Dilemma of aftermarket extended warranty and modifying S6

[hanyoung]

Recently bought a 2013 S6 from carvana due to the fact that they offered an aftermarket extended warranty adding an additional 30K miles for the next 4 years. My indy shop is great, and are good people to work with. My goal was to tune with EPL (ability to flash back to stock), and add on some Eurocode sways (had great experience on my B8 avant).

Unfortunately I've had an intermittent CEL that is related to emissions prior to any financial investments in the car. It's covered by a TSB, but when calling the dealer they stated that it would require approval and payment from the extended warranty company (in this case, Silverrock). The CEL mysteriously disappeared, but the dealer was confident that due to the cost of the TSB it would have required an agent to see the vehicle and approve. The fine print obviously excludes any aftermarket additions.

Has anyone had experiences with aftermarket warranties / coverage / through dealers or indy shops? Would love to hear any positive or negative stories to help influence my decision of whether to pursue mods.

Thank you!

[Mordgier]

3rd party warranties do not cover mods - but they also generally are unable to find them as the agent is not equipped to identify modifications. In general they are more interested in proof of followed maintenance rather than somehow trying to figure out if the car is modified, especially if it's a non obvious modification like a tune.

[hanyoung]

Thanks - I had hoped to never deal with my local dealer again! But there are random things that the dealer can only do (reprogramming emissions chip versions, etc) that kill me! My worst fear is that I blow the turbos, and the aftermarket warranty company requires me to go to dealer which could then detect a tune.

[Mordgier]

Dealership has zero financial incentive to disclose mods to the 3rd party warranty. In fact it's in their financial interest to have your get approved and get the work done as unlike with factory warranty they are getting reimbursed full rates rather than negotiated warranty repair hours.

It's very different for factory warranty and CPO warranty as those are underwritten by Audi and paid for by Audi as such they require dealerships to jump through the scans and mod check hoops and have negotiated repair rates with the dealership to cover warranty work.

[Phantom75]

I've had a couple cars with aftermarket, non-CPO warranties and not had an issue. One shop even just required any AEC certified person to work on the car, and I had a friend who was AEC certified upgrade my whole drivetrain with a portion of the warranty coverage after a bend push rod.

I think if you have one of the better warranty companies and don't beat the shit out of your car they can be fine, even with wheels, and an exhaust.

If you have fast and furious looking crap all over your car, rock chips from hell, a bent rim, and then ask them to pay for a blown motor when you still have your 1/4 mile pass time on your window, you're probably not going to be covered. Its best to be honest.

[Hofahome]

Mine has bankrolled my upgrade to stage 3 lol. I just made sure to flash back to stock and put on stock intake. Also nice to be friends with the shop owner.
My car is throwing codes for motor mounts and I was surprised to see they are covered. Has also covered the oil separator.
Best $35 I ever spent (cost to transfer warranty from prior owner)


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[hanyoung]

great to hear of everyone's positive experiences. My car is currently at the dealership for a CEL related to emissions. I'll update everyone on how it turns out - and pending no issues plan on modding soon.