Hello. I have a friend who drives a 2007 Honda Fit. It's a cool little car, and I've encouraged him to bring it to an SCCA Autocross event with me. He is however, concerned that if he comes to this, it will void his warranty. I didn't even think of this, since I've only owned used cars and never had a warranty myself. I tried looking around on the internet, but all I found was that although Mitsubishi and General Motors do void warranties for attending SCCA events, Subaru encourages it with free 1 year memberships. I couldn't find anything on Honda. So I found this forum and see a handful of autocrossers here, so I thought it would be a good place to ask about it.
Does anyone know Honda's stance on SCCA Solo and Warranties?
I did it last year and I never once had to put down my vin number. I don't think they would track me down anyway, weither I had a vin or they just used my name.
I wouldn't see it as a concern at all. Unless something bad happened and there were cops or an insurance co. were involved and noted you were racing or at the event.
If you're just doing AutoX I wouldn't worry about it. Have him remove his license plates when he arrives and cover up his VIN with a piece of paper when he races if he's concerned.
IMO AutoX is not much harder on your car than daily driving somewhat aggressively. Most courses are no faster than 60 mph without much shifting needed. It's not like the roadcourse. Roadcourses eat brakes up.
If something does break then it might not be covered under warranty if the dealer feels the driver was negligent.
SCCA autocrossing is not racing. It is a timed skill event. As such, a car would not encounter any situation different than daily driving could present. If it came down to it, any lawyer worth two cents could prove that a car exhibiting warranty issues resulting from use at one of these events is covered under warranty.
Even if it would void warrenty, how would Honda or the dealership know that you autocrossed? Maybe they'll notice the excessive tire wear, especially on the shoulder of the tire.
I don't think that AX would have any effect on warranty claims. But check your insurance, many insurance companies are not enthused about covering damage incured in racing or participating in "timed skill" events. I do have friends that have gotten light repairs due to event damage covered, but they had kept their insurance coverage through the same agent for over 20 years. Younger drivers will probably have a touhger time with that.
Eric
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Cars that I currently own/drive
2007 BOM Fit Sport 5A
2002 Sebring Limited convertable
1989 Chev 4WD Suburban
1975 Porsche 914 Renegaded 327 V8
1915 Ford Model T Touring (stock)
SCCA autocrossing is not racing. It is a timed skill event. As such, a car would not encounter any situation different than daily driving could present. If it came down to it, any lawyer worth two cents could prove that a car exhibiting warranty issues resulting from use at one of these events is covered under warranty.
Mike
Don't ge me wrong I love racing but, you can not enter your car in driving events and expect the manufacture to cover stuff under warrenty if something brakes. The manufacture sells these cars to the public as a means of transportation. Thats it. Not to be involved in auto sports events. With or with out a lawyer you would lose the case. Thats to say if the case would even reach a court room instead of the trash can. Being a subaru tech we see people trying to get free shit all of the time. I think if your racing your shit your warrenty should not exist anymore. I'm sick of fixing warrenty shit on cars that only come in for warrenty shit, yet alone because they were autocrossing or something. First off I don't get paid cause warrenty time sucks and the customer will just go out and do the same thing again and be back for their free shit. But, you'll never see them at the shop with their wallets open. It would be nice if these people would just not come to the dealer anymore and waste my time. It just seems to me that when all said and done the only one that gets fuct is the tech! Well I say fuc that!
Don't ge me wrong I love racing but, you can not enter your car in driving events and expect the manufacture to cover stuff under warrenty if something brakes. The manufacture sells these cars to the public as a means of transportation. Thats it. Not to be involved in auto sports events. With or with out a lawyer you would lose the case. Thats to say if the case would even reach a court room instead of the trash can. Being a subaru tech we see people trying to get free shit all of the time. I think if your racing your shit your warrenty should not exist anymore. I'm sick of fixing warrenty shit on cars that only come in for warrenty shit, yet alone because they were autocrossing or something. First off I don't get paid cause warrenty time sucks and the customer will just go out and do the same thing again and be back for their free shit. But, you'll never see them at the shop with their wallets open. It would be nice if these people would just not come to the dealer anymore and waste my time. It just seems to me that when all said and done the only one that gets fuct is the tech! Well I say fuc that!
youre getting paid anyways?? wats the diff between warranty fix and not??? still gotta fix the car, and if you really feel that youre getting ****d by doing your job then why are you a tech?? dont take offense just saying
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"credit cards are a car tuners best friend." -Skunk2Tony www.rms-usa.com
I ran my first autocross in 1979. Yes, I'm dating myself here. I've been running them ever since; however, I usually only do a few events a year now, as my time is more constrained. I have run two events with my Fit, one last October, and another this past April.
Now, where I run, the GM of the local Honda dealer brings a car and runs, too. I asked him about it one time, and he just laughed! He said that if a Honda broke under these autocross conditions, then there was obviously something wrong with the car to begin with.
On another note, if you read the SCCA info, I don't think that you will find the word "autocross" used any longer. It is simply call a "Solo" event, and, as such, is not referenced in any way to it being a race - rather, it is simply an individual challenge. It the SCCA rules, it specifically states that the events are not meant to do anything to break a car.
Oh, and in all my years of autocrossing Honda's (all this time!!) I have NEVER had any type of failure with my cars.
Just my $0.02 If I encountered a problem at an autocross, then, depending on what the problem was, I would absolutely have Honda honor the warranty on it. If it fails driving around a parking lot, what is to keep it from braking in the real world filled with pot holes, cats, dogs, deer, grandma (looking through the steering wheel of her bu-ICK), and the like.
In all these years that I have been running autocrosses - and with Honda's covering all these years, I have never had a failure of any kind!
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David
'07 Fit Sport, red, AT
Last edited by wyy183; 06-19-2007 at 09:15 PM.
Reason: forgot last line
in the warranty papers it says the warranty does not apply to...
"negligence; misuse, or abuse (e.g., overloading, racing, competitive driving activities or snow plowing), or from modification, alteration, tampering, disconnection, improper towing, improper adjustments or servicing, or using the vehicle in any manner not recommended by American Honda."
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