What mods can I do which won't void my warranty?

[JaCe]

Well I have a 5 year warranty for my Civic... and considering that was the 'freebie' they gave me as opposed to floor mats (grr never underestimate the value of floormats) or mudflaps (also never underestimate the value of these), I figure I probably shouldn't screw up my car just yet.

So I ask, what can I actually do to personalise my (automatic) Civic which won't void the warranty? So far all I can think of is adding amp/subwoofer/speaker upgrade (not the Bass works one), and changing the headlights to those blue HILs.

[yourfather]

HID's aren't legal unless you have Auto levelling, a cutoff point, and a lens washer.

panda[CRX] might be able to help you out here because he works at a dealer.

From my understanding, if you put like an exhaust system on the car, it won't void the warranty on your engine, it will just mean that your aftermarket exhaust isn't covered by the OEM warranty.

You could also change your seats, or retrim them in leather.

You can get a body kit / front lip / rear lip.

Door sills. Mainly rice mods. Once you start getting into performance, it's not within manufacturer specifications, therefore you can't really expect to have a warranty. I.E. Cold Air Intake, Pod Filter, will void your engine warranty.

[51REK]

From what i understand of it anything that is not fitted by the manufacturer voids your warranty. One of my mates works as a mechanic at a subaru yard and he says they sometimes have to remove aftermarket modifications so that the customer can claim parts under their warranty. Dunno if this is true so please feel free to correct me if i'm wrong.

[Zdster]

The definitive answer: You can modify your car in any way you like, however if the part you have modified can be linked to the failure of a stock part you are trying to claim then the manufacturer does not have to warrenty the part.


For example - you modify your extractors/headers and cat back and your cat gives up on you, the manufacturer can claim that the failure was caused to the changed headers and wont warrenty your cat. They cant however say that because you changed your sterio they will not warrenty one of your belts snapping as an example.

Oh forgot to mention - will add this info. to the stickied thread .

[krogoth]

The definitive answer: You can modify your car in any way you like, however if the part you have modified can be linked to the failure of a stock part you are trying to claim then the manufacturer does not have to warrenty the part.


For example - you modify your extractors/headers and cat back and your cat gives up on you, the manufacturer can claim that the failure was caused to the changed headers and wont warrenty your cat. They cant however say that because you changed your sterio they will not warrenty one of your belts snapping as an example.

Oh forgot to mention - will add this info. to the stickied thread .

thats all tru,

ma car modz:
1. head unit(ABSOLUTE SLUT TO PUT IN)
2. 6 inch speakerz for front doors
3. rear muffler
4. gear knob
5. pedals

dont flame me if im rong, but so wat if u void the warranty? if say uve ruined ur gearbox, u still have to pay the full price for repairs whether uve modified the car or not

[JaCe]

Forgot to add before that it's also so that I don't kill the resale value or make it less attractive if I try to trade it in after a few years.

[aaronng]

Forgot to add before that it's also so that I don't kill the resale value or make it less attractive if I try to trade it in after a few years.

Take off your mods prior to trading in. Then sell those parts individually. You'll recover much more money.