modification vs warranty

[MattW]

Is there any guidance or accepted level of modification that is safe from loss of warranty? For example, with air-intake or shifter upgrade, will my dealer refuse to fix under warranty in case my car is having issues?

I understand the Magnuson–Moss Warranty act says it must be proven the modification was cause of the warranty claim.

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[2015Etrac]

Is there any guidance or accepted level of modification that is safe from loss of warranty? For example, with air-intake or shifter upgrade, will my dealer refuse to fix under warranty in case my car is having issues?

I understand the Magnuson–Moss Warranty act says it must be proven the modification was cause of the warranty claim.

I'm having the same problem, being as my car is only 2 months old I'd rather not lose the warranty. From what I can gather the only performance mods you can do are an exhaust, and a no-tune CAI. You can also get one of the Ford Power Packs and have it installed by a dealer. It seems that a Tune, headers, intake, etc. will all most likely void your warranty from my understanding. For most of the mods you would need a tune anyway, and the dealer could probably claim a tune caused any engine or transmission issues they wanted. I guess it depends on the dealer.

 

[6G]

It all depends on the dealer and how lenient they are. The type of warranty service is also a factor. I would stick with non tune related mods If I was you. There's plenty of other areas that need attention before you start modding for power. I don't think the dealer will void your transmission warranty if you have a short throw shifter or something; but again, that all depends on the dealer.

And the Magnuson–Moss Warranty act doesn't help much. For example, if you're tuned, the dealer can throw the blame on the tune if anything engine related goes wrong. Now it's up to you (and your costly lawyers) to prove that dealer wrong.

My advice to you would be to establish a good relationship with your dealer, avoid tune related parts (the ford power packs are okay if installed by the dealer), and focus on your suspension first.

 

[SpeedLu]

Depends on your dealer's service department. Some are hardasses about mods and some are modders themselves. Build a relationship with your Ford dealer's service manager and talk to him about Mustang mods. My dealer doesn't care so long as you mod with Ford-friendly stuff, aka Roush and FRPP.

 

[lemers]

This is the same discussion over and over again.

Bottom line:

If the dealer can point to the mod as a possible cause of the problem then they will most likely refuse warranty work.

I.e. If you put LED lights in your car and the transmission fails then there is no connection, but if you have electrical issues the dealer can try to blame the LEDs

 

[SrqGT]

If you can't afford to fix it don't mod at all. Personally life is short my warranty was gone at 800 miles.

 

[huachucastang]

if you have a tune but delete before you take it in can the dealer go to a history file and tell you tuned it?

 

[MikeyV]

I'm in the YOLO crowd.

I tuned and intake-ed (and MGWed and Borla-ed) my '14 after about 10K miles.

Worth it, so far.

 

[jasonstang]

if you have a tune but delete before you take it in can the dealer go to a history file and tell you tuned it?

Of course, there is a flag that tells how many times the ECU has been written.

 

[crs2879]

As most have said, depends somewhat on the dealer. I had a '01 Bullitt and literally scratched the speedo lens with a diaper when cleaning the car. Dealer replaced it without question.

If you blow your engine with an axle-back exhaust, you're likely OK but if you have a tune, you're toast.

 

[MyFirst5.0]

If you can't afford to fix it don't mod at all. Personally life is short my warranty was gone at 800 miles.

this x1000. i didnt buy a musclecar to leave it stock, but i know if i break it its on me to fix, not put it back to stock and commit fraud

 

[Maggneto]

Drop in high flow air filter and cat back exhaust will not void the warranty. When in doubt talk with your Ford service department and ask them for advice. I don't modify my vehicles except for air filter and exhaust

 

[Cobra Jet]

Actually a "cat back exhaust" voids the exhaust warranty... lol

 

[wireeater]

My whole reasoning of purchasing the Mustang was to get out of the paranoia of a modified car. I felt that 435hp would serve that purpose well. It's about on specs of power where my modified WRX was, feels as fast but bone stock aside from exhaust. I can live with this for awhile. Sometimes, it's hard going into the 5.0 engine section and seeing posts about GT350 manifold, or seeing they just started selling E85 15 minutes down the road from me, etc but I am going to try and stick to my guns because I don't want to go back to that mentality of worrying about every sound, smell, vibration after modifying the engine. It's nice having a peace of mind knowing that I won't have to deal with an onslaught of BS from a dealer if something goes wrong. Even bone stock people will sometimes have to fight a dealer for warranty work. They don't make as much money doing warranty work as they do performing repair work directly to a customer so they are always going to try to go that route if they know they can. In reality, no engine mod is worth the risk for an extra 10-20whp at this time of my life. The best way to not mod is stay away from cars that are faster than you. lol.

 

[MyFirst5.0]

My whole reasoning of purchasing the Mustang was to get out of the paranoia of a modified car. I felt that 435hp would serve that purpose well. It's about on specs of power where my modified WRX was, feels as fast but bone stock aside from exhaust. I can live with this for awhile. Sometimes, it's hard going into the 5.0 engine section and seeing posts about GT350 manifold, etc but I am going to try and stick to my guns because I don't want to go back to that mentality of worrying about every sound, smell, vibration after modifying the engine. It's nice having a peace of mind knowing that I won't have to deal with an onslaught of BS from a dealer if something goes wrong. Even bone stock people will sometimes have to fight a dealer for warranty work. They don't make as much money doing warranty work as they do performing repair work directly to a customer so they are always going to try to go that route if they know they can. In reality, no engine mod is worth the risk for an extra 10-20whp at this time of my life. The best way to not mod is stay away from cars that are faster than you. lol.

coming from a wrx i see your point. the 5.0 is way more stout than that pos ej motor. my wrx was full bolt on e85 making 360/390 my 5.0 with intake and exhaust and lunds ff tune would kill it. idk i just cant leave a car stock, its funny because you had to tune the wrx because of the shit oem tune, yet the 5.0 will make 700+ and not blink. if you are just keeping the car n/a i wouldnt worry about modding it and breaking it

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