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Comment by sliverstorm | Hacker News Reader

Plus vehicle damage. What happens when Johnny Hacker changes his fuel maps, causes massive detonation slagging the engine, flashes the fuel maps back to stock and comes in for service?

Maybe that should still be in Johnny's right to do, and it's up to the service center to detect what happened, but I can see why the automakers would really rather he couldn't do that.

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I worked as a service writer for a couple years. I _never_ saw a warranty claim refused based on owner abuse. Not once. There were times it should have happened, but I could _not_ code a work order as "owner abuse". That was a call for the service manager to make and afaik, it never ever occurred. Refusing to cover a repair pisses off the customer and you never see him/her again. If you just fix whatever the idiot broke under warranty, you get paid and keep the customer.

wrong call in my books, but don't be surprised if it happens everyplace.

Why would it be a wrong call?

Honesty.

Some guy comes in with half a cornfield stuck to the undercarriage of their vehicle, who should pay for the suspension work? I deeply feel we should each be responsible for our own stupidity. If it is submitted as warranty, it becomes a cost to the manufacturer and I feel that is inherently dishonest. Additionally, increased costs _do_ get passed onto customers.

I get _why_ it happens, but it shouldn't.

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