Not sure if the dealers would like being called out as willing to turn a blind eye to warranty violations, on a forum that Alfa is supposed to troll.

How about we change the topic to a list of those dealers that DENY claims for things like air filters and seats?

 

Noted and rectified.
Cheers!

 

McCarroll’s at Artarmon in Sydney are 4C enthusiasts. They have built up a few Pogea specials and warrant their own work. I’m pretty sure if you rocked up with your own individually modded 4C claiming warranty work you would be politely shown the door. I think this would be the same for all dealers down here. Fair enough, looking from their perspective, but only if the mod could be linked to the problem.
Tom (CallmeAl) must be related to ‘Simon the Likeable’ (Get Smart reference. Yes, I’m handsome AND cultured too.) with all the warranty work he’s managed given the mods he’s done. Either that or else he has the luck of the Irish following him.

 

Tom (CallmeAl) must be related to ‘Simon the Likeable’ (Get Smart reference. Yes, I’m handsome AND cultured too.) with all the warranty work he’s managed given the mods he’s done. Either that or else he has the luck of the Irish following him.

Oh your killing me! Yes I’ve had warranty work! Granted it was a big one but it was totally legitimate as I had lots of engine codes they couldn’t fix from coming back from the day I bought the car and it was all documented. And there was knowledge of that same problem happening to other cars built at that same time. (Mario at the factory must’ve been asleep while he was cleaning the engine blocks).
I may have had other warranty work done but I’m not ever going to talk about it as trolls and weirdos twist words and can cause warranty problems for everyone. But I can tell you this. On my big engine warranty work when they were told I had also bought a Giulia Quadrifoglio that made a significant push. Also I bought that car from the same dealership doing the work. I also buy my tires or wheels anything I can from my dealership. In fact today I just bought 4 Tecnico wheels and 4 Hoosier slicks for my Giulia from that dealership. Also my cars been featured in many local and national car events (Goldrush Rally, DTP Racewars, Northwest Street Cars, Nomad Racing etc. and I have a following on YouTube and whenever my car is featured I always forward the photos to the dealership letting them know I am advertising and representing the Alfa marquee well and they also let their contacts at Alfa USA know about it too. All this has helped me to build a relationship and become friends with my dealership. And who doesn’t want to help out a friend?!
Some people think buying a car from a dealership and and getting to be friends with them doesn’t mean anything for warranty work well that’s the biggest bunch of bs I’ve ever heard. That just means you don’t know how to make friends. Whenever you buy a car from any make you ALWAYS must meet the service manager and get him to remember you. Have your salesman walk you into his office the day you buy the car. I’d like to tell you more and how well it works but I can’t. But trust me spend as much service, tires and parts money for all your cars as you can at your Alfa dealership and strike up a relationship and it will pay off.

 

Good luck finding dealerships that are mod friendly. Most dealerships have no control of this. Usually there is a corp warranty person who will deny or grant the permission for the dealership to do the work. If a dealership does warranty work and it is not approved by Corp .... they are not going to be paid. So why would a dealership take on this risk? Especially with a small niche car as the 4C.

I'm all for mods, but even simple mods (air filter, tires, wheels, shocks, lugnuts, lighter battery, etc. etc) can have indirect affects to the rest of the car. It's all connected directly or indirectly.

If the warranty issue is not related to ANY of the mods .... then it should be warrenteed without question. The rest of the mods ... you pay to play as they say.

 

I think that it may be more than just "the dealership" involved here.

As Braces points out, it is corporate that grants the warranty claim, but a dealership can be helpful or difficult about it. But it's not really "the dealership" that does that.
As others have said, the service manager, or even a service advisor or tech can be on your side, or critical about everything. In the end, it will be the service manager who sets the policy and decides, but he's not likely to override the tech without good reason. So everyone is in play.

I have known instances (my own experience and that of others) where being a good and well-liked customer, or being known to be a friend of the owner (or a senior manager) can get you assistance where a person off the street would never be covered.

So, I'm not really certain how useful this kind of a thread will be. I don't want it to turn into dealership bashing or getting a helpful store in trouble - if it turns into that then I will shut it down and delete it.

However, posting that you did or did not have success in getting warranty coverage from a certain dealership, what work was done, and what mods you have, is fine.

 

And while I am on this topic, does anyone know if it is possible to have the scheduled maintenance performed at any Fiat Chrysler dealership and still maintain the warranty? There is a Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge dealership here in town, but I can only imagine what would happen if I pulled up in the 4C and asked for even just an oil change, let alone the one year warranty service.

They might be willing to do an oil change, if their lifts are low enough to get the 4C onto them - but they cannot do any warranty work. They'll definitely not want to do the bolt tightening.

If you're willing to go a bit further, Ziegler Alfa/Maserati in Schaumburg is excellent. Tony and Todd are exceptional technicians and James is a great service manager. I highly recommend them.

 

In the USA, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act puts it on the warranty provider to prove that the modification caused the issue and thus can deny the warranty service. The FTC explicitly states: “the manufacturer or dealer must show that the aftermarket or recycled part caused the need for repairs before denying warranty coverage.”

FTC website -
0138-auto-warranties-routine-maintenance

Just do the mods you want but don't expect that the part you modified and the parts it affects directly will continue to be covered.

 

All true, but when they deny its then up to you to pursue enforcement of that act through legal action. Depending on the nature of the claim this quickly gets more expensive than the repair.

 

I think most dealers are smart enough to realize that 1/4 to 1/2(If not more) of the people who show up with an aftermarket intake and/or IC pipes, have a cloned ECU.
On top of that,
I was able to see a code for an ECU disconnect on a fellow 4C owner's car with my Foxwell scanner. As such, I am sure a dealer would as well.
Also
Alfa Romeo does frequent this forum. If you have posted that you have a cloned ECU and they can correlate your username to your real identity, then they have a valid reason to void your warranty.

People need to take responsibility for their actions and be prepared for what might occur as a result of them.
AKA....If you modify something in the engine bay, be aware that you might have an issue with any warranty work in that location and as JWA pointed out, the dealer can wait until you prove your mods didn't cause the issue before they begin working on it.
You have a broken car, and they know it.

on the other topic
Before bringing your car to any dealer, you need to find out if they have a 4C certified mechanic. They are supposed to have gone through hours of additional training just for our cars.

The dealer where I bought my car, was purchased by another dealership and for some reason, the service department was replaced by people from their Mercedes dealership.
As such. I can't take it to them anymore. Fortunately I found a fiat dealership, who has a certified mechanic [Thanks Philster] that is in the same town as my job.