I’ve no personal experience with the VW Das Welt Auto warranty. However, it’s worth comparing whats likely to happen under VW’s new car factory warranty and then look at the small print in the Das Welt Auto booklet.
Under VW’s new car factory warranty, if an owner decided to have an engine remap, the warranty would be voided in relation to the engine, transmission and possibly suspension and braking components but the rest of the car should still have the benefit of the warranty. Therefore, if the infotainment unit in the car failed within the warranty period, then VW shouldn’t deny a warranty claim for repair or replacement of the infotainment unit on the basis of the engine being remapped.
In the Das Welt Auto warranty booklet (the version I found on the web is marked 0518 on the front cover, so presumably a May 2018 version), there’s a specific exclusion which states;
‘We will not pay for sudden failure in the event your vehicle has been modified
in any way from the manufacturers original specification.’
’Sudden failure’ is a defined term in the warranty booklet - defined as follows;
Means the sudden and unexpected mechanical or electrical failure of a component which is covered by the Warranty section of this Cover Booklet and which needs immediate repair or replacement. Wear and tear or normal deterioration is not covered under the definition of electrical or mechanical failure.
I’ve not read the whole Das Welt Auto booklet to see if there are any other terms that would override the above exclusion. If there aren’t any such overriding terms, then I would interpret the above as meaning that if there are any modifications of any type to the vehicle, then the whole warranty would effectively be voided, irrespective of whether or not the modifications are related to a part / component that subsequently suffers ‘sudden failure’. IMO that’s extremely harsh and I wonder how that exclusion would stand up in a court of law if VW denied a warranty claim for, say, a failed air con compressor on a vehicle where the owner had fitted different wheels?
You might want to read through all the small print in your warranty booklet just to make sure the position is as outlined above. If it is, then in your position, I see you have the following options;
- wait until the Das Welt Auto warranty expires and then carry out your mods.
- if your exterior changes are in no way connected to any electrical or mechanical part of the car (e.g. fitting a new lip spoiler, fitting new / vinyl wrapping door mirror caps) you could contact VW before making the changes to see if making such cosmetic modifications really would void your warranty. If they agree that non-mechanical, non-electrical cosmetic mods are OK, get them to confirm this in writing to you.
- just go ahead and make the modifications you’re planning on doing and accept you have probably rendered your warranty null and void.
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, ... with the visible plastics totally scratched and all those things that wear out prematurely due to their low/poor quality, even in premium brand cars -> 50000-100000.
