I am just curious about this hot topic! I have been talking with our parts rep about this very same question!

What do you guys and gurls think about when you save a few dollars to go aftermarket that comes with none or very little warranty!

You can pay a few more dollars to get a long warranty on these items!

My reason for asking is simple. I just want to know weither or not we should stock more or less items for you all to buy in our store!

 

less...

Or, stock more items that are been purchased by use at a more reasonable price. Come on, marking up an AEM intake almost 100% is absurd. Putting that in our face makes us think, you think we are stupid and don't know any better.

Put it this way, we can get the same AEM intake for 220 and install it ourselves. Do you really think the service depart will know who installed?

 

Like what parts are you talking about? Wheels/Tires will not be covered if you upgrade them. Springs will not be covered, but if you keep the stock shocks, those will be. As for other items, like intakes, exhaust etc... There is no true warrenty on those exact parts any ways. The ones you replace them with, will still be covered unless proven to have caused that problem. Now with the exhaust, this would just be if like a bolt rusted or the hangers went bad. For the intake, the air flow sensor is still covered & the engine still is. There is a good deal of things that one can do & keep most of the warrenty. When you look at it, on how short the warrenty really is, you probably will never use it on half the items it covers any ways. Most things wont start going bad until after the warrenty is gone.

 

much less. and you are not saving a few dollars, you are saving ALOT of dollars. most of the parts have no electronics so the chance of the part failing is very slim. Scion is on the right track about having many accessories that can be added from the dealer and include the price into the payment but for someone to come in off the street and buy the parts, i feel they are wasting their money. just my opinion though.

 

ok i see! no one thinks you are stupid!!! you all are more than likly smarter on these things then i am!!!!!

but when you install it warranty is not about the computers on the cars it is about emmisions warranty and the sensors that are on them that foul out when changed and will not be covered by warranty then you have to pay around $400.00 to get that fixed!


example the spring that the other guy said was not covered well he is wrong!!! they are!!!! a friend of mine went and had some aftermarket springs put on his turns out they were put on wrong and he had a pop in his front end well he broke the drive shafts from that and guess who had to pay the $1400 to get that fixed he did because they were aftermarket!!!

that is all i am trying to say guys

 

and buy the way all dealers are linked by computers for scion models now if there was never a install ticket on the vehicle yes they will know!!!

 

Dealers charge to much for aftermarket parts and labor. I do all my work myself w/ parts that are proven to be just as good or better. As for your friend w/ the spring and drive shaft problem that sucks for him. The last time i was at the dealer for anything scion was a car show. And the time before that I bought the car.

 

From another topic I answered:
You said it yourself: Those springs were installed wrong, they caused failure in other parts, that was not a Scion warranty problem, period...

The INSTALLER should have covered the problem he created, not Scion.

If it is a "DIY" job, then you just eat your mistakes - you made 'em. If it is a "Joe down the street who has a jack and some wrenches" job, well, you and Joe can duke it out. If it is done by a professional, he should stand behind his work, and suck it up when his work isn't right.

If it is a worry that "any aftermarket part voids your warranty" then read THIS.

 

black xb where are you in maryland do you know how to install lowering springs?

 

Yeah, I'm going to say less as well.

The "few dollars" you speak of are the difference between $700 for the 17" rims & tires on my wife's car (PLUS we got to keep the steelies w/their tires) and the $1500+ that the dealer wanted for an equivalent set of rims & tires...and they would have kept the 15" steelies.

Where's the warranty advantage/disadvantage in that scenario? One worth at least $800 AND a 15" set of steel rims & tires?


p.s. - when you talk about dealer installation, the only advantage is purely political. What I mean is - a warranty may be honored because they installed the part, but the only advantage is on paper.

Why?

Because I know damn well that I can install MY springs or MY intake way better than the guy in the back garage who doesn't give a flying fawk about my car. I'M more careful & meticulous because it's MY CAR.

 

I think the whole warranty voiding rap to scare people is pretty lame. Lets face it here, we are dealing with reliable toyota's (scions) with bolt-on parts. If installed properly, the chance of lowering springs, or an intake, or an exhaust , or wheels causing some sort of failure on the car are slim to none. Lets face it, this is something the honda crowd has been doing for years, and warranty problems are few and far between. I should know, I had a 2000 civic si at one point, that was heavily modded with bolt-ons, beat on the car, and never once had a problem with it for the 50k I owned it, aftermarket part or otherwise.
In short, yes, mild bolton aftermarket parts are more worth it because you get to buy what you want. The warranty issue is null in my book until you start talking about forced induction or ecu tuning.

 

Warranties are for the most part a marketing gimmick to presumably add value to an item or service. It’s basically just like an insurance policy. If you don’t collect on it then you lost your initial investment. If you do, then it possibly becomes worth it. I think if someone is relatively sure that they are qualified to install a reputable aftermarket or OEM item properly then they should go for it. To me, the extra cost of a dealer installed option is not worth it when I am confident that I can do the job myself properly. Then look at these sub par car manufacturers who offer longer than normal warranties on their cars. Where’s the value in that? If I’m not going to buy a car to begin with, then I’m definitely not going to buy it just because it has a longer warranty. But then again, I have been called cynical…

 

Ding Ding Ding.

You are so right. Taking the time to do things right regardless of the money or time lost is worth it. If I were to want a turbo, I'd have a professional do it. If I want a spoiler installed, I do (and did) it.

 

personally I never buy from dealer, way overpriced, unless I have to

 

the mark up is redicoulous on any dealer installed option.....especially if you can get the same item direct from the factory IE: intake. i understand making a profit, but some dealers like to take that to the extreme....i would sell the parts at more reasonable markup and have "more" customers then sell at a higher markup and have less customers......

 

whoever installed them has no business working on cars.

 

it had nothing to do with them being aftermarket, it was stupidity, and not knowing what they were doing let alone installed.....

 

I don't see how one can screw up a spring install. First off, they look strikingly like the stockers which were just taken off. Secondly, they should support the car. If not, it should be immediately obvious. I would like to hear or preferably see how poorly installed springs cause a driveshaft to break.

 

is that even possible to do that? ive heard of axles going because of bad camber, but that is over a long period of time........i just dont see how that could cause a driveshaft failure.

 

I think there are some parts the dealer sells that non mechanical people will buy. But in my opinin thats a minority.

Dealer parts are just TOOOO expensive. And most of the time they are not the prefered parts.

Like above you can get aftermarket wheels soo much cheaper on the internet than a dealer and then you can put the 15's on your wifes car that needs new tires ;) win/win

Its a hard call due to the people that just want to go in and buy the car as is and never mod it and have a mod'd car. You tell us, what percent buys a lot of options from you vs just buys them stock and does it themselves?

Then ask yourself, why more dont buy from the dealer. Would you buy them from your dealer when you know you can get them so much cheaper somewhere else?