- Since you're watching this,
I think it's probably safe to say
that you're a car enthusiast, somebody who enjoys
a tastefully modified vehicle,
somebody who can't live with a stock car,
somebody who needs wheels, tires,
and suspension from fitmenindustries.com
on their car to make it stand out from the crowd,
to make sure that whenever you walk away from your car,
you can't help but look back at it.
And to express themselves with their vehicle,
I feel like that doesn't make any sense.
And create something unique, that nobody else has.
But maybe my favorite thing to do with my cars,
on top of wheels, tires, and suspension,
is to make it louder, make it quicker,
make it more fun to drive.
Hit 'em with that down pipe and the tunes,
so you can go do big, smoky burnouts
and aggressively past people who get on the highway
at 45 miles an hour, because for some reason
they think that that is okay.
Anyway, as an enthusiast, you've probably heard
that modifications can and or will
void your vehicle's factory warranty,
which is a huge downside for enthusiasts
who want a newer vehicle.
You know, something with that new car smell,
something that gives you peace of mind,
maybe modern fuel economy and modern horsepower.
And maybe more importantly, you know, a frickin' warranty.
A warranty is great peace of mind,
especially for a commuter you're just gonna stack miles on,
or for a luxury brand vehicle that's known for
expensive repairs, that is really unsafe to own
outside of its warranty.
But, now you can't modify it without risking
that nice and safe warranty of yours, right?
Well, the fine print and the manufacturer representatives
may make it sound like using aftermarket parts
on your car, that's still under warranty
would be like ripping up that warranty contract,
but it's not quite that black and white.
You see, in 1975, the Magnuson-Moss Warrant Act
passed congress, which protects consumers
from being wrongfully denied warranty coverage
when they use aftermarket replacement parts
for their vehicles.
Luckily for us, that also goes for aftermarket performance
and cosmetic enhancing parts as well.
You know, at the end of the day,
all this really means for you is that you can not
automatically be denied or have your warranty
voided altogether just because of having
or using aftermarket parts.
And that the dealership or manufacturers
need to prove that the aftermarket part,
or parts in question, are the direct cause
of the failure, in accordance with federal law.
Which is really, really important,
especially for us car people.
I used to work at a Ford dealership in Menominee, Wisconsin,
and I remember a 2013 Boss 302 came in
for some warranty work.
It was probably around 2014, 2015 at the time.
The differential was all sorta depleted.
Completely blown out, the cover was all in pieces,
and I remember hearing the service writers
giving him the run around
about his performance enhancing modifications.
It literally just had middle NTO fives
instead of the stock Perreli P zeros
on stock wheels with some lowering springs
and a cap back, none of which this
factory-built literal race car couldn't handle.
Like maybe you could argue that the diff
may have grenaded if it had some giant slicks on it.
But, it's a Boss P, it's a Boss P.
But it's a Boss 302, people don't really do that,
it's more of a circuit car, not a drag car.
Anyway, if it were up to the dealer and the service writers,
they would've told him to kick rocks,
but because of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act,
your boy was all covered, even though
they had bumped him around for a few weeks.
So the Act does help for that kind of stuff,
but you can't just go out and go crazy
and expect them to stick up for you.
If you threw a blower on a 2020 370Z
and your connecting rods
connect your block to the atmosphere,
you're probably (beep) out of luck.
But if you follow a few rules and modify your car
in a smart way, you can add performance
and curb appeal to your ride
without voiding your factory warranty.
So let's talk about that, hey.
So, first and foremost, stick to your more
basic, bolt-on parts.
I say basic because a bolt-on turbo kit
is not gonna look so hot when
your clutch starts to slip, all right?
Wheels, tires, and suspension are honestly
some of the easiest modifications
to avoid warranty hassles with,
because changing out your wheels and tires
doesn't really add stress to anything.
In fact, in most cases, you'll actually
be lowering that stress, because the wheel
entire package is lighter.
I (bleeped) it up, Jerry, I (bleeped) it up real good.
Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, yeah, yeah, that's fine.
- [Jerry] Yeah? - Yeah.
Wheels, tires, and suspension are honestly
some of the easiest modifications
to avoid warranty hassles with,
because changing out your wheels and your tires
doesn't really add stress to anything.
In fact, in most cases, you're gonna be lowering that stress
with a lighter wheel entire packet.
Same with your suspension, it's not really connectin'
to anything else that it can alter,
and again they usually end up reducing fatigue
on the chassis, because of weight savings, ya know?
And the same goes with sway bars, you know?
Increasing performance, reducing weight,
and it doesn't really affect anything
but keeping your body roll in check.
Big bakes, big bakes is what I was gonna say.
Big breaks can be a great modification
that adds both looks and performance to your car as well.
And, again, the theme here being parts
that don't tie into a bunch of other stuff.
If anything else fails, it would be really hard
to tie that back in to the braking system.
Another big one people get wrong
is making sure all these parts are made with
high quality component.
There's a reason a lot of your more
established brands have higher prices
and it's almost specifically for this reason.
That also means that making sure
they are installed correctly and cleanly
is gonna be extremely important.
If you have to go in for a warranty claim,
you kinda have to convince the service writer
and the technician to give you the benefit of the doubt.
So showing up with a rusty, booger-welded muffler delete
that looks like a hack job is a sure fire why
to raise a couple of eyebrows
and have them searching for a reason to deny your claim.
But if you have a nice, polished, quality,
brand name cap back with perfect welds
and quality hardware, they're probably
not even gonna think twice about it.
Exterior mods are another awesome way
to change up the look of your ride
without causing service writers
to have a frickin' anxiety attack.
Bumper covers, side skirts, lips,
diffusers, carbon fiber hoods and trunks,
spoilers, grills, lighting, you kinda get the point.
These are all super easy to clear
the service writer's checklist of doom,
because they don't really affect
the function of anything else.
Now, as you may have noticed,
everything I've just talked about
is not a power increasing modification.
That doesn't mean you can't add performance parts,
but this is where it starts to get a little bit dicey.
Tuning's kind of a gray area and I would really
try to avoid it if possible.
It would be really easy for a dealership
to argue that just about anything drive line relating
of an issue could be because you added power.
But that's not always the case.
Short shifters are an awesome way
to enhance your driving experience without risk as well.
It'd help make your car feel more race car-y,
with those quick and short shifts
and powering through the gears
like a frickin' jaw of force.
It doesn't really change much,
other than just the pivot point of the shifter.
So, it can't really cause any adverse issues
that you would need to worry about.
But outside of which mods you choose,
one of the biggest factors in determining
how much you fight the dealer,
is choosing right dealership to go to in the first place.
Some dealerships are extremely strict
with how they run their warranty claims
and others can be a lot more lax
and forgiving and realistic with their processes
and, you know, in getting you in and out smoothly.
So that's pretty much the gist of it.
Follow these simple rules, do your dealer research online,
and overall just make an educated decision
on what you do and don't modify.
And understand that there are risks involved,
but if you play your cards right,
you can really change the look and the feel
of your ride with wheels, tires, and suspension
from fitmenindustries.com without voiding your warranty.
I sincerely hope that this video was helpful,
and if it was, if you could please
hit that thumbs up button, it helps us out a ton.
Don't forget to subscribe and let us know in the comments
what you'd like to see us do or talk about next.
I'm Sean for fitmenindustries, SeanB.FI on Instagram,
thank you so much for watching, and peace.