Mistaken
New member
What?! She is such a sweet lady!
voiding your warranty
- Thread starter jharpphoto
- Start date
What?! She is such a sweet lady!
Inferno1
New member
I've been on both sides of this. Depends on the dealer as well. Example I had a lifted JK on 37s and my dealer in colorado had zero issues with anything I brought it in for. I'm sure it helped that nearly every jeep they sold was modified and they didn't want to ruin relations with their customers so they honored warranty work. Here in Florida the dealer said no to fixing my axle seals on the rear d44 because I had aftermarket differential covers on them..
Again it's where you live and the particular dealer
Again it's where you live and the particular dealer
Having dealt personally with the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act....it has a lot of bite. I had a 2012 Wrangler (Lifted/35 inch tires) with a whole host of issues ....it was in the shop for a total of 55 days over 12 different occasions if memory serves me correct. By the time I had enough it was past AZ state lemon law statute. I got a lemon law lawyer and they sent a letter to Chrysler under the Magnuson Moss federal act. Negotiated a tidy settlement with Chrysler. Something under the guidelines under the act which say they have to repair a vehicle in a reasonable amount of attempts. Traded in the Wrangler at Toyota dealership at book value (shocking - especially when the carfax report was literally 10 pages long - I don't think they actually ran the report) and got the 4 runner. Chrysler didn't jack me around at all in determining if I made modifications to the vehicle.
The provisions in the Magnuson Moss Act you would be interested in refers to aftermarket modifications made to the vehicle. In short, if something fails as direct result of the modifications you make, it will not be covered. Nothing that went wrong with my Wrangler could be possibly tied to the modifications I made. I assume that car manufacturers may approach this differently - ie some may be more willing to put a fight to say your modifications caused an issue. My dealings with Chrysler gave me the impression they knew they had a lot of issues with my particular model year (2012 wrangler had numerous cylinder head issues) and they were more than willing to settle.
The provisions in the Magnuson Moss Act you would be interested in refers to aftermarket modifications made to the vehicle. In short, if something fails as direct result of the modifications you make, it will not be covered. Nothing that went wrong with my Wrangler could be possibly tied to the modifications I made. I assume that car manufacturers may approach this differently - ie some may be more willing to put a fight to say your modifications caused an issue. My dealings with Chrysler gave me the impression they knew they had a lot of issues with my particular model year (2012 wrangler had numerous cylinder head issues) and they were more than willing to settle.
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littlehandegan
New member
THIS situation is exactly why the Magnum Moss act came about. A dealer can't require you to use them for service, and threaten to void if you don't.
Zonie Taco
New member
Bell Toyota in phoenix az tells me they will honor warranty if you lift your rig. Nothing in writing though. From what I hear though Toyota dealers in general are pretty fair with warranties
Apex Overland
New member
I've never understood the stories of Toyota dealerships denying warranty work. Little know fact, the dealers never "loose money", "eat the cost", etc.
That's a bunch of BS they might sell to the customer.
Yes, they have to front the parts and front the labor to the tech for doing the work. BUT they get it back from Toyota when they file the warranty claim.
I know because I worked at a Toyota dealership for 3.5 years. I was involved in denial of warranties for stupid things like a kid in a Scion TC ripped his flexible brake line lowering his car and had it towed to the dealership. A Camry that hopped a curb, cracked a wheel, and bent the control arm (her insurance later covered it). And a window track after we took the door panel off to find someone had ran a self tapping screw thru it installing a speaker (we had the tech remover to screw and just straiten the track for them real quick, we just gave him a extra hour on his pay).
As far as lifts, lowering, exhausts, wheels, tires, intakes, etc. We couldn't care less about.
I suggest if you are denied, calmly ask to talk to the service manager. POLITLY inform them of the MM act (they probably know about it already if they are the service manager), rationally explain to them why your aftermarket parts didn't effect the defective part, and go from there.
I would bend over backwards for people who were polite and realized that it wasn't my fault their vehicle broke. Yes it sucks your car broke, but that doesn't mean you should be mean to me.
That's a bunch of BS they might sell to the customer.
Yes, they have to front the parts and front the labor to the tech for doing the work. BUT they get it back from Toyota when they file the warranty claim.
I know because I worked at a Toyota dealership for 3.5 years. I was involved in denial of warranties for stupid things like a kid in a Scion TC ripped his flexible brake line lowering his car and had it towed to the dealership. A Camry that hopped a curb, cracked a wheel, and bent the control arm (her insurance later covered it). And a window track after we took the door panel off to find someone had ran a self tapping screw thru it installing a speaker (we had the tech remover to screw and just straiten the track for them real quick, we just gave him a extra hour on his pay).
As far as lifts, lowering, exhausts, wheels, tires, intakes, etc. We couldn't care less about.
I suggest if you are denied, calmly ask to talk to the service manager. POLITLY inform them of the MM act (they probably know about it already if they are the service manager), rationally explain to them why your aftermarket parts didn't effect the defective part, and go from there.
I would bend over backwards for people who were polite and realized that it wasn't my fault their vehicle broke. Yes it sucks your car broke, but that doesn't mean you should be mean to me.
tral
New member
Complete novice when it comes to lifts but I have put in spacer on one T4R and 5100's on a Tundra with help. This time i took it upon myself to do my 5100s all around on my TEP w/ KDSS. it is not hard.. just pay attention and lift the KDSS thing to put the sway bar back on. badda bing.
Not sure why people think it is that much harder... literally 2 extra bolts on the sway bars (i think).
None the less, if you install something that is going to stress other parts out prematurely, why would you expect someone else (Toyota) to replace....not that I would say no to them replacing but i would not expect it.
BlackWorksInc
New member
Actually that particular case makes sense. If the Dealership is okay with installing an aftermarket suspension system for a customer AND warrantying it; that's fine. The thing is if anything breaks, those were Non-Toyota components installed by a 3rd party. Just because it was a Toyota dealership does not mean it falls under a factory warranty, so they can tell you that if you want it warrantied you have to come to them for repairs on that particular instance.
I don't know if that's entirely true though... We've had some issues with denied claims and/or parts we've had to eat that aren't cheap. Also Toyota seems to be cracking down on claims a lot more recently and we've had dealerships in the area get hit hard with coughing up money for incorrectly done/denied warranty work. Not saying you're completely wrong, just that I think it's a bit more gray than you make it sound.
DannyLlama
Elite Member
This is both hilarious and a reality check
Doberdad
Member
They have to prove the modifications or aftermarket parts caused the failure to deny the warranty legaly BUT warranty work pays less than cutomer pay work so sometimes it just matters how much time and resources they have to apply to the situation on how they approach it right or wrong.
That is not true
Doberdad
Member
Feel free to elaborate
You can quote Mag Moss until your little heart's content, but the reality of the situation is that if they choose to deny you a warranty repair, you're in for an uphill battle. The idea that dealers piss their pants and cower in fear at the mere mention of MM is something borne of armchair internet lawyers and has little basis in reality.
Sure, you can sue them. Meanwhile, your car either goes unfixed or gets fixed on your own dime in hopes than you can recover. Toyota(you'll be suing TOYO, not the dealer....) has an entire team of lawyers that do this for a living meanwhile you've got whoever you can find in the yellow pages and is willing to take the case with an uncertain compensation.
Of course, for something trivial, say less than $1k, this all isn't even worth the effort. We'd be talking engines and transmissions here, not minor components.
Sure, you can sue them. Meanwhile, your car either goes unfixed or gets fixed on your own dime in hopes than you can recover. Toyota(you'll be suing TOYO, not the dealer....) has an entire team of lawyers that do this for a living meanwhile you've got whoever you can find in the yellow pages and is willing to take the case with an uncertain compensation.
Of course, for something trivial, say less than $1k, this all isn't even worth the effort. We'd be talking engines and transmissions here, not minor components.
BlackWorksInc
New member
Some of that is true and other stuff is not, but the general sentiment is sound.
Apex Overland
New member
Granted it was 5 years ago that I got smart and left the dealership, but we never had a problem with Toyota denying our claims. Like I said before though, we filtered the BS claims out and never sent those up the ladder.
And there's defiantly a grey area. The dealership I worked for will not work on modded vehicles now for warranty work, because of the new management they hired screwed up with it a couple times. They send the work to another dealership to the east. I found this out with my tundra when it got stuck in 4wd and would come out. I had a leveling kit and 35's. They wouldn't touch it.
The dealership 20 miles away to the west would. That's why I buy and get service done with them now. Hell, they love it when I show up, they look the truck up and down thinking it's great. They even parked it by the TRuD PRO they had on the lot to compair it to last time. Full discloser I've never had a problem besides a clunk from the front that turned out to be the skid plate being loose.
I'm afraid one day they are going to stop and I'm going to have to find a new dealership even further away.
03_4x4Runner
Senior Member
Going to another dealer is fine if there is one close. It is a 3 hour drive to the next dealer for me.
gm350reratliff
New member
The dealer told me that as long as the lift kit is under 3", they would still honor the suspension warranty. I don't expect any issues but my lift is sitting at 2.5-2.75" in the front. I was told the same thing back in 2008 when I bought my 4th gen. The only thing I ever had to take my 4th gen in for was a bad radio.
