Strut Brace & Warranty

[matt8373]

Bearing in mind what is going on over on the Octavia II forum.

I am considering putting a Seat strut brace on my Fabia VRS, does this afect my warranty and what parts will it affect???

Also I am interested in a rear strut brace have sen it on the Seat site and we were looking into it here but it seems to have gone cold. Anyone know what is going on?

[HellFire]

Technically it will as it is not a Skoda accessory, it's a Seat one. I assume the part affected would be the suspension. It is however moderately easy to remove come service time but my dealer has had no issue with warranty work on mine when I left it on.

You will also need to notify your insurance company.

[ChrisRs]

My dealer has seen mine. No problem.

[matt8373]

I'll have a chat and see if they will fit it ( I know it will cost and could probably do it free ) might be less hassle.

Anyone know anything about the rear on though???

[RallyRed]

My dealer has seen mine. No problem.

minetoo and it was in for a broken spring

[WW_VRS]

Lowering tends to kill any warranty on the suspension and drive shaft/wheel bearing parts according to one of the dealers I use.

Strut brace - the Skoda dealer wouldn't fit it but basically said that unless the bolts were sheered off or something like that caused a problem (which shouldn't happen unless you are either very unlucky or you've overtightened stuff) it won't void warranty. Insurance needs to be told though.

PD160 air intake - warranty on engine voided as it was considered an engine modification by the same dealer. I personally disagree with this one but still. Again insurance ought to know about this one, but really should be a freebie IMHO as no performance increase other than making revving higher up more possible.

Green filter is a mod too but it's a drop-in replacement, and the dealer won't check unless it's the 40k service where they do the paper filter replacement. I told my insurer but that's coz I have a few more tweaks to my car

[SteVRs]

When I bought the furby the dealer offered to fit mine for free and said no warranty probs with one fitted.

Unless they provide free replacements a manufacturer cannot do anything to you for using an aftermarket air filter element, including green, K&N etc...

[ScoobyChris]

Unless they provide free replacements a manufacturer cannot do anything to you for using an aftermarket air filter element, including green, K&N etc...

I thought the warranty states that you must use "genuine/OEM service parts" to maintain the warranty? :confused:

Chris

[HellFire]

It does.

[SteVRs]

What they say and what is legally correct are often two different things.

Edit: This applies only to air filters, not oil, fuel etc. No idea why, but it is true:confused:

[ScoobyChris]

What they say and what is legally correct are often two different things.

Edit: This applies only to air filters' date=' not oil, fuel etc. No idea why, but it is true:confused:[/quote']

Surely your signature confirms that you agree with the T&C's of the warranty so it is legally binding? :confused:

Would be interested if you could post a link with more info as it would definitely be worth knowing about

Chris

[SteVRs]

Surely your signature confirms that you agree with the T&C's of the warranty so it is legally binding?

No, if you sign something that breaks, contradicts or isn't in line with UK/EU statute it simply carries no weight. In most cases the offending section/clause/term is ignored.

I'll look and see if I can find it - The more I think about this it could be US only - it's written on most aftermarket element boxes IIRC.

[BigW]

I thought the warranty states that you must use "genuine/OEM service parts" to maintain the warranty? :confused:

Chris

Just parts that are up to the required standard, i.e conforms to BSXXXX, however i dont think that a green filter would count as it is a 'performance' filter.

For instance, if you took your car for a service to a non dealer vat registered garage and they used a Fram filter instead of a VAG one there wouldnt be a problem, not preffered for me but not a warranty voider

[texasjohn]

I'll look and see if I can find it - The more I think about this it could be US only - it's written on most aftermarket element boxes IIRC.

In the US some years ago there was a legal case (I think they call them 'test cases') between a car owner and a manufacturer.

I think he'd either been having his car serviced by a 'kwik fit' type of place, or doing it himself at home using non-OEM (but DOT approved) items.

Something major must have happened to the car, and he went to claim on the warranty and the old 'your warranty is invalid as you've not had it serviced by the dealership' card got pulled.

The courts sided with the car owner and since that time your warranty cannot be invalidated so long as you prove that you have followed the maintenance schedule correctly.

This is in the US though and as previously noted, it is the EU statutes in UK that override whatever Skoda demand anyway.

O/t:

Similarly with insurance here, I think for similar reasons anything 'bolted on' (exhaust, filter, ignition coils, HT leads) does not have to be declared as a peformance mod. Biggie items like putting super or turbo chargers on naturally aspirated cars I think you do have to declare, but hardly 'bolt on' items!

I called my insurance co when I remapped my Saab Aero (+50hp, +75lbft) with a BSR plug-in device, they had no interest in the mod from a perspective of charging me more for my cover. They only stipulated that if the car got written off or stolen they'd not factor in the cost of the mods to any payment for the value of the car.