[DonM]

I bought my 6th Gen on March 5th and normally I wouldn't have bought the aftermarket warranty offered by the Dealer, but since the car had a supercharger installed prior to my buying it, I thought it might not be a bad idea.

$3,155 later, I thought I had a 50,000 mile, unlimited time warranty on the Camaro. Just last week, I found out that I was going to need it, when the thermostat started acting up. So I took it to the closest dealer and they had no issues working with Liberty Shield. They just mentioned that the added cost of removing the supercharger and the new gaskets might not be covered.

Last night I got a recorded call from one of the underwriters for Liberty Shield. He asked a bunch of questions and kept saying: "No worries about that ..." Then suddenly he said: "I have no choice but to VOID the warranty and refuse coverage, because the car IS NOT AS IT CAME FROM THE FACTORY, IT HAS BEEN ALTERED." HE went on to quote chapter and verse of the warranty paperwork, saying that if the car is changed IN ANY WAY from how it had been built by the factory, the warranty is voided and coverage denied.

My FIRST question was: "If you're not going to honor the warranty, do I get reimbursed the money I paid for it?" He told me that typically, yes, but he had to forward the issue to his manager for final determination.

The dealership that I bought the car from is furious, because they rely solely on word of mouth and customer feedback for advertising their dealership and this is making THEM look bad because they recommended Liberty Shield. I called my salesman, he was pissed and floored. He said he is going to contact his boss and their service manager - he said he has never seen this happen before and took down my phone number to have one of them call me back as it was close to closing and neither one was currently there.

So my 1st call this morning will be to the dealership I bought the car from (I have no issues with them over this). My 2nd call will be to Liberty Shield to tell them they have until the end of business tomorrow to have the $3,155 back in my account.

Just a warning about 3rd party warranties on used cars.

[Curr]

Originally Posted by DonM

Just a warning about 3rd party warranties on SIGNIFICANTLY MODIFIED used cars.

I fixed that for you. This is on the dealer in my opinion. They should have checked, or known better.

Not trying to crap on you, but I thought it was general knowledge that aftermarket warranties will not cover cars with such significant additions such a power adders (or at least anything associated with the powertrain, in this case They'd probably cover you if your infotainment had gone out... but by pressing the issue with the modified engine they just nope'd out). Pretty sure there's a question in the Fidelity workup sheet that asks about significant mods... my car is stock, so I checked "no".

I've had, and used a fair amount of 3rd party warranties on stock cars, and they've all been fine. (Endurance replaced the driver screen on my wife's TT, and Fidelity is widely regarded as the "go to" warranty company by Rennlist / Porsche community with tons of examples of coverage, including PDK replacements ~$20k USD).

[Number 3]

Sorry, hard to fault the insurance company here. This modification voided the factory warranty so unless they were very clear that the aftermarket warranty covered something that voided the factory warranty, probably wasn’t going to happen.

Only 2 issues here IMO. Did you buy the car solely because the dealership told you they could get you a warranty on this car with his modification? And second will the insurance company give you your money back?

Good luck! Hope it works out somehow.

[m6-lt1]

No offense but you should have known a warranty on a modded car is too good to be true. I will however place more blame on the dealer. They absolutely should not have sold you a warranty on a heavily modified car.

[Gunkk]

"We do not provide any coverage for Vehicles modified or altered AT ANY TIME
beyond original manufacturer’s specifications with or without Your knowledge"

https://libertyautousa.com/files/lib...e-contract.pdf

[Evergreen6]

Well, that sucks. It’s important to understand what’s covered and not covered on a modified car, and all of that should be be clearly spelled out in the policy. Lesson learned, read it before you need it.

The dealership is pissed because they’re likely going to lose a significant cut of that $3k.

I’m sure there’s a provision for refund written in the policy too. Read that. It’s probably going to take more than a day to issue a refund and it may not be for the full amount.

[dmcmahan60]

If I were you I would go straight to the GM of the dealership and voice your concerns. Stay calm and tell him the whole situation going on and see what or if they can do anything. But shame on them for selling a modified car and possibly telling you that you could get a 3rd party warranty company to honor a heavily modified car.

[Joshinator99]

Good god, this comes up WAY too often. If you want an actual fast car, forget the damn warranty. If you really need the warranty, you’ll have to drive a stock car unfortunately. Those are the two choices.

[MT-SS1LE]

I blame the dealer 100% on this one, and you should get refunded 100%.

That said, I never get an extended warranty, on anything. And if I were to consider one, it would only be direct from the manufacturer.

[WhiteMale]

Dealer owes you some money.

[The Maverick]

I believe the GM platinum extended warranty (now offered by a third party) includes a similar global exclusion that completely voids the contractual warranty coverage if the vehicle is modified from stock. If you plan to mod a vehicle, read your extended warranty paperwork extra carefully before signing up!

As to the OP's situation: Since the warranty was offered by the dealership on a clearly modified vehicle, maybe the dealer will refund the warranty AND cover this repair as a one-time goodwill gesture given that the OP considered the extended warranty to be an important part of the transaction for a vehicle that was modified by a prior owner. Depending on how that important purchase consideration can be played up, with reference to specific discussions that might have occurred during the sales transaction, maybe there are more accommodations a reasonable dealer would agree to? Best of luck to the OP in resolving this!

[olrocker]

It really comes down to whether the dealer knew the warranty company covers modified cars or not before they sold you the warranty.

Some extended warranty companies might cover anything and some might not. It’s all up to the extended warranty company.

Yes the buyer should know as well, but a reputable dealer that’s not unscrupulous wouldn’t try to push a company that doesn’t cover modified cars knowing the car is modified.

[JamesNoBrakes]

I would be sending written notice and asking for your money back, in a letter. Best to be starting the document trail...in case.

[Texas1ss]

Originally Posted by The Maverick

I believe the GM platinum extended warranty (now offered by a third party) includes a similar global exclusion that completely voids the contractual warranty coverage if the vehicle is modified from stock. If you plan to mod a vehicle, read your extended warranty paperwork extra carefully before signing up!

Just to maybe help any of my Texas neighbors who are looking at warranties on their daily driver 6th gens pushing a ton of miles, I wouldn't use GM warranties if you have a high mileage vehicle. At around 96k I went to a GM dealership. They wanted almost 5k for an extended warranty. No thanks.

Friend of mine mentioned checking with my credit union. I did, and I got a 48,000 bumper to bumper warranty, minus wiring and wear and tear items, up to 144k or July of 2026, whichever comes first, for $1,500 bucks.

Not sure if it's in other states, but in Texas it's free to join and is called First Community Credit Union. They offer an extended warranty that's only sold through credit unions, and the company is U.S. Route 66.

Can't say enough good things about the company. I've heard the horror stories about extended warranties. But there's no deductible, and they've already paid out over 3 grand on a fuel pump replacement, chassis control module and flashing, and what blows my mind is two new front control arms and ball joints.

Surprised the crap out of me. I figured for sure the control arms and ball joints were "wear and tear" items. But they covered it all, minus the diagnostic fee of the shop for some reason, and the huge markup the guy did on the parts.

But he convinced them to change both control arms and ball joints. No complaints here. I only ate 300 on that one. Saved me a few thousand dollars so far, and I'm covered a bit longer. Only thing I'll have to deal with when it starts slipping is my clutch. I'm at 108k, and I can tell it's just a matter of time. Hopefully later than sooner.

It's as good as the factory bumper to bumper warranty, but the only thing it doesn't cover is wiring issues, which can be costly. Besides that, great deal.

Edit: After that 144k hits, I'm garaging it, and then the mods begin. Going to be a blast. High mileage, but a mild cam and a tune, I'm set. And great engine to handle it. Just like my old LS1.