Warranty and aftermarket exhaust systems

[bestexhaust]

I have a lot of customers ask about warranty and fitting aftermarket exhausts.  For most car manufacturers, the cat back section is free to change without affecting overall warranty, but obviously, the exhaust system won;t be covered under the car's manufacturer warranty.

With Porsche however, I've been seeing claims that the car's warranty will be void if you fit a muffler that is not Porsche manufactured.  Surely this is false and substancially illegal for Porsche to make this claim.

Does anyone know for sure?  Is there any evidence one way or the other?

Thanks

Mike

[FANBOYPP]

I was told by the dealer that a cat back system is fine. 

Once you change the entire system, cats etc then issues directly related to the exhaust aren't covered under warranty. Importantly, this will not void your warranty as a whole.

Makes sense to me, although I don't have any definitive proof other than what the dealer told me. I'd be happy to go toe to toe with Porsche if they tried to tell me that something unrelated to the exhaust system isn't covered by warranty. 

Nissan are awesome in this regard. They know people modify GTRs and will usually honour the warranty unless it is blatantly obvious that the issue was a direct result of a specific modification...AKA the common sense approach. 

[clutch-monkey]

Full fabspeed exhaust was never an issue for our old 996 GT3, and that car had the warranty extended for near on ten years iirc.

[Stew F]

Normally, any item that's changed out for an aftermarket item won't affect the warranty, unless the part, or it's installation, is responsible in some way for the fault being claimed under warranty.  Be it a car, motorbike, water desalination skid, or a scooter from a toy shop.  I regularly design bespoke modifications for OEM equipment to convert them to site specific requirements, and they don't void warranties. 

[bestexhaust]

Porsche seems to be very protective of its Porsche exhaust aftermarket items.  Hence I suspect they bend the truth about warranty being void if they go aftermarket.

Fact is (I suspect) the aftermarket exhaust would not be covered under Porsche warranty, and that's it (if catback).

I suggested my customer talk to Far Trading in their state to get the low down on Warranties and the power of retailers...

The whole point of a warranty is to guarantee the quality of a product and its components.  Voiding it as soon as anyone slightly changes it is highly questionable...

Nissan tried that back when I had a performance Nissan, and I simply ignored it, as it varied from dealer to dealer.

In the United States, they have outlawed warranty "hostage taking" as it is unfair and anticompetitive.

[Stew F]

Yes, porsche, or anyone else for that matter, wouldn't warrant someone else's product if it's fitted to one of their cars.  That warranty would be covered by the retailer in the first instance, if I'm not mistaken. 

That's the best advice, contact the local consumer protection department.