Toyota Care & Suspension Lift / Modifications Warranty Voided

[2nd Chance]

Morning All,

So I have spent the last two days on the phone with Toyota Care and at the Dealer (who is on my side) about my soon to be purchase of a TRD Suspension. When I was buying all of my parts for the front & rear bumber conversion I asked the parts guy Karl (another great guy) for a price on the TRD Suspension. He checked pricing and it was fair and the Service guy know that I have been changing up my truck and mentioned that it's a good thing that your buying this kit because if you use an aftermarket kit it voids your drivetrain warranty.

We talked a little bit and I told him I was buying a 100 mile TRD Pro Suspension off another guys truck and having them put it on. He said that a great ideas that shouldn't be a problem. He then suggested that I call Toyota Care and get there take on it. So I did and they said that the suspension had to be purchased new from Toyota and installed by a Toyota dealer in order for me to keep my 100,000 mile (Purchased an additional warranty from Toyota full service in North America) warranty on my drivetrain.

Anyone have any experience with fighting a warranty for coverage down the road as I tend to keep my cars 10 year and I would hate to have wasted a huge chunk of money on a warranty.

In the end this truck is my daily driver and mtb hauler so if I have to spend the additional money (about $250) to keep my warranty I will but I really hate wasting money.

 

[internski]

You'll need to read the fine print on your warranty.

However, get familiar with the following as what you describe should be ok, pending the fine print of your warranty you describe.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson–Moss_Warranty_Act
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0138-auto-warranties-routine-maintenance#will

 

[Simpleman74]

Of course they said that they want you to spend an insane amount of money on their crap. Adding and after market (or in your case used) suspension will NOT void your warranty. "IF" they can prove that they modification caused damage they can refuse warranty work.... but burden of proof is on the dealership and holder of the warranty. They will say "Not Covered" because 99.9% of people will accept that answer and tuck tail. Lift your shit and don't listen to them

 

[2nd Chance]

You'll need to read the fine print on your warranty.

However, get familiar with the following as what you describe should be ok, pending the fine print of your warranty you describe.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson–Moss_Warranty_Act
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0138-auto-warranties-routine-maintenance#will

So the service guy is on my side and is going to pull up a copy of the warranty this morning and read the fine print for me and then give me a call this morning.

 

[2nd Chance]

On a side not the difference in cost is only about $125 plus $100 in sales tax.

Which may not be worth the fight years from now


Marty-MJ

 

[e60ral]

Do you have platinum service agreement? Springs and shocks aren't covered under the gold or limited plans anyways

as far as it impacting other parts that are covered, they would have a hell of a time showing that it was the cause of other damage considering that its equipment that they have on another trim level of the same vehicle

 

[2nd Chance]

It's funny but I honestly have no clue. I am finally at my office and of course I can't find the dam thing. The warranty cover a rental car, towing and pretty much anything that I would need if something were to go wrong with the truck. The only reason I bought it was my previous truck was a Land Rover Evoque (was suppose to be my wife's) and in the 22 months we owned it the dealer had it for just shy of 11 months. I can tell you getting rid of that vehicle was the happiest day of my car owner existence.

So when we bought the 4Runner with bought the best extended warranty possible since they gave us such a great deal on the truck.

Do you have platinum service agreement? Springs and shocks aren't covered under the gold or limited plans anyways

as far as it impacting other parts that are covered, they would have a hell of a time showing that it was the cause of other damage considering that its equipment that they have on another trim level of the same vehicle

 

[mybabydaddy]

[QUOTE=The only reason I bought it was my previous truck was a Land Rover Evoque (was suppose to be my wife's) and in the 22 months we owned it the dealer had it for just shy of 11 months.

^^^^HOLY SHIOTE... I’d be in jail for trying to (literally) cram an LR Evoque up a manager’s a$$....

 

[2nd Chance]

Trust me I was exhuasted and heard every excuse in the books. The only plus was the fact that they kept giving me a new car to drive and my neighbors seriously started to wonder if I was losing it as almost ever month I had a new car. When the wanted to give me a Jag convertible I told them it wouldn't work as there was no where for me to put my bike. Finally the service guy agreed with me and gave me an LR2.

It was crazy.

The only reason I bought it was my previous truck was a Land Rover Evoque (was suppose to be my wife's) and in the 22 months we owned it the dealer had it for just shy of 11 months.

^^^^HOLY SHIOTE... I’d be in jail for trying to (literally) cram an LR Evoque up a manager’s a$$....

 

[jwkilgore]

Are they trying to suggest that the entire extended warranty is voided if you replace the suspension? That's totally bogus, and I'm thinking the person you spoke with is either misinformed or misunderstood the question. They could try and ague no longer covering things directly affected by the suspension (CV joints, etc.), but they'd have difficulty as it's an actual Toyota part that is being installed at a Toyota dealer.

Or are they only voiding the warranty over the modified parts themselves? Of course they won't cover the actual modified parts, that's a no-brainer. Even actual Toyota parts wouldn't be covered if bought used from a third party and installed by a non-Toyota mechanic.

 

[2nd Chance]

Are they trying to suggest that the entire extended warranty is voided if you replace the suspension? That's totally bogus, and I'm thinking the person you spoke with is either misinformed or misunderstood the question. They could try and ague no longer covering things directly affected by the suspension (CV joints, etc.), but they'd have difficulty as it's an actual Toyota part that is being installed at a Toyota dealer.

Or are they only voiding the warranty over the modified parts themselves? Of course they won't cover the actual modified parts, that's a no-brainer. Even actual Toyota parts wouldn't be covered if bought used from a third party and installed by a non-Toyota mechanic.

Okay so after talking with the Toyota Care rep here is where we stand. It looks like I will be buying the TRD Suspension kit directly from Toyota who has to order the kit direct from Toyota (not the parts division) and yes it will be associated with my Vin for warranty purposes. What this does is if anything were to go wrong with the shocks, steering or alignment post install they will cover it under my warranty. It looks like the dealer is going to take care of me on the install and alignment which is great. It may cost me a couple more bucks but my additional warranty will still be fully intact and I won't have to worry about any issue.

What I can say is that since I bought the Extended Toyota full North America service, car rental and towing I really don't want to screw that up in any way since I am planning to drive to Canada (Squamish & BC) to ride with friends. Being honest I doubt anything will ever go wrong with the truck but since everything is covered including regular maintenance. I would really hate to give that up.

Thanks again guys for all of your help I really appreciate it.

I almost forgot the color of your truck is one of my favorites.

 

[e60ral]

Okay so after talking with the Toyota Care rep here is where we stand. It looks like I will be buying the TRD Suspension kit directly from Toyota who has to order the kit direct from Toyota (not the parts division) and yes it will be associated with my Vin for warranty purposes. What this does is if anything were to go wrong with the shocks, steering or alignment post install they will cover it under my warranty. It looks like the dealer is going to take care of me on the install and alignment which is great. It may cost me a couple more bucks but my additional warranty will still be fully intact and I won't have to worry about any issue.

What I can say is that since I bought the Extended Toyota full North America service, car rental and towing I really don't want to screw that up in any way since I am planning to drive to Canada (Squamish & BC) to ride with friends. Being honest I doubt anything will ever go wrong with the truck but since everything is covered including regular maintenance. I would really hate to give that up.

Thanks again guys for all of your help I really appreciate it.

I almost forgot the color of your truck is one of my favorites.

they would cover any of the other parts that are under warranty anyway, the only thing that buying through them adds is that the TRD Pro components themselves would be covered.

and that's assuming that they are covered under your service agreement anyways (it sounds like maybe you have the platinum service agreement)

 

[2nd Chance]

and that's assuming that they are covered under your service agreement anyways (it sounds like maybe you have the platinum service agreement)

Yep, I can finally confirm I have the platinum warranty or as the service guys said, "You got the best one we offer so if I were you I wouldn't screw it up".

Heck so far they have cover 4 oil changes, 4 tire rotations and they give me a 25% discounts on parts and since I purchase a complete all the parts to do trail front and rear cover conversion including the TRD parts I would have to say this is the best dealer that I have ever purchased a car from and purchased parts from.

 

[Simpleman74]

I have the platinum warranty, after market lifted suspension and I had a CV boot replaced UNDER WARRANTY..... dont drink the koolaid

 

[Jono.ful]

Yep, I can finally confirm I have the platinum warranty or as the service guys said, "You got the best one we offer so if I were you I wouldn't screw it up".

Heck so far they have cover 4 oil changes, 4 tire rotations and they give me a 25% discounts on parts and since I purchase a complete all the parts to do trail front and rear cover conversion including the TRD parts I would have to say this is the best dealer that I have ever purchased a car from and purchased parts from.

umm, I got 10 oil changes and life time rotations, and our local toyota club gets us 15% of parts and service. No extended warranty required.

I really don't understand all this undue stress and worry over warranties. I mean sure, the OP had trouble with a previous vehicle. but that was a Land Rover, you're in a Toyota now, the headaches are over.

The onus is on the dealer to prove that any modifications caused parts to fail. upgraded suspension is not going to cause your engine to explode, or all the paint to peel off. at most, you're probably looking at CV's and possibly wheel bearings down the road. these parts are cheap and easy to replace, and definitely not worth the expense of any kind of extended warranty. I run a '12 with a 3" Radflo lift (previous to that I had Bilstein 5100s and OME springs). in the 4 years since I installed the lift (my self, not at the dealer), the only issues I have had are one leaky CV (again, replaced myself in a little over an hour), and I had to have a zero point calibration done at the dealer because I couldn't get the procedure to work myself.

if the extended warranty helps you sleep better at night, fine, but don't stress out at the small stuff. if your cv's go and they refuse warranty service based on your lift, you're out a couple hundred bucks and a couple hours of your time. so what?

 

[MyanRagahis]

Just curious if anyone else has warranty stories?

I bought my 4Runner in September: no special warranty other than the one it came with. 3yr/36k mile
I also bought Bilstein 6112's, ToyTec Superflex's, and 5100's for the rear over Black Friday.

Went to my dealership today for an alignment (which they were too busy to do since I was just a walk in; understandable) and briefly asked if installing the parts myself would void warranty and he said without question. He never really said full detail of what would be voided. I've been seeing the Magnuson Moss Act pop up more and more throughout here and read a little bit about it.

So let me get this straight. I'm assuming they can void or choose not to work on my suspension, but if somehow engine, transmission, transfer case, or electrical problems were to arise, warranty shouldn't be a problem, yeah?


Also just out of curiosity, if I were to just install the 6112's at the stock height; I could always replace it with the stock strut again if I need to take it in for service. Or is there some hidden way they can see I've tampered with parts...

 

[4Runner2Go]

I don't like to spend money if not needed either, but I also don't like to go through the aggravation of having to argue with the dealer about covering something.
So if you keep the truck for 10 years, that extra $250 cost you $25 per year-- my time and aggravation saved arguing with a dealer is well worth that...
Just my opinion... :biggrin2:

 

[Engineer]

Just curious if anyone else has warranty stories?

I bought one of the most reliable vehicles in North America so I didn't need a warranty - you said story, not a good story

Went to my dealership today for an alignment (which they were too busy to do since I was just a walk in; understandable) and briefly asked if installing the parts myself would void warranty and he said without question typical dealer employee who knows little about the profession he works in, I bet he would say doing your own oil changes voids warranty aswell. He never really said full detail of what would be voided.they never do I've been seeing the Magnuson Moss Act pop up more and more throughout here and read a little bit about it. lots of good threads on that, to some extend they are right but realize it can still be a huge battle. You don't exactly just mention that Act and then all the doors open.

So let me get this straight. I'm assuming they can void or choose not to work on my suspension, but if somehow engine, transmission, transfer case, or electrical problems were to arise, warranty shouldn't be a problem, yeah?
100% the suspension components you add are not covered, nor should they be. A previous poster mentioned Toyota replaced a CV boot even though he had a lift, good for him but I don't think Toyota should have.

Also just out of curiosity, if I were to just install the 6112's at the stock height; I could always replace it with the stock strut again if I need to take it in for service. Or is there some hidden way they can see I've tampered with parts...I wouldn't go through that hassle, they have no way to tell unless you buggered up something but in your case if your CV boot blew I would argue that the shocks are set at the stock height and let them come up with some fancy explanation about how else you increase wear on that part

At the end of the day modifying vehicles absolutely effects wear and tear and should NOT be on the OEM to fix issues you caused but at the same time they have people living in fear that touching anything voids all warranty.

Last thoughts; If my transmission went out I would not expect Toyota to cover the costs, would I ask, yes, would I like partial help , yes but at the end of the day I have added plenty of components that increase wear and tear on my drivetrain and to my knowledge there are no "common failures" in our drivetrain.

What I don't like (but accept) is when there are known "common" failures or design flaws in drivetrains that then don't get covered, luckily I can't think of anything on the 4runner. However my wife's car has a DSG transmission which is a stout unit but is known to have mechatronics issues( well aware prior to purchase) I chose to do significant drive train modifications knowing that if the issue pops up I am SOL because the modifications will be blamed (which undoubably increase wear) on the issue even though its a known problem.....but hey 400+awd HP family sedan is well worth it #RaceCar

 

[DesertCanyons]

Warranty issues with TRD lift

If all you save on the used parts is $150 + $100 sales tax then you made the right choice buying new parts ($1200?). Used suspension parts should sell for a lot less than 10% off of new price. For moving parts that also wear out the saving should be about 50%, or half price.
You may know the seller and believe they only "drove it to church on Sundays and he's an atheist anyway", but there's no way to know how much wear they have already or the portion of the service life they have remaining.
Buying new was the right choice. You're paying for the install through the dealer in addition to purchase price so there's that to consider too. Having the parts under warranty means you won't be paying for labor again if something wears out early or fails.