I've been on this site about 2 months now, and most of the stuff I read concerns springs, headers, exhaust and intakes. I also know that technically none of this stuff can void your warranty but I wanted to hear peoples REAL experiences dealing with Toyota and all things aftermarket.

I read a post about a guy who worked for Audi on here, and he said that they rarely turn people away that have crazy mods on their car. Is Toyota/Scion the same with their customers or are they alot more strict about stuff like this. I'm not necessarily going to go out and purchase anything based on this topic but I thought it would be interesting to hear how Toyota handles these situations.

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(Edited by Sexyscionlover)

 

Toyota/Scion are consistent with other dealers, especially when it comes to warranty work. You cannot expect them to warranty everything once you've modified their stock car, as they can not protect or anticipate the resulting effects of an aftermarket part you put on or a part installed incorrectly.

I have never heard much negative stuff from the dealer regarding any of my mods, most actually like it. But, I also don't expect them to warranty everything, especially in relationship to parts I put on that cause other parts to be effected. Now, if I know a part couldn't cause anything to go wrong, I do expect them to be fair.

Of course, some dealers are jerks and will fight you on warranty even for something as lame as an exhaust, but that is rare and you hear about it here more, cause no one ever posts how GOOD of an experience they had, usually only the problems.

Headers will get you into so so territory with warranty... expecially in relationship to CATS
Intakes shouldn't at all and if a dealer does, go to another.
Springs and shocks are covered under VERY limited warranties, so it would take a lot to even get them to replace something even if you didn't mod. (how do they know you're not driving it down speedbump lane at 80 MPH)
And if a dealer contests anything based on exhaust, they are out of their minds...

Really, it is how you deal with them and how bad of a day the service writer had... I try to develop a good relationship with the service department on normal maintenence and such, then when something goes wrong, they are more willing to work with me. It'll all politics

 

I get confused about all this warranty talk. What, exactly, would be an example of a warranty fix? Unless you have a lemon or something the chances of something major happening are slim to none and if something does the chances of it being in relation to what you added or changed are slim to none so I wouldnt worry about it. As for something you add/change causing a problem, well thats on you to mod your car but if it happened stock it probably wouldnt be covered anyways lol...I am just curious as to what things people are worried about NOT getting covered since they modded their car.

On a second note I take my car to the dealer to have the iol changed and all that...even the alignment done with intake, headers, exhaust, and springs and I dont get any words about it.

 

all depends on the individual service advisor and the department manager he/she answers to.

in general, dealerships of all vehicles hate warranty repairs because they make no money from it. if youre not a paying customer, then you wont get the best service. so having aftermarket parts gives dealers another reason to justify turning away free warranty repairs.

dealerships dont make the biggest profits from car sales, because every buyer is a cheapskate haggling for a lower price. the service department is where all the real money is. if they have to service a warranty issue for free, thats one less tech/mechanic to service a paying customer's car. many service advisors make commission off of the repairs they sell (they're basically salespersons), so warranty repairs dont pay anything. technicians make money depending on the job. warranty issues pay them less since the dealership isnt making any money off it.

luxury dealerships will be more forgiving to warranty repairs because they make more money per car sold. plus they have to hold higher standards for customer service since customers paid so much for their cars. plus these owners are typically lawyers, doctors, executives who dont BS around.

warranty repairs are an absolute lose-lose situation for dealerships.

 

i thought that warranty work could be claimed through toyota hq. one mod is where my light bulbs melted my harness. I showed them the bulb i was using and at first he said it was because of the bulb. i than agreed with him and said that that was what i thought it was at first, but after asking around, i found that it was caused by a loose connection, a defect in the harness itself. So the service guy agreed to fix it under warranty. No fighting. just explained. Longo toyota on the other hand, the service guy was a *****.

 

Getting work done at a dealership can be a crapshoot at best. Some will take care of you some wont. Most of the Scion dealerships have embraced mild modding, so they should be able to do any warranty work as long as the problem isn't blatantly your fault

 

what warranty work are you worried about?????

 

none, I just wanted to hear experiences from people concerning Toyota/Scion and mods.

 

One must remember what a warranty is and isn't.

A warranty is to cover DEFECTS in the original parts or assembly of the vehicle when it rolled out the factory door. If they made it wrong, they will fix it.

A warranty is not a "we will fix anything on your car that goes wrong, for free" deal, and certainly does not cover (1) parts they did not put on the car, (2) any damage caused by those parts, or (3) damage caused by anything outside their control: I.E. if someone tosses a brick through the windshield, that is NOT warranty...

A warranty will also not cover thumb-fingered workmanship they did not do, nor the damage caused by ill-trained chimps working on you car.

Lastly, a warranty doesn't cover things that are expected to wear out, as long as they don't wear out a lot sooner than they are expected to (by the manufacturer).

That narrows warranty coverage down quite a bit - it only covers manufacturer errors or defects. Period. It is them promising they did their best to make the product right, and if they didn't, they will fix it.

(Replacement parts/service often carry their OWN warranty, because not being done at the factory they can't be a factory defect. I.E. work my dealer does is covered by my dealer backing it up, not necessarily by Scion.)

Toyota/Scion/Lexus dealers are average in how they seem to handle warranty claims. Some dealers are better than others, but bottom line they are in business to make money and if they can't think of a way to get the manufacturer to legitimately pay for the work, they are very reluctant to call it "warranty" and do it for free...

It often comes down to the manufacturer - The high-end lines have a lot more padding in their prices and tend to cover more things they really don't have to, while the economy lines don't have a whole lot of slack built into the system.

This means that the high end lines often get "better" warranty treatment, things that aren't really warranty slipped in for free, than the lower priced lines.

If you wanted to pay twice the price for a Scion you'd get a lot better warranty coverage, because there would be a lot larger 'slush fund' to take the money out of.