c class 279

Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone here has had problems with theirs mods voiding their warranty or their dealer refusing to do warranty work? What sort of things void the warranty?

Lockbuster

This is from what I learned when I worked as a contractor at the Mercedes Benz dealer in Tulsa; they can tell if an aftermarket pulley kit has been put on and then removed for warranty work, lowering a Benz can void the warranty, some aftermarket radios can cause a warranty to be void just to name a few. I am not an authority on this, this is what I have seen and heard from the dealer.





I am sure their will be others with different views than this however when in doubt ask a qualified Mercedes Benz rep.

Matt230K

I doubt this. It would have to be very obvious, like if the pulley was nice and clean and everything else was dirty. How else would they tell? And I don't think most techs are expecting to see an aftermarket pulley, so it is not really something that they are looking for. The majority of people who buy a benz don't modify anything on it, although it may be different on the west coast.

Also, I don't think that your entire warranty can be voided because of a single part. I think it only voids the warranty on any parts that it may affect. So a radio isn't going to void the car's entire warranty, but it may void any warranty on the sound system. But I could be wrong about this.

trench

Just guessing... but the type of damage one was trying to pass off as a warranty issue could be indicative of a changed pulley. I'm sure MB has a pretty good idea of the failure rate for the Eaton M45 - as well as the type of damage that occurs with common failures. Anything out of the "norm" could be considered suspicious.

Although, I'm probably giving them too much credit in regard to their diagnostic capability

Cheers, BT

Lockbuster

Do not underestimate the Mercedes techs, they have ways of determining what has been altered. Remember the C230K's computer is not dumb it holds information and it is interactive (from what I have been told).

Matt230K

I guess you have experience with better techs than I do. I'm just a lot tech, but I could probably do a better job than a lot of the techs on some of the work that they do. It's kinda pathetic how bad some of these guys are.

avlis

Your car came with a warrenty booklet and describes what voids the warrenty and what voids the included 50K service agreement. The dealer can scare you all they want with words (remember they are SALESMEN). The warrenty is in writing- read it.

A single mod like a pulley or radio will not void the ENTIRE car's warrenty. It just can't happen. If you use your car in competition (I assume this includes Auto-x and drag racing), you give up your included 50k service. Again, it's all in the book.

Lockbuster

So what you are saying is that putting on a pulley would only void the engine including the Compressor and if you think about it the pulley can also void the transmission putting to much stress on the drive train, well I guess you could void the rear end because of the stress on the engine, transmission differential, and rear end. Obviously your engine is running faster and harder than what the manufacture has set up. I guess you are right it will not void the whole warranty.
Talking about a radio, putting in an aftermarket radio, the warranty will void the radio, however if the dash has a problem they may void the warranty in that area because of the different radio, then the wiring could be void because of the cutting of the radio wires, speaking of cutting the wires some parts of the automobile components could be void from a spike in the system.
So your are right not the whole warranty is void, however a domino effect may happen and I agree with the manufacture, why should they pay for a problem that a non Mercedes tech caused. I do not believe we should try to pilfer the dealership because we damaged a vehicle with an aftermarket item and expect them to pay for it.

When you put an aftermarket pulley on a vehicle then take it off and put the original back on just to service the vehicle it is just like stealing something from someone.

young

i haven't had any warranty issues at my dealership.

i have the hids (which are obvious b/c i use them as DRLs also) and the renntech pulley (which was installed by another dealership).

so far, i've had it in for a few minor things and service A.

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one dealership said that they wouldn't install the renntech pulley (i got the contact info from renntech) b/c it would void the emissions warranty. but that dealership sucks anyway cough*mbofdevon°*cough... so not sure if he was justting putting me off or if they really have such a policy b/c they changed my hid settings w/out batting an eye. i do know that they lowered a sedan w/ springs/sways for another person but w/ amg parts.

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so, ymmv.

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° the parts department is cool though.

avlis

If you put a pulley on your engine and a system fails, that failure would have to be caused by the pulley in order for them to void the warranty. So, assume I have a pulley on my car and my ignition coil(s) failed. The dealer can tell me to screw all he wants but, I can fight for it to be covered (and probably win) or find another dealer. It can be proven that a pulley mod will not cause a coil to fail.

If my cylinder head warped becuase my pulley broke off and stopped the water pump causing overheating, I wouldn't expect that to be covered.

An extreme example would be a dealer voiding the warrenty on the rear end because an aftermarket radio was installed. I can't believe any dealer would do that. If they do, they should be investigated.

If my transmission or rear end failed, I would prove that the max power the modified engine produces is still less than the max the drivetrain was designed for.