I have searched for an answer on this site for this question and can not find anything so her it goes. The stealership told me I have to let them put a lift on I by from them or else I void the warranty lifetime warranty!!! Is this true? Does anybody know or have any experience with this? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!

 

They have to prove the part you changed effected the part being warrantied. They can't just say your blown engine isn't covered because of the coil lift you installed. It just isn't related. Driveshafts would be and some other components in that area..It also varies dealership by dealership on whats "covered"

 

your dealership is just trying to scare you into letting them do the work. as mentioned, they would have to prove whatever it is you are trying to warranty actually broke because of your lift kit.

 

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I'll probably sound like one anyway.

I did a search on this forum alone for "lifetime warranty void" and got 104 hits. Many of the threads discussed this issue. Then I did "Jeep lifetime warranty void" on Google and got 11,800 hits. Only checked the first 4 pages but they were almost all relevant. I'm not sure what you tried to search on so I guess I can't really comment on your search technique other than try searching for exactly what you are looking for - chances are you'll find it.

As far as warranty voiding goes, you might void parts of the warranty, but your dealer is just being a bigger jerk than me if he won't honor most of the warranty - find another dealer! For example, if you put on a 4.5" lift and rip your front driveshaft boot on the transmission (just about 100% probability if you wheel it), then he will probably not honor the warranty - and rightly so. The lift is a direct cause of the issue. If you transmission burns up and he denies the warranty because of the lift - no way. Bigger tires might be blamed, but not the lift.

Here's my story: Have a 4" lift, 5.13 gears, 35" KM2s, and a s-load of other mods and accessories I added (not the dealer). I burned up my transmission. When the dealer saw my big tires he started to question if that contributed to the transmission problems, but when I explained I had 5.13 gears that should have more than compensated for any stress on the driveline he agreed. New transmission covered under warranty!

So don't believe anyone that says your lift will void the warranty. All you can believe is YOUR dealer might void it simply because he's a jerk. In that case there are other dealers.

Not trying to get flamed by other forum members (please ), also do a search for "Magnuson-Moss Act". It will explain exactly why your dealer is legally wrong, though it still won't prevent him from terminal jerkness.

 

You can effectively cut off your dealer from being a jerk after such an incident of denying warranty service before an issue occurred by simply sending them a registered letter that contains the words "acted in bad faith". A brief mention of the "Magnuson-Moss" act that renders their comments as untrue, and a desire to purchase and work with them in the future.

Managers and Owners of dealerships have seen plenty of legalese cross their desktops, and while not written by an attorney certainly connotes a connection with one. It's an all too easy route to travel when you feel a business hasn't treated you fairly or told you something that is untrue. In every case where I needed to resort to this tact I felt I had a strengthened relationship with the business and never hesitated to mention that in the end that is all I wanted. However, at the end of the day I have a zero tolerance for actions of "bad faith" and demand to be treated fairly.

Case in point, earlier this summer I had an accident at a hotel in the Virgin Islands that left me injured, requiring several stitches and some very large bruises due to their negligence. I'm not the kind of guy who is going to run to a Lawyer and try to cash in. I received an awesome room upgrade, my hotel and restaurant bills covered and the only thing I asked was to be made whole for what ever the medical expenses were that I incurred at the emergency room.

My last night there, they sent a Facility Security person to interview me as to the incident and there were several attempts to "trick phuck" me into saying the injuries occurred off the hotel grounds or before I had arrived. Needless to say I was more than a little upset by this and I sent off my "bad faith" registered letter to their Claim Services office. Just yesterday this whole incident was laid to rest for an amount far greater than my medical expenses without any solicitation beyond my actual expenses from me nor an attorney.

In the end I'm more than happy and I'm sure they're more than relieved that I drew a line in the sand without ever getting an attorney involved.

 

...and let's not forget my favorite - the "mall crawling clause":

3.6 Other Exclusions
Your warranties don’t cover the costs of repairing
damage or conditions caused by any of the following:
• fire or accident;
• abuse or negligence;
• misuse — for example, driving over curbs or
overloading;
• tampering with the emission systems, or with
a part that could affect the emission systems;

 

Find a friendly mod dealer

That's what I did last year, and it worked!

 

Find another dealer. They can, and will, make absurd reasons why your modifications were at fault for a failure.

 

I just heard something interesting from a guy i work with who is friends with a dealership mechanic (not sure how true it is but it may explain why alot of dealers dont like to do things under warranty).

Simply put, the dealers get a lower billing rate from Chrysler for doing warranty work then they can get from directly charging the customer.

Anyone else heard of this?

 

I've heard this too, right from the shop foreman and a service advisor. Also heard that they are only alloted so much time to repair or replace most things. These aren't actual numbers but just as an example: one of the axle seals goes in your front end, chrysler gives 45 minutes to replace it and anything above and beyond 45 minutes the dealership doesnt get paid for. The dealer I take my JK to for warranty repairs never has a problem fixing anything under warranty for me. The last time I was in he said I was due for an oil change, when I told him I do it myself he started with the voiding your warranty spiel until I pulled the receipts and logbook out of my dufflebag (just came from the gym before I went there) he shut right up then.