[DMCForum] Re: Chrysler Decides to Harvest Some Rice!

["therealdmcvegas" <dmcvegas@xxxxxxx>]

--- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Jon Heese <dmcforum@xxxx> wrote:
> It seems to me that Marc's sarcastic questions indicate that he did
read 
> the article.  Sounded like he was questioning your application of the 
> Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act to the modifcations discussed in the Neon
PDF.
> 
> Regards,
> Jon Heese

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act does indeed apply here, but not in the
way that you think. Here's a quick link to the FTC's website, with an
explanation of it.

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

In a nutshell, if they ain't the cause of the problem, they've no
obligation, nor responsability to fix it. The manufacturer here of the
SRT-4 has to warranty their product from defects in workmanship. So if
you bought a new car, and durring the warranty something covered under
it fails because it wasn't installed correctly, it was a defective
part from some flaw in it's own manufacturing, the manufacturer has to
replace it. However, if you caused the part to fail thru neglect,
modification, or anything else where it would have been fine had you
not have touched it, then it isn't covered under warranty. Plain in
simple, it was your workmanship that caused the failure, and not the
factory and/or authorized mechanics who worked on the car.

Oil filters from people like K&N don't void factory warranties,
because they meet a specific performance critera that is set by the
manufacturer. So, there's no problem there. But if you were to fiddle
with the boost pressure on a turbo charged car by over-riding the
equipment that controls it, then you have voided the warranty, because
you have compromised the manufacturer's workmanship. And it doesn't
matter if nothing is broken at this time...

The SRT-4 is the perfect example of this. Chrysler has a warranty
issued with the car, that applies within a certain time
period/distance driven, before it expires. These warranties are
designed around the items that they cover, like the drivetrain for
example. Engineers have desinged the motor to last for a minimal
period of time, and operate reliably at that. So the warranty is
designed to only cover the car durring this time. It's a gamble they
take, where they are betting that their product is so good, that an
owner will never need to use it. And naturally this is a selling point
of the car. So keep this fact in mind.

Now just because a car is properly operating at the time that it has
been modified, doesn't mean that they shouldn't cancel the warranty.
As stated previously, the engine is supposed to operate normally for a
certain period of time. It will wear down and break at a specific
rate. However, when you push the engine harder by modifying components
of the drivetrain, you wear it out quicker, and thus shorten it's
life. So if a powertrain has a 5 year/60K mile warranty, and you push
it harder, and wear it out more quickly, you're causing unessisary
waranty work for the manufacturer. You are causing unnessisary repairs
to a vehicle which would otherwise have been fine. So if they are not
the cause of problems, then they are obligated to repair them. And to
anyone who thinks that this isn't a fair practice, put yourself in
their shoes, and see how you'd like it?

This document is great, and is something that everyone who's thinking
about modifying a stock car should consider. Everything has to work in
tandem together. So if you change one thing, you affect both the
performance, and the wearability of another. Take the lowering springs
for example, and how they can start wearing out the driveshafts
prematurely.

Now with this out of the way, there is a REALLY funny epiloge to this
story. This memo was leaked out, and a link to it posted on an
enthusists' site, http://www.srtforums.com/ . As it turns out,
Chrysler has been reading this website, and voiding the warranties of
people who have been racing & modifying their cars. Even better, they
downloaded photos of peoples cars, proudly showing off the
modifications that they performed to their vehicles. And then in turn
traced over them, and included them in this memo as things to look for!

Ya know, having a car that's almost a quarter century old, with a
warranty that died long ago can be really liberating...

-Robert

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