Modern vehicles come equipped with increasingly complex systems designed to reduce emissions and fuel consumption, such as the START/STOP system.
Yet what happens when drivers want to disable these features permanently? This seemingly simple decision can trigger complex legal and practical consequences — from compliance with EU regulations, to impacts on homologation, warranties and even vehicle resale value.
This is an area where it is easy to oversimplify. A vehicle is approved for road use as a whole, in a defined configuration, and interfering with systems that affect emissions or technical parameters is rarely neutral in legal terms. Questions about liability, conformity with the conditions of type approval and the scope of the warranty arise here quite naturally — and they are better asked before a modification than after it.
At Wołoszański i Wspólnicy, we pride ourselves on bridging legal analysis with real-world automotive business realities.
Malwina Guliyev — attorney-at-law and expert in regulatory and automotive law — brings deep practical experience advising clients on vehicle compliance and environmental law. Karolina Dębiec — our talented legal researcher — digs into the details of legislation and industry practice to provide clarity on fast-evolving topics such as vehicle system modifications.
Together, they prepared a new article exploring the legal landscape around disabling START/STOP systems, published by the Association of Automotive Market Lawyers (Stowarzyszenie Prawników Rynku Motoryzacyjnego).
For us, “legal protection with business pragmatism” isn’t just a slogan. It is how we help our clients navigate the grey areas where law meets technology.
Read the full article: https://sprm.org.pl/aktualnosci/ruch-drogowy/wylaczanie-systemu-start-stop-w-pojazdach-ryzyka-i-praktyka-rynkowa/
