djlehman

2016 Lexus ES 350, NON-ML System. Want to add a powered subwoofer - NOTHING ELSE. This would require a simple power wire run directly from batter to back of car and into the powered subwoofer box. The woofer would draws its sound signal from the rear deck woofer. All in all it seems simple enough and without any significant risk of interference with anything. With that said, how likely would doing something like this result in my L-Certified Warranty being voided? Assume this will be installed by a licensed and certified ASE installer. Just an amplified box, with just a power wire coming directly from battery.

I would appreciate if anyone could point me specifically to any text or language in the Warranty Specs that would indicate that alterations such as the one that I have described above would void the warranty, or language that specifically permits it. Even better would be if anyone has any experience with something like this becoming an issue with the warranty.

Thank you in advance!

ShrinkDoc

Lucky for us this has been addressed legally. The Magnuson Moss Warranty Act (1975) requires manufacturers to honor their warranties and auto manufacturers only warrant their vehicles against manufacturing defects. This should not affect anything, however, if anything electrical does happen and the dealer can show that your new set-up affected the performance of another component, they can deny this piece of the warranty. Your claim can be denied because the failure of another component was not due to a defect in the actual car itself, but by something added to it.

Typical issues that result in a denial are: over-sized tires, cars that have been lifted or lowered, adding a nitrous oxide injection system, adding a straight pipe, adding a series of woofers and subwoofers to the existing system (we're talking adding several components that do alter the system electronics) etc., etc., if they result in a malfunction. The logic is that your mod did not void the warranty--- but that the failure in your system was not caused by a factory defect.

If you get a good guy on the other side, they'll cover for you. But that all depends on who that person is and how the relationship evolves.

ALL4SPL

I can tell you are concerned about your warranty as I have seen a few posts from you on this subject. I can tell you as someone who has been in the Automotive Audio industry over 30 years, you will NOT void any warranty by doing a stereo upgrade. IF something happens, that "could" be from the audio system, the dealership has to PROVE it. And the likelihood of that is very slim, as long as you are using an experienced audio installer/shop to do your work.

ALL4SPL

Incorrect, if for example he adds the subwoofer and amplifier and wiring all necessary to work, and then after a few months his AC stops working. The dealership has to troubleshoot the AC to find the problem, they are NOT going to go "Oh you have aftermarket audio gear that voids your warranty we are not fixing your AC." It does not work that way, there would have to a direct connection to the AC failure to the aftermarket audio system.

ShrinkDoc

I'm still new to the Lexus model, however, in the INFINITI model I owned, everything electronic is interconnected. A failure in one system can cause failure in others since everything goes thru a computer. For us, the AC is connected to the radio unit and often one would cause failures in the other. You have to remember that our cars are computers on wheels and that much like the human body, each system connects to the other. The dealership would very likely not make the connection between the sound system add-on and something else going awry...but on a mechanical system, these things are much easier to prove.

OP, you should be fine, but do know the laws on these matters so you can make an informed decision as you start to mod your car.

ALL4SPL

Correct our cars are computers on wheels, but the electrical chain of connections is not something this would interfere with. The power wire is going to run from the battery back to a distribution block, to supply power to his signal converter and amplifier, the signal converter is going to take the (musical frequency) output from the factory sub, and convert that into a low level (RCA) signal to his amplifier. The amplifier then sends that signal to the sub-woofer via speaker wire. The amplifier has NO connection to the factory stereo other than the musical signal it gets from the converter. The power and ground connections of the amplifier will NOT be connected to the signal chain of the factory stereo, additionally today's car audio amplifiers have protection circuits that will shut the amplifier off if there is a major issue. So while the upgrades will technically have a connection to the factory audio system, its on a frequency chain, not an electrical signal chain. So even if something crazy happened and his amplifier malfunctioned and fried, there is no path for it to send an electrical spike or short to the factory audio system . This is assuming the installer does the installation correctly, I have done this EXACT install on an 13 IS and it's been in the car for over 3 years without a single issue.