kW warranty warning

If you are thinking of buying 'new in box' KW v3's.
Beware....if they have an issue or are defective in any way you WILL NOT get any warranty help.

Here, in short is my story....

BEWARE OF WARRANTY
In July 2012, I purchased a set of KW v3’s for my Acura NSX.
In October 2013, I finally got around to installing them on my car. During installation, the shop found a defective shock that was leaking. This leaking shock was JUST OUT OF THE BOX.
I called KW for warranty. They asked me for measurements of the shock on the car to be able to warranty the shock. The shock has not seen any movement or use, why would you need measurements! Phil Castro insisted on the measurements to warranty the shock. I said, it just came out of the box and is just the same as you packed it.
Then I talked to Adam Tormey. He was very helpful in sending me a shock. But he wanted me to buy it and said that he would credit me as soon as they received the defective shock. Well…I sent the defective shock. And now they are insisting that I drove on it and will not give me credit for the shock.
I have reached out to
Bob Vangliet ([email protected]) but he has not returned my call.

They just emailed me and told me that the coilover has 'serious' signs of wear. How can that be since I just took them out of the box???

Please feel free to pm me
Rich Wong

Thanks for sharing. I have noticed lots of FS threads on KW. Almost wanted to grab a set.

> And now they are insisting that I drove on it and will not give me credit for the shock.
What does that have to do with warranty? Driven or not. Only abuse or improper installation may let them turn you down.
I hope you have visual proof it was in the box packed and never installed.

Have you sent them picture of brand new clean shock? I mean it's obvious if it was mounted or not.

I think I posted here but I had Bilstein HD leak after few days of use and had no problem getting it warrantied.

solidol said:

Thanks for sharing. I have noticed lots of FS threads on KW. Almost wanted to grab a set.

> And now they are insisting that I drove on it and will not give me credit for the shock.
What does that have to do with warranty? Driven or not. Only abuse or improper installation may let them turn you down.
I hope you have visual proof it was in the box packed and never installed.

Have you sent them picture of brand new clean shock? I mean it's obvious if it was mounted or not.

I think I posted here but I had Bilstein HD leak after few days of use and had no problem getting it warrantied.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately I did not take pictures before I sent the 'defective shock'. Next time I will.

The current update is:

I have a new part
they have the defective part
they are still standing by the 'serious damage' statement
Bob Schuetz is the only one offering support, refund & communication response in the US division.
All other branches of KW, Germany & Facebook of Germany are also very good in responding.

is my 'faith' restored to the level of KW's reputation, I don't know. I gotta really think hard about that, Bob Schuetz on the other in hand is excellent!



one other sidebar note: I didn't take any pictures of the shock before I sent it. In hind site, I should have taken pictures for my 'proof' and 'peace of mind' that I did in fact send a new shock to them. My only proof is about 4 pairs of eyes. Pictures are worth a 1000 words. Next time I will document everything.

What is the written warranty on the shocks? It's a tough call either way here...making a warranty claim 14 months after purchase is probably out of policy.

I agree on the pictures. Can't hurt in any dispute.