Is Changing Your Headlights Going to Void Your Warranty?

You’ve bought a new car, but you want to improve the headlights to ensure better visibility, will this void your warranty?

It’s your car, can’t you do what you want to it and still have it covered under warranty? Not necessarily. Some modifications to your new vehicle will void the warranty and that could be trouble for other areas of your car.

Can you Change the Bulbs Without Issue?

Yes, it doesn’t matter what vehicle you’ve purchased, you can always change the headlights with new bulbs. These items are expected to burn out over time and they are among the many consumable items in your vehicle. You can change the bulbs and know that the warranty of your vehicle will remain intact. This means you could go from some regular bulbs to HID’s or LED’s and have brighter light for nighttime visibility.

Will Replacing the Entire Headlight Housing Void the Warranty?

Normally, if you change the headlight housing but you don’t have to cut any wires or change the way the wires are run in the vehicle you won’t void the warranty. The new headlights won’t be covered, but everything else on your vehicle should still be under warranty. This might be a decision you have to wrestle with when you want to have new lights showing the way.

Will the Warranty Remain if the Dealer Changes the Headlights?

Some automakers allow you to make upgrades and modifications to your vehicle as long as you use their approved parts and have a factory-trained technician install the parts. This means you could upgrade your headlights and have the dealer team put them in for you. If this is the case, you’ll have full warranty coverage for your new headlights and the work that’s been done.

But All I Did Was Cut One Wire?

Are you installing new headlights on your vehicle? Did you change the wiring, cut a wire, or alter the electrical system in any way? If you did, that might cause the manufacturer to void the warranty that you want to be able to take advantage of later when something else breaks down, but you might not be able to.

Consult Your Dealer Before Upgrading Your Headlights

Actually, no matter the part of your vehicle you want to improve and upgrade before you change anything, consult your local dealer. You can make changes to your vehicle once the warranty has expired, but before that, you want to be 100 percent certain that you will still be covered if you upgrade the headlights or any other part of your vehicle before the warranty has expired.

The factory warranty is part of the cost of owning a vehicle. It’s built into the price you pay every month. Don’t void this warranty by changing headlights just because you don’t like the way they look. Ask your dealer team to help you figure out what you can do to have headlights that look great that are also under warranty.