Welcome (back) to FRF
technically, legally, they’re right; it could compromise the warranty. On one hand, the I/C is a pretty benign mod, but it’s north of practically all of the powertrain. All they have to do is say we got goofy readings here and moments later the engine failed catastrophically.
There’s what the law says, and how it’s practically enforced.
technically, the burden of proving a non factory installed part caused the failure is supposed to be on the manufacturer, but in practice the burden is actually on the owner because the way it works is
- you’re denied coverage on an otherwise warrantable repair - let’s say you threw a rod.
- dealer says - not our intercooler, you pay.
- you say - not the intercooler’s fault, honor the warranty.
- dealer refuses.
now what?
you have to sue to compel the repair and honoring of the warranty and making them abide by their warranty.
Meanwhile, chances are you will likely have to pay for the repair up front while the vehicle is down.
It sounds like the dealer is just hyper skittish about modified vehicles and it may not be the best choice for work if that’s your vehicle plans and the warranty is important to you. I think some out there would take a different view if it were only the intercooler.
