpipes and intake. They question me what mod did i put on here i told em the two intakes up there and the pipe. This was yesterday and they are working on my saftey recalls. Now if i tuned it or have a jb4 or lap3 mod, then ill be in trouble. Thats when you take those mods off

A downpipe is a lot more of a problem than a tune. You are messing with federal emissions, no way around losing a motor related warranty claim with downpipes

 

[DoctorStiches]

Ill hop on and reply to OP

My dealer is nice
I have bolt ons and no tune
There are no issies with my service team as long as the engine insides, turbos, downpipes, cats, and electronics are not messed with.

I have heard of service providers flagging stingers because of intakes and it boggles my mind.

 

[I am The Stig]

Just took my 21 stinger gt in cause of transmission issue. Before I have them any info about me I asked the service dept. since my trans is messed up and I do have some mods (intake, JB4, down pipe and catback) will this cause any issues with fixing my car under warranty. Service guy told me no not a problem at all. We like modded cars. I said are you sure? Should I at least remove my tuner? No that won’t be a problem he said. Well today they called me and advised my powertrain warranty was being voided. They want $13,500 for a new transmission. Told me some district Kia manager denied it due to Mods. Now am I wrong to believe here that they actually have to prove that the tuner actually ruined my trans. I have like 3400 mi on my car and that tuner is only been on 3-4 months. This is turning into a nightmare for me. I’m pissed at myself for not just taking it off first but dude told me several times it was ok it won’t be a problem. Then his manager goes and reports it. Any legal advise here?

 

[ChaneRZ]

Dude you got punked! Never bring a car going for service with a tuner installed! Intake/exhaust is fine but not ecu flash and piggybacks.

 

[akch]

Sorry to hear they denied your warranty claim! Was it any specific mod that caused the district manager to void the claim?

 

[P22Tyler]

Just took my 21 stinger gt in cause of transmission issue. Before I have them any info about me I asked the service dept. since my trans is messed up and I do have some mods (intake, JB4, down pipe and catback) will this cause any issues with fixing my car under warranty. Service guy told me no not a problem at all. We like modded cars. I said are you sure? Should I at least remove my tuner? No that won’t be a problem he said. Well today they called me and advised my powertrain warranty was being voided. They want $13,500 for a new transmission. Told me some district Kia manager denied it due to Mods. Now am I wrong to believe here that they actually have to prove that the tuner actually ruined my trans. I have like 3400 mi on my car and that tuner is only been on 3-4 months. This is turning into a nightmare for me. I’m pissed at myself for not just taking it off first but dude told me several times it was ok it won’t be a problem. Then his manager goes and reports it. Any legal advise here?

My understanding is that they do have to prove it, but I think that may entail you hiring a lawyer to get them to actually do it. But I'm not a lawyer so I could be totally wrong. I would try and get a consult from an attorney so you can have an expert opinion. Good luck.

 

[P22Tyler]

A downpipe is a lot more of a problem than a tune. You are messing with federal emissions, no way around losing a motor related warranty claim with downpipes

I am by no means an expert on this, but I haven't seen anywhere that messing with your emissions voids your warranty unless it's the cause of the failure. They're not really concerned with the emissions unless they're doing an emissions test for you. Now if you had a downpipe and say a turbo failed, they would probably try to claim the downpipe caused it and try to void the warranty on the turbo, that doesn't automatically void the warranty on everything else. The tune actually does a lot more and would probably cause you a lot more grief if something were to fail and they knew about it. But they'd still have to prove it regardless.

If anyone more knowledgeable about these things wants to chime in, please do.

 

[I am The Stig]

Sorry to hear they denied your warranty claim! Was it any specific mod that caused the district manager to void the claim?

JB4 tuner

 

[I am The Stig]

My understanding is that they do have to prove it, but I think that may entail you hiring a lawyer to get them to actually do it. But I'm not a lawyer so I could be totally wrong. I would try and get a consult from an attorney so you can have an expert opinion. Good luck.

Yea from what I keep reading under a law passed using aftermarket parts or used parts does not void a warranty but if that said part in their opinion caused the issues they need to prove it. I was also going to call a lawyer myself for some advice

 

[GTdsz]

I am by no means an expert on this, but I haven't seen anywhere that messing with your emissions voids your warranty unless it's the cause of the failure. They're not really concerned with the emissions unless they're doing an emissions test for you. Now if you had a downpipe and say a turbo failed, they would probably try to claim the downpipe caused it and try to void the warranty on the turbo, that doesn't automatically void the warranty on everything else. The tune actually does a lot more and would probably cause you a lot more grief if something were to fail and they knew about it. But they'd still have to prove it regardless.

If anyone more knowledgeable about these things wants to chime in, please do.

If you have any motor related issues and they see you have non oem downpipes they will flag you. I guess saying emissions isn't important. Atleast with a stinger the tunes are majority piggy backs which you can take off. However, if you want to mod a car don't be expecting the dealer to honor your warranty lol. You have to pay to play

 

[nhcowboy28]

@I am The Stig

Let’s be real. You add JB4/down pipes (meaning cats removed). Hoon the car (because that’s what you do with piggyback/tuners)…. HP/TQ IS higher And than what you bought the car… transmission dand you want to have Kia cover your costs.

if you can’t pay, don’t play.

it’s one thing to cry magnison-moss for a cat back exhaust or CAI.

but you can’t really act shocked and surprised that a DEALER would void warranty (rightly so I’m my opinion) for non trivial mods

And yes. I’ve tuned my past cars (including a 2011 moustang GT).

I knew what I was getting into.

 

[Revvdmedia]

I'll have to side with Kia on this one unfortunately. I know enough about engineering and design that vehicles as a whole contain parts that have a built in safety factor, so in theory it should be able to handle more power. On the flip side, Kia offers a very long warranty on said parts, so any over-engineering was more likely in an attempt for longer lasting parts they don't need to pay themselves to fix. The Stinger isn't a tuner car, not in the way a car like the MKIV Supra was overbuilt (to my research, since it was actually designed to put out a LOT more power from the factory, before the Gentleman's Agreement). The Stinger can easily put out another 100ft/lbs of torque just with a mild tune, that's >25% above stock, which is a lot of extra stress on drivetrain components. Kia designed the car to last xxx,xxx amount of miles and built it as such. Putting on parts that will most definitely reduce the longevity of these parts seems valid to void warranty to me. Fighting a cold air intake, exhaust and the like is fair enough, most of them don't add power and do little to change emissions. Adding 25%+ more power does exceed design limitations.

To your question of the dealer seeming dishonest in this situation, understand that warranty repairs need to be approved by increasing levels of corporate based on severity. If you blew spark plugs, it's likely the local service manager can approve the $300 of parts and labor. For $10,000+, this is definitely going out for approvals to proceed. While your dealer might be ok with mods, corporate most definitely is NOT.