I've been driving around on the Stage 1 tune for about 2 weeks and its been fun. I flashed back to stock today to take the car in for my 60k maintenance. Man, does the car feel slow now... Anyhow, I've been bitten by the mod bug. I picked up a downpipe and I'm planning to contact NF for a Stage 2 tune. I looked on here about mod friendly dealers and it seems the consensus is with Morrie's Minnetonka. I asked a service rep at Morrie's BP about mods and he seemed to give me the impression that its ok. For reference, I bought my car from Morrie's BP. My question is, are these places mod friendly enough that if I bring my car in for my free car washes, would people tag it as modified? What about oil changes? I've already did my own spark plugs (I thought my old IS300 was work but the WRX redefined my definition of time consuming) so I plan on doing most of the minor maintenance myself but I like the free washes. Keep in mind that I understand that I have to pay to play so if I mod I risk the chance of warranty issues. I just want make sure that I deal with warranty issues only if I have to. In other words if my headlight harness burns out I don't want them saying, "Well I see you have a aftermarket downpipe and reflash. The ECU caused your headlight harness to short out." Any insight is greatly appreciated. Sorry I sound new to this. Mods so far: Magnaglow CBE Perrin Intake (which I took off cause I wasn't sure about what the dealer would think)
Car wash, they wouldn't care. LoL Now this is my educated guess, but here it goes. The only time you'll have an issue is when the mod is related to to warranty you are trying to claim. No one can say for sure what the outcome will be. That is on SOA, the dealership, your problems and your mods. If your mod causes the problem you're stuck. But if the mod is not related to your problem you should be ok. Planning on going stage 2? Well a case could be made that any sort of tune could affect the engine warranty. So in that case your "flash" could already be a problem. However, i do know people with more mods then you that have had warranty honored. You roll the dice when you start to change the car with mods.
Thanks. I suppose the bottom line is, if you mod, you should be financially prepared to man up on the consequences if anything arises.
All my many searches point to yes with the checksum count. But apparently for 2012 they can't? Since I have an 08 I assume they can.
They'd need to have a compelling reason to waste their time checking... like blown motor warranty claim or something.
Thought I would chime in on this one!!! First off if you have 60,ooo Miles I wouldn't even bother to flash back to stock most of you warranty is gone any ways. Second yes there are Mod friendly dealers out there but it is in SOA hands to deny any claims. Even if you flash back to stock they can tell that it was flashed in the first place. So chances are you might have issues? I have learned my lesson playing the Mod game so MAN up and do it. There are plenty of people on here who have no issues but I 'am sure there are a few of us have had to hit the reset button and start over. ********good luck and don't look back**************D
Thanks. I got the car with an included extended warranty because it was a certified pre owned. It was "free" but I'm sure I paid for it somehow after all is said and done. At the end of the day, even if I waited to mod after the extended warranty was expired, I'd be responsible for issues myself anyways. Either way, I'd be responsible, so why wait. Might as well have some fun as soon as I can. You all helped put things into perspective. VF52? Fuel upgrades and E85? Man I'm excited. Dunno why I even posted this thread to begin with. I'd eventually just give in anyways.
My buddy's completely stock 2011 STI was denied a claim because the dealer stated he "raced" it based on the tire wear...
My buddy's completely stock 2011 STI was denied a claim because the dealer stated he "raced" it based on the tire wear...
