Buying Type R Used. If car had a tune reflashed than put back to stock before sale. Is the warranty gone for the new unsuspecting buyer.

Neciovato

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When this comes up - this always makes me think of the woman who sued Honda over their mileage claims on a hybrid Civic. Instead of going/doing a class action lawsuit - she decided to do small claims court and look to collect (rounding up) about $10k. Not sure if got her money but she did win the case:

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/small-claims-20-calif-woman-sues-honda-mounts/story?id=15281482

Overall I think if you buy CPO and it was tuned in the past - I would think the dealer can/will pull the ā€™we must check/verify with corporateā€™. That was always the argument on the other forumS even when it would be a cut and dry case. This might have been said but sometimes you need to reach out to the dealer and see how they feel about mods - if they are a mod friendly dealer and you develop a relationship with them - Iā€™m sure if something goes wrong - they would be more apt to help you than to tell you ā€˜to go pound sandā€™
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MadMage

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do you really believe that tuning the car for more power shouldn't affect the powertrain warranty?
I don't believe its black and white. One examples would be a tune for 320HP. Given that I know the engine is designed and rated for that in other markets, yes, I would expect the warranty to be honored. Because if the engine failed at this tune then it would be a failure in quality/workmanship/material and not the tune or the design. If I blew an engine tuned for 550HP then it would be because I put more stress on the engine than it was designed for and it would be clear to me that the tune was what caused the failure. Not the design/quality/materials.

Where's the line in between, I don't know. I'm sure my opinion would be heavily weighed by my experience and opinion on if I did something the engine should be able to handle or not and I would follow the law and leave it to the warrantor to provide evidence I was wrong if needed.

And if you read up on Magnuson-Moss, the law is there because of abuse by warrantors, not by consumers.
 

tinyman392

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Theoretically....if you put it into the wrong gear ...but didn't release the clutch and shifted into the correct gear before releasing the clutch....I'm assuming the ECU/car doesn't care?
If you never engage the gear, the revs wonā€™t go up. So the car doesnā€™t over rev in that scenario. If you engage or partially engage that gear before realizing the mistaken then it might care.
 

Phy

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The thing is, that extended warranty may end up moot if theyā€™re able to figure out the car was tuned in the past. Iā€™m not sure if CPO actually checks to see if the ECU was jailbroken of if it has been tuned in the past. But say the customer did buy the car and then the motor blows. Then the dealership finds out that the car had been tuned in the past, they donā€™t have to honor the warranty. Sure the customer will end up in a fight with the dealership since they purchased an extended warranty that didnā€™t really mean much, but the claim would still be denied.
In this situation you have a good case for taking them to court, as they were the ones who certified it, so it's on them (dealer) to make sure there's no issues.
 

Z06Chris

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I don't believe its black and white. One examples would be a tune for 320HP. Given that I know the engine is designed and rated for that in other markets, yes, I would expect the warranty to be honored. Because if the engine failed at this tune then it would be a failure in quality/workmanship/material and not the tune or the design. If I blew an engine tuned for 550HP then it would be because I put more stress on the engine than it was designed for and it would be clear to me that the tune was what caused the failure. Not the design/quality/materials.

Where's the line in between, I don't know. I'm sure my opinion would be heavily weighed by my experience and opinion on if I did something the engine should be able to handle or not and I would follow the law and leave it to the warrantor to provide evidence I was wrong if needed.

And if you read up on Magnuson-Moss, the law is there because of abuse by warrantors, not by consumers.
Yeah, tell them you tuned to run the crank hp #s Honda advertised. That sounds delusional and you're grasping at straws to not have to 'pay to play'. I'm going to see myself out of this thread.
 


19typer

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Pay to play, its that simple. If you have an issue you may get lucky but most likely it won't be covered. I have modified cars for a long time and it always came down to the dealer checking with corporate for expensive repairs. If they do that on a tuned car, it will be denied.
 

Edd

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Pay to play, its that simple. If you have an issue you may get lucky but most likely it won't be covered. I have modified cars for a long time and it always came down to the dealer checking with corporate for expensive repairs. If they do that on a tuned car, it will be denied.
I would think so.
Once the factory ECU is tampered with, it's no longer "factory" ECU. It's YOUR ECU.
Honda could convincingly argue that anything linked to their ECU, which fails, is warrantied. Once it's modified, however, it's non-factory and therefore not subject to warranty.

It's much more complex than using simple aftermarket maintenance parts, which is a big part of why Magnusson Moss was created....you were no longer tied to the manufacturer for simple maintenance and repairs.
 

ultrashin

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When it comes to buying used car, there is always the risk of manufacturer not honoring warranty. You save money given the risk that the car might be problematic.

That's why you should buy new if you are worried about used car being tempered.
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