Is Having Pep Boys As Our Go To Place For The Elio A Good Idea?

[wizard of ahs]

Doesn't matter to me..............I do my own maintenance.........have for 40+ years

 

[wizard of ahs]

Will we have the option of doing this for warranty work without voiding the warranty?

Magnuson-Moss Act

 

[John Painter]

I'm more concerned about warranty work...

Anyone is allowed to perform warranty work, including yourself. Manufacturers/dealers may not require you to only use their mechanics. However if you (they) cause damage as the result of lack of skills or tools that is not covered under warranty.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

He answered your question: "EM has stated if there isn't a Pep Boys close, they will find you alternate service providers."
Parse that sentence and it's obvious they are not "EXCLUSIVE".

That's a poorly-constructed question.

Do you mean authorized service center? Not without EM's approval, and probably not if there is a Pep Boys within a certain distance.

Do you mean simply a place that can fix Elios? Sure, it's still a (kinda) free country.

My apologies Mr. English Professor.

As I pointed out, he did NOT answer the question, he answered another question.

and "parse that sentence" doesn't mean what you think it means....

Good day sir

 

[Gas-Powered Awesome]

Anyone is allowed to perform warranty work, including yourself. Manufacturers/dealers may not require you to only use their mechanics.

That's true with a word change: Anybody can perform repairs, but they can't perform "warranty work" as such because only authorized service centers get reimbursed for parts and labor costs for repairs covered by a warranty. Manufacturer's can and do require you to use only their authorized mechanics if you don't want to pay for a repair that the warranty would cover.

My apologies Mr. English Professor.

No need to be rude Crimson. Though I'm not surprised.

 

[Coss]

My apologies Mr. English Professor.
As I pointed out, he did NOT answer the question, he answered another question.
and "parse that sentence" doesn't mean what you think it means....
Good day sir

Just to make you happy, No, Pep Boys is not the only exclusive provider of warranty service.

Feel better now?

 

[Ty]

Lucky you. You must not keep vehicles very long or use them very much.

Shops that are not authorized service centers generally can't perform warranty work on a manufacturer's product. If you want warranty work done on your Elio, an authorized service center will have to perform it.

That said, the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act protects you from EM arbitrarily voiding your warranty. If you choose to, say, have a non-EM shop replace a defective water pump with a non-EM water pump and pay for it yourself, that does not void the warranty on the engine or any other part of the vehicle.

It DOES void the warranty on the water pump, obviously. It also MAY void the warranty on the engine if the non-EM pump fails and causes engine damage. Elio can, rightly, claim the unauthorized repair caused the failure of the warrantied part and thus voided the warranty. But again, that would only void the warranty on the engine. The rest of the vehicle is still covered.

If the engine fails and the pump did not cause it, EM can't point at the pump and say "not authorized" and void your engine warranty.

I just haven't had to have any major repairs done. Ever. I haven't had any serious problems I couldn't fix myself and I take pretty good care of the vehicles I have.

The whole "be erased get out of a dealership for less than $1,000" is very misleading. I DO know that batteries, starters, alternatives, hoses, belts, brakes, shocks, tires, calipers, CV joints, etc. can all be done at the dealer for way under $1,000.

 

[Ty]

Lucky you. You must not keep vehicles very long or use them very much.

Shops that are not authorized service centers generally can't perform warranty work on a manufacturer's product. If you want warranty work done on your Elio, an authorized service center will have to perform it.

That said, the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act protects you from EM arbitrarily voiding your warranty. If you choose to, say, have a non-EM shop replace a defective water pump with a non-EM water pump and pay for it yourself, that does not void the warranty on the engine or any other part of the vehicle.

It DOES void the warranty on the water pump, obviously. It also MAY void the warranty on the engine if the non-EM pump fails and causes engine damage. Elio can, rightly, claim the unauthorized repair caused the failure of the warrantied part and thus voided the warranty. But again, that would only void the warranty on the engine. The rest of the vehicle is still covered.

If the engine fails and the pump did not cause it, EM can't point at the pump and say "not authorized" and void your engine warranty.

That same logic is true about towing. Even if Elio doesn't approve of towing, they can't "void your warranty" if you two. They have to prove that towing caused the problem. They can refuse to pay for a transmission problem if you two, for instance, but if you used for repair, they'd have to prove that the towing caused the problem.

 

[John Painter]

That's true with a word change: Anybody can perform repairs, but they can't perform "warranty work" as such because only authorized service centers get reimbursed for parts and labor costs for repairs covered by a warranty. Manufacturer's can and do require you to use only their authorized mechanics if you don't want to pay for a repair that the warranty would cover.

No need to be rude Crimson. Though I'm not surprised.

"Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which is enforced by the FTC, makes it illegal for manufacturers or dealers to claim that your warranty is void or to deny coverage under your warranty simply because someone other than the dealer did the work."

Auto Warranties & Routine Maintenance | Consumer Information

 

[Gas-Powered Awesome]

John, I know that and explained the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act in a previous post in this thread.

But again, unauthorized shops are not performing "warranty work" per se, they are performing repairs.
The difference between repairs and "warranty work" is who is paying for it.

The attachment you posted reinforces what I said:

The manufacturer or dealer can, however, require consumers to use select repair facilities [i.e. authorized service centers - GPA] if the repair services are provided to consumers free of charge under the warranty.

That is exactly what I said, and why I said your statement is only true if you replace "warranty work" with "repairs".