GM's policy regarding dealerships, warranties, and aftermarket parts.

[damronjr]

Ok, not sure where to begin here, but bear with me as I try to get this all out in some sort of orderly fashion.Step 1 - I emailed GM Performance in regards to how adding the supercharger affects the bumper to bumper warranty. They responded that the warranty on the supercharger is for that alone, the parts of the supercharger, and to find out how it affected the manufacturers warranty I needed to call GM.Step 2 - I called GM and here's what they gave me after some research on their side: a) Adding aftermarket parts does NOT automatically void the vehicles warranty! (duh, too bad the dealerships won't agree to that!) b) However, the dealerships have the right to refuse service to anyone who has modified their vehicle! (you have to be kidding me!) He said GM only sells the vehicles to the dealers, but they have no control over how they run their business'.c) Even though the parts are GM (GM Performance Parts), they are still classified as any other aftermarket part and not OEM. They fall under the same stipulations in regards to warranty.Basically he told me even with the supercharger I could still get it fixed under warranty unless the supercharger or its compnents caused the failure at which point I would be financially responsible for repairs. (Wow, someone else has heard of the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act!!!!) All I have to do now is find a dealer that would be willing to work on it under warranty at least until they find the problem and prove the cause! Sounds easy huh, any ideas of GM dealers around here that would do that?

[Mavrik]

Its not just GM with that policy. For example Subaru has a lot of aftermarket mods. We at the dealership can refuse to work on vehicles that have been modified. And here is why. The techs are factory trained and up to date on the latest vehicles... not mods. So for them to be looking at your pile of mods on the car is like having a first grader handed university math and told to complete it. They are just not educated in mods. Now they do know enough about cars to know if the mods caused the problem or not. But they hate to mess with them if thee is a lot of them on the car.And no we won't void the warranty but the mods will be documented having caused or not caused the problem and warranty is approved or denied based on that fact. Subaru has FINALLy allowed its own SPT aftermarket line to fall into warranty paramiters.Mods are a touchy subject I guess... they didn't come from the factory stock so its a known fact issues can stem from them.

[Mavrik]

Funny how thats always the response... BBB. well dealerships do have the right to refuse to work on a vehicle. They can say your mods caused the problem and can provide proof. And its not against good business policy to be honest.

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »He installed a GM S/C that they sell @ their parts counter.... Now, if it was not safe for them to sell that part, they should not of sold it to him if it was going to void his warranty. Ya follow me? That is like if your wife purchased a TRD Exhaust from Toyota and installed it on her Tundra she had and the Catalytic Converter took a crap on her while everything was still under 36 months/ 36,000 mile warranty. It does seem that way, and based on what the service manager just told me at the dealership I just called, it is very difficult for them to prove one way or another what really caused the failure. Also what he and other people have told me, they have never had a Vibe engine fail, and for the 1st one to be modified also seemed too coincidental. I don't think I'd last 10min in a lawyers office or court, so it looks like I may be forced to pay out of pocket to get it repaired. It also seems cheaper to just buy a new enigne and get it installed at this point than to pay someone to disect it and try to find out what is wrong with it. I am in a huge catch 22 right now b/c if I open it myself, warranty is gone, if I take it to them, they void the warranty and won't work on it unless I come out of pocket, if I take it somewhere else, no warranty, all out of pocket. Basically, just b/c I put a supercharger on it means I have to do any repairs to it on my own, my warranty disappeared when we installed it. I did not realize that, but anyone who has one or is planning to get one, NOW YOU KNOW!

[Mavrik]

well in the case of Toyota I would expect it to be covered not under the 3 year 36 month warranty but covered under their exhaust warranty. Now if she installed the exhaust, they could deny it. Yes its their part but they didn't put it on. Am I being followed? Same goes for the warranty on parts bought from GM. They may warranty the part but not the damage caused by their own part if they had no hand in installing it. But then again I'm surrounded by this daily so it doesn't bother or surprise me either way this goes.

[mcgusto82]

the warranty for the supercharger is only 12 months if installed by owner, if the dealer does it, then it rides along your 3/36 warranty.care to let us know what's your mile count?

[Kari]

Quote, originally posted by damronjr »b) However, the dealerships have the right to refuse service to anyone who has modified their vehicle! (you have to be kidding me!)Might that be because the people who are making such major mods are also driving them a good bit harder than everyone else as well? I'm pretty sure even if you don't have a supercharger, even if the car is bone stock, if you're driving with it floored and pushing it to the limit and it blows up, they are probably not obligated to cover it.As for getting a lawyer and such...I'm thinking it would be a lot cheaper to just buy a used (or new) engine...heh.

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by mcgusto82 »the warranty for the supercharger is only 12 months if installed by owner, if the dealer does it, then it rides along your 3/36 warranty.care to let us know what's your mile count?2yr/23000mi.