View Poll Results: Warranty claim problems/ No claim problems.
Submitted claim, wasn't honored or had problems
129
58.90%
Submitted claim, no problems getting it fixed.
93
42.47%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 219. You may not vote on this poll
Warranty Issues <Mega Merge>
Originally Posted by nebolic
Well first off you needd to think about the logic first. If you replace stock air filter with a K&N filter instead of an OEM filter, that should not void warranty. Let me explain why the magnusson moss act was enacted. It is to protect consumers, you and me, from being price gouged by car manufactures on replacement parts. If you can only use manufacturers part for replacement on your car, they will have a monopoly on the parts and charge you whatever they feel like. That is why they enacted the mangusson moss act, to create competition on replacement parts to keep the cost lower. And they know the only stronghold the car manufactures had was on the warranty, they specifically state that replacing parts with non oem parts will not void your entire warranty.
Nebo
Nebo
Well i was talking about an OEM approved replacement part, not an OEM part, if you read my post carefully. i do not believe a K&N filter is an approved OEM replacement since it claims to improve performance of your vehicle. a Fram filter however is an approved replacement part since it is constructed of the same material (paper) and is ment for the same purpose as the stock filter, which is to filter air, not improve performance. SAME thing with replacement brake pads. if you buy pads that INCREASE your stopping power and then your rotors suddenly seem to wear faster then normal...hmmm you voided your warrenty since you didn't not replace them with an OEM approved part!....see where i'm going....
BUT i'm sure no dealership will void a warrenty over a filter, i was just overstating my point.
Newbie
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
C'mon, this is just silly. People ought to know by now that driving to the dealer with those mods is going to get you rejected. I don't blame the dealership at all. I think you are stupid for bringing it up here like you have a case. Stupid is as stupid does!!!
Originally Posted by zlancer
Well i was talking about an OEM approved replacement part, not an OEM part, if you read my post carefully. i do not believe a K&N filter is an approved OEM replacement since it claims to improve performance of your vehicle. a Fram filter however is an approved replacement part since it is constructed of the same material (paper) and is ment for the same purpose as the stock filter, which is to filter air, not improve performance. SAME thing with replacement brake pads. if you buy pads that INCREASE your stopping power and then your rotors suddenly seem to wear faster then normal...hmmm you voided your warrenty since you didn't not replace them with an OEM approved part!....see where i'm going....
BUT i'm sure no dealership will void a warrenty over a filter, i was just overstating my point.
BUT i'm sure no dealership will void a warrenty over a filter, i was just overstating my point.
Originally Posted by Greg K
I think you are missing my point.
The key to what I was suggesting was not to check the oil every time you drive; however, if my oil is a quart low one day and I choose to top it off. I guarantee it's not going to be 3 weeks later the next time I check it.
Right now with my daily driver, I check the oil and the airpressure in all 4 tires every time I get gas. Looking at the mileage thread also going on, I'm guessing you need to get gas more than once in three weeks. Also, any time there is unusual noise coming from the engine bay, I will throughly look it over and determine the cause before I even think of starting it again.
Like I said I feel bad for the guy, but he's at least partially to blame.
If you topped up the trans fluid in the pinto, and didn't bother to take it back to the dealer to find out why the levels of a non-consumable item have dropped I'd say you bore at least some responsibility.
YMMV,
Greg
The key to what I was suggesting was not to check the oil every time you drive; however, if my oil is a quart low one day and I choose to top it off. I guarantee it's not going to be 3 weeks later the next time I check it.
Right now with my daily driver, I check the oil and the airpressure in all 4 tires every time I get gas. Looking at the mileage thread also going on, I'm guessing you need to get gas more than once in three weeks. Also, any time there is unusual noise coming from the engine bay, I will throughly look it over and determine the cause before I even think of starting it again.
Like I said I feel bad for the guy, but he's at least partially to blame.
If you topped up the trans fluid in the pinto, and didn't bother to take it back to the dealer to find out why the levels of a non-consumable item have dropped I'd say you bore at least some responsibility.
YMMV,
Greg
Finally, I never topped off the tranny fluid in the Pinto. I noticed the tranny did not shift well anymore and drove it back to the dealer. BTW, they complained a lot but they did replace the tranny under warranty.
My point is that an average, reasonable person cannot be expected to minutely check every fluid level in the car in a daily or hourly basis. Particularly in modern automobiles. That kind of stuff is generally performed by the shop technicians when the car is taken in for regularly scheduled maintenance. I say lighten up on the guy and at least give him the benefit of the doubt. Manufacturing defects in the
line of cars is not infrequent or unknown.
With my dealer, my warranty is only affected if the claim was due to mod which directly relates to it. ie add clutch and tranny goes out. Add pistons/rods and blow motor. etc.
Originally Posted by silverEVO8
First of all, brake pads and clutch plates as well as other parts like belts and such are not covered under the warranty in any car that I know.
Read the Evo's manual. They're covered for 12 months or 12,000 miles.
hey guys just to let you know, the same thing just happened to me! In all fairness though I do beat on my car and the oil was a low. It took 3 weeks for me to get my baby back. It REALLY SUCKED! But I will be MUCH MORE attentive to my oil level thats for sure. All I can say is make sure you keep an eye on it!
Evolving Member
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 259
Likes: 0
From: bartlett
ok i'll try to address as many point as i can without tripping over myself.
1) my regestration for my car is about 120 miles away from my home. legally you can live 150 miles from where the car is regestered and it is perfectly fine. Where i have the car regestered does not test emmisions so it doesn't matter if i got written a ticket or had it brought up in court. It is legal for me to do that and that is why i'm using the loop hole I found.
2) The BC was a show mod that had a greater purpose down the road. My Powertrain warranty was going to be void within the next year anyways due to the amount of driving I do. when that happened i was going to do alot of modifications to the engine and turbo. Until then it was just a pretty light that flashed some numbers at you. once i began upgrading the engine and turbo is when the boost controller was going to be put to use. I have the factory gauge set but i do not plan on keeping it more than another month. I have audio equipment to fill the DIN slot and in a appearence standpoint the factor cluster is uninspired and bland. A set of Defi gauges would be much nicer.
3) I'm not saying that the dealership has a responsiblity to fix my car with my mods being on it. they do, however, have a responsibility to tell me what caused the failure. This is the point of the thread. I was told my mods caused the failure without any proof that this was the case. I was given no reasons why my car was consuming that much oil. Had they said something along the lines of "well your MAF and O2 sensors were causing you to dump fuel and caused knocking and dentenation which destroyed your bottom end" then this thread would not have been started. My warranty was probably denied before they even started to take the car apart to find the problem. The fact that it took 3 days to even get an answer out of them on what was the cause is what pissed me off. Honestly ask yourself this. If you brought you car in for service and they denied you warranty claim and said it was your fault without any proof of that how would you feel? If someone told you that something you did caused a problem without any proof would you not defend yourself?
4) after 3 days of this i got the answer today on the cause failure. Engine Knock was the cause for the failure, or so i am told. Now if my mods caused the car to knock then fine, issue is dead and it is my fault. If the knock condition was present before the mods then that's another story but it is a which came first situation that i probably have.0001% chance of proving. If i had gone with my instinct and installed a standalone or another engine management system i would probably not be talking about this right now. i figure next weekend or possibily the weekend after that i'm going to AMS and tuning a AEM and cams on the car. I just don't know if i should wait until the new motor is broken in.
5) Having a shortblock built for me from one of the many shops was an option but it is too much at one time for me. My car is and will be a daily driver for a while and i don't need a overhauled engine to have my 15 minutes of fun to and from work. The dealership did go half and half and took care of the labor (which was almost as much as parts) and it is taking a week to get it all fixed and running again. my car should be back on the street next friday and i only ended up paying 2700 for parts. I still have no warranty in the long run and i don't expect to either. IMO this is probably the best i could have gotten out of this entire situation.
Does this stop me from going to court with mitsu? I'm not sure yet. i do feel somewhat shafted due to the quickness which my claim was denied and the difference in time it took to find a reason. I just hope that with the AEM and a significant increase in my monitoring of this car i will never be in this situation again.
1) my regestration for my car is about 120 miles away from my home. legally you can live 150 miles from where the car is regestered and it is perfectly fine. Where i have the car regestered does not test emmisions so it doesn't matter if i got written a ticket or had it brought up in court. It is legal for me to do that and that is why i'm using the loop hole I found.
2) The BC was a show mod that had a greater purpose down the road. My Powertrain warranty was going to be void within the next year anyways due to the amount of driving I do. when that happened i was going to do alot of modifications to the engine and turbo. Until then it was just a pretty light that flashed some numbers at you. once i began upgrading the engine and turbo is when the boost controller was going to be put to use. I have the factory gauge set but i do not plan on keeping it more than another month. I have audio equipment to fill the DIN slot and in a appearence standpoint the factor cluster is uninspired and bland. A set of Defi gauges would be much nicer.
3) I'm not saying that the dealership has a responsiblity to fix my car with my mods being on it. they do, however, have a responsibility to tell me what caused the failure. This is the point of the thread. I was told my mods caused the failure without any proof that this was the case. I was given no reasons why my car was consuming that much oil. Had they said something along the lines of "well your MAF and O2 sensors were causing you to dump fuel and caused knocking and dentenation which destroyed your bottom end" then this thread would not have been started. My warranty was probably denied before they even started to take the car apart to find the problem. The fact that it took 3 days to even get an answer out of them on what was the cause is what pissed me off. Honestly ask yourself this. If you brought you car in for service and they denied you warranty claim and said it was your fault without any proof of that how would you feel? If someone told you that something you did caused a problem without any proof would you not defend yourself?
4) after 3 days of this i got the answer today on the cause failure. Engine Knock was the cause for the failure, or so i am told. Now if my mods caused the car to knock then fine, issue is dead and it is my fault. If the knock condition was present before the mods then that's another story but it is a which came first situation that i probably have.0001% chance of proving. If i had gone with my instinct and installed a standalone or another engine management system i would probably not be talking about this right now. i figure next weekend or possibily the weekend after that i'm going to AMS and tuning a AEM and cams on the car. I just don't know if i should wait until the new motor is broken in.
5) Having a shortblock built for me from one of the many shops was an option but it is too much at one time for me. My car is and will be a daily driver for a while and i don't need a overhauled engine to have my 15 minutes of fun to and from work. The dealership did go half and half and took care of the labor (which was almost as much as parts) and it is taking a week to get it all fixed and running again. my car should be back on the street next friday and i only ended up paying 2700 for parts. I still have no warranty in the long run and i don't expect to either. IMO this is probably the best i could have gotten out of this entire situation.
Does this stop me from going to court with mitsu? I'm not sure yet. i do feel somewhat shafted due to the quickness which my claim was denied and the difference in time it took to find a reason. I just hope that with the AEM and a significant increase in my monitoring of this car i will never be in this situation again.
Last edited by ruthless evo 8; Sep 16, 2004 at 12:03 PM.
Originally Posted by silverEVO8
Dude your logic is very narrow minded and a little priggish. You have to admit that defects of workmanship and parts occur regardless of modifications. Also, if you are going to apply such rigid rules, you could not even change your wheels and tires because it's change however small to the drive train. What if you changed your shocks with a set of high quality coil-overs? what if you changed you crappy worn out clutch with a better after market unit? what if you use different brands of oils, lubricants, filters, antifreeze, belts or hoses in your car.... Would you accept a denial of warranty?
Face it, if the heater core leaks, are you going to say Mitsu is right to deny warranty because you have a boost controller? If you electrical system goes to hell, is that due to an aftermarket clutch? Is a faulty differential cause by and aftermarket exhaust? Is a bad transmission caused by your cam gears?
Please, what's right is right. If the modification caused the problem, then by all means the owner is responsible. But in any other case, the denial of warranty is unfair and unethical in the manufacturer's part. There are lots of service bulletins and memos that all manufacturers write about defects and potential failures of their cars. Ever hear of recalls? Now, if there are documented problems with certain parts of the engine, or the ECU, or the tranny, or whatever, it's fair and proper that these things be investigated before blaming the customer, regardless of what mods are done to the car. Many times modifications cause absolutely no harm. Also, it's very easy to abuse and break the car without a single mod done to it.
Oh yeah, the owner of a new car like the EVO cannot be expected to check the oil every damn time he gets in his car to drive it. That's ridiculous, I doubt that any one in these forums checks their oil every time before they start their engine. If anyone does this, I strongly suggest a vist to a competent mental health professional because there is an excellent chance that this person is suffering from obssesive/compulsive disorder and he or she needs psychiatric help. If the oil ring(s) go bad or break due to some defect of material or workmanship, then the oil will get used up very fast and the driver cannot be expected to know this and keep up with it.
Years ago when I bought a new Pinto (yes I'm an old fart ) the jokers at the factory or the dealership left off the transmission oil cap! Needless to say, that sweet shifting 4 speed tranny did not last a week! all the oil came out and the bearings and gears were damaged. According to some of you, that would have been my fault for not checking that tranny...... Of course, that's preposterous, it's implied and explicit that all these things are done correctly from the factory. A reasonable person would not be expected to check that just like the average driver does not check the oil, tires, brake fluid, tranny lube, etc. every single time he or she drives it. Hell, I bet anybody's mother in these forums or you cousin, brother or uncle Dick, probaly could not even find the hood release latch, let alone find all the appropriate plugs, caps and dipsticks or inspection places.
Bottom line is that the guys engine has failed for some reason. If that reason can be traced to his modifications to his engine, then it's his responsability to pay for the repairs, on the other hand, it is quite possible that the failure is due to a warrantable defect inwhich case it's only fair that takes care of it.
Rant off-
clutch with a better after market unit? what if you use different brands of oils, lubricants, filters, antifreeze, belts or hoses in your car.... Would you accept a denial of warranty?Face it, if the heater core leaks, are you going to say Mitsu is right to deny warranty because you have a boost controller? If you electrical system goes to hell, is that due to an aftermarket clutch? Is a faulty differential cause by and aftermarket exhaust? Is a bad transmission caused by your cam gears?
Please, what's right is right. If the modification caused the problem, then by all means the owner is responsible. But in any other case, the denial of warranty is unfair and unethical in the manufacturer's part. There are lots of service bulletins and memos that all manufacturers write about defects and potential failures of their cars. Ever hear of recalls? Now, if there are documented problems with certain parts of the engine, or the ECU, or the tranny, or whatever, it's fair and proper that these things be investigated before blaming the customer, regardless of what mods are done to the car. Many times modifications cause absolutely no harm. Also, it's very easy to abuse and break the car without a single mod done to it.
Oh yeah, the owner of a new car like the EVO cannot be expected to check the oil every damn time he gets in his car to drive it. That's ridiculous, I doubt that any one in these forums checks their oil every time before they start their engine. If anyone does this, I strongly suggest a vist to a competent mental health professional because there is an excellent chance that this person is suffering from obssesive/compulsive disorder and he or she needs psychiatric help. If the oil ring(s) go bad or break due to some defect of material or workmanship, then the oil will get used up very fast and the driver cannot be expected to know this and keep up with it.
Years ago when I bought a new Pinto (yes I'm an old fart
) the jokers at the factory or the dealership left off the transmission oil cap! Needless to say, that sweet shifting 4 speed tranny did not last a week! all the oil came out and the bearings and gears were damaged. According to some of you, that would have been my fault for not checking that tranny...... Of course, that's preposterous, it's implied and explicit that all these things are done correctly from the factory. A reasonable person would not be expected to check that just like the average driver does not check the oil, tires, brake fluid, tranny lube, etc. every single time he or she drives it. Hell, I bet anybody's mother in these forums or you cousin, brother or uncle Dick, probaly could not even find the hood release latch, let alone find all the appropriate plugs, caps and dipsticks or inspection places.Bottom line is that the guys engine has failed for some reason. If that reason can be traced to his modifications to his engine, then it's his responsability to pay for the repairs, on the other hand, it is quite possible that the failure is due to a warrantable defect inwhich case it's only fair that
takes care of it.Rant off-
Ruthless evo 8: I hope it gets worked out for you ....
Evolving Member
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 259
Likes: 0
From: bartlett
I don't understand why so many people think i was saying that mitsu has to cover the repairs under warranty. My complaint is that my warranty claim was denied before i was given a reason to the failure. Instead of the dealership trying to prove my mods were at fault i'm forced to prove that the OEM equipment is responsible. They have effectively reversed the law on the consumer.
I have heard some awful reasons for warranty denial. Voiding the electrical system for an aftermarket head unit. Voiding all warrantys due to exsessive wear on the tires. My friend had all of his warrantys voided because he lowered the car. Now is that within the spectrum of the law? no. trying to claim that lowering the suspension would attribute to a clutch failure is absoulutely absurd. There needs to be proof that an aftermarket part caused a failure of a OEM part. without it everything is just speculation and poppycock.
I have heard some awful reasons for warranty denial. Voiding the electrical system for an aftermarket head unit. Voiding all warrantys due to exsessive wear on the tires. My friend had all of his warrantys voided because he lowered the car. Now is that within the spectrum of the law? no. trying to claim that lowering the suspension would attribute to a clutch failure is absoulutely absurd. There needs to be proof that an aftermarket part caused a failure of a OEM part. without it everything is just speculation and poppycock.
Last edited by ruthless evo 8; Sep 16, 2004 at 12:53 PM.
So what can you do to moniter the car better? Any ideas besides the AEM? Shouldn't the car detect a knock situation, retard the timing and throw a check engine light? They told me i over-reved the engine. Now I am worried that they really don't know what caused it and are just a speculating
Originally Posted by NYREDEVO
So what can you do to moniter the car better? Any ideas besides the AEM? Shouldn't the car detect a knock situation, retard the timing and throw a check engine light? They told me i over-reved the engine. Now I am worried that they really don't know what caused it and are just a speculating
