Mods that won’t void Warranty

[Mannygee1967]

Brand new owner of a 2020 GT. Was wondering what mods are available that won’t void warranty. Thanks in advance for advice.

 

[Flameangel]

It's probably different in US and Puerto Rico than here in Australia.
Dealerships seem to vary between places even here. I asked my local Kia dealership and was advised that I can put on CAI's etc, any exhaust just not anything that will affect the car's ECU. Which is why people that what to tune their car's tend to pick a piggyback tune so the mod can be disconnected prior to going in for a service.

 

[nhcowboy28]

Can we auto ban anyone posting this question?

 

[Buzz]

http://www.semasan.com/semaga/images/warranty_ftc.pdf

Will using ‘aftermarket’ parts void my warranty? No. An ‘aftermarket’ part is a part made by a company other than the vehicle manufacturer or the original equipment manufacturer. Simply using an aftermarket part does not void your warranty. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act makes it illegal for companies to void your warranty or deny coverage under the warranty simply because you used an aftermarket part. Still, if it turns out that the aftermarket part was itself defective or wasn’t installed correctly, and it causes damage to another part that is covered under the warranty, the manufacturer or dealer has the right to deny coverage for that part and charge you for any repairs. The FTC says the manufacturer or dealer must show that the aftermarket equipment caused the need for repairs before denying warranty coverage.

That said, the law is one thing, the teeth of your state's Attorney General, the crippled FTC, and the absolutely useless private company that is the Better Business Bureau likely leaves you with Yelp and KIA of America as your primary recourse should they choose to ignore the letter of the Magnuson-Moss act and deny your warranty unfairly.

 

[ChaneRZ]

Anything but factory voids your warranty!!!!

 

[turboAWD]

Anything but factory voids any mods!!!

Lol, wut?

 

[turboAWD]

Which warranty are you worried about? There are many different warranties for many different parts of your car. If you stretch your OEM tires onto wheels 2 inches wider, you'll probably lose the road hazard warranty. If you drive only on gravel roads, they may not honor your paint warranty after 5 years. If your dog repeatedly throws up in your car, warranty may not cover leather / carpet replacement, etc.

In general, you may be asking about mods that have some performance benefit / suggestion that won't void the engine/transmission/powertrain warranty? Keep in mind - I am *NOT* a lawyer, and especially, I am *DEFINITELY NOT YOUR LAWYER*, so this is a general bit of advice that you need to evaluate for yourself. Every dealer is different.


There are some modifications generally perceived as "safe" over the years - i.e. most reasonable dealers won't be too upset about them and not claim that, for example, adding a cupholder phone mount or putting on "E" badges caused your transmission to die or your sunroof to rattle or your power liftgate to stop working.

Cosmetic mods: badges, different wheels - as long as sized properly, etc, spoilers, canards, fog lights (if wired up correctly), etc all should be relatively safe. Electronics are more and more sensitive on cars, so a bad ground, etc CAN cause issues, so be careful.

Suspension modifications such as sway bars (highly recommended!), springs, coil-overs, etc are generally regarded as "safe". Lowering a car all by itself - unless done to "stance" levels - is unlikely to affect anything except having a bumpy ride. But it might upset the electronic-suspension if you have that. Same with body braces, diff braces, etc.

Brake pads / brake rotors / stainless steel lines / high temp brake fluid generally all fall into this category as well - they're mechanical, and assuming you didn't install incorrect parts, generally should be fine.

The oil used by the factory is actually quite good, from what I've read, so only switch for convenience / cost, IMHO. I use Pennzoil Platinum 5w30, as it seems to cover the same specs and is "normal" synthetic price, not $75/gallon like some of the Total.

"Safety" things like a catch can - again, if not done incorrectly - might raise an eyebrow and if there's a severe failure, a tech might go looking for more mods. But just a catch can should not be a reason for warranty denial by itself, in my opinion.

Air filters (i.e. in the factory air box) will generally be ok, as far as I know, but always research a bit. My previous car - Legacy GT wagon - had a VERY finicky MAF such that replacing the OEM paper filter with a K&N could cause it to go lean on the factory tune. The advice was always to leave the OEM paper filter in unless you were logging extensively.

Air Intakes, FMIC swap are generally on the "should be ok, unless your dealer is really picky" list - they rarely cause issues. Unless of course you messed it up and let dirt into the actual engine. Again, and oil cooler / trans cooler (if you're into tracking) are probably fine - they generally only improve performance and rarely cause major issues if installed correctly.

-running E30 - I think OEM is fine to run up to E30, and you may get a bit of perfomance boost out of it as it's like 93-95 octane. But if you put in straight E85, you'll have tons of issues, so don't do that. You have to mix. Read up on this a lot. I've heard, for example, that mk7 GTI pulls timing on stock tune and can make more power with the factory tune up to E30.

-spark plugs on their own, whether regapped OEM or others should be fine. It's like motor oil - you are allowed to change the brand of spark plugs.

-additional gauges (boost / temp / AFR / etc): on their own, perfectly fine (again, if installed correctly). But, they may lead to the tech digging more into the ECU logs, etc.

At this point, you get into the "unless you have a really cool dealer" part:
-any piggyback is probably not ok - but it can be removed and if the problem isn't directly in the engine/transmission, won't cause an issue.
-any ECU tune is not ok - may void your engine/transmission warranty entirely, if they detect it.
-WMI
-brake snip, depends on if they detect it and/or know what it is / what it is used for
-racing / drag strip - most companies will void your warranty if they know you've done this

Probably forgot a few things.

 

[Mannygee1967]

Good stuff! Thx

 

[Random386]

Can we auto ban anyone posting this question?

Hey hey now, no need to be mean. Nothing wrong with re asking a question/repost.

In all honesty this forum irks me with how its setup. Reposts allow us to see if there's anything new vs the old threads imo. Even I got thrown off till I got used to its layout

Furthermore that's not how we great new comers.

 

[Random386]

Firstly it depends on the state, then the dealer/warranties. I asked my dealership n their iffy so I haven't done a exhaust or jb4. Will wait till I run the miles out n get my usual service done. So give or take 85k miles 3ish years give or take.

Usually visual mods are all good.

I have a bms pedal tuner which really wrapped the car up for me. Rebadged, metal door strikers, center console inserts, door handle metal plates, stinger vinyl on windshield. Vinyl stickers on the back hatch. Lighter door scuff plates, carbon dash n such. Etc will all be good. Just remember whatever you switch won't have warranty. So if I switch out my scuff plates n they break that is one me. Or you mess something up n dealer finds foul play.

 

[ChaneRZ]

Lol, wut?

Lol sorry hahaha

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Which warranty are you worried about? There are many different warranties for many different parts of your car. If you stretch your OEM tires onto wheels 2 inches wider, you'll probably lose the road hazard warranty. If you drive only on gravel roads, they may not honor your paint warranty after 5 years. If your dog repeatedly throws up in your car, warranty may not cover leather / carpet replacement, etc.

In general, you may be asking about mods that have some performance benefit / suggestion that won't void the engine/transmission/powertrain warranty? Keep in mind - I am *NOT* a lawyer, and especially, I am *DEFINITELY NOT YOUR LAWYER*, so this is a general bit of advice that you need to evaluate for yourself. Every dealer is different.


There are some modifications generally perceived as "safe" over the years - i.e. most reasonable dealers won't be too upset about them and not claim that, for example, adding a cupholder phone mount or putting on "E" badges caused your transmission to die or your sunroof to rattle or your power liftgate to stop working.

Cosmetic mods: badges, different wheels - as long as sized properly, etc, spoilers, canards, fog lights (if wired up correctly), etc all should be relatively safe. Electronics are more and more sensitive on cars, so a bad ground, etc CAN cause issues, so be careful.

Suspension modifications such as sway bars (highly recommended!), springs, coil-overs, etc are generally regarded as "safe". Lowering a car all by itself - unless done to "stance" levels - is unlikely to affect anything except having a bumpy ride. But it might upset the electronic-suspension if you have that. Same with body braces, diff braces, etc.

Brake pads / brake rotors / stainless steel lines / high temp brake fluid generally all fall into this category as well - they're mechanical, and assuming you didn't install incorrect parts, generally should be fine.

The oil used by the factory is actually quite good, from what I've read, so only switch for convenience / cost, IMHO. I use Pennzoil Platinum 5w30, as it seems to cover the same specs and is "normal" synthetic price, not $75/gallon like some of the Total.

"Safety" things like a catch can - again, if not done incorrectly - might raise an eyebrow and if there's a severe failure, a tech might go looking for more mods. But just a catch can should not be a reason for warranty denial by itself, in my opinion.

Air filters (i.e. in the factory air box) will generally be ok, as far as I know, but always research a bit. My previous car - Legacy GT wagon - had a VERY finicky MAF such that replacing the OEM paper filter with a K&N could cause it to go lean on the factory tune. The advice was always to leave the OEM paper filter in unless you were logging extensively.

Air Intakes, FMIC swap are generally on the "should be ok, unless your dealer is really picky" list - they rarely cause issues. Unless of course you messed it up and let dirt into the actual engine. Again, and oil cooler / trans cooler (if you're into tracking) are probably fine - they generally only improve performance and rarely cause major issues if installed correctly.

-running E30 - I think OEM is fine to run up to E30, and you may get a bit of perfomance boost out of it as it's like 93-95 octane. But if you put in straight E85, you'll have tons of issues, so don't do that. You have to mix. Read up on this a lot. I've heard, for example, that mk7 GTI pulls timing on stock tune and can make more power with the factory tune up to E30.

-spark plugs on their own, whether regapped OEM or others should be fine. It's like motor oil - you are allowed to change the brand of spark plugs.

-additional gauges (boost / temp / AFR / etc): on their own, perfectly fine (again, if installed correctly). But, they may lead to the tech digging more into the ECU logs, etc.

At this point, you get into the "unless you have a really cool dealer" part:
-any piggyback is probably not ok - but it can be removed and if the problem isn't directly in the engine/transmission, won't cause an issue.
-any ECU tune is not ok - may void your engine/transmission warranty entirely, if they detect it.
-WMI
-brake snip, depends on if they detect it and/or know what it is / what it is used for
-racing / drag strip - most companies will void your warranty if they know you've done this

Probably forgot a few things.

Well said & overall it’s pretty much common sense as to what will void warranty.

 

[Random386]

Lol sorry hahaha

Chatted with the kia dealership owner. His known me since I started walking. He doesn't have a guaranteed answer on the exhaust so I haven't went through with it. Jb4 I'm waiting to run the 10 year 100k warranty out.

I know 85k in 3 years is crazy but the car I traded in before this I put 5k in the first few months of owning it. And another 25k through the year.

700ish+ miles per week ads up real quick.

Work errands gotta go from one side of the state to the other, diff cities couple times a day. Shopping, letting my grandparents meet up with their friends (they live far) but if my grandpa says he wants to do such, I do it bc he gave me a chance to have a good life.

Plus the car gets driven by my other family when I'm sleeping or such. No big deal to me as long as its kept clean n tanks filled. I driven their cars down the coasts all the time. I got one quirk about the stinger n its the tank capacity god. Im used to 450-500 miles

 

[G-962809]

Lol, wut?

Hahaha right??

 

[DonM]

I wonder/worry about this too. I just picked up a 2022 GT2 AWD but it's my daily driver and as such, I really need the warranty. I drive 30k miles a year so it won't be long until I hit the 100k mark but I'd like to have some upgrade fun before then. Right now, I'm thinking about the sway bars and exhaust though and after reading about the pedal programmer, I'm interested in that as well.

Thank you to Turbo AWD and Random368 for your help and thoughts.

 

[Schroedes]

Find a good dealership, I buddied up a little with the service manager at my local Kia, he said any problems they'd just have me take the stuff off so they can warranty it.. I brought my 21 Stinger in there last week to fix the trunk rattle tsb and they installed my new subframe bolts for free... I paid for their lunch of course.. next time your by the dealer, swing in there and ask the service manager how they feel about mods etc, you might be surprised, alot of them like checking out your modded stinger

 

[DonM]

That's brilliant! I have to go over anyway to pick up my WeatherTech floor mats so I'll chat with him about it then. Thanks for the idea. See, in my past, I built cars, never really modded them so there was never a need to be buddies with a service manager/tech, it was necessary to be buddies with speed shop salespeople...which still counts in this case

 

[G-174237]

Which warranty are you worried about? There are many different warranties for many different parts of your car. If you stretch your OEM tires onto wheels 2 inches wider, you'll probably lose the road hazard warranty. If you drive only on gravel roads, they may not honor your paint warranty after 5 years. If your dog repeatedly throws up in your car, warranty may not cover leather / carpet replacement, etc.

In general, you may be asking about mods that have some performance benefit / suggestion that won't void the engine/transmission/powertrain warranty? Keep in mind - I am *NOT* a lawyer, and especially, I am *DEFINITELY NOT YOUR LAWYER*, so this is a general bit of advice that you need to evaluate for yourself. Every dealer is different.


There are some modifications generally perceived as "safe" over the years - i.e. most reasonable dealers won't be too upset about them and not claim that, for example, adding a cupholder phone mount or putting on "E" badges caused your transmission to die or your sunroof to rattle or your power liftgate to stop working.

Cosmetic mods: badges, different wheels - as long as sized properly, etc, spoilers, canards, fog lights (if wired up correctly), etc all should be relatively safe. Electronics are more and more sensitive on cars, so a bad ground, etc CAN cause issues, so be careful.

Suspension modifications such as sway bars (highly recommended!), springs, coil-overs, etc are generally regarded as "safe". Lowering a car all by itself - unless done to "stance" levels - is unlikely to affect anything except having a bumpy ride. But it might upset the electronic-suspension if you have that. Same with body braces, diff braces, etc.

Brake pads / brake rotors / stainless steel lines / high temp brake fluid generally all fall into this category as well - they're mechanical, and assuming you didn't install incorrect parts, generally should be fine.

The oil used by the factory is actually quite good, from what I've read, so only switch for convenience / cost, IMHO. I use Pennzoil Platinum 5w30, as it seems to cover the same specs and is "normal" synthetic price, not $75/gallon like some of the Total.

"Safety" things like a catch can - again, if not done incorrectly - might raise an eyebrow and if there's a severe failure, a tech might go looking for more mods. But just a catch can should not be a reason for warranty denial by itself, in my opinion.

Air filters (i.e. in the factory air box) will generally be ok, as far as I know, but always research a bit. My previous car - Legacy GT wagon - had a VERY finicky MAF such that replacing the OEM paper filter with a K&N could cause it to go lean on the factory tune. The advice was always to leave the OEM paper filter in unless you were logging extensively.

Air Intakes, FMIC swap are generally on the "should be ok, unless your dealer is really picky" list - they rarely cause issues. Unless of course you messed it up and let dirt into the actual engine. Again, and oil cooler / trans cooler (if you're into tracking) are probably fine - they generally only improve performance and rarely cause major issues if installed correctly.

-running E30 - I think OEM is fine to run up to E30, and you may get a bit of perfomance boost out of it as it's like 93-95 octane. But if you put in straight E85, you'll have tons of issues, so don't do that. You have to mix. Read up on this a lot. I've heard, for example, that mk7 GTI pulls timing on stock tune and can make more power with the factory tune up to E30.

-spark plugs on their own, whether regapped OEM or others should be fine. It's like motor oil - you are allowed to change the brand of spark plugs.

-additional gauges (boost / temp / AFR / etc): on their own, perfectly fine (again, if installed correctly). But, they may lead to the tech digging more into the ECU logs, etc.

At this point, you get into the "unless you have a really cool dealer" part:
-any piggyback is probably not ok - but it can be removed and if the problem isn't directly in the engine/transmission, won't cause an issue.
-any ECU tune is not ok - may void your engine/transmission warranty entirely, if they detect it.
-WMI
-brake snip, depends on if they detect it and/or know what it is / what it is used for
-racing / drag strip - most companies will void your warranty if they know you've done this

Probably forgot a few things.

Great info. Thanks!