For many vehicle owners, lease holders and others in similar situations, a vehicle warranty is a major element they want to maintain. Vehicle warranties, which protect vehicles and allow many repairs to be covered by the manufacturer or dealer, require the vehicle owner or operator to ensure damage doesn’t take place to various areas that might void the protections.
At Laketown Speed and Sound, we’re regularly asked whether any of our vehicle upgrades, from car audio installations to various aftermarket vehicle parts and many others, might impact existing car warranties during installation. There really isn’t a single direct answer here, as potential warranty impact will depend on the parts involved, the warranty in question and other factors – but the broad reality is that while warranties might be a minor concern in certain cases, they usually aren’t a big enough problem to halt any of your desired vehicle upgrades. Let’s learn about why.
Vehicle Warranty Basics
A warranty is a written guarantee from a manufacturer or vehicle dealer that ensures that within the agreed-upon period of time, the vehicle in question can be returned for repairs or repair parts if faults of some kind are found. In many lease situations, vehicles will fall under a total warranty for the first few years, during which time all standard maintenance areas will be covered as well.
The important note here for non-lease warranties is that issues must be the fault of the manufacturer or vehicle design for issues to fall under the warranty. If the issue is something of the customer’s own creation, this will generally fall outside the warranty.
Aftermarket Parts and Warranties
With the above in mind, the real question when installing new car audio systems or other aftermarket parts is whether these installations would be considered “damage” to some area covered by a warranty. If so, there is a chance this could be considered damage at your own fault, in which case you might have warranty issues.
Partial Voiding
However, areas like car stereo installations either usually are not covered by standard warranties or will only void a very small part of it. Most warranties cover separate items specifically, and while you might void the warranty for the radio you’ve replaced or nearby parts, this will be a relatively tiny piece of the overall warranty. As long as the new system is installed properly – something you can count on with our team – you won’t have much to worry about.
Read Carefully
In the end, this comes down to reading the fine print of your warranty as carefully as possible. Ensure you understand the details of your warranty and whether a small change like an audio upgrade will impact none, part or all of it. For more on ensuring you consider warranties during vehicle audio upgrades or other aftermarket parts, or to learn about any of our car stereo installations or other services, speak to the staff at Laketown Speed and Sound today.
