It's the Magnuson-Moss Act and has to do with warranties on consumer products.

FWIW, I saw a warranty claim denied today on a Silverado pickup, it needed a new tranny and the warranty was denied because the owner had a K & N intake on the engine. They basically said the vehicle was modified and may have had additional horse power created and thus caused the failure of the transmission. That's BS but that's what happened and the guy had to pay for a transmission.

Mitsubishi can be be easy or difficult to deal with, it all depends on the relationship the dealer has with their service reps. These guys know if the dealer has decent technicians and also know if all the guide lines are followed. Dealers who constantly push to get things covered may have a harder time trying to help legitimate claims that are not ordinary. It's also going to be more interesting to see if things get stricter since these manufacturers are having a tough time making money these days.

I for one know that our reps only have asked for pictures so they can for themselves what's going on since they aren't in the shop to see in person. Our Mitsu reps do a great job and are very accommodating. They have people looking over the items they warranty too, and have to keep their claims in-line too, so they can't always be helpful on the ify claims.

 

I totally understand the risk of Mod = No Warranty if the mod can be blamed on the issue.

My point was the suprise at the lengths Mitsu go to...

By taking photos all around the car they are building up a "profile" of the car. For the determined modder this presents an issue as you may think by taking in the car for say a nav unit issue while it is lowered and has power mods may not present an issue at that time, if you later need to take the car in for a noisy engine or transmission or chassis issue, your claim will likely be denied based on previous photo evidence (your cars "profile"). For the determined modder, what I am saying is, if you need to take the car in for ANY warranty work you better make it look stock first or you may get caught out later (remove exhaust, coilovers (if lower the car), external engine bay mods, Intercooler, and maybe even wheels).

Now, if a profile is being built of the car, then ponder this: What if you bought a used mint stock car with 5000 miles showing and say 7 months old. Then, a month later the car has an issue so you take it in to the dealer for warranty work and guess what.. the previous owner had modded it and took the car in for a claim previously - upon inspection of the "profile" they deny the warranty work because of mods they feel are directly associated with the issue.

Food for thought for the paranoid.... Look out, Big Brother is watching...

 

I got the shifty-eyes when I had to take mine in bone stock with 1600 miles on it because a bolt on the rear sway bar end link came loose and was making a horrible racket.

I was not impressed.

 

I recently contacted the dealer for a claim and they asked for 1-3 on your list