[Stan]

>>>Can anyone categorically confirm or deny whether cat-back exhaust replacements such as the much vaunted Quicksilver invalidate US warranty?<<<

Your warranty will be just fine. Any damage that can be attributed to the exhaust won't be covered though. Suppose it cracked and fell off, damaging the diffuser. That would be your problem. Or if it leaked and the heat melted something, your problem. But the aftermarket exhaust may have some coverage. If you buy a Lotus Stage 2 and have it dealer installed you'd likely be covered though, but that is questionable. At the very least I think that any issues would be covered out of good will if nothing else.

Cat backs are fine to put on nearly any car. But there can be hassles and challenges from some car dealers with some aftermarket bits if something breaks and fix-it requests are made.

This should provide some interesting reading: http://www.sema.org/main/semaorghome.aspx?ID=8124

 

[Paul MD]

Thanks Stan - sensible words.

Seems the answer is as you describe but that if (say) the engine burns a valve or your cat croaks one is going to have one hell of a job getting Lotus to fix it under warranty if they think they can use the aftermarket part as an excuse... At the very least a protracted technical argument.

That said, a good dealer will probably just be economic with the truth as far as Lotus are concerned.

Go with a Lotus exhaust and one has considerably more leverage methinks ...in the unlikely event of a problem...

Paul

 

[Stan]

>>> At the very least a protracted technical argument. <<<

I don't think there will be many issues of that kind with Lotus - the company and car owners tend to be pretty astute. So some things just won't fly.

I have heard a couple stories about Honda dealers. One guy put on a cat back exhaust and later on the car developed a problem with the CV joints in the halfshafts. The dealer claimed it was due to the exhaust increasing the engine output so much that they failed. Coulda been the high mileage on the car too. The guy had Honda tell him they would fix it just this once...

Another friend had an engine fire in his S2000. Turns out the dealer did an oil change and the person did not fully tighten the oil filter. On that car the filter lives next to the exhaust header so when oil squirted out the heat from the header ignited it. So this was a service related problem right at the Honda dealer. S2000 and NSX filters are tightend one full turn past when the gasket contacts the mount...most Hondas need only a fraction of a turn for their install.

What happened? Well the guy had his burned car dragged to the dealer and tracked down some managers. Then the dealership owner ran out with the service manager and started yelling at my buddy that it was his fault. He had notice a K&N sticker on the air filter box - the one that says do not discard since they can be cleaned. The owner said that the "AFTERMARKET' (in tones like it was a bad word) air filter allowed too much air into the motor which caused it to burn up. After getting a different dealer involved the insurance company was paid by the first dealer. The thing is, the dealer tried to intimidate the car's owner. Some folks might have fallen for it. I'm sure you wouldn't have Paul.

Some dealers balk if shift knobs come loose because the owner put on aftermarket wheels. There's no relationship there. It's up to the dealer to prove cause. Some folks have to be careful about leaving a car at a dealer since there can be conflict of interest issues that can arise.