OP says has a eBay special depo catted down pipe, and unless he can show his new cat meets or exceeds the performance of the stock cat(s), it is illegal on a street driven vehicle. Your cited O2 spacer is also illegal for a street driven vehicle. These are modifications to the existing emissions control systems which violates federal law. It doesn’t matter how you feel, What you like, what joe bob says on the web, or what the dealership’s so in so tells you. Unless you have documentation showing that item meets or exceeds factory specifications, and meets any local/state mandates/certifications, then illegal is illegal.
The factory warranty is voided when modifications are made as to cause alterations beyond designed/OEM specifications. a higher flowing downpipe, removal of stock cars, etc changes the operating perimeters as defined by VW. While I’ll never argue the minuscule degree at which the affect is, it’s a very easy leap for a VW to make. If this is confusing, reread your warranty’s fine-print for more information.
The fraud stems from you installing an item that knowingly voids your warranty, then, with intent to deceive, change it back out to conceal the modification to facilitate keeping your warranty intact. The victim of the fraudulent act in this scenario is VW’s warranty arm, and/or the dealership.
How is it traced back? His avatar is a picture of his car, with an unredacted view of his plate number. He also discusses frequently the “mod friendly” nature of the dealer, Emich VW, in question. I assure you that, while yes the dealership is mod friendly, VWoA also knows this and applies more scrutiny to their warranty claim requests. Openly advertising and/or soliciting advice for the above noted fraudulent activities, is a pretty good way to catch unwanted attention. I know, you know, OP knows his down-pipe didn’t cause his turbo failure, but VW would have a very easy way to junk his remaining warranty and wash their hands of what ever they wanted to. I offer you this as an analogy.
I have a good friend that runs a company making tuning bits used on Dodge Ecodiesel trucks amongst other platforms. A class action lawsuit was filed against Chrysler/Fiat in the similar vein to Dieselgate. In short order my friend’s sales records, as well as other “tuners,” were subpoenaed and cross referenced with sales information and vin numbers. They also sought social media information to show modifications that disabled/altered the emissions and fueling systems. Any customer that matched was excluded from any portion of the lawsuit, denied any claim, and their warranties were voided. This lawsuit is also driving the push to criminalize the sale of “off road only” parts, regardless of their intended purposes.
While this is not the same situation, it goes to show the lengths at which a auto company will go to protect their assets. I have also been involved with large law enforcement operations related to street racing, and how the information was obtained by court order.
@Navi - who am I? Just someone that has been around this scene, the industry, and experience in federal law for nearly three decades.
TLDR: loose lips sink ships.
