Do new chips void waranty?
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi Spade,
Generally speaking, chips do not void your new vehicle warranty, as they do not damage the vehicle when installed and used properly. The laws governing your legal rights in this regard are very clear, and basically state that the only way a warranty claim can be denied over the use of aftermarket parts is only if the automaker can prove that the aftermarket part in question was the sole cause of a failure requiring repair, and they must also prove that had the aftermarket part not been installed, the related failure would never have occurred.
So it all gets down to just what does the part or parts you're thinking of installing *do* to the vehicle, will they cause *damage* as a result of using them? And as long as they don't actually damage your vehicle, then your warranty remains intact, by law.
Now, to answer your question of what types of aftermarket performance parts *can* cause the denial of warranty claims, things like superchargers can cause warranty issues, as they can be argued to stress numerous components beyond their original design limitations. Though the majority of today's blower kits, installed properly, can give an easy 100,000+ miles of relible service, it's still a supercharger, and that could potentially cause warranty issues for your driveline, if you experience a failure. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few years as Ford offers more and more supercharged vehicles of various types themselves, and in aftermarket tuner packages like Roush, Saleen, etc.
Nitrous oxide is an item that can very easily cause warranty problems.
Headers, if you do not have them professionally ceramic-coated, like with the Jet-Hot coating process (offered by all header manufactuers for years now), or wrapped carefull in special heat-rejecting tape, can potentially cause an issue due to the substantially increased heat underhood put off from uncoated headers. That is *not* an issue with properly coated headers like most people are using these days.
Some types of lift kits can sometimes be an issue, if the driveline angles are not carefully kept in spec, etc.
For the most part, its the so-called "major" modifications that may cause some issues, generally speaking. The bottom line is, if what you installed on the vehicle was the source of *damage*, then it could cause a problem. As long as whatever you do to your vehicle or install in or on it does not actually cause *damage*, then your warranty remains intact.
I hope that info helps, & good luck!
Generally speaking, chips do not void your new vehicle warranty, as they do not damage the vehicle when installed and used properly. The laws governing your legal rights in this regard are very clear, and basically state that the only way a warranty claim can be denied over the use of aftermarket parts is only if the automaker can prove that the aftermarket part in question was the sole cause of a failure requiring repair, and they must also prove that had the aftermarket part not been installed, the related failure would never have occurred.
So it all gets down to just what does the part or parts you're thinking of installing *do* to the vehicle, will they cause *damage* as a result of using them? And as long as they don't actually damage your vehicle, then your warranty remains intact, by law.
Now, to answer your question of what types of aftermarket performance parts *can* cause the denial of warranty claims, things like superchargers can cause warranty issues, as they can be argued to stress numerous components beyond their original design limitations. Though the majority of today's blower kits, installed properly, can give an easy 100,000+ miles of relible service, it's still a supercharger, and that could potentially cause warranty issues for your driveline, if you experience a failure. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few years as Ford offers more and more supercharged vehicles of various types themselves, and in aftermarket tuner packages like Roush, Saleen, etc.
Nitrous oxide is an item that can very easily cause warranty problems.
Headers, if you do not have them professionally ceramic-coated, like with the Jet-Hot coating process (offered by all header manufactuers for years now), or wrapped carefull in special heat-rejecting tape, can potentially cause an issue due to the substantially increased heat underhood put off from uncoated headers. That is *not* an issue with properly coated headers like most people are using these days.
Some types of lift kits can sometimes be an issue, if the driveline angles are not carefully kept in spec, etc.
For the most part, its the so-called "major" modifications that may cause some issues, generally speaking. The bottom line is, if what you installed on the vehicle was the source of *damage*, then it could cause a problem. As long as whatever you do to your vehicle or install in or on it does not actually cause *damage*, then your warranty remains intact.
I hope that info helps, & good luck!
Thread Starter
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Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 286
Likes: 0
From: Arizona
thank you much Mike... i was thinking about adding NOS someday. I heard from alot of people that most engines can take a 75 shot of nito all day and do nothing... but that's for later. thanks again