Before buying a new Ford consider this...

LizardKing 2002 · Mar 24, 2004

According to Ford, any modifications applied to a Ford vehicle is considered an instant void of warranty, and as a buyers of their product we should be aware of this. They are playing by the rule book.

These modifications include visual & performance. In my case an exaust modification is voiding my rear-end warranty. Doesn't make much sense. Ford knows this is a grey area, but will actually wait for legal action to commence to consider your case.

I am not going through the trouble of a legal pursuit on $107 in parts and 4 hours of shop labor. This is ridiculous. Even with this in mind they do not change their mind.

The rearend part that needed to be changed was the front bearing assembly, which is only under pressure under deceleration. Not acceleration. Even with this information Ford doesn't change its mind.

Jason Keay owner of JK Ford Lincoln confirmed putting an exaust on my car should not be a problem in 2002. When asked again after Ford voided my warranty, his statement is 'Ford's guidelines are changing, warranty is now more strict'. Ford's headoffice answer is the guidelines never changed. Read the owners manual you got when you purchased your vehicle.

According to them I am lucky to have gotten the warranty services up to now. 'People like me/us should expect this to happen when we modify a vehicle'.

My beef is not having to pay this amount. My beef is in the principal of leasing a vehicle - peace of mind of having a car that has warranty.

Even when I explained to Martino Catalano, Product Liability Specialist at headoffice that his legal position is nul, and that I have half a foot precedents from other cases at our legal office here that show his case holds no water, his opinions does not change. He knows no one in their right mind bother with small amounts like that.

It is scary to see how Ford doesn't give credit to loyal clients. This is not my first Ford vehicle, and I had every intentions on leasing the 05 coming up.

I told Mr. Catalano, Ford's position in this case is troublesome enough - It will cost them the sale of a 05 Stang and a life time customer... - no change of opinion.

Just thought I would share my experience with Ford's legal department. I am obviously disapointed.

CatmanJJ · Mar 24, 2004

Who mods a leased vehicle?? I thought that was a big nono.

My suggestion, find a mod friendly dealer.

The one I bought my car from has their own performance shop which sells and intalls just about every performance part you want and can think of for your stang.

The only warranty your aftermarket exhaust should void is the emissions system which should be a given. But that's why I kept all my stock stuff.

Xanax · Mar 24, 2004

CatmanJJ said:
My suggestion, find a mod friendly dealer.

The one I bought my car from has their own performance shop which sells and intalls just about every performance part you want and can think of for your stang.

I agree just find a mod friendly dealer because they
are out there you just have to find them.

GinoGT · Mar 24, 2004

You're leasing your car? Maybe that has something to do with it.

GTvert01 · Mar 24, 2004

Why do you lease?
I agree with everyone else, gotta find a mod friendly dealer.Mine put my x-pipe and pullies on for me while the engine was out, i had them install the gears too

Skud · Mar 24, 2004

So, then what if you decide to not buy the car at the end of the term? I bet they put it back on the lot with full warranty status..

Riley

just some guy · Mar 24, 2004

CatmanJJ said:
Who mods a leased vehicle?? I thought that was a big nono.

My suggestion, find a mod friendly dealer.

The one I bought my car from has their own performance shop which sells and intalls just about every performance part you want and can think of for your stang.

The only warranty your aftermarket exhaust should void is the emissions system which should be a given. But that's why I kept all my stock stuff.

i went to one of those dealers last week, they were on the brink of voiding my warranty...

but then i pulled out the stuff i know about sema and the magnuson vs moss stuff and told them id take legal action, and that put them in their place.

i can understand why they would want to do it though, since my car has had 3200 dollars total worth of warranty work done.

i am not going back to that dealership though, im going to a very friendly one i know of across town.

01GT eibach · Mar 24, 2004

Voiding a warranty is not up to the sole discretion of the dealer. There are specific laws on this (whether state or fed, I do not know). The general gist (sic?) is that any mod that was the cause of the problem, exacerbated the problem, or complicates the repair would not be covered under the warranty. In your case, it sounds like what they are doing to me is bordering illegal. I would do some internet legal searching, and then start writing letters. You can find a lot of the executives on ford.com. You may be surprised how interesting one high-level Ford executive may find this.

My $0.02...

just some guy · Mar 24, 2004

01GT eibach said:
Voiding a warranty is not up to the sole discretion of the dealer. There are specific laws on this (whether state or fed, I do not know). The general gist (sic?) is that any mod that was the cause of the problem, exacerbated the problem, or complicates the repair would not be covered under the warranty. In your case, it sounds like what they are doing to me is bordering illegal. I would do some internet legal searching, and then start writing letters. You can find a lot of the executives on ford.com. You may be surprised how interesting one high-level Ford executive may find this.

My $0.02...

you are correct mossieur

LizardKing 2002 · Mar 24, 2004

Voiding the warranty in this case was done in direct by Headoffice. Came to the dealer to do it. No matter which dealer I go to my car is flagged.

Lots of misconceptions about leases here. For those interested here are a few explanations:

You can modify a lease as much as a financed/bought vehicle. You can return it in either original condition or upgraded condition. If your mods are actual damage, then you need to fix them before returning OR they will and charge you for it.

If you want to transfer your mods to your new vehicle they will even let you drive off with your new vehicle and give a small period of time to transfer the parts from your lease.

A lease means you are a third party renting under a long provision (contract) the vehicle of a second party, purchased from the first party. The difference between renting and leasing, is on a lease the vehicle at the end of term has an established residual value. As the leasor your option is to give back the vehicle or purchase the vehicle at the established residual value (established on original purchase).

The residual value is in most cases 1 or 2 thousand dollars smaller than the actual wholesale value of the vehicle at term. In most cases it pays off to buy the vehicle, even if it is to simply re-sell it.

Most people think leasing is throwing money away. When you buy a vehicle you start throwing your money (investment) away when you walk off the lot with the vehicle. When you lease, you simply pay this money being thrown away as it depreciates (plus obviously financing fees).

In Canada, we are taxed enormously. Leasing allows me to save around $4K per year on them.

GTvert01 · Mar 24, 2004

How did they find out you did anything to your car?After ford replaced my gears, a while later the bearing went out.Since there was no bearing in the kit, they warrantied it.Sounds like you are getting screwed.

mogs01gt · Mar 24, 2004

I stilL dont understand why you would want to mod a leased car, its not even yours.

Any mod will void a warrenty if it directly damages/effects the problem. If you have a CAI on your car and an axle gets snapped, they cant void the warrenty.

It mostly depends on the dealer but if you lease it, that is a nono already.

LizardKing 2002 · Mar 24, 2004

MOGS.

Leasing is just my way of saving a lot of money. If you need to understand why leasing is an advantage to me ... read the explanation above. I don't mind having Ford Credit own the car for 3 years while I save 4K a year in taxes.

You say they CAN'T void the warranty... well THEY DID!!!!

Rearend is not related to an exaust (only mod I have). Yet they are applying the rule book on this one.

It can happen to anyone. I am 28 years old, I am married, I have a 3 year old son, I own a house, I work as an office manager for a lawyer firm, I own a consulation firm on the side. I am a responsible individual being screwed by the system.

This is a heads up to everyone out there. When headoffice decides to do something, it doesn't matter who your dealership is... they will void the warranty. They sent someone from Toronto to my town (5 hours away) to look over my car. The guy saw an aftermarket exaust & voila.

CottonBurnerz · Mar 24, 2004

Dude.. if you want to your car to look good and go fast.. the word "warranty" should not be one of your issue...

I learned that the moment before I placed order on my Headers..

mogs01gt · Mar 24, 2004

LizardKing 2002 said:
MOGS.

Leasing is just my way of saving a lot of money. If you need to understand why leasing is an advantage to me ... read the explanation above. I don't mind having Ford Credit own the car for 3 years while I save 4K a year in taxes.

You say they CAN'T void the warranty... well THEY DID!!!!

Rearend is not related to an exaust (only mod I have). Yet they are applying the rule book on this one.

It can happen to anyone. I am 28 years old, I am married, I have a 3 year old son, I own a house, I work as an office manager for a lawyer firm, I own a consulation firm on the side. I am a responsible individual being screwed by the system.

This is a heads up to everyone out there. When headoffice decides to do something, it doesn't matter who your dealership is... they will void the warranty. They sent someone from Toronto to my town (5 hours away) to look over my car. The guy saw an aftermarket exaust & voila.

That is ILLEGAL for them to void the warranty unless the aftermarket part damaged the warranted part. They have to bring Ford analysts in to trouble shoot whether or not the aftermarket part did in fact damage the factory part.

I had all the mods in my sig except I took the MAF off and I had them do warranty work on my tranny. It even had the shifter on. The dealership I went to even has been sued from customers regarding their sales side.

I forgot to say, yes 100 dollars is nothing for a repair but what if another part goes wrong, something electrical and you dont have the warrenty?? I even had a dealership fix a part under warrenty when I was 100 miles over.

kirkyg · Mar 24, 2004

LizardKing 2002 said:
According to Ford, any modifications applied to a Ford vehicle is considered an instant void of warranty, and as a buyers of their product we should be aware of this. They are playing by the rule book.

These modifications include visual & performance. In my case an exaust modification is voiding my rear-end warranty. Doesn't make much sense. Ford knows this is a grey area, but will actually wait for legal action to commence to consider your case.

I am not going through the trouble of a legal pursuit on $107 in parts and 4 hours of shop labor. This is ridiculous. Even with this in mind they do not change their mind.

The rearend part that needed to be changed was the front bearing assembly, which is only under pressure under deceleration. Not acceleration. Even with this information Ford doesn't change its mind.

Jason Keay owner of JK Ford Lincoln confirmed putting an exaust on my car should not be a problem in 2002. When asked again after Ford voided my warranty, his statement is 'Ford's guidelines are changing, warranty is now more strict'. Ford's headoffice answer is the guidelines never changed. Read the owners manual you got when you purchased your vehicle.

According to them I am lucky to have gotten the warranty services up to now. 'People like me/us should expect this to happen when we modify a vehicle'.

My beef is not having to pay this amount. My beef is in the principal of leasing a vehicle - peace of mind of having a car that has warranty.

Even when I explained to Martino Catalano, Product Liability Specialist at headoffice that his legal position is nul, and that I have half a foot precedents from other cases at our legal office here that show his case holds no water, his opinions does not change. He knows no one in their right mind bother with small amounts like that.

It is scary to see how Ford doesn't give credit to loyal clients. This is not my first Ford vehicle, and I had every intentions on leasing the 05 coming up.

I told Mr. Catalano, Ford's position in this case is troublesome enough - It will cost them the sale of a 05 Stang and a life time customer... - no change of opinion.

Just thought I would share my experience with Ford's legal department. I am obviously disapointed.

If your getting a leased vehicle forget modding your car. Your going to have to remove everything once the lease is over if you dont buy the car. Leasing is an unbelievable ripoff. The only way it helps you is if you drive very little (keep your miles less than 12k a year) AND you would have been upside down on your vehicle had you bought it. Thats the only way it would have helped you...the likely chance that would happen is VERY VERY VERY slim. Leasing should not be considered in almost all cases.

You get a 36k warranty that WILL NOT be void if you change one part. The warranty on that part and anything directly related to that part that could potentially be damaged because of the modification will be voided but thats using common sense. If i replace my exhaust they are not going to give me a free exhaust replacement if i have an exhaust leak or my o2 sensors go bad because of illegal exhaust.

Dealers talk a hard game but in reality the law protects your warranty. There is a federal law protecting people with their warranty claims and it states that a damaged area of the vehicle has to be caused by something the owner modified. In other words it has to be proved that there was a cause and effect relationship between a modification and a damage to the vehicle.

If that wasn't the case the dealer/automanufacturer could simply say oh you put new springs on your suspension your entire vehicle warranty is voided including your powertrain. What in the blazes would your springs have to do with your engine and transmission failures?

kirkyg

pony_vert02 · Mar 24, 2004

CottonBurnerz said:
Dude.. if you want to your car to look good and go fast.. the word "warranty" should not be one of your issue...

I learned that the moment before I placed order on my Headers..

CORRECT-A-MUNDO! I'll admit, leasing IS a great option under certain circumstances...yours in particular, as I have leased vehicles in the past ( 2 explorers prior to BUYING my stang) as well..but I would never has considered modifying it..

YallarStang · Mar 24, 2004

I dont understand....you say all that you have is an aftermarket exhaust. An exhaust system is a wear item that needs to be replaced every so often usually due to rust. Do you have to replace it with a Ford exhaust? I dont think so. Does this mean that if I use an aftermarket oil filter (any filter other than what Ford uses) that my warranty will be voided? Doesnt make sense to me.

You mentioned that visual mods will void the warranty too. Does that mean my Billet oil fill cap is going to void the warranty of my intake plenum?

mogs01gt · Mar 24, 2004

YallarStang said:
I dont understand....you say all that you have is an aftermarket exhaust. An exhaust system is a wear item that needs to be replaced every so often usually due to rust. Do you have to replace it with a Ford exhaust? I dont think so. Does this mean that if I use an aftermarket oil filter (any filter other than what Ford uses) that my warranty will be voided? Doesnt make sense to me.

wear and tear isnt covered under warranty.

CatmanJJ · Mar 24, 2004

mogs01gt said:
wear and tear isnt covered under warranty.

That's the point he's making cause exhaust is a wear and tear item so how could it correlate with a powertrain item. I may be wrong, I don't know.

Regardles, this seems bogus though altogether.

Before buying a new Ford consider this...

LizardKing 2002

CatmanJJ

Captain Tangnet

Xanax

New Member

GinoGT

GTvert01

New Member

Skud

Member

just some guy

01GT eibach

Active Member

just some guy

LizardKing 2002

GTvert01

New Member

mogs01gt

LizardKing 2002

CottonBurnerz

Banned

mogs01gt

kirkyg

pony_vert02

New Member

YallarStang

New Member

mogs01gt

CatmanJJ

Captain Tangnet

Similar threads

Before buying a new Ford consider this...

Captain Tangnet

New Member

New Member

Member

Active Member

New Member

Banned

New Member

New Member

Captain Tangnet

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency