I am attending my first HPDE in 2 weeks, and I was curious about thoughts on Mitsu's warranty. I know we all like to bash them for voiding warranties, but in the end it's a binding contract that could go to court if need be (small claims, most likely).

So my car is 100% stock, maintenance records are all intact. Should I experience a driveline failure during the HPDE, how difficult would it be to get the repair done under warranty? I just turned 12,000 miles, so I really don't know how likely a failure would be (probably pretty unlikely).

It is a completely untimed event.

Thoughts?

 

I think this qualifies as a "racing event" on a closed course. I think they would void you if you blow something up.

 

HPDE are more aggressive than a autocross event. I highly recommend you go and you should learn alot about driving. If your car is stock it is highly unlikely that it will damage your drivetrain - run the highest octane unleaded that is available for you. Your tires.. well that's another story. You should expect to come home with 25-40% less rubber if you run 3 30 minute sessions if you drive agressively. As far as warranty, Mitsubishi doesnt warranty any racing, do you think there will be Mitsubishi employees at the event?

 

I appreciate the thoughts.

My thoughts are that there is no racing involved, and no timed laps or anything.

if something blows up, it blew up during a "drivers education event", not during a "race."

I am not arguing, just trying to see how my train of thought compares to that of others.

thanks

 

oh, for got to mention: autocross is a timed event, with the fastest time winning. So in my book that would be "racing."

Not so at the HPDE.

Again, you guys are all probably right, but I am just trying to make a case for it not voiding the warranty.

further thoughts?

 

I understand what you are saying, and you probably are being Overly cautious, but you are doing this event on what? A racetrack, with speeds over the speeds you can attain on a public road. Don't these cars have black boxes anyway, so they can see you were going 140MPH at 7K rpm when it died?(I doubt it would have issues). I personally wouldn't worry about it. Take your plate off, and cover your vin# with tape, incase you have someone "checking" that stuff. You will be fine!

 

No chance, and you should realize that most insurance agencies won't cover it even though it's HPDE. Check the fine print or call your agent to find out for sure...

 

Autocrosses are done at speeds BELOW highway speeds. I have done HPDE's, and Autocrosses, and had no issues. You will be fine. Your insurance policy will NOT cover you if you flip or get dented while doing this either. That policy is out the window the second you enter the gate.

 

They can void you warranty for auto-x because technically it is a timed event, how lame is that? ... For an HPDE, although technically they can't void your warranty, they may likely claim abuse from that data the car stores before catastrophic failure. They will claim it was due to "racing". Basically it will boil down to the definition of the term "racing".

In all honestly you can't blame if you forgot to top off your oil and blew your engine or if you missed a downshift and blew your engine, that would fall under user abuse. If you are thinking about HPDEs and track day you have to go with the attitude that you have no warranty and anything that breaks needs to be paid out of your pocket. You have to pay to play.

 

My insurance company covered the total loss of my 2003 350Z at the Buttonwillow Raceway Performance Driving Clinic, which is essentially an HPDE event put on by the CalClub region of SCCA. There is no racing and no timing. I had an instructor, although he wasn't in the car when the collision (with the pit wall) occurred. I was completely honest with my insurance company as to what happened. They called the executive who runs the track and he explained the purpose of the clinic is driving skills and car control - braking, steering, acceleration.

This is just an anecdote and I'm not saying your insurance company will cover you. But it is at least possible if there is no racing and no timing equipment at the event, and the purpose is instruction to learn car control.

 

Great info! I didn't know that, thanks for sharing.

 

Just to give you a frame of reference. I fried the 3rd and 4th gear synchros on my tranny after running laguna seca back in October. I took the car to the dealership with no backseat, a harness, RA1s, rubber all over the paint, black brembo calipers, full exhaust, etc. They gave me a rental and replaced the tranny free of charge.

 

WOW!

you must buy 10 cars a year there????

I would have figured that the full exhaust would have voided the warranty for sure, because it adds (often significant) power.

It looks like the anectodal evidence of cars being covered outweighs the speculation of those who think the warranty would be voided (at least up until this point in the thread...).

Anyone who had motor/driveline failures on stock cars whose repairs were NOT covered under warranty?

ps, yeah, I'll be taking my plates off and taping my VIN. Not as an "admission of guilt," or because I think I may am doing something wrong, but to save myself some PITA in case there are local Mitsu people pursuing unscrupulous and unethical business practices.

 

It's more important to establish a good rapport with your dealership. That's probably the single most important thing. The sales manager knew why I bought the car, and he knew that it was modified, but he protected me nonetheless. He even arranged for a rental upgrade.

 

I also had a gearbox rebuilt on Mitsu warranty when the car was full of my track gear and the service manager knew that I tracked the car. But there are definitely limits to this. I would never even ask for warranty coverage for an exploding, heavily modified engine due too much boost etc.

Proceed at your own risk.