I just want to see what others are doing.

 

I voted "NO", Neal. Here's a perfect example of when having a relationship with someone in the service department and telling the truth can really come in handy.

My 2K SE threw an ABS light the other day. Although the light went out after I restarted my car, I'm taking it into my dealer next week to have the left rear ABS and speed sensors checked. Those seem to be the most common causes of the condition.

I just spoke to my Service Writer. I told him I was bringing my car in and that I had recently installed a K&N cone filter. (He already knows about my Y-pipe!) I asked him if he'd be willing to turn a blind eye towards my mods when he fixes the ABS sensor problem. He said, "no problem . . . bring it in!"

Under the circumstances, I'm not going to put my car back to stock before I take it in for warranty service. But if it weren't for my relationship with my Service Writer, I'd definitely be real concerned about it.

I'm not club member #1 of the "Take your Service Writer to lunch" club for nothing!

 

if u r bringing it in for a blown MAF YES. for a recall HELL NO! i brought my 2k2 6 speed in with fstb, rstb, rsb, FC intake, and springs/struts they said nothin!

will

 

for services....no.

for warranty repair....yes, but depends on what repair. Of course intake off for blown MAF....but I left RSB on for my brake rotor TSB

 

I completely agree with this statement. I left my FSTB and RSB on for the recalls. However, if I had a aftermarket intake I would certainly remove it for a blown MAF.

 

I would take it back to stock. When I called my dealer he said that any exhaust or intake mods will void the warranty on the carr. I just wanna avoind the hassle. Nissan dealers are biches and If you want anyghing done under warranty take it back to stock.

 

thats against the law, they are lying to you. there are laws that prevent them from doing thjat,. they have to prove the mod caused the problem.

 

does anyone know if having a ninja kit will create problems when takin your car in for regular maintenance?
right now all i can think of is the side skirts might prevent them from puttin it on a lift...?

 

Right, Steve. But as I've said on numerous occasions, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It's simply easier, less time-consuming and less expensive to reinstall your stock intake if you suspect a dead MAF sensor, for instance, than it is to fight your dealer over denial of service under warranty.

Let me put it to you another way. If you thought the MAF sensor on your own Maxima was dead, would you roll into a Nissan dealer with one of your intakes installed or would you reinstall your stock intake first? (I realize that this may be something of a loaded question and it's not my desire to put you on the spot. So don't feel obligated to answer it if you don't want to.)

 

only the part that u change will lose its warranty. thats all ulness u got a s/c then warranty is off.

 

That's enough! It costs upwards of $600.00 to replace a MAF sensor. I assume you've got better things to do with your money than pay for that out of your pocket.

 

i would change it to the stock one because that would give them reason to say this caused the problem even if it didn't. what i was getting at with mine was that dealers will tell you an exhuast will void your engine's warranty or other bull$hit stuff liek that. if i went in for a dead O2 sensor i might change my exhuast out because they could try to say i dropped it or something. SO... if i go in for service for something that could have been affected by the aftermarkter part i would change it out but when dealers tell you any aftermarkter stuff will void your whole warranty just laugh at them and take out your copy of the Law that i keep with me that says they can't.

-steve

 

Thanks, Steve. I changed one word in your response because I believe that's what you actually meant to say. Other than that, I agree with you completely.

 

So for this control arm recall, there's no good reason to take out my new friend FrankenBerk then? Unless they are enough of a bunch of shmucks that they would write it up on my permanent service record. Hmm... decisions decisions. I suppose since I haven't put the Frankencar midpipe on yet, I may as well return it to stock and then put everything on when the repairs are complete. My FSTB and RSB are waiting for the repair to be over also.

 

thanks. i meant what you said.

and neal like y2kse says "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

-steve

 

Here's my related question. Those two screws that hold the front air dam on, the ones that have the circular brackets around them, how do you get those off without completely stripping them? I have done it twice now! Grrrr....

 

just get a screwdriver and pop them up and then pull the whole unit out. that's how it is on mine, take 30 seconds.

 

Nice idea. You didn't scratch the finish doing that? Just put the screwdriver underneath the connector? Interesting, I'll try that with the new set of screws I bought. It's gonna be so sad taking out my HAI :-( slow Maxima makes me sad. Thanks for the tip!

 

OK, returned it to stock. :-(. This is what's waiting to be installed once the recall work is over ...

FSTB
RSB
Frankencar Midpipe
Berk Intake
AE Door Sills
AE Pedals (autotragic)
PIAA H3 Fog Lights
Polarg H4 Driving Lights
Polarg H4 Step Lights
Polarg Torpedo Dome Light
Caliper Paint (gloss black & clear coat)


Hmm...looks like someone will have a busy weekend :-). can't wait!

 

Hey Steve. Which law are you referring to? Is it the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act? Do you happen to have a copy of the pertinent law/section or a link to that law/section that you could share with us? I wouldn't mind keeping a copy of that law/section with me too!

Thanks.

 

Please tell me you didnt take off the pedals, door sills and the bulbs.. those are all new right?

 

#1 Just because certain behaviors are against the law doesn't prevent the behavior from occurring.
#2 Even a court decision in your favor doesn't necessarily mean that you will get what you want. The court has no law enforcment capability.

Regarding warranty voiding, think about it this way.. say you sell your maxima via classified ad. Three days later the buyer calls you back and says the car is missing and idles rough. You don't want to be a jerk so you say "drop by and let me take a look". The car shows up with an aftermarket ECU under the hood that wasn't there when you sold it. The new owner says "Oh, that? My buddy Nicky and I put that on this weekend--supposed to add 15HP". Now how sympathetic are you going to feel about the rough idle situation? KEY MESSAGE: Don't tamper with intake or exhaust if you expect your engine warranty to be honored.

 

your lucky you done have many mods....im taking mine in for service and had to take my nitrous system off, intake off, y pipe... and all that other crap..


definelty remove everything...

 

Depends, if my mod caused the problem then im gonna take it out so i can blaime it on them and get free service. If its just an intake or cat back...not really something im gonna stress over. Try to tap them for everything they are worth, but dont do more than u need to

 

My dealer told me that I could modify the muffler, because it wouldn't really do anything. He also said that if I put an intake on the car and my MAF goes out they would definitely not warrantee it. He told me that if they really wanted to be ****s about it an intake could void any problem that involved the engine, drivetrain, O2 sensors, etc. Basically anything except the suspension, brakes, and/or interior components. It would be nice to have more than one dealership in a 100 mile radius.

 

blown engine...had to be the pop charger, u get zero dollars, next!

 

I've got bad struts and am about to take my car to the dealership to get them swapped under warranty. Actually $50 deductible. Should I take off my 17" aftermarket wheels and front strut bar? Can they say that this voids strut warranty? Does anyone think it maybe possible to talk them into installing new springs when they swap struts? Just wondering, hoping actually. How much will dealership charge to advance timing to 17 degrees TDC?

 

i dont think they will advance your timiing for you and i say leave the wheels on but take the FSB off. it only takes like 10 minutes.

 

yea strut problem, and you have a strut brace... they could hose u on that

 

Yes, ESPECIALLY ... IF you have a CAI with K&N filter and the problem is a BLOWN MAF those fools would say its the CAI right away. well at least here..

 

I think I'll just take it all off because I brought my car into a shop and they scratched one of my rims up. I don't even want to risk it. It'll just take me an hour and car will look like $hit on the way to dealership but as long as it's fixed it's all gravy, baby!

 

In theory, we shouldn't have to. In reality, we should b/c the fcking idiots (otherwise known as Nissan Service Department) will not do a damn thing to help the owner in 9 out of 10 cases when a problem does arise. Thats regardless of service history, business brought in, or repeat purchases over the years. Fukk Nissan Service to hell in a hand basket. And the sad part is, the good Service Departments in this country are being so vastly overshadowed by the bad ones so that no one wants to use any of them...


I blame France

 

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act
US Code - Title 15, Chapter 50, Sections 2301-2312

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

 

do they run the service department or something like freedom fries but different

 

It is a lot of work to take off mods so I vote no. If I suspected a bad MAF I would probably put my stock intake on though. My dealer Liberty in Libertyville IL has modded cars on the floor. Most of the mechanics have modded cars. The owner and sales guy race Nissans. They are extremely cool about these things.

How about starting a list of mod friendly dealers, asnd non mod friendly dealers?

 

I would....I dont think any dealer will like to work on my car if I dont return it back to stock.