Aftermarket Equipment VS Warranty

[Dalite]

I am pasting this in from a post I made elsewhere concerning this issue. I believe the topic has been brought up in duscussion here. This post should elaborate a little, and give some sources for more info.

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 addresses the concerns of installing aftermarket equipment and maintaining factory warranty coverage. Here is a short excerpt of an explanation of the act and what is and isn't covered. Keep in mind that the explanation below is not the actual act; merely an interpretation .

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FANNING FEARS
You want to upgrade your vehicle with aftermarket equipment, but you’re worried about putting the vehicle’s warranty at risk. It’s no wonder. How many times have you heard somene of a dealership say that installing aftermarket equipment automatically voids the warranty? This common misconception has been repeated often enough to be widely believed – though it is completely false.

Fact: Dealers don’t like warranty work, because it pays less than normal repair work. By promoting the myth that aftermarket equipment automatically voids warranties, some dealers avoid such low-paying work. Instead, they attempt to charge customers the prime service rate for work which is rightfully done under warranty.

THE TRUTH
Most vehicle owners are not aware they are protected by federal law: the Magnuson-Moss Warranty – Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act of 1975. Under the Magnuson-Moss Act, aftermarket equipment which improves performance does not void a vehicle manufacturer’s original warranty, unless the warranty clearly and conspicuously states that aftermarket equipment voids the warranty. Most states have warranty statutes, as well. Which provide further protections for vehicle owners.
In other words, that means a dealer can’t wiggle out of his legal warranty obligation merely because you install aftermarket equipment. To find out if any aftermarket equipment automatically voids your vehicle’s warranty, check the owner’s manual. It is likely the language you are looking for appears under a heading such as “What Is Not Covered” Although the language seems negative, remember your vehicle manufacturer is simply saying he does not cover the aftermarket products themselves. He is not saying that the products would void the vehicle warranty.

FEDERAL LAW
‘In order to improve the adequacy of information available to consumers, prevent deception, and improve competition in the marketing of consumer products, any warrantor warranting a consumer product to a consumer by means of a written warranty shall. . .fully and conspicuously disclose in simple and readily understood language the terms and conditions of such warranty. Such rules . . . require inclusion in the written warranty of any . . . exceptions and exclusions from the terms of the warranty.’ – Magnuson-Moss Warranty & Federal Trade Commission improvement Act. Section 2302(a)
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More of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act explained can be found here:

http://www.autotrucktoys.com/ptcruiser/magnuson.cfm

This may be an important piece of info to keep in your car's glove box. I will try to see if I can get the full text of the act from an official site.

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The act is usually referred to as the Magnuson-Moss Warranty act. Here is a link to a simple search on it:

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Mag...6+Federal+Trad e+Commission+improvement+Act.

Here is a link to the URL at the Federal Trade Commission's site that is devoted to warranty interpretation and how the Magnuson-Moss Acts comes into play:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/...s/warranty.htm

Codefied into law as:

Sec. 101 of Public Law 93-637, The MAGNUSON-MOSS WARRANTY-FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION IMPROVEMENT ACT.

Referred to in 15 USC S2301-2312

And here is the actual Act:

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/ch50.html

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So, there i

[Gary04GT]

Informative and useful information. Thanks for posting.[|)]