2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo GSR: Evo Warranty Claims

I have to assume it's pretty pricey to remove all the stuff you added and re-install the stock gear.

Wouldn't it make more sense to just buy the car from Mitsu (if they will sell) then resell as is?

I would think that with the quality mod's you did installed by pro's the car would easily sell.

In reading between the lines on this memo, it's seems they are trying to be more aggressive with customers and force dealers to have a standard practice for dealing with mods. Anecdotes suggest some dealers are mod friendly and others are not. Mitsu appears to want a standard practice. A couple things here are that one (assuming there is more than one unmodified EVO in the US anyway) would want to make sure they document all oil changes(especially if done at home). While in theory all manufacturers can deny for lack of maintenance records, my experience is that not all are aggressive in enforcing; I've never had my records checked for any car I've owned.

Second, while they don't say it, this memo implies that they will deny any claim for any modifications(as they do not mention magnitude or causality). However, they cannot in law simply do this; however, they may be able to get away with it in practice. So I'm surprised that this does not contain CYA language such that it reads something like ..."so that the DPSM can evaluate whether the modification was the cause..."

Hopefully, however, they won't try to be too clever by half with this policy. Denying for things like cat back exhaust, short shifter, and other "minor" mods for failures on unrelated parts to save a penny would ruin the reputation of the car. For major modifications many of which this car had, the position to deny coverage would be perfectly reasonable (other than with a known manufacturer defect that would likely fail anyway). They would be wise to remember that bad times pass, but a bad reputation can never be repaired.

@t10:

bad times will pass, but Mitsu is starting to be at the point where the company will pass with them.

Not with the huge load of cash from peugeout.

It sounds like guilty until proven innocent to me. I can only imagine how pissed I'd be if I brought in a bone stock EVO with a legitimate problem and had to go through all of that scrutiny, documentation--not to mention the waiting period--to get the car authorized for warranty repairs.

Pass.

I was just in Barnes and Noble reading a European magazine that mods GTR's and Evo X and STI's, or was showing vendors cars that were modded. Anyway, they had a Evo X with nitrous and a Forced Performance turbo upgrade, and other mods, that was at 650 awhp. What was interesting is that they specifically upgraded the CENTER DIFFERENTIAL b/c they said the pins/shims (?) are weak on the CENTER diff, vs. the other diffs, and they didn't want to take a chance. They supposedly drive the car real hard, so perhaps there will be future Evo X vendors offering a quick fix for the center diff. I know it's not uncommon in AWD cars to modify the center diff to change the front/rear bias ratio, so I wonder if this is all that was wrong with IL's Evo X? Sucks if a small change to the stock center diff would have saved the ACD system? Are you sure it's not easily fixable by RRE?

I can't see anything wrong with what Mitsubishi is doing. They are only required to guarantee the cars components as they built them. Once you change the parts or anything that effects the parts, how can you possibly expect them to cover that?

"They are only required to guarantee the cars components as they built them. Once you change the parts or anything that effects the parts, how can you possibly expect them to cover that?"

If an owner's mod(s) cause a warrantied part to fail then I agree with you. The thing is, Mitsubishi has become notorious for using ANY excuse to deny warranty coverage. Hit the rev-limiter too many times? Void the powertrain warranty. Take it to an autocross or HPDE? Ditto. This from a company who built an ad campaign around the EVO's appearance in "Too Fast Too Furious" and the car's rally victories.

This bulletin does just say to look for mods here and there, and to see if the problem is caused by a mod.

If you toy with your car, you pay for it. Nobody says you can't get full service at the dealership. You just have to pay for it, since the car's your toy.

The manufacturer's only obligation is to warranty reliable transportation. Toys are out of your own entertainment funds, even if it's still considered a "car", and it can still be driven on public roads.

I think that a car maker is liable for guaranteeing the operation of a car as designed. In other words, if Mitsu wants to advertise the Evo as a race-ready rally car for the street, they should guarantee that it can handle any sort of aggressive driving while stock. That being said, if you modify any part of the car that they specifically designed to adhere to such a guarantee then they should be blameless if said modication causes a failure. Seems simple enough to me....

Mitsubishi went too far when it began marketing the Evo. They specifically marketed it to the market that it has to know modifies cars -- young guys. I sold three Evos while working at a Mitsu dealership, and they all went to guys 22 and younger. One kid wasn't even out of high school -- we worried about him but since I haven't seen reports of a grisly demise, perhaps he came out okay.
But every one of the buyers had one thing in common besides youth -- they all couldn't wait to mod their cars.