Coding Mods - Warranty & Insurance

[Deleted member 103408]

Coding Mods - Warranty & Insurance

There are a lot of us doing mods via VCDS / OBD11 & Carista and i saw a post on the Ibiza forum that said these mods had no impact on new car warranty.

got me thinking about both warranty and insurance

do you think we should advise insurance and could these changes cause warranty issues.

i am afraid i think the answer to both is yes just wondered what others thought.

 

[motty225]

I can't see how they effect either

 

[EddieP]

I think it would only effect the warranty if something broke as a result of you doing a mod

As for the insurance im sure you only have to declare mods that make the car a bigger target for criminals or change the look of the car like alloys remaps etc

I got my car from Arnold Clark and have had warranty work done even after i had left my obd device in plain view and they never questioned it

 

[zeffania]

Sorry to sound sarcastic, but if you rang your insurance co and said you had coded out your actuator, they would probably wonder what you were on about.

Coding doesn't alter the car in an insurance form, just the way it behaves, auto lock, 3 or 5 flashes on your indicator, needle sweep, corner fogs, etc. Re-map, yes as that gives the car much more power, but a change to electronics, no.

All these are changeable by the dealer, but at a cost. You are just doing it cheaper and from your own home

 

[EFF11]

When I got my insurance from Esure I had to answer this question:

"Any modifications to the manufacturers original specification, eg to wheels, suspension, bodywork or engine?"

Insurance companies will void your policy if they discover you have not answered questions honestly.

Incidentally another question is beginning to appear:

"Have you attended a speed awareness course ?"

It was only a matter of time.

 

[Deleted member 103408]

no problem with sarcastic but let me give more detail then

So i agree a lot of the mods are simple silly things but some of them are not.

So for example i have removed the torque limiter on my car which changes the way it works and handles the power (just like a remap does), Many people have removed the block on Video's playing on the screen whilst driving (forget law its insurance that would have a possible issue). You can change the Hill Start process, You can disable the pending support (which is linked to breaks) XDS on the Diff Lock, you can make permanent changes to the ESP and ASR.

Accept nobody is going to see this stuff or be looking for it but we can make changes to the car that makes it non standard.

With regards to warranty again I don't think anybody would bother looking or worry about it but for example if you had a problem with your Dashboard and they can see you have done modifications (and the new virtual dash will allow a lot of this) it could cause issues.

And yes I agree dealers can make some of these changes but they use VAG Software that is supported by VAG we dont.

Not going to make any difference to me just wondered what others felt as I saw this question on another forum and it got me thinking.

 

[zeffania]

So for example i have removed the torque limiter on my car which changes the way it works and handles the power (just like a remap does), Many people have removed the block on Video's playing on the screen whilst driving (forget law its insurance that would have a possible issue). You can change the Hill Start process, You can disable the pending support (which is linked to breaks) XDS on the Diff Lock, you can make permanent changes to the ESP and ASR.

Slight change to your normal changes, granted but like you say, how would they know?

A re-map can easily be quantified, when you are asked about it, they ask about the power gain and it is worked on a percentage. Not sure how you would do that removing the torque limiter.

Video, more of a legal stance, up there with phones I guess?

Driving aids aren't on all cars, I know I could switch mine off on my old car from a button, not looked so far with the Leon nor am I inclined to do so.

I guess you could ask the same of the 155mph limit on German models, why remove this unless you are going back to Germany?

As long as you aren't doing something silly like removing brakes or adding 15+bhp, I don't see why you would have to disclose these changes. We aren't using illegal methods or race only parts?

 

[Dan FR]

I've seen coding changes void warranty of an electrical fault. Dealer will do anything to get out of a claim - including blame a totally unrelated change of coding.

Change it back before taking the car in

 

[Deleted member 103408]

Thanks Dan,

And this is the response I got from Seat re warranty

We would recommend that any alterations made to a vehicle or any parts used on your vehicle should be SEAT approved. If this recommendation is not followed and a non SEAT approved part/accessory is used on your vehicle and a fault occurs as a result of the use of this component then your warranty will be void.

If also you turned on any features of a component that did not come as standard on your vehicle and that component broke the cost will not be covered by SEAT and in doing so the warranty on any related parts can also be affected.

Kind regards

xxxx
Customer Relations Advisor
SEAT UK

 

[pavarotti1980]

Thanks Dan,

And this is the response I got from Seat re warranty

We would recommend that any alterations made to a vehicle or any parts used on your vehicle should be SEAT approved. If this recommendation is not followed and a non SEAT approved part/accessory is used on your vehicle and a fault occurs as a result of the use of this component then your warranty will be void.

If also you turned on any features of a component that did not come as standard on your vehicle and that component broke the cost will not be covered by SEAT and in doing so the warranty on any related parts can also be affected.

Kind regards

xxxx
Customer Relations Advisor
SEAT UK

But surely they all come as standard otherwise the option to change them would not be available. Its only that SEAT charge for this service

 

[Deleted member 103408]

But surely they all come as standard otherwise the option to change them would not be available. Its only that SEAT charge for this service

No the software is on board but not activated (which I think VAG are in the process of changing going forwards) so for example Traffic Sign Recognition was not on my car but it is now.

DRL setup on my car was front only, now I have scandi so both front and rear lights are on

My interior door lights have three settings (standard was 2) and they flash when indicating it can be turned on but not able to via screen menu's.

Seat know from you Vin number how your car was configured, dont get me wrong I am well out of warranty so dont care but what they are saying if they spot this stuff they can start to look and refuse to fix stuff.

 

[Mattimus]

Isn't there a way to revert back to factory settings?

 

[Deleted member 103408]

Isn't there a way to revert back to factory settings?

yep just code it

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Shaady]

In regards to the insurance, you just have to be sensible about it, why would you tell your insurance that you changed it so the interior lights now flash when you indicate, or that your dials sweep when you turn the ignition on? It makes zero odds to them, as neither make you any more of a risk on the road.

If however you start making changes to the way the car mechanically operates then that's more of a grey area, some people would be in a conundrum about telling the insurance, but I bet most wouldn't bother

 

[salsajoe]

I think it would only effect the warranty if something broke as a result of you doing a mod

As for the insurance im sure you only have to declare mods that make the car a bigger target for criminals or change the look of the car like alloys remaps etc

I got my car from Arnold Clark and have had warranty work done even after i had left my obd device in plain view and they never questioned it

I think any mod that affects performance or safety eg changing external lighting behaviour such as turning off DRLs or diff lock settings, ESP etc will void insurance if found. Insurance companies will use any excuse to avoid paying out.

 

[SRGTD]

As for the insurance im sure you only have to declare mods that make the car a bigger target for criminals or change the look of the car like alloys remaps etc

I think any mod that affects performance or safety eg changing external lighting behaviour such as turning off DRLs or diff lock settings, ESP etc will void insurance if found. Insurance companies will use any excuse to avoid paying out.

My insurer’s policy documentation states that they should be told about any vehicle modifications, so they want to know about more than just mods that change the look of the car or make it a higher theft risk. They will be calculating their premiums based on a standard, unmodified car. Most modified cars will represent an increased insurance risk and the insurer will want their underwriters to have the opportunity to assess any increased risk to decide whether or not they need to charge more premium.

Some insurers even want to know about factory fit options. Fortunately, mine doesn’t. Check your insurance policy to see what your insurer needs to be informed about with regard to modifications and options, and if in doubt, declare it. As salsajoe says, insurance companies may use non-disclosure as a reason not to pay out, so don’t give them the opportunity to do this.