void my warranty if I change my own oil?

[ttocs]

When I got my new car they made me sign a form saying that I was aware that changing my own oil would void the warranty. I thought there was a law against this and a quick check says the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act prohibits manufacturers from voiding a warranty just because you used an alternative mechanic or did the work yourself. Has anyone else ever been told this or heard of a dealership playing these games? I know my dad has fallen for it and every time he comes back from an oil change they have another $2k worth or work that needs to be done. Once he was told his tires were bald and needed to be replaced but I know that my dad drives slower than anyone I have ever known. I went out and showed him where the wear indicators were on the tires and how much tread he had before them and he calmed down as he was ready to get new tires. Last time they said his brakes were due, I asked if they make any noise(he really does not use them much) and he said no so I said not to worry. I realize they are probably just looking at the milage and for the average user/abuser these things are needed but with as slow/careful as he drives his cars see very little wear.

But anyway back to the oil changes. I can understand if I put the wrong oil in, forget the plug or screw it up somehow but to just flat out deny the warranty because of a simple oil change seems a bit much to me. I would be more than willing to keep a record of the receipts purchased with dates/ect so I can prove what I did when if I need to play that game.

 

[duh09]

Warranty... warranty... warranty.... hmmm never been able to be a part of those conversations lol

 

[RAU03MACH]

im always chewing someones ass about that

 

[Mustang5L5]

I've played this game before. Not so much with oil changes, but with modifications on cars when I still had warranty. The thing is, in order to challenge a dealer if they say no, you may have to sue them. Yes, technically the dealer is in the wrong if they claim a specific part or action causes a failure, but if they refuse to budge there's not much you can immediately do. There's no "warranty police" to force them to comply. You can run it up the flagpole to corporate, write bad yelp reviews and make a lot of noise, but it may come down to actually taking them to court to prove they are wrong. And they tend to have a bunch of lawyers already on retainer for this sort of stuff.

If this is a factory warranty, id report them to corporate and go to another dealership. Don't keep giving that one money.

Is this a 3rd party warranty? Then you have to read the fine print. The one I just cancelled for my new car has it in the fine print that if you do any service you need to log it in a maintenance log, and provide receipts for all parts within 2 weeks of the service performed.

 

[ttocs]

I've played this game before. Not so much with oil changes, but with modifications on cars when I still had warranty. The thing is, in order to challenge a dealer if they say no, you may have to sue them. Yes, technically the dealer is in the wrong if they claim a specific part or action causes a failure, but if they refuse to budge there's not much you can immediately do. There's no "warranty police" to force them to comply. You can run it up the flagpole to corporate, write bad yelp reviews and make a lot of noise, but it may come down to actually taking them to court to prove they are wrong. And they tend to have a bunch of lawyers already on retainer for this sort of stuff.

If this is a factory warranty, id report them to corporate and go to another dealership. Don't keep giving that one money.

Is this a 3rd party warranty? Then you have to read the fine print. The one I just cancelled for my new car has it in the fine print that if you do any service you need to log it in a maintenance log, and provide receipts for all parts within 2 weeks of the service performed.

no it was just the factory warranty. I kinda figured they can make you sign a contract for almost anything but if it is enforceable remains to be seen. I don't drive all that much anyway so to make an issue of a once a year oil change probably isn't worth the time.

 

[94IndyPace]

Those are usually the lifetime warranty deals the dealer claims but you have to have every service done at the dealership on the scheduled mileage. Or it voids it

 

[Mustang5L5]

I’ve always DIY my own oil changes under warranty. I maintain a log, and keep my receipts properly labeled with date and mileage.

In the case of my Fords I use the Motorcraft filters and quality oil.

If your radio breaks, they can’t void your entire warranty because you did your own oil change.

Now if the engine seizes up due to low oil….they might have a case. It’s one of those things where having the dealer do it might be a CYA sort of thing. If you do decide to DIY make sure you check oil level often.

 

[ttocs]

Those are usually the lifetime warranty deals the dealer claims but you have to have every service done at the dealership on the scheduled mileage. Or it voids it

yea like I said my dad has been using this dealership for 5-6 years now and they are always upselling him on something he does not need when he gets his service done. I realize that they are probably looking at recommendations on what to do at certain milage but they should at least take a look at the parts they want to replace before just telling him that it needs to be done.

I have read that yea if you put the wrong oil in, forget the plug, or screw something up that sure they can deny it but if I were to keep my receipts/records and could prove everything then as was said above they should not be able to deny me but it would require me suing them to then get stuff done. Like I said I don't drive it enough that it needs to have the oil changed because of milage(subaru recommends 6k) but more because of the time. I also don't drive crazy enough to really get concerned I am not as bad as my dad but at 50 now I am rarely in a hurry.

 

[weendoggy]

I've done my own oil changes and servicing my entire life, after the "new car" free service expired. Our recent BMW we purchased in 2020 just turned 10k miles, you read that right, and after three free changes once a year at the dealer, I've done it the past two. Use the same oil and filter the dealer does, just because. BMW states, 10k miles or once a year, whichever is first. Guess what...the year comes first. I keep the oil/filter purchase reciept and also a service record I do myself. I've done this for my 2014 Tacoma the same way. Best thing is to keep records. If you "must" take it to the dealer, and they want to upsell, tell them you want proof it needs it. That'll put them on your good side.

 

[ttocs]

after some thought today I sent an email to subaru corporate to get their answer on if it would void it or not. I figure the way to do it is to get the word from their boss and I can save it if needed.

 

[ttocs]

I got a response back from subaru saying that it would not void it just to keep all my receipts and records. Now it just makes me wonder if I should tell them the dealer is making people sign something saying otherwise?

 

[Musturd]

That’s weird . My dealers chill they warranty my deleted and modified diesel trucks right until the warranty is up .

 

[ttocs]

I am willing to bet that they obviously know that they are not supposed to be able to do this I mean I find it hard to believe that they do not have a legal team to say yes/no and run a full size dealership. Now I would not be surprised if at some point they had some dumbass that blew a motor and had either never changed the oil or done something wrong but they were just not able to prove it. I am not sure how they could go about proving the wrong oil was used or something else forgotten and it was easier just to make this contract to try and scare those people that do not know better and need to have the dealership to do the servicing on their car. I mean a perfect example I have a neighbor with more dollars than sense. 10 years ago he got one of those old pushrod/die-hard land rovers from the early 90s. He drove it for a few years and then one day he pulls it into the garage to change the plugs, plug wires, dist cap, ect(he is a jeweler by the way). We never saw the truck out of the garage again until he decided to get another house across town so he actually got a flatbed to bring this now dead vehicle to the new house. He kept it there for 2 years and never touched it, then moved back next door and had it once again towed back. 3 yrs after he tore it apart he sold it to a neighbor down the street that is a fair mechanic and he had it back up and running in 4 hours. This same neighbor next door currently has a 2015 f150 king ranch that his 17 yr old lost a cylinder somewhere, as well as a bmw 650 that the same 17 yr old somehow cracked a rim, dented the oilpan and made it undriveable that he thinks he can fix, as well as the mazarati ghibli that isn't running but of course he is going to fix.

 

[96blak54]

I dont recall any restrictions with the last 2 toyota 4runners we least. They handle all maintenance, oil changes, alignment corrections....everything. So the 2020 4runner was lifted 3" with bigger wheels and tires by the dealership. They handled all the maintenance on it as well

 

[ttocs]

My brother is in town visiting which means I GET TO CHANGE HIS OIL(since it is so much fun)!!! He has a mazda cx30 that he only got recently so we dug out his manual and started to figure out what weight/how much/ect. Reading his manual it STRONGLY SUGGESTS that it is done by a mazda cert mechanic and that only mazda brand oil is used to get the best performance/ect. So out of curiosity I looked it up to see how much the mazda oil was(as we all know it is just rebranded) and holy hell, $16 a quart and it isn't even synthetic. Needless to say we went up to napa and got a competitor that was synthetic for half the price but I bet that is how mazda works it when a motor blows.

Did you have the oil changed? Was it done by a cert tech? NO - oh you did it and you have receipts but you didn't use mazda oil????

I can just see a stealership pulling it, thankfully my brother isn't a crazy driver that blows motors.