Okay this is the sensible mother in me talking now...

How do mods affect the factory warranty? We have the extended 7yr/100k warranty and I'm just curious what extent of modification (if any) can be done without hosing the warranty?

I know that there is some sort of federal act from the 70s that keeps the warranty intact even if some upgrades are made as long as the upgrades don't affect the dealer's ability to service the warrantied part(s).

You're refering to the Magnussen-Moss Act. The jist of it is that the aftermarket part is not covered nor is any failure caused by the aftermarket part.

Up to you to persuade dealer to persaude factory to cover a component.

Unlikely that a Federal Prosecutor or Judge will hear your case without the normal 4-5 years wait for a court date........

Be nice to dealer [as in be a good paying customer for oil changes and simple maintenance] as they are the eyes and ears of the factory warranty.Of course a dealer wants to try to get Nissan to pay if you will not.

Consider who pays the service department more per year YOU or NISSAN!

Also the dealers can chose their customers at will, they can refuse to accept you as a customer and refer you to another dealer thanks to your local State Franchise Laws they are very well protected against being forced to do anything.......Even Nissan has a hard time punishing them except with purple and ugly color cars to sell or an audit of every single warranty claim or slow reimbursement of claims.........none of which helps you after you have purchased.

Thanks guys, I haven't modded anything and not sure what/if I will but just figured I'd throw that out there.

LOL @ the purple car comment...I had a purple car and loved it. =P

Understood, but understanding how warranty works puts you ahead of 90% of drivers out there.The friends of the service manager/owner and executives always have first crack at the monthly pool of free warranty money based on number of cars sold by dealer.........above that amount it gets harder and harder and harder to get warranty.

Go early to middle of month not near the very end of month when the easy money gets harder.

Thanks Q45Tech - I do appreciate your insight, its always nice to understand the inner workings of a business, especially when that knowledge can be directly beneficial.

Most Popular Car Colors, 2003–2004(Percentage of vehicles manufactured during 2003 and 2004 model years in North America)Luxury 2004 2003 1. Silver and Gray 26% 41% 2. White Pearl 17 18 3. White 12 13 4. Black 12 11 5. Light Brown 11 <1 6. Red 9 4 7. Blue 9 4 8. Yellow/Gold 4 4 9. Others <1 4 ..............................Purple? http://www.performancecoatings...p.pdfOK maybe they send a few fire engine safety YELLOW to the bad dealerships......as a signal they they are givng away too much free warranty work.

Q45tech wrote:Most Popular Car Colors, 2003–2004(Percentage of vehicles manufactured during 2003 and 2004 model years in North America)Luxury 2004 2003 1. Silver and Gray 26% 41% 2. White Pearl 17 18 3. White 12 13 4. Black 12 11 5. Light Brown 11 <1 6. Red 9 4 7. Blue 9 4 8. Yellow/Gold 4 4 9. Others <1 4 ..............................Purple? http://www.performancecoatings...p.pdfOK maybe they send a few fire engine safety YELLOW to the bad dealerships......as a signal they they are givng away too much free warranty work.

eeuwww...light brown

LOL...I saw a purple car on the road today and totally thought of this post. Too funny that when I come home there's an update with popular car colors and purple absolutely nowhere on the list.

Yellow to the dealerships giving away too much...sounds good.

Q45tech wrote:Most Popular Car Colors, 2003–2004(Percentage of vehicles manufactured during 2003 and 2004 model years in North America)Luxury 2004 2003 1. Silver and Gray 26% 41% 2. White Pearl 17 18 3. White 12 13 4. Black 12 11 5. Light Brown 11 <1 6. Red 9 4 7. Blue 9 4 8. Yellow/Gold 4 4 9. Others <1 4 ..............................Purple? http://www.performancecoatings...p.pdfOK maybe they send a few fire engine safety YELLOW to the bad dealerships......as a signal they they are givng away too much free warranty work.

Q45tech wrote:Unlikely that a Federal Prosecutor or Judge will hear your case without the normal 4-5 years wait for a court date........

While the insight on how dealer-manufacturer warranty relationships works is helpful, you should consider that this would be a civil case(should the need for legal action arise). Prosecutors don't get involved. It would be a breach of contract case between the plaintiff and Nissan. And if it is a monetarily small enough case, it would probably go to small claims first.

know that there is some sort of federal act from the 70s that keeps the warranty intact even if some upgrades are made as long as the upgrades don't affect the dealer's ability to service the warrantied part(s).

That was the original question not if you can sue for breech, as anyone can sue for anything.......winning is the hard part.

Speaking now as an attorney that specializes in consumer actions, winning a case is not always the problem! it's getting paid that becomes a problem. Corporate attorneys don't have much to do, so they appeal unfavorable judgements and tie you up in court for years. They really hope you either give up, or......you run out of cash to persue the case. It is far better to be nice to service advisor, I always take an extra cup of coffee and donut with me to the dealership. Kindness goes a long way

Q45tech wrote: know that there is some sort of federal act from the 70s that keeps the warranty intact even if some upgrades are made as long as the upgrades don't affect the dealer's ability to service the warrantied part(s).

That was the original question not if you can sue for breech, as anyone can sue for anything.......winning is the hard part.

I'm not a fan of filing unreasonable lawsuits. But if a repair should be covered by the warranty according to the warranty itself and federal law, then a person has the right to sue and theoretically should win.

Bear in mind that you brought the legal system's involvement (or lack there of) in this topic first. I only pointed out that some of the information you posted was wrong.

If it does end up in small claims, I think the plaintiff will have a better chance. Since it would be the judge's decision at that level, and the fact that judges generally put weight on a plaintiff's case (something about a person who is willing to go through the trouble can be in indication of their credibility). Of course everything is case by case, but assuming a person has a reasonable case, then it's likely a small claims judge would award damages to the plaintiff. The defendant at this point can certainly appeal and ask for a jury trial, but what large corporation would go through the trouble and legal expense of a jury trial if the small claims judge already ruled against the defendant? That's potential for some really bad PR. A defendent may choose to take a loss defending a case on principle, but they better actually have a good case. But taking a general stand against legitimate warranty claims has buch bigger legally detrimental possibilities that any good corporate attorney would be smartly trying to avoid.

When you go to state court lots depends on the venue and whether you are in a Quasi-Socialist State [Left Coast] or a more traditional conservative state.

Just because you are in S. Cal don't promote that those thought processes are 100% valid in every state and juristiction.

We all forget that things vary by our locations. "The Cable Guy" is the #1 comic in US.

Try sueing in a community where 10-20% of the workforce is employed by the company you are sueing......say parts of MS, TN, OH, SC, etc. Impossible to get a clean jury pool.

The point was about after market parts and modifications to an under warranty vehicle......people who make the usual obscene blig, loud muffler, power mods are automatically suspect in many jurors/judges minds.

Heaven help you, if somebody bought a moded used car that was nothing but trouble because of previous mods.

The original question was asking if the warranty was voided by aftermarket parts. It is not. Perhaps it is not your intent, but your posts would impress upon us that a warranty is no good unless you kiss a dealer's behind.

My statements are pretty general and not specific to Socal.

Yes, location can end up with various results. But as far as jury pools, I only spoke to small claims cases. They do not involve juries. Secondly, if we are to debate juries, then you should consider that it's not like you're going to have an employee of the company or even anyone who knows someone working at the company on the jury. The jury selection process will likely dismiss these jurors.

Think about what you are saying here. A predisposition in a juror about a loud muffler is going to do what in a case where a motor related failure was denied because of an aftermarket stereo? And if we want to talk about predispositions, don't forget how people can easily see a big corporation bullying a poor individual. But I'm not trying to debate such arguments. All I said about the original question is what should technically be covered by the warranty and what should not. All I responded about your original post was that the legal information was inaccurate.

The dealer has nothing to do with a warranty. The are just a repair shop with a direct bill contract with manufacturer. Another divison of dealership is a retail/wholesale parts suppilierHowever the dealer is the only repair shop /retail parts dealer that a manufacturer will deal with because of the States Franchise Laws. and the mandated components in the retail sales contract that creates the dealer arm itself.

A dealer has a certain amount of leeway in doing warranty repairs without prior approval by the manufacturer..........common things, recalls, known problems.Uncommon things require manufacturers PREAPPROVAL or the dealers shop could be left holding the bag for repairs.

Too many of these rogue repairs and the service manager looks for another job [very common ask/research the average job life of this position]. If they don't end up an alcoholic/druggy or a suicide.

There is never enough warranty money to satisfy every owner.

How the real world works is often different from the ideal warranty document.

My point is to always be friendly and make sure you get more than your fair share of the pool of funds.

As for aftermarket mods I would never buy a used car so moded and would hope others would forgo this rare oppurtunity to self abuse themselves.

Simple things like larger heavier wheels have a way of destroying bearings and springs and shocks and everything attached to suspension.HOT AIR CONE FILTERS have a way of wearing out rings faster.

ALL MOST EVERY PERFORMANCE MOD has a downside in one way or the other.

If you overclock a computer to increase its performance do you expect the overheated cpu to be covered by warranty, if you raise the power supply voltage and burn out something should it be covered.

Why do people believe they can redesign a vehicle and expect coverage.

Durn enough stuff fails without help.