Warranty concerns and "Authorized Retailers"

[Triumph]

I've been shopping around for a car stereo and I've noticed something peculiar. For some reason, these manufacturers (Alpine, Sony, Blaupunkt, etc) make claims that "If you don't buy our product from an authorized reseller, your warranty is voided." And of course, the "authorized retailers" are usually quite a bit pricier than the competition.

Some of you may be familiar with the Magnuson-Moss Act of 1975, which provides legal guidelines for warranties and customer protections. Link. A section of the M-M Act deals with "tie-in" sales provisions: things like 'You have to buy this part from this place otherwise your warranty is voided." The M-M Act makes practices like this illegal. Example:

"Tie-In Sales" Provisions
Generally, tie-in sales provisions are not allowed. Such a provision would require a purchaser of the warranted product to buy an item or service from a particular company to use with the warranted product in order to be eligible to receive a remedy under the warranty. The following are examples of prohibited tie-in sales provisions.

In order to keep your new Plenum Brand Vacuum Cleaner warranty in effect, you must use genuine Plenum Brand Filter Bags. Failure to have scheduled maintenance performed, at your expense, by the Great American Maintenance Company, Inc., voids this warranty.

While you cannot use a tie-in sales provision, your warranty need not cover use of replacement parts, repairs, or maintenance that is inappropriate for your product.

Now I ask anyone that cares to answer, how is an "authorized original retailer" any different than the example posted above? And why does it seem that only consumer electronics seem to make this claim? We all buy tons of different products from many different sources, and the manufacturers warranty is always valid. How is this legal?

 

[Triumph]

not one person is interested in my topic?

 

[rudeguy]

I think I understand your question. Basically most companies will not warranty your product if you dont buy it from an authorized dealer. Car audio in particular. Rockford even has a special certification for online dealers. Most sites with have the authorized XXXXXX dealer logo...