First, I live in the Kirkland/Bothell area.

I bought my car from Lee Johnson's Chevrolet/Mazda but don't necessarily have to go there for warranty stuff, right?

Anyways, I have some mods on my rx8 which include underdrive pulleys, cold air intake, catless midpipe, aftermarket catback, suspension, wheels, etc. I just got the letter today about the "2004-2006 RX-8 Voluntary Recall Campaign 4206F" about the PCM recalibration, spark plugs, and engine check to see if it needs replacement. I would like to go get this all done/checked but I have no experience with dealerships and illegal aftermarket parts (talking about the catless midpipe now).

What can I expect with dealerships around here? Have any of you gone in with such aftermarket parts and had no issues? If so which dealerships? Did you have to explain yourself or did they give you trouble?

My issue is, I don't want to take it in there and then have them refuse to give it back until I put the cat back on and then charge me for labor/parts.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

They couldn't keep your car unless you have work done and don't pay for it. It's your car and they have no right to keep it if they don't do any work to it.

Although illegal parts could void your warrenty?????? so if you take it in I would put the stock pipe back on first.

Just a thought I'm no expert by any means

 

Well, some exhaust shops have claimed to me in the past that if they get a car without emissions equipment on it by law they are required to keep/fix the car. Whether or not this is true I don't know.

I would put it back on, but my stock midpipe with the cat has a broken stud. I could install it and leave an exhaust leak, but my time is very limited. Yes if it comes to it I will do it, but I wanted to see what others had to say first.

 

with my limited knowledge of various state laws, I would agree that any shop (dealership or otherwise) cannot keep your personal property UNLESS you didnt pay for work done or whatever.

Granted the midpipe is illegal.... but what if i brought a nonstreet legal dune buggy to the shop (say on a flatbed - i.e. no driving of it on public roads at anytime) and paid them to do some work. They notice said vehicle is not street legal and wanna keep it. At that point I would call the cops to report a vehicle theft.

Maybe my logic is a little screwed up, but unless I refused to pay for something... no shop has the right to keep anything of mine, EVER.


Back on topic - im in a (slightly more legal) situation then yourself.... I have to get the recall work looked at after I get my car back from the paint shop (someone egged it) and I have the RP SuperCAT, throttle body bypass mod, and a custom exhaust. I'm hoping Hiley Mazda in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX is cool.

 

Well part of the recall is to check the CAT. Replace if needed. So how can they inspect, or replace something if it is not there. To my knowledge as a mechanic, they can not make you put a cat on the car, HOWEVER they can void the factory warrenty and not do a thing to your car!!! My thought, put what OEM parts back on, let them replace what ever they need to replace, and then put your stuff back on. I know it takes time and what not, but its better than them telling you that you are S.O.L over not haveing a CAT. Figure that a new engine is in the neighbor hood of 6k. 6k or put my cat back on, for me no brainer, put the power robber back on man!!

 

My stock cat/midpipe has a broken stud, so it wont exactly bolt up nicely.

And as far as I know they cannot void your warranty unless they can prove that something that went wrong was caused by the aftermarket part. They'll probably void my cat/part of my emissions warranty, that's fine, but I don't know what else they could void at that time.

My only desire is to get the new flash, new plugs, and check my engine. I don't give a **** about anything else.

 

In the recall thread Zoom mentions that you do not need to undo mods. Clearly you'll fail the cat test, and they might refuse to run the drive test on your car if they think it's invalid due to the mods, but they'll give you the flash and the plugs (if needed) and send you on your way.

They're only supposed to do the drive test if you're having stalling or loss of power problems anyway.

 

I guess it all depends on the dealership you take it to. When I worked for a dealer, they wanted us to find any way to not cover it under warrenty! The dealerships dont make any money on warrenty work. Well not nearly as much as full price. Warrenty usually pays about half the normal time. With the dealerships knowing about this recall, I am willing to bet that if they can get out of not doing it under the warrenty, they just might. Again this depends on the dealership. Mine goes in on Wed the 13th. Time for an oil change anyway. Oh yea just a little thing that was told to me, when you take it in tell them you have experienced a power loss once or twice. From what I am understanding from a good source, they will almost do the engine along with the cat. Well good luck on your car with the mods

 

yes they can void your warrenty!!!

 

This is a RECALL not warranty work. They cannot deny doing the recall. Recalls are good for the life of the car.

The only thing they can do when you take it in is void part of your warranty and then deny you service on related non-recall items in the future.