Evidence of Warranty Avoidance Practice...?
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 53
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From: Bay Area, SF, CA
Evidence of Warranty Avoidance Practice...?
The local dealer informed me that for all Warranty Claims that need to be approved by Mitsubishi Corporate they need to submit the following to Mitsubishi Corporate:
1) Photo of VIN
2) Photo of Clocks (for Milage)
3) Photo of Trouble Area
4) Photo of Front of Vehichle
5) Photo of Side of Vehichle
6) Photo of Rear of Vehichle
Items 1 thru 3 I can understand.
Items 4 thru 6, call me paranoid but this sounds awfully suspicious of an attempt to determine if a car is modified or not... And even if your warranty claim is approved this time (for example your claim is for a Nav Unit Issue, but your car is lowered with wheels and has an exhaust - These mods wouldnt give ground to refuse your Nav Unit Issue claim) they will now have a record of your mods and should you come in for, say a powertrain issue, they could easily say "Exhaust = power mod = Claim Denied".
Food for thought to anyone who values the warranty yet likes modding...
Anyone else have this experience (the Photo thing I mean)?
1) Photo of VIN
2) Photo of Clocks (for Milage)
3) Photo of Trouble Area
4) Photo of Front of Vehichle
5) Photo of Side of Vehichle
6) Photo of Rear of Vehichle
Items 1 thru 3 I can understand.
Items 4 thru 6, call me paranoid but this sounds awfully suspicious of an attempt to determine if a car is modified or not... And even if your warranty claim is approved this time (for example your claim is for a Nav Unit Issue, but your car is lowered with wheels and has an exhaust - These mods wouldnt give ground to refuse your Nav Unit Issue claim) they will now have a record of your mods and should you come in for, say a powertrain issue, they could easily say "Exhaust = power mod = Claim Denied".
Food for thought to anyone who values the warranty yet likes modding...
Anyone else have this experience (the Photo thing I mean)?
Newbie
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 78
Likes: 0
From: nc
Thats such crap, I work at toyota as a tech and we barely deny warranty.. Even with trucks with oversize wheels and they have diff problems at 35k, we replace it. Maybe it depends on the manager and tech. Warranty stuff pays crap and 99% of people dont want to work on the car. Usally they try and make you pay first, I would throw a huge scene when alot of people are there lol
I must have a nice Mitsu dealer.... He talked to his EVO warranty guy and he told me as long as I didn't "change the HP" of the car then I could do whatever I wanted... That is a very open ended answer. We told him that we were putting exhaust, a intake, and IC pipes on the car, and he said that would be fine.....
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Photo's
I took my car in to the dealership as the rear wing was delaminating. The first attempt they wouldn't do anything as there camera suddenly had vanished, second attempt more crap, third attempt, they took photo's of the entire car, told me they would send them to HQ for review. 2 weeks went by, I called them, still waiting, 4 weeks called again, still waiting, at 6 weeks I called Mitsu North America direct, and found out the dealer never did a thing. After 3 months of arguing they finally replaced the wing.
Yep those photo's really do something, thanks Bell Mitsibushi, you proved again just how bad dealership's really are.
Thought I'd mention my experience.
The car is awsome, had it nearly 5 years but the warranty is a joke. I won't even talk about the calipers peeling at 20,000 miles.
Good Luck to you !
Yep those photo's really do something, thanks Bell Mitsibushi, you proved again just how bad dealership's really are.
Thought I'd mention my experience.
The car is awsome, had it nearly 5 years but the warranty is a joke. I won't even talk about the calipers peeling at 20,000 miles.
Good Luck to you !
Evolving Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 305
Likes: 0
From: North Las Vegas
This is nothing new. Ever since the Evo came out in the US, eagle eyed mitsu reps have trolled automotive forums and the Internet in general and noted down Evos that have been modified. At one point, owners going to trackevents even tapped up their plates just in case someone at the track took pictures of their car and posted it on some forum. If you want to keep you warranty, just don't mod and keep everything stock. But then again, being bone stock may not even be enough.
Last edited by evo_z; Jun 30, 2008 at 06:00 AM.
FWIW My car was always modified and the dealership had never given me a problem with warranty repairs..
Its not unusual to take photos of the car for many reasons..
FWIW a majority of the people who have had warranty 'issues' have tried to get repairs done which were highly likely caused by abuse or neglect.
They cannot void your warranty for modifications, unless those modifications directly cause a problem. I'm not sure if I'm spelling this, but its the Magnussen Ross act.. To be honest, if you modify you car, and something breaks as a direct result of it, its your own damn fault and stop whining.
In the case of issues that you have no control over, well, thats unfair and you should go to another dealer. Unfortunately dealers have to contend with countless attempts of abuse and fraud with warranty service. If you can afford the parts, and you break something, then take ownership of the repairs too.. If you own up to it, and get it fixed, its unlikely your warranty will be voided for future LEGITIMATE problems.
Its not unusual to take photos of the car for many reasons..
FWIW a majority of the people who have had warranty 'issues' have tried to get repairs done which were highly likely caused by abuse or neglect.
They cannot void your warranty for modifications, unless those modifications directly cause a problem. I'm not sure if I'm spelling this, but its the Magnussen Ross act.. To be honest, if you modify you car, and something breaks as a direct result of it, its your own damn fault and stop whining.
In the case of issues that you have no control over, well, thats unfair and you should go to another dealer. Unfortunately dealers have to contend with countless attempts of abuse and fraud with warranty service. If you can afford the parts, and you break something, then take ownership of the repairs too.. If you own up to it, and get it fixed, its unlikely your warranty will be voided for future LEGITIMATE problems.
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 65
Likes: 0
From: Gilbert, AZ
Thats such crap, I work at toyota as a tech and we barely deny warranty.. Even with trucks with oversize wheels and they have diff problems at 35k, we replace it. Maybe it depends on the manager and tech. Warranty stuff pays crap and 99% of people dont want to work on the car. Usally they try and make you pay first, I would throw a huge scene when alot of people are there lol
I think it will depend on your relationship with the dealership and service tech/manager.
I've had a great relationship with my Suby dealership because of my purchase loyalty and both of my cars had modifications. If the dealership is being unreasonable about warranty claims I would try another.
If you mod your car however you will have to come the eventuality that denied warranties can and will happen.
This is nothing new. Ever since the Evo came out in the US, eagle eyed mitsu reps have trolled automotive forums and the Internet in general and noted down Evos that have been modified. At one point, owners going to trackevents even tapped up their plates just in case someone at the track took pictures of their car and posted it on some forum. If you want to keep you warranty, just don't mod and keep everything stock. But then again, being bone stock may not even be enough.
+1