sti-04!!

Ok, I phoned our "dealer" earlier today to day ask for some technical advise !
Lo & behold i got a female on the phone & she asked me what it was .............. so i procceded to ask
Me - " I have a 04 sti & i have replace the front cat, centre section & back box with an aftermarket exhaust, how does this affect my warranty? "
Girl - " ooooohhh well, its all to do with missing sensors & it means you dont have any warranty "
Me - Can you tell me what it voids ie exhuast, downpipe, turbo, engine, drivetrain, chassis dynamics ??
Girl - eh well ..................................... hold on ..................................... here is another person to speak to you.
Old guy - Hi there, can you tell me what you have done
Me - told him
Old Guy - well we have had problems with no4 meltdown
Me - in what way ?? overboosting ?? back pressure ??
Old guy - well i can prove it i have engines here i can show you
Me - why are these not classed as old core & back at the manufacturer ??
Old guy - eh hold on .......................... tell me again what you have done
Me - tells him again
Old guy - ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh you got me there i thought you said a full decat
me - no i realise the implications of a full decat, so whats the deal with warranty
Old guy - Well you should be fine, we have a few cars that employees have & theres no problems, tbh its IM thats scaremongering
Me - oh really, so its fine to replace my 1st cat, centre section & bb
Old guy - of course, why dont you come in & get a free select session just so we can see how its running
Me - thanks be in over the next few days

So peeps does this change anyones views ????

Thanks

Stephen

sti-04!!

Brian - 3 cats ???

when did you inherite the 3rd one ?

is yours a hybrid ??

ozzy

Yeah, that was my point. My original Dealer was Fraser Anderson in Stirling. They were more than happy to fit parts and used their common sense. AF Noble did warn me about the decat (mumbling cyclinder #3 melting), but a few months later and they were more than happy to fit it. They also replaced my Lamda sensor afterwards under warranty.

I remember John Banks mentioning that they recommended decatting the car to him, so it does confuse the whole issue.

I think the Dealers are just under pressure from IM to cut back on dodgy warranty claims with cars letting go and no one declaring the mods. The problem is no one is really prepared to identify the actual cause of the failure and be sensible about it.

At the end of the day IM have you by the short and curlies (or any other manufacturer for that matter). It's all down to risk assessment and your own personal choice.

If you can put some money aside in an ISA or something, then mod the car. At least you know you've some funds sitting for that rainy day. If it's going to hit the pocket hard with a £3K engine rebuild and you don't need the worry, then forget about it.

I never made any so-called engine mods until after my own warranty expired. Before then, it was just some little suspension tweaks here and there.

Stefan

wrxmania

The WRX has 3 that I can see - the STI only has two I believe. One of the WRX cats is removed when the PPP is done - Colin admitted that too.

Brian

wrxmania

Jesus,

This don't half confuse the issue. I only want to straighten out pipework under my car - removed small cat (leave the other two), remove the silencer/resonance box and change my back box. They have no issues so far with the back box I have fitted at the moment.

I do not intend to decat only remove the smallest one and leave the two others and get it emmission tested too!!! Oh Nobles make your mind up!!

Brian

wrxmania

Stefan,

At what age did you fit your STI backbox, then centre section and when did Nobles fit the downpipe?

Brian.

sti-04!!

Your choice m8, i know what i would do sorry have done

wrxmania

How clear were they that they would honour warranty claims on the car even with a single decat - would they honour yours for instance?! Would rather stick with the cat than **** it up!

Brian.

wrxmania

Hehehe

I've got my SN+ logo now!!!

Waiting on my pack -figured I better support this SN somehow - spend half my life on here!!!

Brian

sti-04!!

TBQH - its all down to when push comes to shove aint it

They did say as above that it would be fine & any warranty issues wouldnt be a problem

If you have a concern keep your original parts & if anything does happen you know what to do

sti-04!!

suppose i better do it meself

am catching your posts big boy

wrxmania

True - I have been on here longer so that must equate to you being even sadder than me!!!

Oh yeah - I'm off today so that's why I'm here - and your excuse?!?!

sti-04!!

Usual bored !!

was out at sites this morning, back in the orifice now, going home shortly

ozzy

Brian,

STI backbox was changed around June 2001, so car was a little over 2yrs old (registered May 99). Bought an STI centre off John Stevenson about 1-2 months later. Then I changed the DP and centre together around March/April 2002, so just before the original warranty expired.

I bought a PPP ECU off John Banks, but had some running problems a day later. Thought it might be the ECU, but after John stuck DD on it and turned out to be the Lambda sensor - just bad timing/luck.

Dealer wouldn't listen to me telling them it was faulty - they checked it and i showed no problem, even though a few days either side of them checking, DD showed a flat-line from the sensor

Alan Garrod helped me by changing the sensor (he had a spare we could use). New sensor and hey presto, problem goes away. Dealer agrees to fix under warranty.

Get phone call from Dealer telling me sensor thread has been stripped on downpipe and I need a new one. They don't want to fit a new sensor as it will just strip the thread on it. Gets me thinking and I ask if they will fit a de-cat one if I arrange it (together with replacing the Lamda sensor). They say OK (bearing in mind, I asked them about de-catting a few months earlier at the previous service and they recommended against it).

So, I had considered the de-cat, but the problem with the sensor just made me take the decision a bit earlier than expected.

Stefan

wrxmania

Thanks Stefan