wemay
Site Donor 2023
Copy & Pasted in case paywall is present.
"After a Challenger SRT Hellcat Jailbreak owner announced that Dodge denied a $36,000 warranty claim for his muscle machine’s blown engine, stating damages were not covered due to a muffler modification, Dodge disclosed further information to answer the public’s questioning. Long story short: making any changes to the vehicle’s Powertrain Control Module will leave a permanent, detectable mark.
When CarScoops reached out to Brennon Vinet, the aforementioned Challenger SRT Hellcat owner, Vinet claimed Dodge denied a full report on the reason why his damages were not covered, so the publication circled back to Dodge for questioning. Dodge began by stating that “tampering with any emission control device could end up causing a denial of coverage depending on what the issue is.” Dodge had valid reason to believe that Vinet’s Hellcat was tuned. But how?
“The warranty claim was rejected after a Stellantis Calibration Engineer ran Powertrain Control Module (PCM) diagnostics and confirmed that the vehicle’s PCM was tampered with and contained non-factory software,” a Dodge spokesperson told CarScoops. “I haven’t seen anything on our end regarding mufflers,” he added.
According to the spokesperson, the Dodge dealership runs a series of diagnostic tests, one of which is a report that reveals whether the car’s Powertrain Control Module (PCM) has been tampered with, for example, if unauthorized software has been installed. Even if the Dodge is flashed back to its factory settings, the car’s PCM sets an internal code, essentially a red flag that tells Dodge that the system has been tampered with. Vinet’s claim was ultimately declined due to PCM and emissions tampering.
It's not uncommon for companies to deny claims over non-factory tuning, among other vehicle modifications. Vinet’s story is a cautionary reminder: tune vehicles under warranty at your own risk."