Moding the Daily Driver

NFSRalli09 · Sep 23, 2009, 07:39 PM

I am no expert when it comes to cars, but I have spent a lot of time in this forum learning lots. I wish to slightly mod my 09 ralliart jsut to give it an edge whithout breaking the bank. The only thing is, like for many of us, this car my daily driver and I am leary about reliability.

I plan on doing tire upgrades, SS breaklines, Thicker Swaybars, TBE (UR) K & N drop in.

So here comes the hard part for me, to get the bang for the buck in my wish list, I need to reflash. This is the one thing that voids the warrenty.

So my question is, what is the long term reliability with proven vendors with reflashes, and is there any way around warrenty issues if one were to arise. Flashing it back to stock ect.? My dealer sucks on this one, I was degrated just mentioning the possibility of a mod. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Guys

Jyrk · Sep 23, 2009, 07:46 PM

Flash will void your warranty.. TBE will void your warranty.. hell even new brake lines might void your warranty.. check with other dealerships if you are worried about keeping your warranty

toredefine · Sep 23, 2009, 09:14 PM

Dude, it wouldn't be a TERRIBLE thing to have your ECU tuned. Just find a means to re-flash it back to stock so the dealership won't find out. That's your best work-a-round. As far as your other mods, they look to be great steps to take to get the best OOMF outta your car.

LancerGTS · Sep 23, 2009, 09:30 PM

A dealership can say any of those things will void the warranty.

Some dealers will cover items if they install it, but be ready for huge install charges.

japan101 · Sep 23, 2009, 09:44 PM

Dealers will Chrage you for 2.5 hrs of labor for 30 mins of work. If you have the know how and you are willing to do it then go ahead and dont look back. Some dealers are cool but they are few and far between.

You are going to have to make a choice on what you want to do.

ianm12 · Sep 23, 2009, 09:48 PM

Dealer's don't generally check the ECU but some will. My dealer said they don't even plug in the computer...

speedie · Sep 24, 2009, 03:03 AM

Most of the time if the original rom is modified the dealer cant tell. Its when you start swapping roms the problems arrise. The rom has the original cars VIN in it so if VINs don't match no warrenty

boondoc · Sep 24, 2009, 03:28 AM

FACT: Flashing/tune and/or anything that increases boost WILL void ur warranty whether u return it to stock or not.

A drop in is nothing more than buyin a better filter for ur car. ie: Buying K&N oil filter rather than OEM, so u should be fine. A full intake will void warranty because u are changin the AFR and will need a tune.

Exhaust will not void ur warranty if u make sure the O2 sensors go back in their original places. I believe there is one b4 and one after the cat and no need for a tune unless u want full performance out of it.

Anything that requires a tune/flash u will be SOL. Sometimes it depends on the dealer, some are mod friendly but most aren't. Don't be fooled there are some dealers that have updated programs to tell if u flash the car or not.

This info was given to me by my friends in the service department at my dealer, one is a mechanic and the other is the service manager. My suggestion to u is find out what ur dealer allows and if they can tell if u flash the car.

awilli1715k · Sep 24, 2009, 04:51 AM

when i had my eclipse modded. dealer was pretty cool. had an exhaust and cold air intake. maybe cuz im a girl they didnt give me any issues,but good luck

boondoc · Sep 24, 2009, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by awilli1715k

when i had my eclipse modded. dealer was pretty cool. had an exhaust and cold air intake. maybe cuz im a girl they didnt give me any issues,but good luck

Yea they said the Ralliart and Evo are the target cars for strict warranty. Thats why we get the shorter warranty than the rest of the line up. For NA cars they are more lenient as long as u don't open up the engine. Cams, rods, pistons those kinds of things.

suprPHREAK · Sep 24, 2009, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jyrk

even new brake lines might void your warranty

as long as they are DOT....they will not.

captg · Sep 24, 2009, 07:40 AM

I was discouraged when my dealer said I could run into problems with just replacing the muffler with a performance one. *Sigh*

majinfajita · Sep 24, 2009, 07:57 AM

People who mod cars should never be concerned about a warranty; it's called paying to play.

Cheating the system is trying to have your cake and eat it too...

That's why I either have to wait out the majority of my warranty before doing anything or making sure I have the $$ to fix things myself if anything goes awry.

boondoc · Sep 24, 2009, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by majinfajita

People who mod cars should never be concerned about a warranty; it's called paying to play.

Cheating the system is trying to have your cake and eat it too...

That's why I either have to wait out the majority of my warranty before doing anything or making sure I have the $$ to fix things myself if anything goes awry.

Exactly.

03chi-town0Z · Sep 24, 2009, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suprPHREAK

as long as they are DOT....they will not.

only if you can prove they were installed by a qualified professional