Emissions Warranty Voided With New Exhaust!

scottmoyer · May 16, 2008

I was discussing an aftermarket exhaust system that I would like to get with a friend that owns a service center. He informed me that GM will void the emissions warranty with any welded on type muffler or exhaust. He said a bolt on should be ok, but the dealers in the area told him to check with Chevy first. I called every dealer in Central FL to ask about the warranty and was told by them all that adding any exhaust will void the warranty. They too recomended that I call Chevrolet. I called the Customer Service number and spoke with them about it. They said that any exhaust change will void the warranty. I threw the Magnuson Moss Act at them and they held to their position. I challenged them on this as I can get a Corsa system direct from Chevrolet. The CS Rep said that if I buy it from Chevy then I'm ok with the Corsa system but everything else voids it. What have you guys seen or heard? I know that dealers put on stuff before you buy all the time.

Texsrt4 · May 16, 2008

it violates federal law for them to violate your warranty on the basis of simply having aftermarket parts on your vehicle. if you ever have a problem, which i doubt you will with just an exhaust system, they will get you taken care of. too many sue happy people, and too many lawyers for them to fight such an open and shut case.

they dont like dealing with it, but its really not hard to fight at all. in all the times i have had warranty work on vehicles with aftermarket parts, i have never had a real issue. sure, there have been a couple discussions, but the dealers/manufacturers are too smart to let it get out of hand. they realize its cheaper to just fix it

omegafiler · May 16, 2008

As long as it's a cat-back system, in that you don't touch the cat's or the O2 sensors, it'll be fine. There is also really nothing to void as it's not going to mess with "emissions" anyways. We're basically talking about a muffler, maybe some mandrel bent pipe, and tip if you go with a full system. Not exactly complicated.

Zembonez · May 16, 2008

Man... We have become such a bunch of warranty wussies.

I'd cut my truck in half with a Sawzall if I was so inclined. It's only a truck. When did everybody become so safety net oriented?

As far as the warranty goes in this case, they don't have a leg to stand on. Emissions warranties are federally controlled and the dealer can not arbitrarily decide what to warranty and what not to based on opinion. If the emissions portions of the exhaust are untouched, the emissions warranty will remain in effect. Dealerships are full of "experts" that wouldn't be able to tell their own ass from a freshly dug hole in the ground.

The Evil Clown has spoken!

pennzoil29 · May 16, 2008

Man... We have become such a bunch of warranty wussies.

I'd cut my truck in half with a Sawzall if I was so inclined. It's only a truck. When did everybody become so safety net oriented?

As far as the warranty goes in this case, they don't have a leg to stand on. Emissions warranties are federally controlled and the dealer can not arbitrarily decide what to warranty and what not to based on opinion. If the emissions portions of the exhaust are untouched, the emissions warranty will remain in effect. Dealerships are full of "experts" that wouldn't be able to tell their own ass from a freshly dug hole in the ground.

The Evil Clown has spoken!

Well put.

Zembonez · May 16, 2008

I should add that there are obviously some excellent techs at some dealerships... Even they will agree that most others there are idiots.

I salute the good ones.

scottmoyer · May 16, 2008

I wouldn't say that I'm a warranty wuss, but when a warranty is in place on a $40k item, I don't want to void it sooner than it needs to be. I'm fully aware of the aftermarket industry fight against warranty voiding, I was clearly asking if anybody has had any issues. I called many dealers and also GM and I was told the same by all of them. I believe the emissions warranty is 100k and I still have 1/2 of it left. The way I hear about complaints and issues with peoples vehicles, I want warranty to replace anything and everything possible as long as I can. Reapirs aren't much cheaper than the vehicles themselves and with gas prices today, I want to keep as much of my $$ as I can to spend on what I want, not what I need as a repair.

I've had issues with more than one dealership trying to charge for things that I think should still be covered or are outside their quoted amounts. If you're not careful, they will gouge the crap out of you and take as much as they can. I usually get what I want from them, but I have to know the right arguments to win those battles.

Zembonez · May 16, 2008

I wasn't actually saying I thought you were a wus. Just using the WE term collectively. Certainly there are valid concerns anytime a warranty is at risk of being voided... either legitimately or otherwise. I was just being my somewhat sarcastic self... but we have become pretty wussified as a group.

Darkanion · May 16, 2008

With so much electronics and computer controlled everything and the expense of all of it, I've become more apprehensive about taking unnecessary risks with warranties. "Back in the day" when you had a motor, an intake, a carburetor, and a transmission (and a lot shorter warranties), it wasn't that big of a deal to 1) get a car out from under warranty pretty quick and 2) to swap things out... (i.e. "that stock intake with the variable venturi carburetor suuuucks! I'm going to replace it with an Edelbrock intake and a Holley carb.") These days, the computers control all the fuel trims, timing advances, which program is working at which RPM range, etc.. It's not as simple as it used to be ... and not nearly as cheap & easy to fix as it used to be either.