Seems to me, unless the warranty specifically says "race track voids warranty," I don't see how thay can do that. Try climbing the corporate ladder until you get someone who understands and can take care of the problem.
Mr XLR said:It is not my position to pass judgement in any way, shape or form, but the 2004 XLR warranty book is very clear on the above subject. If you look at your warranty book on page 6 it clearly states that damage caused by "Misuse of the vehicle such as driving over curbs, overloading, racing, or other competition" would not be covered.
www.Cadillac-XLR.com
Thank You
Allen
mswaim said:I guess we were misled by those photos of you and Matt Robertson with helmets in hand at the Phoenix Raceway. Or maybe it was those hypnotizing moments as we watched an XLR put through its paces on the Nurburgring. Or the new spy photos of what is supposed to be an XLR-V running about in full race trim. Or the fact I just watched Team Cadillac running at Laguna Seca this past Sunday.
http://www.teamcadillac.com/
Thanks, pob, for this very important post. Likely, the same warranty disclaimer spills over to the C6 'vette as well. The question in my mind is "where are the edges of the warranty envelope?" :confusedpob said:My XLR has less than 9000 miles on it. There have been some steering issues (see thread in the Technical Discussion section) and now there is a transmission problem. The steering problem first surfaced while I was taking a high performance driving course. It happened a second time when the car was being driven at the track at a "track days" event. This is not racing. It is enjoying the car without worrying about traffic citations. ... because this vehicle was driven on a race track, the power train warrantee is being voided.
:iagreeEyedoc said:(It would seem to me that the only leeway here is in the intepretation of "racing" in the warranty. If the warranty does not actually define what is meant by "racing" then there is wiggle room. .
There is a verified story floating around on the Ford forums about a guy who attended a Ford sponsored SVTOA track event. He and his car appeared on the cover of the next issue of SVTOA magazine along with a short story of the events he participated in. A few months later he took his Cobra in for service and to have the dealer take a look at an oil leak, later ID'ed as a leaky rear main seal. One of the mechanics happened to have a copy of the SVTOA magazine with the cover picture/story. Needless to say once this tidbit of information worked its way up the chain, Ford voided his warranty. he is now locked in arbitration, attempting to force Ford to prove the oil leak is the result of participating in that particular SVTOA sponsored event.aviator said:Eyedoc is exactly right. Warranty IS insurance. Cadillac knows approximately how many warranty issues they will have based on a certain population of vehicles. They can calculate the cost of those projected claims and divide the cost up over the entire vehicle population. The warranty becomes just one more cost component.
I saw a special about Corvette clubs on satellite a couple of weeks ago. Probably one of the reasons I recently bought the red '94 C4 last weekend. It looked so cool. The special was about the Lone Star Corvette club and their annual March event at the Texas International Speedway in Dallas-Ft. Worth. It is billed as the largest gathering of Corvettes in the world. It is a "track day" where you can pay a fee and go run your 'vette (and for '05 maybe your XLR) around a NASCAR 2 mile oval. The kid in me wants to do that in the worst way.
But I guess I'm really just an old fart, becase I see other potential risks in running at a track day event:
1) Did you finance your $76,000 XLR? If so, you are required by the lienholder to have collision insurance. The minute you roll onto that track its gone. If your lienholder finds out you are driving without insurance, they can repossess your car.
2) If you have an accident, repair is at your cost period. Total it and you're just out the money. No possible recourse.
3) mswaim talks about those Mustang events. Perhaps he's heard about the following. Apparently, Ford has been using the onboard computer's memory to check up on its customer's driving habits. Apparently, the pony car has a memory is "discoverable" and "downloadable", wherein drivers who exceed RPM's or certain speeds can void their manufacturer's warranty.
Regarding a defense strategy of "I didn't know"... well it doesn't work at all.
Did the sponsor of the track day event have you sign a "hold harmless indemnification"? Of course they did. You might want to read it to see if they warned you about voided warranty. If not, you may have legal redress avenues against them.