Mitsubishi voiding warrantees for SCCA participation?

jo · Post by jo » Tue Jun 08, 2004 10:34 am

http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread ... adid=83525

That's crazy! good thing you got the STi, shane!

--pasted--

Mitsubishi is voiding motor and drive train warranties including transmission for any cars that participate in an Sports Car of America (SCCA) event or any other timed event.

It seems that Mitsubishi has set up an automatic web search that looks for registration and results information for any Mitsubishi. They then capture the race results information, match it to vehicle purchase and service records and proactively put the car on "warranty restriction". Those of you with new cars, may want to not list the actual car make or use a screen name.

I bought this car for my son about 2 months ago. The voiding of the motor and drive train warranty is especially puzzling to me as I was completely open with the dealer that sold the car to me, that I was going to allow my son to participate in SCCA events -- even invited the sales person and his manager to come for a ride along. Was the dealer's response to tell me that this would void the warranty on the new car? Nope. His response was "...what a cool way to keep your son from getting in trouble on the streets."

Sure would have appreciated knowing that parking lots and cones would void the warranty on the Evo. I guess although the car is "race inspired", Mitsubishi considers chasing cones at 25 to 60 mph in parking lot to be too much for their "embodying everything a performance enthusiast looks for in a car" model.

I have the fax print out from the dealer. It doesn't provide any details other than the top of the page that says:

!!! WARRANTY RESTRICTION !!!
When I asked the dealer why, the response was because of participation in SCCA event. I spent 6+ hours this week on hold and talking with various people at Mitsubishi. This morning I spoke with the District Service Manager for Mitsubishi Motors. He gave me the same answer -- warranty restriction due to participating in the Utah Region SCCA event on 16-May. He even mentioned that he had a copy of the web based time sheet / results with my son's name on it with the car model and color.

In clarifying with them what warranty restriction means, here's what I was told:
- No motor, transmission or drive train issues will be covered by warranty
- Even if I have Mitsubishi do repairs on the motor, they will not re-warranty

A five year 36,000 mile warranty up in smoke for participating in ONE SCCA event.

I'm a huge fan of the SCCA and will continue to participate. My son and I started last year. One of the very best things we do together. Anytime anyone at school or otherwise pressures him to race, he simply invites them out to an event.

We normally race an well prepared Honda S2000. Given the nature of the Evo, we planned on taking it out to an SCCA event before we even bought it.

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CodyW · Post by **CodyW** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 10:38 am

wow, hell of a difference from subaru and the SCCA membership they give you when you buy the car.

sucks to hear though.

drift-kid-s13 · Post by **drift-kid-s13** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 10:50 am

that blows ohwell that s why im getting ether a Nissan or a Subaru

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 11:33 am

The Warranty Restriction likely has something like "where legal." I know for a fact in the state of GA, it is 100% ILLEGAL to universally void a warranty. If an item is offered with a warranty that warranty holds unless the company can PROVE that a modification (NOT an event) caused the damage.

I don't believe there could be any legal backing for something like this. An autocross is legally defined as a "low-speed driver instruction event." Even your insurance covers the car at an autocross. Plus, I don't know that the "internet page" showing the results would hold up in court.

This may be worth calling a few Mitsi dealerships about.

Scott
<><
Siegel Racing
404-388-8751
http://www.siegelracing.com
Performance Engineer
Subaru of Gwinnett/Atlanta
678-584-7251
http://www.subaruofgwinnett.com

Siegel Racing · Post by **Siegel Racing** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 11:37 am

Just noticed that you called around. Like I said, I don't think the laws here in GA supprt this kind of thing. Have any friends who are lawyers?

speedminded · Post by **speedminded** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 12:58 pm

BMW tried using an onboard computer (accelerometer, etc.) to void warranties and the DOT shut them down.

The Warranty Restriction likely has something like "where legal." I know for a fact in the state of GA, it is 100% ILLEGAL to universally void a warranty. If an item is offered with a warranty that warranty holds unless the company can PROVE that a modification (NOT an event) caused the damage.

You are correct, there is no way Mitsubishi (or anyone else) can void your warranty for driving the vehicle in any manner, it's not legal at all. There is also a law from 1975 that states no aftermarket part can void a manufacturers warranty unless that part is a direct cause of a problem (Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act).

sam · Post by **sam** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:30 pm

unsurprising. Mitsu has always tried to keep the evo low-key slightly because before the V or so, the transmission and transfer case were made of freakin' glass. one really hard dump-clutch manouver and you're seriously damaging some stuff.
I had been under the impression from the older EVO owner I talked to in the Carib that the reason Mitsu won't sell them stateside was because the motors don't last for shit, and the transmissions are prone to die before a clutch will. That said, on a bang-per-buck scale, having to replace the motor at 50,000 miles still keeps it being one damn cheap badass amoungst its competitors.

EVOsaiyanPrince · Post by **EVOsaiyanPrince** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:36 pm

We here at BMW still have trace sensors for certain vehicle operations. We can tell if you have overreved to the tenths. E46 ///M3 customer stated his engine just quit working and started to make noise. We did a DME report and his engine blew at 8439rpm. That is waaaay past redline. I understand why manufacturers take such precautions against warrany claims but some just push it too far. In spite of that I am a proud owner of my EVO. If you own a car like this it means you can afford it regardless of warranty because your are modifying it. If you want to play you gotta pay. That's is why mountains are better than SCCA. How they gonna trace you up there with a helicopter? and say that they saw flames coming out of your exhaust on the 5th corner ascending Mountain A ?!?!?!?

jo · Post by jo » Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:41 pm

We need to upload the flames video!

djdorifto · Post by **djdorifto** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:48 pm

i believe the reason why they are doing this, is because well, they are going down... like i preivously said they close down their big mitsu company here in socal, by end of the year or something they will stop getting engines from their provider. So really, i think they are saving their engines for more EVO's if they can afford really. Sucks for Mitsu.

jo · Post by jo » Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:55 pm

I thought that they were bailed out of their problems for the most part. Chrysler agreed not to back the funding out, so I assumed they were safe for the time being.

Drift_Supra · Post by **Drift_Supra** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 11:11 pm

Mitsubishi is bad about screwing their customers. they have "ALWAYS" been bad about that. when buying a mitsu product of any kind, you always have to go in with a notion of "buyer beware". the 3000GT vr-4's from like 91 to 93 had bad transfer cases, and would leak and fail, causing cars to lock up and crash..........how long did it take for mitsu to do anything about it?........about 9 years. And that is onyl because the people at 3si.org made so many complaints to the authorities that there was a manditory crack down.............and to make it worse, if you race "at all" .........and trust me..........they have whole departments to find out, they STILL don't fix it. I used to work at a performace shop in stockbridge, and I had a Mitsubishi motors representative call to interrogate about a customer's car that had a t-case failure. of course we told them that it didnt' fail from racing (because it didn't), but it just goes to show that mitsu will sniff the ground for an easy way out.