MINI USA possibly cancelling warranties for autocrossers??

[wrxmr2eater]

http://mokanmotorsports.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2623

This is stirring up some autocrossers. Seems some at MINI USA might not like their cars used in autocross despite contingency being paid to the owners.

Anyone ever hear of Mazda doing the same? Not that I care, my car is out of warranty, but stock class autocrossing I think would be much different if this keeps occurring.

[POS Racing]

This is a better post it's more up to date - http://sccaforums.com/forums/thread/280419.aspx

[wrxmr2eater]

I read it too, both have good information.

[POS Racing]

I read it too, both have good information.

Well good for you!

[POS Racing]

Heck just off the top of my head I know Mitsubishi, Subaru, and Lotus have all denied warranty claims and I'm sure there are other examples. (Come on kids chime in!)

I think they all pay contingency $$$ to Autocrossers, they just don't want to pay to fix what ya broke.

[CosmosMpower]

Heck just off the top of my head I know Mitsubishi, Subaru, and Lotus have all denied warranty claims and I'm sure there are other examples. (Come on kids chime in!)

I think they all pay contingency $$$ to Autocrossers, they just don't want to pay to fix what ya broke.

Lotus doesn't pay contingency but I heard they will void your warranty if you do a "timed event". The owners manual does specifically state that it's ok to use the car for a HPDE or open track day as long as it's not timed and competitive. The way they get you is to do an ECU reading and check the amount of standing starts over 3000 RPMS @ 0 mph. If you do more than 5 you're done.

The Evo/Sti guys love to abuse the crap out of their cars so I can't blame them for voiding the warranty. The transfer cases and trannys can only take so many 6000 rpms launches on 275 R comps. Some guy on SCCA forum was complaining that the warranty on his Solstice was gone due to autocrossing when he had to get a seatbelt fixed.

Mazda has been the best so far in my experience, I never had any claims denied or even questioned and I chatted to the service advisors about autocrossing when I went in regularly. My 2 cents.

[onething]

At 17k, I took my Miata in for the dread clutch chatter. When I went to pick it up, the first thing the service writer said was, "Somebody's been racing thier little sports car, and it isn't a race car." Factory paid for clutch & tranny rebuild, and the service writer is employed else where.

[altiain]

I've been racing Mazdas for the last seven years. I've yet to have a warranty claim denied, and I've never made any secret of what I do with my cars. Heck, the last time I was in I noticed that someone had moved my harness belts in order to adjust the seat.

[Robert]

If you read the fine print on a mazdaspeed invoice it saids that racing will void the warranty

[CosmosMpower]

If you read the fine print on a mazdaspeed invoice it saids that racing will void the warranty

It says that in the fine print for all manufacturers that I've seen. But it's just a matter of some of them turning a blind eye and helping out the customer (Mazda) or following the book to a T and denying (Honda/Mitsu). Of course most people that race Mazdas can usually work on them and have some common sense to unreasonably abuse the car and expect Mazda to warranty it.

[trickyrix]

I read a lot about BMW denying warranty claims for autcrossers, so it doesn't surprise me that this would trickle down to Mini eventually.