Car Computer and New car warranty

Jimbo1978 · 01-27-2005, 07:44 AM

Hi all

Has anyone fitted a car computer in a brand new car? ie fully integrated wire runs and lcds etc

Do the dealers have a problem with this? Id hate to fit everything in my new car and then find id voided my warranty.

Im only really talking about getting an autoelectrician to run power to trunk from battery and acc, and vga and usb to dash from trunk.(dont want to do it myself, due to it being a new car on lease, and dont want to wreck dash and carpets!)Lcd will just be mounted on dash rather then bondoed in

Any stories, comments, suggestions etc gratefully received!

Thanx

James

wizardPC · 01-27-2005, 09:29 AM

I was having transmission problems in my truck and the guys at the dealership refused to work on it because of the 10 inch screen.

How they figured that a carpter caused my torque converter to crack I'll never know.

god_of_cpu · 01-27-2005, 09:34 AM

I have a 2003 g35. I modded it within a month of purchasing it. I have wires going all up and down it, screen mounted in the center console, PC in trunk. Didn't have to cut much, but its highly integrated all the same. Left it out in the open for the dealer to see when in for maintainence and never had a word said about it.

By law, a dealer can not refuse warranty work unless they can prove you damaged a part with your mods.

Katya · 01-27-2005, 09:38 AM

You might want to look into your lease paperwork. You might not be allowed to make modifications to the car at all.

I know that I've screwed over the electrical portion of my warranty and probably the suspension as well and I'm only about halfway through it. At this point, I don't think I would want to have them try to work on anything around the dash for fear that they would break something. I had one TSB relating to my HVAC in the spring and I got that resolved before I put in the carputer. I've got my 30K mile check up coming up and I'm wondering myself how the dealership is going to react to my car then.

rando · 01-27-2005, 10:31 AM

I put mine in right after I bought my new truck. Leasing isn't an issue for me. Hopefully I never have any serious problems with my truck so it never becomes an issue.

bigdaddy_23 · 01-27-2005, 01:24 PM

Some companies try everything that they can to get out of having to fix a car for free. If you are not sure, just call you dealer and ask. I called my GMC dealer prior to me starting the planning process and the only problem that they had was that they wanted to know if a certified tech was going to perform the installation. If not, they said that they could possibly void the electrical portion of the warranty. Other than that they said consider it like upgrading your stereo. But like I said before, ask, the worst they can say is that it voids your warranty and you do not proceed.

PatO · 01-27-2005, 06:59 PM

I've had a good deal of problems with my car due to the remote starter I had installed last month. Every place (3) I brought it, the service techs called me up asking what the small battery was doing under the hood and about the mass of wires run through the firewall.

So, I explain what it's for and what connections I have made to the electrical system, yada yada yada.

My point is that it may help put people at ease if you have some sort of circuit diagram to go with your install. These things are complex and the last thing a guy needs to do is try to figure out wiring that's not in the service manuals. And, it would help the lawyers out when you sue the shop for not honoring your transmission warranty because of an LCD screen.