I actually asked them that question- they told me warranty is void.

 

Just my $.02. Don't buy a modified car from a dealer, only from the individual that owned the car. That way you can ask for all the paperwork and understand what exactly was done, who did the work and how the car was maintained. Otherwise, there are probably thousands of used C7's on lots without any modifications that is a blank slate for you to do what you want.

 

If the dealer told you as is and no warranty then I would walk away, and like I said earlier, less the warranty the deal should be much less then the usual cost for that year car with that many miles. So here's then rational, a dealer wants to sell a car with mods that you know they didn't pay for, and they want a top dollar price for the car, they won't offer any warranty and the car probably was beat to ****. Red flags all over the place.

And for 60K you can buy a new one.

 

PO spent some pretty good coin on mods: splitter, side skirts, short throw shifter, headers, D steering wheel, hydrocarbon console, rear spoiler... I would say over 5K easily. Personally I never leave anything stock so these are all desirable mods in my book. If you can get the right deal I would say JUMP ON IT. There are lots of C7's with headers and other mods that seem to be doing well,

 

Of course, any manufacturer can ignore the law and the owner has to fight it thru the court system. I doubt GM does thus as a matter of policy. If they did, the dealers would fight it.

The Magnusson warranty law was passed to keep manufactures from denying claims for the wrong reasons.

 

All those mods are well done. Headers will not affect engine internals, as far as the tune, as long as the tuner knew anything about the LT1 you will be fine. Those mods are what I did in the first few months of ownership and i do not beat on it, i just love the sound of headers.

 

Thanks all for the input- really appreciate all your input. I did end up buying it.. I have a couple questions about it now that I bought it...

1) I notice the water temp runs at exactly 220 at all times whereas my old one ran just below 220 at all times, just like other C7s I test drove. Why might this be? Btw the car runs strong, its very loud, but I actually dont find it to be any faster than a stock C7 even with the headers on a it. But sounds great!

2) I notice in Eco mode even on the highway with cruise control on it always stays in V8 mode. Couold this be because its had the ecu reprogrammed (aka "tuned")?

3) I notice more exhaust smell when stopped and windows down than I did with my old (stock) C6. Do long tube headers bypass the cat? I didnt even think to ask if the car has a cat or not, because I don't think its legal to sell a car with no cat... I suppose I should check this.. I wonder if its been removed? Thoughts? Or maybe the car is just running richer fuel wise due to the tune.

I did notice hwy fuel economy is not as good as I expected, it only gets around 25 in 7th gear at steady 75mph.

4) I notice the electric fan seems to never turn off even if I switch off the AC. Again, I wonder if this is ECU programing doing this.

 

Congrats on the purchase, nice looking car.

For questions 1,2 and 4. I would have the tune checked by a shop that specializes in tuning modded GM cars.

As far as Cats, the Stingray has 4 in stock form. Take a look under the car or have the shop check for them. They may have used high flow cats.

Then finish the void of warranty by installing a blower.

 

The analog temp gauge is misleading. Lots of threads talking about this. The needle is actually pointing at the 210 hash mark but it's right in the middle of "220" so you think it's 220 which is the next hash mark.

For the true temp, go to Tour mode and find the digital display. Should read 205-210. That is unless it has a 160 degree thermostat.

All your observations support the car was tuned. The smell may be caused by 2 cats being eliminated. ARH sells their headers with or without front set of cats.

What is the idle RPM? If it has a cam, the idle RPM would be 100-200 RPM higher than the about 600 RPM stock. A cam may cause the exhaust smell and lower MPG.

It would be nice to talk to the previous owner to get the mod history.

 

Jerry,
I drove that same car about a week ago. I talked with Sean McCann and he spoke to service manager and stated that the warranty was going to be valid. The previous owner had the work done at Lashway Performance in Ft Lauderdale. Previous owner stated only headers, shifter and cosmetic things were done. No tunes. Headers are American Racing and shifter is MGW. What did you end up getting it for, if you don't mind me asking?
Jon

 

Jon,

Sent you a PM with more detail, but I'm learning more about the car..

Almost positive the car is tuned, and I also think it may have a CAM, and a different thermostat, cats have been bypassed or removed.

Taking the car to Lashway today for them to evaluate..

 

So the warranty is valid according to the dealership, is it valid according to GM? If someone buys this car they should get in paper their power train is valid. Then maybe the dealership will pay for the repairs when GM denies it.

believe me GM and the dealership are two different things.

 

once again.

It doesn't matter if the mod affects engine internals or not. GM can deny and then you have to go to court. whats so hard to understand about this?

I would love to eat someone up in court for running headers. first its a federal crime to run catless, its also a crime to move the location of the cats. even if you are running highflow race cats. Which are also intended for off road use.

Then all i have to say is that they increased power and added stress to the power train.

I also would add that the customers car consistently has a check engine light on by removing the cats. Which now makes the check engine light not work properly in the case of a real problem.

will this happen ? maybe not. better believe it can happen.

IF someone wanted to run headers and they needed a major repair. Take the headers off before going in for service.

 

Mike, he did say void. As in kaput ! And yes, I do agree with you from a legal standpoint, the o/p has bought a rolling can of worms if he has powertrain issues down the road and files a warranty claim. I speak from sad experience with my '09.

 

So I took the car to Lashway for those interested and the car doesn't have a cam... It only has the header and short shift..

It doesn't even have an intake..

 

Awesome. Enjoy that car man!

 

Thanks! :-)

 

Watch out if they're TSP headers that car will be uncontrollable fast!!

 

While the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act is designed to protect the consumers and force GM to prove that a modification directly resulted in a failure, the problem is that GM can do whatever they want initially which then forces you to take them to court. Given this can be a very lengthy process, what you end up with is a potentially broken car for several months (or longer) while waiting for the whole ordeal to get resolved. GM knows this which is why they generally get away with adopting a "shoot first and ask questions later" approach.

Since it appears to have been tuned, you're pretty much screwed so far as having any warranty left on your major powertrain components. I know for a fact that if the engine, transmission or differential blows up in a C7, GM connects directly to the car to look for the presence of a tune. While it was possible to get around this prior to the introduction of the C7, that is no longer the case. While you'd probably get away with being able to have something minor repaired under warranty (AC, various electronics etc), you'd be on your own for anything substantial. Even if you did find a "mod-friendly" dealership their hands are tied when it comes to the powertrain.

If for some reason the car hadn't been tuned then you're still screwed because I wouldn't even remotely consider driving a car that had headers installed without having a proper tune since that just opens up a whole other can of worms.

 

Where do I get that steering wheel???!! I got the same car and that looks amazing