hi guys,
I just thought I'd share a story that is on my mind right now. it's sad and extremely irritating at the same time. not trying to be over dramatic, nobody died or anything, but a Lightning is seriously wounded

anyway, as alot of you know I work for a ford dealer, well, I recently quit and went to Lincoln-Mercury. a kid that was working as a helper at the Ford dealership where I used to work took all of his savings and some money from his folks, and put a downpayment on an '03 L. I'd like to think that I influenced his decision to buy one, but whatever.

almost immediately, he started ordering mods. from what I can gather from other guys in the shop, for some reason he felt like he was bothering me when he came to ask questions about his truck, so he just didn't ask and ordered some iffy mods at first. he had flowmasters installed, and the truck sounded and performed like crap. so then he ordered the bassani full exhaust with shorty headers! for about the same price he could've gotten long tubes etc and actually gotten some gains.

my point is that he is a nice kid, but a little squirrelly. eventually he finally realized he was spending a lot of cash for zero results and came over and asked my opinion on some things. so he gets a chip, and a #6 lower, an airfilter, and long tube headers/full exhaust.

now this truck should run mid-high 12's all day long, but the kid doesn't know how to drive. we go to the track and he ran a 16 second 1/4 mile! I swear that he just matted the pedal and never lifted. he did a burnout that John Force wouldve been proud of. He ROASTED the tires for the entire 1/4 mile! we have it on video, I just wish I could get it posted for everyone to see, it was sooo funny.

well apparently the kid was having some trouble with the chip, I'm not sure exactly what, so he decides to remove it. now I quit that dealership back in October, and he since got layed off from there. but apparently, he's been driving around on the #6 lower with no chip for the past 3 months or more! and of course now it's cold here in VA.

long story short, his truck threw a rod or two last week.

so put yourself in his shoes... what do you do?

well he doesn't call me, he doesn't call any of the other guys that he used to work with...

he doesn't remove his mods...

HE HAS THE TRUCK TOWED "AS IS" to another dealership in town for warranty repair!

So as you can imagine, the other dealer contacts hotline per procedure for engine failure, and hotline asks about specific mods like chips and pullies. and hotline sends out an inspector per procedure for every blown svt vehicle!

now here's the worst part!!! this hasn't happened YET. well, i'm not psychic, so everything you have read thus far HAS HAPPENED, but here's the kicker. the inspector doesn't get here until tomorrow. the warranty is not YET voided. all is not lost right???

so anyway, the squirrel kid contacts a buddy of mine and tells him about the situation. my buddy calls me and gives me the low down. this was on FRIDAY. I tell him to get the truck out of there ASAP. have it towed away from the dealership and remove the mods and put a new (unscraped) PCM in the truck or else get out the checkbook for a new engine and plan on being the proud owner of a 6 month old truck with NO WARRANTY!

so the message gets passed along. and what does the kid do? does he call a tow truck? NO, he calls the dealership and "asks" them if he can have his truck back! to which they reply "NO". they say that the inspector is already scheduled for tomorrow and he can't have his truck because a warranty claim has already been filed... B.S.

The truck is HIS, not the dealers. if it was mine, I would have never "asked permission" I would have just showed up with a tow truck and hauled it away. screw the inspector, he's local anyway, not like they are flying somebody in from Detroit.

anyway, sorry for the long story. but the point is that RIGHT NOW there is a poor sick and wounded '03 Lightning sitting behind a fence at a dealership leaking oil on the asphault just waiting till tomorrow morning for some stranger to come and VOID it's warranty... poor thing

later,
chris

 

Ouch Ouch Ouch

Dam that is a horror story (BIG FROWN)


I kinda believe one thing with the Lightning
You will get out of it, what you put in it.
If you do your homework and assure a few safety measures,
it can easily handle the Mods he has for many trouble free years.
Schitt, I even juice it on top of 6lbs of pulley, and still drive it home afterwards.
But I also run a super rich program, 2 zones colder plugs,
multi spark to dissipate more heat in the cylinders,
AND
I take off 2lbs in the cold winter months.

I know you are feeling somewhat responsible here Chris
YOU SHOULD YOU BASTARD, YOU MADE HIM BUY A 6LB PULLEY


Just Kidding
But you CAN NOT blame yourself. You even gave him the chance
to fix it NOW before the inspector comes and he screwed
that up too.

Some people just have to learn the hard way
LIKE ME

 

Where would someone, who took all of his savings and also money from his parents, get the money to buy mods?

 

Why should Ford pay for his new engine? He modded it. Shame on him for not doing his homework. Maybe you should buy him the new motor since you think you influenced him into the truck. What's that old saying that I always read on this board?

 

ever hear of a credit card? I think you are missing the point.

 

yes, I know, you pay you play. that's why I'm building an engine for my truck right now, not asking ford for one AFTER i blow it up.

I'm not asking ANYBODY to feel bad for the stupid kid. and no, I won't be buying him a new motor. it's just unfortunate for the truck.

and even worse, you always hear stories about people getting their warranty voided, and it's usually after the fact. it's too late and there is nothing that can be done about it.

in this case, it's not necessarily "too late" but that's what makes it frustrating and irritating.

oh well, I think maybe you missed my point as well.

 

so im a newbie here, and I have a question... does the #6 lower void the warranty? I did not think that a chip alone would void a warranty...

just wondering...

 

It is sad that he blew a motor. Frustrating, no. Maybe to you. I still don't understand the thinking of some people who want Ford to replace a motor because of something they did (modding). Do you think the inspector is dumb enough to look at a truck that appears stock but is blown to bits? You should have never came on here telling the story and talking about going to the track. Doesn't Ford read these boards? Do you think they could figure out who this kid is? Info like this should be kept quiet if you trying to pull a fast one.

 

[/QUOTE] ...oh well, I think maybe you missed my point as well. [/B][/QUOTE]

I don't really feel bad for the kid (allright, a little) but feel worse for the truck. It didn't deserve the treatment it got.

 

FORD is voiding warranties illegally. I'm not saying they are voiding warranties without just cause. but the law says that Ford has to prove that the failure was caused by the modification. they aren't proving chit, they are just voiding warranties and then leaving it on the customer to prove otherwise. most folks dont have the time/money/patience to fight with ford in court. and furthermore most folks don't realize that they even have an option to fight back.


do I think the inspector is dumb enough, yes.

well, no, it's not a matter of the inspector's intelligence. it's a matter of them finding or not finding the "red flag" mods that ford tells them to specifically look for. if the pulley and chip (or scraped pcm) are not present when the inspection is performed, then the warranty does not get voided. when an inspector is sent out, they are hired from a local company that sends inspectors to all brands of dealerships for various reasons, from aftermarket warranty claims, to lot inspections for banks to verify vin numbers. the inspector is not some bigwig from ford or svt, he is just an average joe like you or me who is paid to come out and verify the vin, mileage, etc. he is then instructed to look for aftermarket pullies, chips, etc.

BTW, stock vehicles blow to bits too...

First of all, if I had wanted to pull a fast one, it would have already been done, and neither YOU nor FORD would know about it. I wasn't trying to hide anything about the story or the track. Ford already has this kid's truck and they'll know soon enough who he is when the inspector gets to the dealership tomorrow. So I could care less if FORD does read these boards, I'm not hiding chit.

Hi Ford!

 

thats why i just saved for a half year and bought my 99L cash, so i would not have to deal with warranty issues due to mods.i knew before i bought my L i was going to add performance parts

 

That's what I call thinking ahead!

 

yes either a chip or pulley alone can void your warranty.

if your svt motor blows, ford will check for those two mods and others.

later,
chris

 

Dam Chris
They're eating you alive






Hey just for the Record,
Yes Ford reads F-150
Yes they know my L's Moded
Yes I use Nitrous and Upper and Lower Pulleys
And Slicks
And an aftermarket T/B
And Multi Spark
And now G's Throttle Body
And ya I've been racing it hard for 2 years already
And ya it's been through 10 Chip programs
Bla bla bla

But even with all that said,
if mine blew today,
I'd de-mod it and go back to them SCREAMING
WHAT THE HELL DOES ANY OF MY MODS HAVE TO DO
WITH DAMAGING MY ENGINE

HI BIG BROTHER

 

Superfords,

What you are telling the kid to do is the equivalent to insurance fraud and who do you think pays for that in the end? The consumer (you and I). It's obvious the kids mods and lack of a proper tune and chip is what caused the engine to blow(in your first post you basically admit that). I feel bad for the kid, but maybe next time he'll no better.