Will a modified exhaust void factory warranty?

[AzBob_imp]

My wife is a service administrator and, as part of her job, submits warranty claims. If a customer modifies an engine outside of factory specs (an example is a chip to enable higher rpm operation for more horsepower), the warranty will be voided. The do not have to prove that the modifications caused the or any failure, the modifications are solely sufficient. Further, if a customer brings in a vehicle for service not related to the modifications and modifications are found, the modifications are removed and the warranty is voided. It is that simple and mirrors what I read on the internet in automotive forums.

If that's what she was taught, she was taught wrong and what they're doing is actually against the law. Reference Title 15 United States Code Section 2302 sub-section c. Granted, it's a little hard to read, but this section has been cited in case-law to prohibit the voiding of warranties for external modifications of any type that don't contribute directly to the failure. And even in the case of voiding, the void applies only to the specific part damaged, not the entire vehicle.

I'm not sure who your wife works for, but I think it's a good example of what kind of bad dealerships can be encountered. I've never encountered anything of the nature you've described. I used to belong to a car club of people who regularly modified their vehicles for performance, and none of these people ever encountered any problems having their warranty claims fulfilled for anything their mods didn't cause to break. What you're basically describing is that someone can modify their engine, and then if the air conditioner breaks, the entire warranty is void, which is nothing I've ever encountered, but is also disallowed via both law and case law.