Hoofprint

Dealer (service advisor) said if I changed out the Cold Air Intake on my 2010 that it could void my warranty. Also said I couldn't mess with the cats...not even exchange them out with like a catted X or H pipe...WTF?!?

antonio1988

not exactly true, they have to be able to prove beyond a reason of a doubt that in the event you do have a problem, that the after market CAI or midpipe indeed caused a problem. If they can't prove it, they cant void you

Blair

The burden of proof in civil cases in most states is not beyond a reasonable doubt. Reasonable doubt is a criminal law standard. In most states it is preponderance of the evidence or substantial competent evidence. In other words, you've proved your case 51% or more.

Best thing to do is just take your mods off the car if you can before taking it to the dealer for anything. Under the warranty act they can deny you warranty coverage if the modification caused or contributed to the fault or defect. In other words, if your engine seizes up they cannot deny coverage because you put lowering springs on. But if you put a CAI on the car and you have any engine problem whatsoever, the can deny coverage and probably will get away with doing so. If you are denied warranty work because of an unrelated modification, the only recourse you have is to pay another shop to fix it and sue the manufacturer in small claims court for the cost. Make sure the mechanic will keep records of the repair to use in court. Most of the time they'll pay you instead of fighting the case because it costs more to pay a lawyer to defend the suit than pay you back for the repair.

Also, it is a violation of federal law to remove catalytic converters or replace them with anything other than the stock ones that came on the car. A lot of dealerships now make you sign an affidavit when you trade in the car swearing that you did not alter the emissions equipment to cover themselves when they sell the car on.

Nuke

"COULD" void...

But if he's telling you that you can't do this or that, then tell him you want the phone numbers and locations of the next 3 or 4 closest dealerships "...that aren't ******".

antonio1988

Well argued, what I said may have been a bit on the broader end of the spectrum. The idea of taking your repairs to another shop and filing to sue in small claims court is an idea and result that happens more often than you would think, at least in Miami anyway. It is also indeed true that removal or altering the factory exhaust system in any way is illegal, this includes mufflers too because of noise ordinance rules, but this still doesn't stop the crazy amount of people who mod their exhausts anyways. However, I will say that the best course of action for you to use would likely be to kindly ask the dealership where the next closest dealership's are and take your car to a mod-friendly location that won't void your warranty with such haste as the one you are in would.

157dB

Drive her for 3 years until warranty runs out then CAI it....

Adam

I'm sticking with factory CAI.

jtstakelin

Warranties are as good as the paper they are writen on to wipe your butt with. I talked to my service manager and he echoed what others have said. the mod has to be the root of the problem. adding cleaner cooler air isn't going to cause a head gasket failure or a transmission to fail. now a supercharger...that would be a different story.

Nuke

Yep, nothing wrong with the factory CAI if you have one. It's the factory tune that is supposed to augment the CAI that sucks.

I can't believe the # of people that allow their dealership to intimidate them. Your slips are showing, ladies.

swooshpimp

In my experience when I had my 06 GT it was dealer dependent if they were not going to honor the warranty because of my CAI and Headers. Thankfully it never came to that. However, with my 2010 GT I decided to go with the Power Upgrade Pack from Ford Racing and now they cant say nothing becuase it is covered under warranty. To each his own on their gambles.