Questions for all of you who have mods on your trucks that are still under the warranty period. I talked with my dealer today and the worker told me I shouldn't put an after market air intake, a computer program update(superchip, edge, etc), and basically shot down my dreams until my truck's warranty expired. I bought my truck 8/05 and it only has 1,000 on it. That's a long time to wait before doing any mods. My dealer did say it was okay to lift the truck as long as it wasn't too extreme, 12 inch lift!?. Should I try another dealer? What did you guys do?

 

Warranty policies depend largely on your dealer. That said, legally, a warranty claim can't be denied unless they've got some pretty solid evidence showing that the modifications caused the failure in question.

 

If you put a cold air intake and you run your engine lean and burn it up....yeah, there maybe a warranty issue there. If you put after market tires and wheels and then complain about a steering wheel nibble...yeah, there maybe a warranty issue there. If you lower it, supercharge it, put 26s on it and the air conditioner goes out...then there shouldnt be any issue there.

My point is...if a mod directly effects a problem componet then there could be a warranty issue, but just because do a few mods your warranty wont be ended. This is only common sense, Ford designs these trucks to run under certain controled conditions...when you change those areas you cant expect them to still fix it if it breaks because its no longer under their control.

With that said the simple thing to do is if you have mods and need warranty work....return all the related componets back to stock before carring it in for service.

 

lol

Putting a cold air intake on your truck and running your engine lean and burrning it up: 5,000 dollars

Putting after market tires on and wheels and complain about a steering wheel nibble: 1,000 dollars

Lowering your ride, supercharging it and putting 26s on it and then the air conditioner goes out and having it replace under warranty: Priceless

 

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exactly .....

 

I've read this alot here. Legally Ford can void your warranty for simply not taking it in for the scheduled maintenance, regardless of whether it's modded or bone stock. If something major like a transfer case or transmission blows, Ford can refuse to do the work because there isn't a history of regular maintenance. Ford does not have to accept receipts for oil changes etc. done by the owner. Unless the work was done by a shop approved by Ford to do regular maintenance. Showing your receipt from PepBoys for 8 quarts of oil and a filter doesn't prove the service was done, that could have been for any vehicle you own.

 

I have a rant about ford and there freking warrenty.... I had a 2003 ranger with 12,000 miles on it. I was comming home from a med school interview and it was snowing, I was blowing through some pretty deep drifts. All of a sudden I have no clutch, thinking WTF. As it turns out there is a hole about 2 inches by 4 inches where the clutch meets the flywheel. Snow got packed in there then melted, then froze my clutch to the flywheel eventually causing more problems. Took it to ford, they tried to void my entire warrenty, saying it was "excessive use of the vehicle". They said there was no way I would have gotten snow in the places I did if I wasnt offroading. Again WTF. I was driving foward, I was towed backwards, there was snow everywhere. I had to pay for the replacement out of my pocket. Called ford customer service to complain, it wasnt me who put that hole there, it was clearly a design flaw, not my problem. To no avail. Ford plain F'ed me. And the thing that pissed me off the most, the current ford commercial with a truck blasting through snow... and the motto "build ford tough" What BS. Traded it in as soon as I could, for a new 150. Oh yeah when they fixed my clutch they didnt do it right and there is now a problem with the trany, not my problem anymore but still, WTF. I'm done now.

 

That depends on the dealer. Yes, lack of maintenance goes to neglience. But. Your dealer may decide that you're a good guy, you did shell out a lot of hard earned cash buying a truck from them, and they'll go ahead and take a chance on their 126 report and warranty your engine or transmission that blowed up because of lack of maintenance. Not likely, but it could happen. Maintenance records seem to hold more importance for ESP claims.

In the case of an engine or transmission, depending on your dealer's status with Ford, they may want your dealer to tear down your engine or transmission to see what failed, and then send an inspector out to see. They may just tell them to go ahead and order a replacement unit. If your dealer doesn't have to get prior approval, they may deny the warranty claim once Ford gets your old engine back, tears it down, and sees that it's sludged slam up because you changed your oil every 20K miles or so. That won't matter so much for you, since you're gone and down the road; they certainly aren't gonna come to your house and get your newly installed motor back because the dealer wasn't through and/or honest about what really went wrong with your engine/transmission.

There's lots of variables and politics in warranty claims with Ford nowadays. Some dealers sit well enough with Uncle Henry that they can almost do whatever they damn well please and get away with it. Some are held under a tight leash. It all depends.

 

WRONG

If your dealer said that, run......run very fast!

 

Here's an intelligent response. Read Quintin's response to my post, THAT is how to respond with intellect.

I was stating a worst case thing, something that could happen by Ford claiming neglect due to improper service. It most certainly is up to the dealer as to what happens with warranty claims. As Quintin said if your dealer knows you, and has a good relationship with you, you probably won't have any issues. If Ford disallows the claim after the fact, the dealer ends up eating it. Until the next person comes in with a similar claim that is.....

 

This my friends......is the funny repsonse, very common in these forums

 

Well it sounds like gambling here. Vegas anyone? I guess you have to just pray nothing goes wrong with your truck. I'll also call some other dealers in the area to see if they say the same things.

 

Exactly. Where you get routine maintenance done is none of there business. You pay someone else just like you pay them, or you do it yourself like I do. If you bring the truck in with a fried motor, and there are two quarts of oil in the pan, yeah you have problems, but if the motor fries under warranty, and they tell you that you're hosed because Jiffy Lube performed the maintenance, they are wrong. Like JerseyGeorge said, time for a new dealer, as that one is already looking for wiggle room.