?s about warranty

[Dark_Knight7096]

Hi everyone,
Sorry if my spelling is off but i'm just not feeling on my "A" game today. That being said on to my question, what voids manufacturer warranty? At first i had thought that any modification to the engine whatsoever will void it, but after reading some of the posts in other sections i no longer feel this is the case. Are there certain conditions under which the engine is modified that will result in voiding or the upholding of the warranty? What type of modifications are ok? I am very interested in this because I would like to get more out of my marauder but i do not want to void my factory warranty in case anything really goes wrong with it and I need to have it looked at. Thank you so much for reading!

[RF Overlord]

Dark Knight:

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act states that the manufacturer CANNOT void the warranty simply because you added an aftermarket component UNLESS they can PROVE the modification CAUSED the failure.

BUT...

Ford employs a battalion of lawyers whose sole function in life is to deny warranty claims...they have a LOT more time and money than you or I, and can drag the process out for YEARS if they want to...in the meantime, you're without your car and still making payments on it...

ANY mods you make to the car CAN void your warranty...a lot depends on the dealer. Some are "mod friendly" and will even install them for you, realising that most properly designed and installed mods are unlikely to cause a problem. Unfortunately, most dealers are "mod shy" and won't install anything that's different than what the car came with from the factory. My dealer wouldn't install 4.10s in my car, even though I offered to buy all the parts through them.

Having said all that, installing mods is a crap shoot...a dealer could conceivably void the warranty on your driver's window motor, because you took the door panel off to upgrade the speakers...WILL they void the warranty on your rear axle because you installed an aftermarket intake tube? Probably not...CAN they? Sure...it's up to them whether they want to play hardball.

My feeling is that PROPERLY DESIGNED AND INSTALLED mods are unlikely to CAUSE any major problems, and, once out of warranty, anything that happens is on my dime anyway...so the heck with it...I want to enjoy the car NOW!

[BillyGman]

If you go strictly by the rule of Law, or by the letter of the Law, even a chip or gear installation can void your warantee if Ford so chooses. However, in some instances there's a little wiggle room for the car owner in question IF the dealer in question wants to play ball. You should find a dealer and talk to the service manager like I have. The one I've talked to claims that he doesn't have a problem with modifications as long as he sees a decent history of maintainence being done by his dealer.

Translation: "take care of us by throwing some money our way 2 or 3 times per year, and we'll do what we can to bend a little for you when it comes to warantee issues"......

The service manager I sopke to explained that it depends what you've done to the car and what the warantee claim includes. If it's something that can be related to the modifications that have been done, but the failure has also shown up in other Marauders, then that would be in my favor(atleast according to his claims). But it's nothing that they would put in writing since Ford is covered by law in writing when it comes to these types of things. There are many factors in play here including how many warantee claims the dealer in question has had. If they've had a lot of them, then Ford might be inclined to begin checking every one of them out by sending a rep over there before they pay any claims.And that wouldn't be good for you.

The bottom line is that you have no garantees when it comes to modifying your vehicle, and if you do mod it, your best chances are to spend some $$ atleast a couple times a year at a dealer who's manager atleast gives you a somewhat positive response when you ask him where he stands on this. Some of them will tell you flat out that they do NOT tolerate any modifications at all. So obviously that is NOT a dealer who would ever play ball w/you no matter what the circumstance. But whatever you do, don't ask the little guys at the dealer about this since they don't have the authority to tell you anything positive about this anyway. Go talk to the service manager. But you also have to keep in mind that many car dealers are big revolving doors that change mechanics as well as service managers and salesmen very often.

[jgc61sr2002]

Dark Knight:

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act states that the manufacturer CANNOT void the warranty simply because you added an aftermarket component UNLESS they can PROVE the modification CAUSED the failure.

BUT...

Ford employs a battalion of lawyers whose sole function in life is to deny warranty claims...they have a LOT more time and money than you or I, and can drag the process out for YEARS if they want to...in the meantime, you're without your car and still making payments on it...

ANY mods you make to the car CAN void your warranty...a lot depends on the dealer. Some are "mod friendly" and will even install them for you, realising that most properly designed and installed mods are unlikely to cause a problem. Unfortunately, most dealers are "mod shy" and won't install anything that's different than what the car came with from the factory. My dealer wouldn't install 4.10s in my car, even though I offered to buy all the parts through them.

Having said all that, installing mods is a crap shoot...a dealer could conceivably void the warranty on your driver's window motor, because you took the door panel off to upgrade the speakers...WILL they void the warranty on your rear axle because you installed an aftermarket intake tube? Probably not...CAN they? Sure...it's up to them whether they want to play hardball.

My feeling is that PROPERLY DESIGNED AND INSTALLED mods are unlikely to CAUSE any major problems, and, once out of warranty, anything that happens is on my dime anyway...so the heck with it...I want to enjoy the car NOW!


Bob - I concur. :(

[Petrograde]

I love warranty threads! :P