So, people who may be adding catback while on finance - what are people's views? Asking for a friend....
This is the real grey area that was discussed at length. I will guarantee that somewhere on your finance agreement it states that you won't do any modifications to the car without the prior approval with the finance company. So technically no, you cannot put a cat back system without being in breach of contract.
But...........how are Honda Finance (assuming they are the finance company) going to know about this mid term? In the case above, LLF had plastered what he was doing across YouTube with c250k followers. Also, a cat back exhaust system could a) be put back to standard relatively easily if you kept the original and b) Honda may even take the car back with the exhaust if they believe it hasn't devalued the car and can sell it out of a dealer with it on (think Honda Fireblade with the approved Akrapovic exhaust).
As M3/4's are coming down in price (some of the finance deals are pretty amazing) they are becoming more attractive to the younger/tuning crowd. I've a few stories of them being sold by dealers as AUC's and then going pop. On inspection the dealers are finding that the cars are/have been modified but the current owner hasn't done it. It was done prior to trade in (they can tell in the data files) so the dealers are becoming a lot more focused on modifications and hence so are the finance companies.
Would this stop me modding my car? Maybe....I would ask myself some very careful questions before i did -
In the case of a remap, if it goes a bit too far and damages the engine,
can Honda easily identify it? If so, all warranty on the engine is liable to be void.
It's likely the dealer will let Honda Finance know (as they own the car) as future manufacturers warranty will be affected (devaluing the asset). So if they do cancel the finance can you afford to pay the settlement? (There are credit score implications to having finance cancelled)
Are you/have you told your insurance company? (i'm sure this will have been discussed previously
)
So as I said above, Cat Back exhaust, upgraded brakes, subtle cosmetic changes I wouldn't worry at all. I work on the basis of 'what would stop
me buying this car from a dealer?'. Would you buy a car that has been previously remapped and you have no knowledge of how it's been treated? I wouldn't.