This is the only thing that has me scratching my head. How did they know that your post were your post? How did they know what your screen name is here?

 

Not very hard to e-sleuth it.

Wether it would hold up as "proof" is another matter, but it's pretty simple to tie someone's RL name/identity to an online one.

 

good luck. real curious to see the outcome of this one...

 

Well its April 3rd. What was the outcome?

 

Oh man i am screwed now since I have your old Hankook tires on my car. I can't believe I did not get my warranty voided because of that, loltmb. What a joke!

 

The Arbitration starts today with a maximum of 10 days until completion.. Not sure how long it usually takes, but I haven't heard any word yet. I expect I'll hear the outcome within a week or week and a half.

 

Ha, that's right. Don't post any winter tire mods on the internet

 

Yeah, those damn winter tires are known to cause knock, aren't they?!

 

good luck man someone needs to take those dealers down a peg or two.

 

I know this old timer, he used to be a customer of mine. He has sued vehicle manufacturers on several ocasions over performance mods and has won every single time. I am talking about full engine management, superchargers and nitrous systems, not some cheesy little mod. They have to prove that the failure was directly caused by the modification. It's not an assumption. You just have to know what you are talking about. They had to pay him back for attorney fees, court costs and all kinds of incidental losses.

I don't know about this arbitration thing, I think you have to take them straight to court to get any real action. I don't know the specific process of all this but I have seen it done and I know you have a good chance. I think this BS everyone says about taking responsibility for your mods is wrong unless the mod directly caused the failure.

Sue them, if that doesn't work find out where they live and take it out on them personally. Never give up!

 

please pay attention to what arbitration is! he isnt going after the dealership, that isnt what arbitration is. He is going thru a third party for legal recourse about an issue with his vehicle, this time it is because an engine failure. arbitration does not affect the dealership.

 

Yup, this is: Stew vs. Mitsubishi Motors North America.

 

Get Em!

 

Any updates? I know they might be small? But still And again man good luck!

 

Super post! Frankly, I can't understand (although I can empathize with) the attitude that a manufacturer should pay warranty claims on an engine/drivetrain that has clearly been modified to produce more horsepower than stock. Do I like that? No. Is it realistic? Yes, I think so.

And, I do not think the burden of proof is on the manufacturer to prove a modification did not cause damage; it is on the individual who modified the warranteed vehicle. Otherwise, Mitsu would be spending all their time tearing down engines, performing analysis, and still clutching at straws to find definitive proof that the platform they produced and warranted, now modified, failed due to specific mods and not some original design or implementation issue. I don't think any court will find in favor of a plaintiff on that issue, because to do so would set a precedent that could bankrupt manufacturers pretty quickly.

So, what to do when you want more power and want to keep the warranty? I think it's a question of degree. With my Subie, I went with Cobb AccessPort, which gave enhanced performance through engine management. Was it a lot? (Stage One) No, pretty small improvement. But it could be more or less "restored to stock" in about thirty seconds. When the warranty was about to expire, I installed a downpipe and loaded Stage Two. Bigger improvement. But, do I think for a minute that Subaru would have honored a blown engine claim with that mod? Probably not. So I waited until the warranty was about up.

My Evo IX is bone stock, except for the stereo. It's really not very fast. But I'm very hesitant to do much to it, because I'd like to keep the warranty - just in case. I bought the car to be a daily driver, and it's fine in that role. I don't track it, at all. If Cobb comes out with the EVO AccessPort, maybe I'll consider Stage One. I'd be a bit leary of even exhaust mods, though, for the very reasons so well stated by rgonyer.

I just don't think it's realistic to modify the powertrain and then make a claim for warranty service when something breaks. The individual case in this thread may be an exception (well above average knowledge and capabilities regarding the engine and failure modes), and I wish him well, but generally this is not going to be a viable approach for EVO owners.

What I would like to see is for Mitsu to offer staged packages, dealer-installed, that match up with the EVO models offerred for sale in England (FQ-340, iirc, is the top). That would be enough HP for me, and these packages, it would seem, should be warrantable.

It's unusual to see the length of warranty Mitsu offers on these cars, and, that alone, is a strong incentive to leave the car pretty much stock. Certainly, even adding a boost controller shifts the burden of protecting that powertrain from Mitsu (who establishes factory boost limits and control) to the owner. Couldn't be clearer to me.