Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello Everyone,

Have you ever had a mechanic, Service Manager/Personnel of a Dealership or repair shop (car, truck, motorcycle, boat, lawn mower, construction equipment...whatever) tell you that you had to use a certain type of oil, a certain type of filter, or have your vehicle serviced on "their" schedule, or you would void your warranty? That if you failed to change your oil every 3,000-miles 5,000-miles or whenever, that you would void your warranty? Have they ever said that that if you use another brand of oil, filter, tire, wiper blade or anything else, you would void your warranty?

I deal with this very question a dozen times a week. So just to educate everyone on StartupNation, I have copied two emails from this morning, which cover NOTHING but “misinformed” service personnel, and “totally ignorant” consumers, concerning warranty issues.

1)

Hi Mr. Miller,

Sorry to bother you with this issue but this really upset me when I
found out one of your service department personnel had told my Customers that if at the 1000 mile service he was to replace the oil with Amsoil it would void the Harley-Davidson warranty. I`ve included a little info concerning the act and how to find more info online as you had asked me to do.

Congress in 1975 enacted the federal Magnuson-Moss Act to regulate written
consumer product warranties.* An examination of the law reveals warranties
remain intact when AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants are used, including ALL aftermarket oils, lubes and filters.

Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act and general principles of the Federal Trade Commission, a manufacturer may not make its vehicle warranty conditional on the use of any specific brand of motor oil, oil filter or any other component, unless the manufacturer provides it to the
customer free of charge. An equipment manufacturer can obtain a waiver if it
proves to the FTC that its equipment will function properly only if specific
brands of motor oil, oil filters or other components are used. The FTC must
be satisfied that this is in the public interest, and this waiver must be
published in the Federal Register. This is considered a "waiver" of the
prohibitions on conditions of written warranty.

If an OEM requires a customer to use its motor oil and oil filters, the
customer should demand the products free of charge. If the demand is
refused, the customer should ask for a copy of the warrantor`s approved FTC waiver. You should also be aware that you may have additional rights under applicable state warranty laws, which can vary from state to state.

Among those provisions, FTC regulations state:* ³(c) No warrantor of a
consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such
product on the consumer¹s using, in connection with such product, any
article or service (other than article or service provided without charge
under the terms of 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.²* (42 U.S.C.
2302 (C))

Access to the complete Magnuson-Moss Act is available on the internet by the
key words ³Magnuson-Moss Act² or ³Federal Trade Commission²

BACK TO MY CONCERN: I don`t want to get into a pissing contest but if it
comes down to it I will certainly support another HD dealer with my hard
earned cash as well as report this incident to the FTC post this info on
every forum I can find.

Therefore please get the facts straight before your service department tells
a customer about voiding warranties. It’s good to have information on
the consumers’ side nowadays to deal with “misinformed” Service Personnel like the one in your employment. By the way, when I had my 1000 mile service done months back, your shop gladly changed my fluids out with Amsoil and Amsoil oil filter. I even asked if there would be a warranty issue and at the time they told me no. One of your guys mentioned he runs Amsoil and that it is a much better product than HD
Brand Motor oils.

So please get back with me on this issue as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Albert Rich

2)

Hi AL, I just spoke to the Kubota engine Tech about the use of synthetic lubricant. (The engine has 270 hrs. / 42 horsepower diesel.) Their reply was that the Kubota warrenty is void if the oil change interval is not performed as stated in the respective enginie manual. How do we approach the issue with the Kubota folks?
Regards,
Coleman

Coleman,
Ask them to show you in writing where it says your warranty will be denied based on your maintenance schedule or total lack of. What it boils down to is the warranty would only be denied if your lack of maintenance or using the wrong spec`d oil or filter or any other aftermarket device was the cause of the failure, Period. There is some more info on this on my web site, bottom of the index page.

*****

Those are two emails from this morning. So, if you are told that using an aftermarket product (it must meet OEM Spec’s) or implementing another program of regular scheduled maintenance will void your OEM warranty – The monkey is on their back. Make them put it in writing…or provide the product FREE of charge, (that isn’t gonna happen).

 

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Forging the Awareness of Value and Quality of AMSOIL for People and Business.

Albert Rich, ADR Oil Company, Wholesale Jobber;
Office 321-287-1981
www.ADRoil.com
Email; ALrich@adroil.com