Rick's Free Auto Repair Advice

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act protects you against dealer lies

Don’t get mislead by the dealer, you can get your car serviced anywhere

Dealers often mislead consumers about what parts they can use to fix their cars and where they can get their cars serviced. No carmaker or dealer can prevent you from getting your car serviced someplace other than the dealer or fix it with non-dealer parts. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act protects you against those kinds of actions.

What is the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

The Act is a federal law that governs consumer product warranties. It was passed in 1975 and requires warrantors of consumer products to provide consumers with detailed information about warranty coverage. In addition, it affects both the rights of consumers and the obligations of warrantors under written warranties.

How the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act applies to your new car warranty

No car maker or dealer can require you to install a specific brand of product to maintain your warranty coverage. In fact, section 2302(c) of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act makes it illegal for a company to condition a warranty “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.”

In other words, no carmaker or dealer can tell you you’ll void your warranty if you use a part made by another company or have someone other than the dealer repair your vehicle. However, if you choose to get your car serviced at another shop or do the repairs/maintenance yourself, you must be able to prove that in the event of a failure.

You can do your own oil changes, but…….

Here’s an example of what you must do if you’re going to have your car service by another shop or do it yourself. Carmaker warranties required you to follow the recommended maintenance schedule, like having oil changes done on time. If you have another shop do the work or you do your own oil changes and there’s an oil related engine failure, you must be able to prove that you’ve performed the oil changes on time, using the recommended oil and changing the filter. So keep all shop receipts to prove you’ve complied with the terms of the warranty. If you do your own oil changes, keep the receipts and shoot a picture of the odometer with your phone to document, time and place of the change.

There are two narrow instances where that prohibition doesn’t apply:

1) if the company has received a waiver in advance from the FTC after proving that the product will work properly only if a specific branded part is used; or

2) if the warranty states that the company will provide the identified parts and services for free.

Even then, if a company will replace certain parts for free – but will still void a consumer’s warranty for using another maker’s parts for other purposes – the company has violated the law.

Recent examples of Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act enforcement actions

On  June 23, 2022, the FTC settled enforcement actions against Harley-Davidson Motor Company Group, LLC (a motorcycle manufacturer) and MWE Investments, LLC (a Westinghouse outdoor generator maker). Both companies acted illegally when by using warranty language that required customers to use manufacturer-supplied parts and service instead of allowing customers to use independent dealers to either supply parts or perform repairs.

The companies were required to remove those warranty terms from their warranties, admit to customers what they did, and ensure fair competition between dealers and independent third parties providing repair services and parts.

Carmakers and dealers cannot make these kinds of statements:

If a car dealer tells you that servicing your car at a non-dealer shop or using nono-dealer parts will void void your warranty, they are violating the law. I suggest you confront them on the spot and tell them they’re violating the law. They will back down immediately.

©, 2022 Rick Muscoplat

Posted on by Rick Muscoplat



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