I was at rockville p/a last week trying to decide if i could afford an s4 when my current 97 a4 lease ends. I don't think I can, so we (me and salesman) were discussing my options. I mentioned chipping my car or even a new 1.8 or 2.8. I asked him if that would void the warranty and he said no. He actually said there was a recent newspaper article mentioning how car dealerships were voiding warranty's on cars with chips with unrelated problems(specifically vw's and audi's with the 1.8 engine). These dealers would void the warranty regardless of what the problem was. For instance, if there was a problem with the brakes and you had a chip, they would refuse warranty service. The newspaper article cited a court ruling in which the verdict ruled in favor of the plantiffs. The dealer would have to perform the maintenance under warranty as long as the problem was not related to the new ecu. Has anybody read this article, i'd like to check it out, as i'm sure most of you would too. Anyway, the conversation with the salesman continued. The rest of what he had to say, was that audi service employees are not the audi police. They get paid for the work they do, under warranty or not. Do you think they do warranty work for free, not! Audi pays them for all the work under warranty. These service guys want their fair pay and they're not going to rat you out because you've modified your chip.
On the other hand, I spoke to some other salespeople at the same dealership and they stated chipping would void warranty. I guess it depends on who you talk to, but in the end the only thing that matters is if the work gets done by the service guys. Having that article and citing the court ruling could do all of us a lot of good.

Were you referring to Rockville, Maryland? If so, I guess you were at Rockville Porsche/Audi? I bought my 99.5 a4 1.8T from this dealer there named Rick, and he told me basically the same thing - i.e. the service guys want to get paid and therefore, wouldn't try to screw you, since then they wouldn't get paid by Audi. But I also suppose it depends on whether there are any overwhelmingly anal service guys, who are going to make a big deal of such modifications. However, I've been told different things by different people at that dealership and other places as well so always be wary! It's seems like such a drag dealing with such petty things doesn't it??

Raj
99.5 1.8TQTip

Lots of people on this forum have said that if a dealer denies your warranty claim, they would have to prove that your problem was caused by your modification to the car. I and others have claimed that in reality they don't. All they have to do is state thay they won't work on your car (for free, under warranty), and you are out of luck. They won't set up any scientific proofs in front of you, or whatever. Your recourse is to try to convince them to do warranty work (citing court cases or whatever, but your chances are probably minimal, because the attitude is often that the customer is NOT right), take them or Audi to court, try another dealer, or find another creative solution, like undoing the modification and taking it to another dealer.

This isn't to say I'm against any modification, and I'm not saying that many dealers won't look the other way and perform warranty work even if they suspect your mod. caused a problem. All I'm saying is that you're kind of on your own if you make mechanical mods.

The ruling is consistent with Federal law (Magnusson-Moss Act dealing with warranties). Basically, in order to void the warranty, the dealer must show that the damage/defect was a result of the modification. With the brakes, there are plenty of arguments a dealer could argue -- the chip causes faster acceleration/driving habits, which requires greater use of the brakes etc. Some are BS arguments, some are plausible. However, typically the dealership does not have the authority to void/deny warranty service. With Toyota, only a regional representative can deny coverage. Most people do not know this, so when the dealership denies coverage, they accept that. When they start making noise, they can call the regional rep. to evaluate the situation. I would think that Audi has a similar program for evaluating whether an incident is subject to warranty coverage.

As to the dealership denying coverage, while it is true that Audi pays the dealership, and the mechanics get paid, the dealership most likely gets less money than what they could have received from charging you with the service. Thus, the service managers, in order to maximize dealership revenue, and thus look good to their supervisors, will deny coverage to make you pay the higher rates.

http://www.sema.org/fedleg/warranty/atta.html

I have been in the automotive business for over 16 years, on the retail side and the manufacturers side, here is what you need to know.
For a dealer (or manufacturer for that point) needs to prove beyond a doubt that the modification made is the cause of the failed part. PERIOD end of story. So if you chip your car, and the radio breaks, it will be covered. If you chip your car and a check engine light comes on for a faulty ECU, guess what? You pay! If your lowered car needs a CV joint replaced, you got some gray area here. Now keep in mind, that signs of abuse of negligence is NOT covered by any manufacturers warranty. If a dealer sees several modifications, worn tires, a 3rd set of brake pads within 15K, and your engine is blowing oil, it will probably not get covered under warranty. Common sense plays a big factor here. Now some dealers will try to be the "Audi Cops", and there is really not benefit to them to do this, but if it makes them feel good-whatever.

I had my warranty voided because of mods (I am currently fighting with AoA on this) but they are also not providing the regular service maintenance for free. What do you guys think? My argument is that the Audi Advantage Maintenance program is separate from the "Limited New Vehicle Warranty." In the 1998 USA Warranty manual, it states "Audi Advantage is an Audi of America marketing program...." Totally separate from the new vehicle warranty!!! I am in for a battle here with AoA but am determined to fight because I think that I am right on both counts, warranty and maintenance. Voiding the new vehicle warranty because of mods I did is unbelievable but then denying the Audi Advantage service... that's PREPOSTEROUS!!!

People keep insisting that the dealers and manufacuturers have to prove things to you. Yea, right. That's what the law might say, but that's not how the real world works. The dealer just has to say that they are not paying for it, and then it your problem! I have yet to hear of a service department that got all excited and started doing proofs of any type. (What the heck would they do to "prove" it? It would just be a subjective mental decision of how likely your mod. would be to cause your defect.)

Yes, the law is on your side if your mod didn't cause your problem, but it will be your effort that proves your case, not theirs. (You have to go to the effort to get an attorney, for example).

Same thing applies to the lemon laws, by the way. The customer just can't decide he wants a new car based on the lemon laws and have the dealer happily hand him keys to a new car. There's a lot of effort required on the part of the car owner.

Also, consider this. What jury of average citizens is going to be on the side of the owner of a turbocharged, performance car (modified for more performance, to boot) in a questionable warranty case? (Some cases may be clear cut, and they wouldn't get to court. Audi knows the law). Think of the soccer moms in minivans, senior citizens driving at 45 in a 55 zone, etc. deciding your case. ("Hmmm, these jerks are always passing me, flashing their lights at me, and I don't like them.")