Anyone have warranty trouble yet becuase of mods?

Just curious if anyone has started having dealerships give you the cold shoulder over mods? If so what was it? I finally got around to putting on my Turbosmart BOV, and yall know it's noticecable, I mean it's sorta the point lol. But I have no experience with Ford dealerships. I come from GM previously on all of my previous stuff, and I saw GM dealerships, on general at least, work on camd and wetted beasts. As long as it wasn't obviously your shit that broke what you were having worked on, they could care less.

Now honestly that is what kept me over there for so long lol, so now that I'm in this ST, how bad are Ford dealerships for punting work because of mods? All of you guys talking about covering your shit on here have me worried... lol. I don't want to have to reverse all this bolt on shit, and I can only imagine if I go into the turbo system (Nooo nooo, this is a dadmobile, I need a sports car god dammit) lol.

My dealer told me point blank. If you do a "Tune" and have engine or transmission issues, it is your dime. Tread carefully. Other warranty unrelated to the "Tune" will not be an issue. Aftermarket wheels should not be an issue if the same size and offset or at least nothing absurd. Wrap or removal, if damages the paint in any way, is not covered.

^^^^^^
Ditto for my dealer .
Told me the same thing this week , while in for oil change.

Jim

Get to know a really good breach of warranty lawyer. The Magnuson-Moss Act is ALOT more powerful than people realize. The OEMs bank on being able to push you around. Buddy installed a pulley on his supercharged mustang and when he had some issue some months later Ford told him to go pound sand--he lawyered up and they immediately changed their tune and fixed it. Lawyer is cheaper than a new engine and making a happy customer/new engine was cheaper for Ford than dealing with court.

I agree. I told someone on Facebook to contact a lawyer after Ford told him they won’t replace his blown engine (or something like that). My recommendation for that was to force FORD prove their reason to break the warranty rather than do nothing and follow what Ford tells you their going to do. Go on offense and put them on defense. They technically must have grounds. The law is extremely pro consumer and so are the judges who will typically hear these cases.


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Haha wow I didn't know of this new lawyer angle, interesting....

So say SWIM wants to tune and does and something on the engine breaks and goes back to a stock tune to take it in. Anyone have experience in that area yet?

I LOL every time someone says bring a lawyer into it because the MM Act is gonna save them. Please do so and come back and tell the class here how Ford responds.
Your “good” lawyer will be met with a team of lawyers ready to eat yours alive. If you have mountains of money to spend and infinite time to devote to a broken car you can’t drive but still have to pay for...go for it.
For the average person that’s not happening and if you mod something Ford can probably link it back to that in a matter of minutes and that’s all the proof they need.
Break an axle but you installed a tune? The correlation is instant. Break an axle but you installed a Whipple intercooler? I can still make that correlation if I’m Ford. Good luck.

Whatever you are modifying, you really have to be prepared to pay for repairs for that aspect of the car--whether it's from your mod or just a fluke. Otherwise, don't do it.

I also LOL because all of this is conjecture anyway.

Each case is different. Let me clarify what I’m trying to say and try not to oversimplify.

This is what I’ve learned from multiple experiences. I am not a lawyer. PA law states that attorney fees will be paid by defendant if they lose breach of warranty suits. It is very consumer friendly - almost unfair. I’m not talking lemon law. Could Ford stack the deck with attorneys, sure. However if they lose, they need to pay attorney fees. The law states it. But beware, breach of warranty attorneys won’t even consider taking your case unless they KNOW they’ll win. So the first step is to get an attorney to even accept the case. They will involve third party technicians who will inspect the shit out of the product first, be it a vehicle, tractor, device or whatever. If there’s any gray area they won’t even touch it. They won’t just accept a client just to make Ford prove their case. They WILL ONLY accept a case if they feel strongly about WINNING. And if they do accept your case and represent you, these firms will typically not bill for fees upfront.

Again, this is my PA experience, I’ve done this twice before for differing reasons - each state may vary.


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I’m just saying everyone leans on the MM Act like it’s a free pass to do whatever they want and when they break something it’s on Ford to prove it. It’s just not that simple.

Agree, and didn't mean to imply that. Was just trying to make the point that the law DOES have teeth and if something breaks on your tuned vehicle, don't automatically assume you are screwed.

My dealer actually told me I should tune it after I did my downpipes and exhaust. They even willing to install aftermarket intercooler for me


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Hopefully not off topic....

Last summer my APR tuned GTI threw it's balance shaft. Chunks of metal in the oil pan. The engine had 30,000 miles on it.

I took it to a VW dealer. After waiting for 3 months for a new engine to arrive (due to the worldwide Covid over-reaction), VW replaced the engine and turbo with no issues. Total bill was just under $15,000 and VW covered it all under warranty. They did mention that it was tuned but I think the dealer went to bat for me. They wanted the billable hours in their shop. Now...new engine, still tuned. I'm having too much fun to get it de-tuned.

I was nervous at first about the tune and coverage but it all worked out. I think I got lucky that the dealer was very accommodating.

I never brought up MM Act. After a bunch of research and informal discussions with attorneys and legal experts from several manufacturers, I don't think it applies to performance enhancements that take the car beyond OEM specs. I am a litigation consultant (not an attorney) and have sat through many depositions and trials involving lawsuits against all the major auto manufacturers. If you ever have an accident or warranty issues and try to sue the manufacturer for a defect unrelated to a tune or any performance enhancement that you have installed, you will most likely not win. It is a very easy "sell" to a jury that a performance enhancement affects the vehicle as a delicately engineered "system". Most manufacturers will spend the millions in court to defend their product in order to avoid copycat lawsuits.

Eyes wide open. I still have my GTI ECU and TCU tuned and have larger aftermarket wheels and tires. I'm risking it but I don't have any false expectations.

I don't plan on tuning or modding my ST.........yet

Heheh yeah see, I know people like UNBROKEN have experience here with Ford, and this is what I was after. Damn, that is unfortunate though, guess I will go tame on this beast Dadmobile then. I paid for an extended warranty for a reason because I wanted something more specific afterwards to go mod crazy on, but yeah I always push my limits. As they say in a certain show, I gotta make sure the soccer mom's can't beat me.

Haha shit, shavings in the oil pan.... I remember a few of those @(#)*@_)(!*+)(!*_)!(*!_)(!* moments but I also always got lucky with GM lol.

All of these comments are valid, but in my mind, if your tune grenades your engine, then your tuner did a poor job. Which is why reputable tuners don't try to be dyno queens. If you want to be a bleeding edge pioneer, more power to you but be prepared to shell out a lot of money if things go wrong. Honestly, if I were Ford (or any manufacturer) and had done a lot of engineering work only to have you come and cry for a warranty claim because your engine failed- I wouldn't have a lot of sympathy.

Even if you flash it back to stock they can still check to see if the vehicle has ever had another tune loaded. Virtually every computer has a change log on it somewhere wether it be a cloud hosted server or a Ford Explorer.

Unbroken is correct, Ford will gladly fight you in court with a team of lawyers, they are already on the payroll! I have a 2020 Escape that has had a load of issues. Three transmission failures, sync replaced twice, back up camera replaced twice, door switch’s have been replaced, multiple “reprogramming issues”. My neighbor is retired General Manager who has run both Ford and Dodge dealers in the area. His advice was that the lawyer’s will drag it on and even if you win the lawsuit you will lose anyways due to lawyer’s fee’s. This vehicle was not tuned or modded or in any way. Ford has denied three buyback claims on it...

Another thing to consider is the EPA. They are aggressively attacking tuners and have been for a couple years. Ford could argue that what your doing isn’t legal!

Like everything else in life - relationships are everything. Set yourself up for the highest percentage of success by choosing a mod friendly dealer and maintaining a good relationship consistently - not just when you need something. This has saved me more times than I can count.

Sound advice. Being as we're both local, which dealer did you get yours from?

Yeah I need to find one for north Dallas lol.

OMG so I was drifting around part of an onramp, down in Mexico last weekend of course lol... and one of my damn parking sensors is messing up now. NOTHING touched it, just some spirited driving... Seems to have cleared up or be hit or miss now, but really? Performance car? lol

Should be easy after every gets COVID19 now that no masks are required in TX. Gpop should drop and dealers would treat the remaining customers like royalty. LOL