Sterling Chevrolet in Va is trying to charge me $650 for installation of the Stage 2 on Cobalt SS and they are not budging. They tell me it must be installed by a Chevrolet dealership or it will void the warranty. Are they telling me this so they can get my money or is this true?

Thank you for your help

Ps-I did search and could not find a good enough anwser. And stay away from Sterling Chevrolet in Virgina.

My understanding is that the advantage of having it installed by a dealer is that then parts involved in the Stage would be covered under warranty - also if you do it yourself or have another mech do it and anything breaks because of your upgrade that part would not be covered under warranty.

I'm not an expert - but if you do a search for "warranty" you can find the specific law (it's a federal one) and read the whole thing.

I just went through this with my dealership. I'm assuming they're charging you 6 hours of labor? When they first quoted me for mine they said 6 hours, but it's because they itemized it instead of looking at the price for the kit installation. I told them I'm not willing to pay for more than 4 hours and if they can't do it, I'll take it someplace else. Well they ended up doing it for 4 hours. I told them that this is what I expected, which I found in a nother thread...

reflash of pcm- 1 hour
injector R&R - .9 hour
belt R&R - .9 hour
pulley install - 1 hour

They charged me exactly that.

And yes, if a GM dealership does not do the work on the car, you will have a 12 month 12,000 mile warranty on the PARTS that came on the stage 2 but the rest will be voided. It's well worth the money to get it installed by a dealership, especially after you drive it :)

I got charged 300 bucks to have mine out in. And my dealership charges 117 dollars an hour labor. Look at other dealerships such as saturn pontiac to see if they will install it for cheaper.

I just went through this with my dealership. I'm assuming they're charging you 6 hours of labor? When they first quoted me for mine they said 6 hours, but it's because they itemized it instead of looking at the price for the kit installation. I told them I'm not willing to pay for more than 4 hours and if they can't do it, I'll take it someplace else. Well they ended up doing it for 4 hours. I told them that this is what I expected, which I found in a nother thread...

reflash of pcm- 1 hour
injector R&R - .9 hour
belt R&R - .9 hour
pulley install - 1 hour

They charged me exactly that.

And yes, if a GM dealership does not do the work on the car, you will have a 12 month 12,000 mile warranty on the PARTS that came on the stage 2 but the rest will be voided. It's well worth the money to get it installed by a dealership, especially after you drive it :)

the rest of what will be voided

^^^
Per whom that is?!

Per Magnusson Moss pact since 1985, they CAN'T (CAN NOT) void the warranty.

No aftermarket part or accessory that is properly installed on your vehicle will entirely void your original vehicle manufacturers warranty.



Warranty-related materials, published by the new vehicle manufacturers, state that the installation of aftermarket parts have no effect on the warranty unless such equipment causes the problem that leads to the warranty claim. Nonetheless, some dealers have improperly denied warranty claims even though the claim had nothing to do with aftermarket parts. I.E., just because you install an exhaust system, your suspension failure warranty claim cannot be denied. If you experience a problem with an uncooperative dealership, point out the provisions of the this "FEDERAL ACT". For more information call your vehicle manufacturer or click on the link above to go directly to the Federal Trade Commission's website to find out more about this law.


It is the federal offense to VOID the warranty.. dealer can DENY warranty work, but not void the warranty on the vehicle.

I paid $289 for install on mine. It's quoted out in the service manual exactly how long it should take... and what they should charge for it. $650 is ludicrous.

My dealership charged me 200$. I pointed out the price on their website. Of course they wanted 900$ for Stage 2 but only 200$ to install. It shouldn't take more then 2-3 hrs to install and shouldn't cost more then 300$.

screw them. do it yourself and take it to another dealership. then they wont know you put em on and you wont have to tell em either.

if it was not installed by a dealership they can mess with you being that it was not installed by a "professional" and if your car messes up, thats what they will blame it on.....

JUST GO GET ALL AFTERMARKET PARTS..... if you want your car to be fast, you will be paying the price. so everyone on the damn site needs to stop whining about hwo the dealership wont do warranty work on your car that you beat on. and as for the people that do have legit problems. its the people that try to abuse the system that mess everything up for everyone else.

^^^
Per whom that is?!

Per Magnusson Moss pact since 1985, they CAN'T (CAN NOT) void the warranty.

No aftermarket part or accessory that is properly installed on your vehicle will entirely void your original vehicle manufacturers warranty.
It is the federal offense to VOID the warranty.. dealer can DENY warranty work, but not void the warranty on the vehicle.

What happens is if a dealer discovers a non GM modification that could cause the problem the dealer can deny you coverage and flag the VIN so if the owner attempts to claim the same "factory defect" at another dealer the VIN will show the deny of service and reason. GM doesn’t void warrantees, owners do. It is very rare that this happens but I have had it done it to one customer. If you where to have the Stage two kit installed at a GM dealer by a GM trained technician then you are all good. You don’t have to use Sterling, if they won’t install it for less that $XXX then go somewhere else. If you have another place install it, GM will not vouch for the techs intelligence and won’t cover non GM employee miss installation. If you get someone you trust that is competent I doubt you will have any problems. The motor grenading is the worst case scenario

Got my Stage 2 from a guy on eBay for $365 shipped and the dealership here charged me $190 to install it. So theoretically, I paid less for the whole thing than the dealer would charge you for the kit itself... The parts guy looked up install time, and for Stage 1 it says 1 hour, and Stage 2 it said 1.5 hours. Dude, just go to another dealership. Hell, if you have to, try a Saturn dealership...remember, Ion RL get Stage kits too...

What happens is if a dealer discovers a non GM modification that could cause the problem the dealer can deny you coverage and flag the VIN so if the owner attempts to claim the same "factory defect" at another dealer the VIN will show the deny of service and reason. GM doesn’t void warrantees, owners do. It is very rare that this happens but I have had it done it to one customer. If you where to have the Stage two kit installed at a GM dealer by a GM trained technician then you are all good. You don’t have to use Sterling, if they won’t install it for less that $XXX then go somewhere else. If you have another place install it, GM will not vouch for the techs intelligence and won’t cover non GM employee miss installation. If you get someone you trust that is competent I doubt you will have any problems. The motor grenading is the worst case scenario



Its not true. period.

People from my lcub have NON trd parts installed. clutches, shifters, exhausts, TURBOs(!!!).. and it NEVER voided their warranty. Dealer / Manufacturer CAN NOT void the warranty. They can only deny repair per warranty. Then what customer can do is to go to another shop and see if they will do that.. hell, i did that on my tiburon. Had my tranny replaced after putting the turbo on it. And those guys are anal about their warranties.

Once again, you can not void warranty per modification. you can deny repair IF you can PROVE that modification did cause the problem. If you were able to do something like that to a customer of yours - pray that you will never deal with me or peopel like myself... for you will be going to court for that - it is illegal.



The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is a Federal Law that protects the buyer of any product which costs more than $25 and comes with an express written warranty. This law applies to any product that you buy that does not perform as it should.

The Magnuson-Moss Act gives consumers considerable rights in dealing with manufacturers of lemon cars. A car buyer is guaranteed that certain minimum requirements of warranties must be met, and provides for disclosure of warranties before purchase.

Regarding "lemon cars", this law greatly affects the rights of car buyers. For any product which has a written warranty if any part of the product, or the product itself is considered defective, the warrantor must permit the buyer the choice of either a refund or replacement of the product.

Law firms have argued successfully to juries that the lemon manufacturers should be given three attempts to fix the defect. Continued attempts to repair beyond the initial three should not be allowed. This is called the "three strikes and you're out" principle.

A consumer may pursue legal action in any court of general jurisdiction in the United States to enforce his rights under the Magnuson-Moss Law. Attorney's fees based on actual time spent will be covered if the consumer does prevail.

Due to this particular condition, there is quite a bit of financial pressure on the manufacturer to settle consumers disputes before going to court, as this would keep their expenses down.

The narrative information on Magnusson-Moss, and lemon laws is provided by T. Michael Flinn, attorney.



From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 20, 2004]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 20, 2004 and December 23, 2004]
[CITE: 15USC2302]


TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE

CHAPTER 50--CONSUMER PRODUCT WARRANTIES

Sec. 2302. Rules governing contents of warranties


(a) Full and conspicuous disclosure of terms and conditions; additional
requirements for contents

In order to improve the adequacy of information available to
consumers, prevent deception, and improve competition in the marketing
of consumer products, any warrantor warranting a consumer product to a
consumer by means of a written warranty shall, to the extent required by
rules of the Commission, fully and conspicuously disclose in simple and
readily understood language the terms and conditions of such warranty.
Such rules may require inclusion in the written warranty of any of the
following items among others:
(1) The clear identification of the names and addresses of the
warrantors.
(2) The identity of the party or parties to whom the warranty is
extended.
(3) The products or parts covered.
(4) A statement of what the warrantor will do in the event of a
defect, malfunction, or failure to conform with such written
warranty--at whose expense--and for what period of time.
(5) A statement of what the consumer must do and expenses he
must bear.
(6) Exceptions and exclusions from the terms of the warranty.
(7) The step-by-step procedure which the consumer should take in
order to obtain performance of any obligation under the warranty,
including the identification of any person or class of persons
authorized to perform the obligations set forth in the warranty.
(8) Information respecting the availability of any informal
dispute settlement procedure offered by the warrantor and a recital,
where the warranty so provides, that the purchaser may be required
to resort to such procedure before pursuing any legal remedies in
the courts.
(9) A brief, general description of the legal remedies available
to the consumer.
(10) The time at which the warrantor will perform any
obligations under the warranty.
(11) The period of time within which, after notice of a defect,
malfunction, or failure to conform with the warranty, the warrantor
will perform any obligations under the warranty.
(12) The characteristics or properties of the products, or parts
thereof, that are not covered by the warranty.
(13) The elements of the warranty in words or phrases which
would not mislead a reasonable, average consumer as to the nature or
scope of the warranty.

(b) Availability of terms to consumer; manner and form for presentation
and display of information; duration; extension of period for
written warranty or service contract

(1)(A) The Commission shall prescribe rules requiring that the terms
of any written warranty on a consumer product be made available to the
consumer (or prospective consumer) prior to the sale of the product to
him.
(B) The Commission may prescribe rules for determining the manner
and form in which information with respect to any written warranty of a
consumer product shall be clearly and conspicuously presented or
displayed so as not to mislead the reasonable, average consumer, when
such information is contained in advertising, labeling, point-of-sale
material, or other representations in writing.
(2) Nothing in this chapter (other than paragraph (3) of this
subsection) shall be deemed to authorize the Commission to prescribe the
duration of written warranties given or to require that a consumer
product or any of its components be warranted.
(3) The Commission may prescribe rules for extending the period of
time a written warranty or service contract is in effect to correspond
with any period of time in excess of a reasonable period (not less than
10 days) during which the consumer is deprived of the use of such
consumer product by reason of failure of the product to conform with the
written warranty or by reason of the failure of the warrantor (or
service contractor) to carry out such warranty (or service contract)
within the period specified in the warranty (or service contract).

(c) Prohibition on conditions for written or implied warranty; waiver by
Commission

No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or
implied warranty of such product on the consumer's using, in connection
with such product, any article or service (other than article or service
provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is
identified by brand, trade, or corporate name; except that the
prohibition of this subsection may be waived by the Commission if--
(1) the warrantor satisfies the Commission that the warranted
product will function properly only if the article or service so
identified is used in connection with the warranted product, and
(2) the Commission finds that such a waiver is in the public
interest.

The Commission shall identify in the Federal Register, and permit public
comment on, all applications for waiver of the prohibition of this
subsection, and shall publish in the Federal Register its disposition of
any such application, including the reasons therefor.

(d) Incorporation by reference of detailed substantive warranty
provisions

The Commission may by rule devise detailed substantive warranty
provisions which warrantors may incorporate by reference in their
warranties.

(e) Applicability to consumer products costing more than $5

The provisions of this section apply only to warranties which
pertain to consumer products actually costing the consumer more than $5.

(Pub. L. 93-637, title I, Sec. 102, Jan. 4, 1975, 88 Stat. 2185.)

Once again, you can not void warranty per modification. you can deny repair IF you can PROVE that modification did cause the problem. If you were able to do something like that to a customer of yours - pray that you will never deal with me or peopel like myself... for you will be going to court for that - it is illegal.

When you fill your diesel with homemade fuel and complain that you have lack of power and a check engine light any dealer will deny your warranty. Like I stated before that’s a rare case.

they will not deny my warranty.
They will refuse to fix only particularly affected parts under the warranty.

DENY and VOID are two different things, as I am aware.. but, offcourse, my experiences in the cars / legal / english dont matter when i'm arguing with you. :)

my stage 2 is bein put in for 331 dollars. that means I paid approx 900 bucks for the kit and install :-) i think the techline thing that they should be calling for the times says like an hour and fifteen for stage 1, hour and fifteen for stage 2 and an hour for the reflash

just Go to another dealership I payed $956.00 stage 2 and install my dealer also supplied and installed a K&N typhoon cold air intake for$359.00

dealers are the most shady people in the world. I had another dealer who wanted 8 hours of install time for stage 2. the only reason I could think for it is because i didnt buy the parts from them and it pissed them off.

i ordered stage 2 with labor it cost 740 my car got totalled b4 installwill b put on new car this week but the gm book only calls 4 a couple hrs labor

dealers are the most shady people in the world. I had another dealer who wanted 8 hours of install time for stage 2. the only reason I could think for it is because i didnt buy the parts from them and it pissed them off.

they did make me order from them the chepest labor i found was 108 but by the time i ordered the kit and drove 50 miles it was worth a few dollars extra

Sterling Chevrolet in Va is trying to charge me $650 for installation of the Stage 2 on Cobalt SS and they are not budging. They tell me it must be installed by a Chevrolet dealership or it will void the warranty. Are they telling me this so they can get my money or is this true?

Thank you for your help

Ps-I did search and could not find a good enough anwser. And stay away from Sterling Chevrolet in Virgina.

You know, I think its differant for each dealer. By the book if you do the GM Stage II yourself like me you don't void your warnity inless they can prove a problem that occurs is becuase you installed it incorrectly. I installed the Stage II myself and had the dealership go over the work. They told me I did a good job and should have no probs. I also have in writing that they checked the Stage II install and it checked out A+. I made sure to have in writing from the dealership that my car's warnity was still in place. Good luck...

A lot of people claim that Magna whatever bill about voiding a warranty and ther ehas to be proof. Let me point this out, if a GM tech who is GM certified to work on GM cars says that the parts caused the problem and you as a customer says that's not true, well it goes to hear-say at that point and i think they'd beleive a certified tech more than an average joe gear head. Even if you have other experience under your belt, unless you work for GM, chances are you'll lose that battle.

In all seriousness though, find a good price and get the stage 2 installed by the GM tech. It's better to err on the cautious side than be screwed out of a warranty later on.

A lot of people claim that Magna whatever bill about voiding a warranty and ther ehas to be proof. Let me point this out, if a GM tech who is GM certified to work on GM cars says that the parts caused the problem and you as a customer says that's not true, well it goes to hear-say at that point and i think they'd beleive a certified tech more than an average joe gear head. Even if you have other experience under your belt, unless you work for GM, chances are you'll lose that battle.

In all seriousness though, find a good price and get the stage 2 installed by the GM tech. It's better to err on the cautious side than be screwed out of a warranty later on.

it falls on the dealers shoulders to prove that what you did caused the problem... why does it normally stop there? because people don't understand their rights, and just accept it when they're told they have to pay for the warranty work... simple as that...