SCOOBY JON

I HAVE JUST FOUND OUT THAT AFTER RUNNING MY CAR AT DONNINGTON AT THE SIDC NATIONAL DAY AND TALKING TO SOMEONE WHO WAS INTERESTED IN WHAT I HAVE DONE TO MY CAR ASYING THAT HE WAS THINKING OF DOING SOME SIMILAR MODIFICATIONS THAT MY WARRANTY HAS BEEN VOIDED!!
BEING AS THAT I HAVE NEVER PUT A WARRANTY CLAIM IN THIS IS HAS PISSED ME OFF SLIGHTLY!!
THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS IS SUBARU HAVEN'T EVEN GOT IN TOUCH WITH ME ABOUT THIS THAY HAVE JUST INFORMED THERE DEALERS!!
AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED SUBARU CAN GO AND SHOVE THERE CARS AND DEALERSHIPS WHERE THE MONKEY SHOVES HIS NUTS!!
SO PEOPLE BEWARE OF WHO YOU TALK TO AT TRACK DAYS AS THEY MAY WELL BE FROM SUBARU UK AND THEY WILL PROBABLE VOID YOUR WARRANTY!!!!!

DrEvil

Ouch

druddle

Thats a bummer mate.

On trackdays, make sure you cover your plate up

Dave

chuckster

How do you know your warranty is void? Have you actually gone to a dealer now with a claim?
C

JackClark

That sucks! Have you done any mods that should affect your warranty?

Shark

Jon

Did you read the terms and conditions of your warranty? It does clearly state that warranty is void if you track the car. However, Subaru may still cover non drive train parts - wiper motor etc.

Also when they void a warranty they will send a e-mail to ALL dealers - I have seen nothing in the past two weeks.

David

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Yes.

What mods?

I'm sure its no secret about some of the people on here, what car they drive, get up to, mods etc. I've never had a problem with the things I've had cause to make a claim on & never heard didly from my dealers against it either.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Shark

Has the warranty policy changed recently, or in the last year or so?

My warranty does not preclude track days, just speed testing and racing. SIDC days are driver improvement and are always advertised as such.

Saying that, REVS shootout was speed testing

Never had a problem & always found the warranty issues dealt with without any issue.

Shark

Just come from Subaru UK

Invalid warranty on Impreza WRX - Vin - JF1***********115

David

chrisp

They didnt even turn up with an STI demo car .

Well thats it for me I was seriously thinking about an MY03 STI UK as my next car so now it will be grey again or one from the opposition or a parallel import at least I can modify it.

Voting with his feet,

ChrisP

[Edited by chrisp - 7/17/2002 1:18:26 PM]

[Edited by chrisp - 7/17/2002 1:19:58 PM]

chiark

(Edited to provide a proviso to this: I assume that Scooby Jon's VIN is the one above and his warranty has been voided as a result of talking to someone on the SIDC track day after being on track. The someone did not disclose who they were, but turned out to be from IM....)

This sort of treatment *REALLY* gets my goat.

Q) What did Subaru do to launch the P1?
A) Take them to tracks and let people have a go

Q) What did Subaru do to launch the STI
a) See answer to previous question

So Subaru are selling these cars as performance cars, and are responsible enough to realise that a track is the only real place to explore their full potential.

But then, after driving on the track, you buy one and decide to take it on the track yourself...

"Goodbye warranty".

This sucks. Big style. Hypocracy, one rule for some, different for others, ... Take your pick on what it is.

If Subaru want to void warranties for track use, then fine, be up front about it. Don't go cloak and dagger, and DON'T use trackdays to sell your frickin' cars.

I'm not bothered myself as I bought my car from Holland so only had a year's warranty. It's such a shame that one of the major reasons for buying a UK sourced car ("the solid gold warranty") is not as great as it seems. So why is it worth paying 6 grand extra for a UK sourced car? (rhetorical question - sorry - not meaning to go off thread)

This method of voiding is at best questionable, at worst downright underhand.

Very unimpressed. You have my sympathy.

If anyone wants the number of a good Subaru garage in Holland, drop me a mail

[Edited by chiark - 7/17/2002 1:25:05 PM]

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

What mods & what car Jon? Guess its a newage WRX, but STi?

They've turned up (officially) to an Autocar Track day @ Bedford Autodrome with demo cars last year. They are also doing EvoActive in September @ Brands. Their STi demo days at the various circuits recently + I daresay many others.

It would've been so easy to clock PTMW! & do the same. FFS Stef only got a knock-back on his 3rd gearbox/2nd engine @ 57K miles IIRC!

Stevethevet

I'm really sorry to hear about that Jon.

I had heard of this happening quite a lot. Most delears have a batch of faxes invalidating warranties on cars that have been modded even only moderately in some cases (exhausts etc).

You can understand it in a way. People could mod their car to buggery and in the process affect other parts of the car, putting strain on original components which subsequently fail. It would probably, then, be unfair to claim on a warranty that was for, effectively, a completely different car. I suppose Subaru have to be careful otherwise people could have shoddy work done and then claim from them in the future.

I bought an STi 7 partly because of the piece of mind of the warranty. My previous car, a MY99 Turbo, had a few warranty claims dealt with really efficiently and it is nice to have that piece of mind. I wouldn't do anything to invalidate it, it may be worth a lot to me in the future and so am waiting for the PPP so I can up the performance but keep the warranty intact.

Boost II

iTrader: (1)

Surely when the car went in for the warranty work, they would see his mod's anyway - and everyone knows this voids the warranty.

Going undercover on a track day and noting down the details of cars on the track is too much though - what next? - automated numberplate readers bought from the police and mounted at all tracks and raceways connected to a computer that automatically voids the warranty and e-mails main dealers...in 1990 nobody believed this would happen to our roads with speed cameras did they - how wrong

carl

IMHO the worst thing is that Subaru UK were approached to join in with the SIDC National Day, refused, then turned up (incognito) anyway. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

nigelward

chiark

Sounds no more underhand than not disclosing taking a car on a track day where the Ts & Cs of the warranty explicitly say that this will void the warranty.

So how many performance car manufacturers maintain warranty cover for cars being used for track days?

Dizzy

omg that takes the p!ss if that is his vin [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

another reason not to buy a uk car

Boost II

iTrader: (1)

Look on the bright side - once the warranty has gone you don't need to use these ******* for servicing. I know I have certainly given them a lot of money for routine servicing and never made a warranty claim so overall this would end up costing them a fair bit if my business was taken to a cheaper independent service place.

ChrisB

I think it would be wise to clarify what year of Scoob and what the warranty T&Cs say before we all run off.

As Puff says, his warranty does not specificy preclude track use. As we all know the SIDC Days are not timed, are not races etc so they would appear to be exempt.

Maybe if it's a new car the T&Cs have changed?

[Edited by ChrisB - 7/17/2002 1:50:46 PM]

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Nigel

Mine didn't

Hence question over whether warranty terms have changed recently or for newage.

Warranty was always treated reasonably in as much as Big Brakes, unlikely to affect Turbo Failing etc etc.

PTMW! is out of warranty just today as it goes (3yrs) & I was enquiring from Mondial (who actually do the IM extended warranties) over their T&Cs (sending to me) but the guy I was chatting to said that they had that reasonable approach. Engine mods - engine failure, well then you're having a laugh, not unreasonable IMHO.

ChrisB

Interesting that Puff. When I was at warranty extension time, I rang the Sales line on the letter and asked about Mods (I've got pads, discs etc).

Lady I spoke to went away, checked and said they won't cover the car with mods. Period. Hmmm, nothing like the same script for everyone...

ianfergus0n

Well just got my extended warreny throught for MY99 and it reads

GENERAL EXCLUSIONS

3. Any vehical used for competitions, racing, pacemaking, rallies or for hire or reward or by a driving school.

GENERAL POLICY EXCLUTIONS

4. Motor racing, rallies, speed or duration tests or practice thereof.

Any soliciters out there who can con firm if it's in there or not.

davyboy

What about Subaru's own demo cars that have been used on track?

Are the warranties void on them.....no I did not think so [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

MattW

The only mod on my car is a Scoobysport back box, bought at a well known Subaru dealership.

What's the idea with that then,

yes sir we can supply a SS Exhaust system, just the back box, no problem sir, yes it will only fit an Impreza, but remember not to actually fit it, unfortunatley we can not warranty cars with this modification.

TolTec

Is there any way you can check to see if a second hand car you are buying has had the warranty voided?

ozzy

If this is true, then WTF are Subaru UK, Prodrive and several Scottish Dealers doing inviting potential customers to track days at Knockhill to show off there new STI's

I was aware that a open session Trackday isn't a timed-event, competition, race, rally, speed or duration test or even the practive of any of these. It's just driving your "high-performance" car in a safe and controlled environment.

Stefan

ozzy

Matt,

I asked my Dealer to tell me what the deal with mods and warranty is. They told me that as far as IM are concerened if you change the car from spec in any way or you fit non-OEM parts not fitted by the Dealer, then they void the warranty.

Now it's really down to whether your Dealer informs IM of your mods. My original Dealer (before they closed the business) were more than happy to fit mods. They told me that if the mod could be contributed to a failure, it wouldn't be covered and likewise if you fitted 3rd-part discs and they warped/cracked, then IM would cover these (pretty obvious that one) and I'd have to take this up with the manufacturer.

Some Dealers are worse than others, but at the end of the day if you give them your business and the mods are well-known, then why should any of them complain.

I've recently had me O2 sensor replaced under warranty and happily re-fitted to a brand new catless downpipe. The Dealer simply replaced the faulty part and claimed this from IM. Why mention the fact that it's in a catless downpipe??

Personally I think IM are just trying to keep the costs of warranty claims down by using it as a get-out clause.

Stefan

BarryK

So was the warranty voided because of:-

a) The modifications

b) the use on track

If it is the former, then surely they have a case? Depending (as we still don't know) what the mods were. If you think modding a vehicle but hiding the fact, then knowingly making a bogus warranty claim is OK then you are simply trying to have your cake and eat it, are you not?

If the latter, then they are asking to be taken to court, making all sorts of claims for (and charging a premium price accordingly) a product which you are not allowed to make use of to confirm their veracity.

So as there is no timing or race pressure in the latter case the reasonable assumption is that the cars are not warrantied to sustain the specifications as advertised, they are then not fit for purpose?

Would constant annual use of my car on German limit free autobahns similarly void my warranty? If not why not?

ozzy

Does ot actually say in the Warranty documents that it's void for ANY mods?

I thought there was a European law to stop this kind of nonsense? i.e. as long as you fit parts that are of the same or better standard then they can't void the warranty on the whole car.

Stefan

Shark

Puff - No changes as far as in know in recent years.

I have looked back on the last five Warranty Invalid e-mails we have had. 3 where because the cars have been written of and the other 2 were due to the fact the cars have been heavily modified.

No specific mention of track days.

David