Warranty?

TheVin · Jan 14, 2007

Hi all. First let me say again how helpful and friendly I have found this place. :SNSign: As I posted earlier, I am leaning towards purchasing a new GT convertible sometime this year.

What I am interested in finding out is what sort of Mods can I make without voiding my warranty? For at least the first year of ownership, all I will be changing is Suspension, Shifter and maybe Brakes. Powertrain will wait a year or two or more- and there all I really envision is intake, tune and exhaust.

Does anyone have some real-world experience with dealing with dealerships and Warranty issues? The salesperson I have had some discussions with claimed that his shop would be very laid back on the issue... But I work from the assumption that he will say whatever is needed to make the sale...

Vin

TheVin · Jan 14, 2007

oh, also

Resale- I asume that by modding my car, I'll be impacting some avenues of resale negatively... But I also assume that there will be demand from other people for a car that has aftermarket mods. What are your experiences with resale and etc?

red05bullitgt · Jan 14, 2007

Vin ? this topic has been brought up and debated on numerous occasions in this forum.. Therefore the best advice I can offer is locate the search tab and type in warranty.. there you'll find all the different threads that will help provide the answers your looking for ..

TheVin · Jan 14, 2007

red05bullitgt said:
Vin ? this topic has been brought up and debated on numerous occasions in this forum..The best advice I can offer is locate the search tab and type in warranty.. there you'll find all the different threads that will help provide the answers your looking for ..

Ah, thanks, please keep in mind that I'm new here.

red05bullitgt · Jan 14, 2007

Your welcome

stanmckinney · Jan 14, 2007

A suspension change alone for many dealers will void the warranty for suspension problems, but they must be able to prove what you did caused the problem.. There are laws regarding this. If a change you make could cause a problem, that likely won't be covered by warranty. Forget trying to get back the cost of your modifications when trading in and generally when selling yourself. Unless the buyer has the same exact tastes as yours, you will lose money.
I have seen some nice older Mustangs I would have loved, if they were still original. I wouldn't touch them because of the modifications.
As long as you don't expect to get your money back and do nothing that will scare people off, go ahead with your modifications. But be aware that many dealers will give you a hard time over some modifications or deny a warranty claim if they can make a case that what you did caused the problem.

red05bullitgt · Jan 14, 2007

Not true...A dealership can refuse to service your vehicle under a warranty related issue but and I'll say this again..NO DEALERSHIP HAS THE LEGAL AUTHORITY TO VOID ANY FORD FACTORY WARRANTY period.. The dealership can however and will more than likely tell you that it will not service your vehicle until you return it back to stock condition..

celticstanger · Jan 14, 2007

I've had a bunch of warranty work done, with my current setup, and never had any problems. I'd be shocked to hear of a dealer asking someone to return their vehicle to stock form before doing service/warranty work.

Sure, there'll be some that will be mutt-bunchers about modded cars, but I've been to 3 different dealerships here in SoCal without trouble, so from my experience, common-sense does sometimes prevail.

red05bullitgt · Jan 14, 2007

And yes there are those certain butt-headed dealerships out there that can and will most likely refuse to service you're vehicle, unless it's in stock condition ? However only Ford itself has the legal authority to void their factory warranties..

red05bullitgt · Jan 14, 2007

Ford factory warranty policy

Ford's warranty policy is as follows..step 1 the dealership's service manager is required to have a Ford feild service engineer brought in to conduct a full investigation..Step 2 if the feild service engineer is able to prove within a reasonable doubt that an aftermarket part or computer re-flash was directly responsible for causing the warranted part in question to fail ?? the results of that investigation are then submitted to Ford corporate headquarters in Detroit..Step 3 Ford corporate reviews the feild service engineer's results..Step 4 Once a decision has been reached ? Ford then submits it's final decision to the dealership's service manager either approving the warranty claim or denying it...Therefore if any dealership claims they can void a Ford factory warranty for any reason and especially for just installing an aftermarket part ?? their completely full of BS. The bottom line is this ? use good common sense especially when it comes to superchargers as with most performance mods and don't expect the dealership to service you're vehicle under a warranty related issue if you pull in the door with a snaped piston rod or something while there's vortech blower sitting in you're engine bay in plain view... Also, if curious as to how I came across the info ?? upon doing some extensive research, I obtained the info concerning Ford's warranty policy from 2 of Ford's field service engineers personally...So there you have it in a nutshell

stanmckinney · Jan 15, 2007

Bottom line, if you do something to the car that causes a problem, warranty work on that problem may be denied. Sure, there's a process. But the warranty coverage can be denied.
And some dealers are more accommodating than others.
Modifications also will negatively affect the value of the car in many cases. That's a simple fact. Most enthusiasts will pay top dollar only for unmolested vehicles. Mods will only add to the value of the vehicle if the buyer LOVES what you did. Otherwise, write off the cost as the price of having fun with your vehicle.

red05bullitgt · Jan 15, 2007

And once again ? the factory warranty can only be voided by Ford corporate even dealerships must follow policy..Therefore your quote stating A suspension change alone for many dealers will void the warranty is absolutely 100% inaccurate...That's the bottom line.

TheVin · Jan 15, 2007

Thanks all

Hi all, and thanks for you input. I contacted Roush as well (as they are the vendors I expect to be purchasing my suspension parts from). Roush said they'll cover just about any problemf for the first 90 days under their warranty, and they would expect that any certified roush dealership (from which I would be purchasing) would not deny warranty coverage for any non-suspension related problem with the car. This seems to be in line with what you all have said. I certainly expect that there will be some bone-head dealerships (god knows I've dealt with my share!), but it seems like especially if I work with ford/roush dealerships, I can expect relatively few hassels.

Obviously, if I strap on a nitrous kit or a bazillion-psi supercharger kit, I would expect any dealer to laugh at any request for engine work.

Vin

Hoboattacker · Jan 15, 2007

Here's an idea...talk to your dealer. Or another dealer in the area. My dealer has an in-house Mustang Dyno and dyno's cars all the time. They even have dyno days. They install mods for you too if you want.

It all depends on the dealer and the only way you'll find out is if you ask them. Don't talk to a salesman either. Ask to speak with the Service Department Manager. Salesmen will just screw you over.

PERTANO · Jan 15, 2007

I work for Ford making decisions every day on what is and what isn't covered under warranty. All I can tell you is that if the part you installed causes the failure and it's not a FORD or Motorcraft part. Expect to come out of pocket. It's really that simple. The only exception is the Roush and Saleen parts that are installed by a factory authorized dealers. Then you keep your factory 3/36 warranty.

TheVin · Jan 16, 2007

PERTANO said:
I work for Ford making decisions every day on what is and what isn't covered under warranty. All I can tell you is that if the part you installed causes the failure and it's not a FORD or Motorcraft part. Expect to come out of pocket. It's really that simple. The only exception is the Roush and Saleen parts that are installed by a factory authorized dealers. Then you keep your factory 3/36 warranty.

Thats actually good news for me- as I want the Roush Suspension kit, and the people who will likely install it is my local Ford dealer which is also a Roush dealer.

Thanks.

Vin

red05bullitgt · Jan 16, 2007

PERTANO said:
I work for Ford making decisions every day on what is and what isn't covered under warranty. All I can tell you is that if the part you installed causes the failure and it's not a FORD or Motorcraft part. Expect to come out of pocket. It's really that simple. The only exception is the Roush and Saleen parts that are installed by a factory authorized dealers. Then you keep your factory 3/36 warranty.

You missed one other exception ?...Steeda or are they not also one of your factory authorized dealers ? who also Btw are a direct partner in Ford's technology transfer program who also designs the FRPP cold air kit which is also Factory installed on both the 2006 Shelby GT-H and the all new 2007 Shelby GT at Shelby Automobiles in Las Vegas, Nevada and is also covered under the Ford Factory Warranty package as well..and speaking of which ? just where do you think I obtained Ford's Warranty Policy From ?? perhaps you had better take another look and see for yourself that I obtained it from 2 of Ford's field service engineers in whom I have no question are fully aware of your company's warranty policy being they perform the actual investigation claims..

celticstanger · Jan 16, 2007

PERTANO said:
I work for Ford making decisions every day on what is and what isn't covered under warranty. All I can tell you is that if the part you installed causes the failure and it's not a FORD or Motorcraft part. Expect to come out of pocket. It's really that simple. The only exception is the Roush and Saleen parts that are installed by a factory authorized dealers. Then you keep your factory 3/36 warranty.

hmmmmmm....this is not true...Stick the Roush blower on your car, and you keep the factory warranty? Nope.

red05bullitgt · Jan 16, 2007

Actually Celtic ? he's correct providing that an authorized Roush, Saleen or Steeda dealer install the SC ? then the 3/36 warranty remains intact..however if the customer installs the SC and is later proven as being directly responsible for causing the warranted parts to fail ? then yes it comes out of the customer's pocket..

PERTANO · Jan 16, 2007

Red05, I wasn't sure on Steeda because I've never ran into a car that was built by them or has had parts installed by an authorized dealer. Most cars I see are Roush and Saleens.

I am basically trying to paraphrase a largely gray area on mustang modifications and what is and isn't covered. Eventually it's going to boil down to the failure and how hard you are willing to fight with the service advisor/manager to get past the inital "YOU DRIVE A MUSTANG SO YOU MUST ABUSE IT" stereotype.

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