remote starters voiding new car warranties

i installed a remote starter for a friend of my brothers the other day and he called yesterday saying his brothers both work at car dealershis as mechanics and they see cars come in with problems, mainly in electrical, and they say after doing tests on the vehicle, they claim it is caused by the aftermarket remote starter and it voids their warranties. I call bullsh@t on this but just wanted to get other opinions or personal experience. im thinking its just some other shop or two that dont know exactly what theyre doing or its all bull, like i think.

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"to do something common, uncommonly well, brings success"

The dealership can not void your warranty because you installed an after market product in your car. There is actually a law for this now, DEI keeps a copy of it on their site, here. From how I understand it, it is the dealerships responsibility to prove the after market device caused the problem, and only then can they void the warranty on whichever system it caused problems to. Like, the electrical system as pertaining to a remote starter.

Now, here is the shady part of the scenario. I have local dealerships that will tell a person if any of the factory wiring was cut they will void the electrical warranty on the vehicle. This being said, I no longer install any bypasses or devices that require cutting any wires. I know this limits my options, but I do this more as a hobby, not as a main source of income.

In most cases, if the dealership has good technicians working in their shop you will never have a problem so long as your install or product did not cause the actual problem. It has been my experience that dealerships with technicians that actually know how to do their jobs will actually take the time to troubleshoot the problem and then give a response to the owner of the vehicle. We have local dealers that will tell a person when buying their car that they offer a remote start that would be covered under their warranty, charge $250 extra, and then send the car down to the local install shop to have the job done.

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Installer, IT support, and FFL. I need less hobbies.

Being an installer for a dealership, I know for a fact that OUR dealership doesn't hold such a policy of a remote starter voiding a warranty. I could see this if it was the remote starter causing the problem, but never had such a case yet. It was interesting to see that copy of the law. Good to know.

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Shaun, we are the same height, that is neat!

12V Installation Technician for Honda, Dodge, Chrysler, Toyota and Jeep.

If the remote starter is improperly installed, and damages some part of the car as a result, well, obviously it should be the installation shop, and not General Motors or Toyota, who pays for the repair.

On the other hand, if the remote starter is installed correctly, and something else on the car just happens to fail by coincidence, no, of course you wouldn't pay for that.

Of course, in real life, it doesn't always work out this way. Some "technicians" are thoroughly befuddled by autmotive electrical systems, and resort to just blaming the first aftermarket product they see in the car.

If that happens to you, try to politely ask the reason, so that you can correct the problem...........and if your customer has just arrived from a car dealership, tell the customer that the dealer will need to put this in writing, on the invoice, before you'd be able to pay for it.

Also, it is true, there is a lot of lousy work out there that makes a bad name for the good guys. Or sometimes, the remote starter actually is wired correctly, but the install job looks so sloppy and scary that it starts ringing alarm bells right away when the technician sees it.

But regardless, no, the can't "void" the warranty. It's simply that damage from aftermarket products/installations is not COVERED by the warranty.

Sometimes I get customers who say "Hey, I heard from my mechanic that having a remote starter installed can damage my electrical system; is that true?"   And my answer is "Yes, if I install it wrong." Maybe that's too direct, but they seem to get it.

P.S. The manufacturers tell us that the Magunsson-Moss Warranty Act protects the aftermarket. I haven't read the text for myself, but you might want to.