Quote:
Originally Posted by BenFenner
I'm saying that anyone slapping "WARRANTY VOID IF REMOVED" or "WARRANTY VOID IF OPENED" or "SECURITY SEALED" stickers (or whatever they put on them) is antithetical to the right to repair. This nonsense was made illegal* (in the USA) in 1975 by the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
The FTC has had to warn companies over and over and over and over (mostly PC retailers in the 1990s) that this nonsense is against the law. Here is a recent round of warnings by the FTC in 2024:
No, you've completely misunderstood me. I am saying the company that makes these car parts is telling you to open your hood and install them, but fuck you if you open their "hood" to install something.
It is comical coming from a company that makes and sells car parts to consumers. Their entire business model is dependent on the auto manufacturers not putting these stickers on the seams of their hoods, under-body panels, etc.
Sometimes it really feels like I'm the only one paying any attention to these things in the automotive enthusiast community. It blows my mind that anyone puts up with this and/or supports businesses like this.
*There are legal exceptions, but it changes nothing about the spirit. |
I work integration/support for a company manufacturing research equipment, and all of our products come with one of these stickers. We, like EAE, offer a solid warranty, and it makes things far more difficult to assist customers and keep track of potential issues when they've been trying to take things apart and diagnose things themselves. We know it's unenforceable, but it is something simple that helps to deter people from making things more complicated. I can totally see why they'd slap those stickers on when they're offering a lifetime warranty.
There may be other reasons to not order from EAE, but I think this might be a little misdirected.
More on-topic: I installed EAE TA's in my car preventatively at ~60k mi. There were a ton of delays in the shipping and in the core-return process, which was a little off-putting. They did make everything right in the end, but the overall experience was a little sloppy and slow, so I'm hoping I never have to deal with a warranty case. The TA's are still working fine after 20k mi and plenty of track time.