When asked the question whether the burden of proof regarding an alleged "abuse" case lies on the manufacturer/dealer or the customer, Keisler responded:
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Originally Posted by KEISLERGENE
Well I can tell you that you can rest assure in the case of your transmission if you chose to buy one it would all be on you.
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So, the moral of this story is DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Ask these questions prior to sale.
If a manufacturer expects the customer to bear the burden of proof regarding allegations, THINK THAT THROUGH. It is far too convenient for a manufacturer stamp every incoming defect as "customer abuse" and not have to honor a single warranty claim. In this case, not a single shred of objective evidence was presented by the manufacturer to prove the damage was caused by abuse. No test reports. Nothing. They don't feel they need to, and as stated above, they make decisions based on emotional response. In fact, some manufacturers go fishing for reasons not to honor warranties by surfing the web looking to dig up dirt on customers. Is this who you want to buy from?
Additionally, if the manufacturer has not CLEARLY defined the terms used in the warranty statement such as "abuse", "experimental", etc...they can create those definitions ad-hoc, and to your disadvantage, once again voiding your warranty at will. If you aren't a certified mechanic and installed the transmission yourself, they could make an argument that the installation was "experimental". In short, you have no warranty without a clear definition of that warranty in advance.
Lastly, there ARE great companies out there with GREAT warranties. LIFETIME NO QUESTIONS PARTS AND LABOR on ANY transmission damage whether used in racing or not. If you don't think this is true, visit
www.performanceautomatic.com . They will send you a copy of the warranty statement for their SuperComp C4 which clearly states the transmission is warrantied (parts and labor) for LIFE regardless of usage. In fact, they ENCOURAGE race use. When speaking to the owner, they started this policy on the principle that (1) customers do not purposely break product and (2) if such breakage occurs, it's an R&D opportunity for the manufacturer to improve the design of the product! How's that for a novel concept? It sure beats the hell out of "Wow, 3rd gear broke again, must have been customer abuse -- WARRANTY VOID."
