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2020 GT350 "track use" warranty exclusion

stanglife

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That new warranty stance with shared costs on the suppliers end is going to end up making a lot of attorneys rich. The amount of finger pointing between Ford and the suppliers will be impossible and definitely lead to trouble with dealers and buyers. Since Ford won’t let the dealer touch a Voodoo that has failed, Ford will have the final say in what caused the failure and try to place blame somewhere. This is really going to be a huge issue going forward.
Hopefully not. Both Ford and the parts suppliers benefit from a quick resolution. As much as a supplier doesn't want to lose Fords business, I can only guess what it costs Ford to find a new source for a part that is already being produced by someone as opposed to just figuring it out and moving forward. If a supplier wants to keep making parts for Ford, they will both spend the time required to ensure a low failure rate as well as the mentioned quick resolutions.

I forget how many versions there were but Mustang AC evaporators went through the ringer. Extra time spent initially in testing might have resulted in a lot fewer headaches for consumers...and less expense for Ford...as an example.
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luc

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Out of curiosity who is Jim Owens?

Also regarding Ford Performance and Ford doesn't Ford Performance just build and tune the cars? Are issues like warranties and such (like parts) fall under Ford since basically you would have to go to a Ford dealership or it doesn't matter? Just wondering how realtionship works
I believe that he is the ford performance marketing manager
As an interesting side note, ford performance parts are qualified as aftermarket parts by Ford
 

Hack

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Okay, this actually makes me pretty mad. So you’re telling me that an $18k Fiesta that isn’t even allowed to be driven on track warrants free attendance to Ford’s driving school, but the $60k Mach 1 I’m buying that’s being marketed as the most track capable 5.0 Mustang ever made doesn’t warrant a free trip to Ford driving school??

I JUST WANT A FREE WEEKEND OF RIPPING AROUND A TRACK IN SOMEONE ELSE’S CAR
I agree it's odd that Ford decided to give a driving school for the ST. I didn't buy mine new and I don't think I would fly across the country to drive a 200 hp car on track, even if it does weigh 1,000 lbs less than a Mustang.

You can get your "free weekend" (partial day) if you buy a Shelby. It is pretty fun and I highly recommend doing it in a GT350. I'd bet it's great in the GT500 as well. The Mach doesn't come with it. I don't see why that would make you mad. It's not like Ford said they were going to give you something and then took it away. If you decide to buy a Mach 1 you have full knowledge of what is included and what isn't.

Also, I seriously doubt the discovery of that language in the supplement will drive anyone to sell their car or deter anyone from purchasing the car (but I may be wrong about that.)
If you are a little on the fence I think it absolutely makes a difference in the decision. I've been wanting another GT350 ever since I (foolishly) sold my 2016. But the motivation to buy new or even to buy soon is fading with this change.

So you are suggesting to not make a fuss and let someone be a guinea pig when their engine or transmission blows? What do I hope to gain? Either a review of the intent of the warranty and a correction, or disclosure that there was no mistake so that someone doesn't get stuck with a $30-$60K repair bill when they truly didn't have any idea. If you take your car on the track, it should be an informed decision.

The problem with your logic is that the car was designed, marketed, and built for track use. All the previous year GT350s had a warranty that was inclusive of track use. Why should anyone be satisfied with a radical departure of the warranties of previous years? You suggest that it is ok for ford to have an ace up their sleeve where they can use it to deny a warranty claim? What you suggest is selective denial of warranty claims. That to me is unacceptable.
Preach!!

where does it say to do the 150k service that often? I'm only looking at my 2019 supplement, but I don't see that.....
Page 46. Maybe I'm taking it out of context because some things on the page talk about tracking the car in a way that implies competition. However, IMO this paragraph stands on its own.
track use.JPG


Please be civil everyone....

Ok, I just had a long conversation with Jim Owens. He is a track enthusiast just like us. He is happy to see us out on the track enjoying the car the way it was engineered to be driven and the way Carol Shelby would like to see us use our vehicles.

Now, pertaining to the warranty.....

I was assured by Mr. Owens that the spirit of the warranty is not to exclude track use. When he returns from his vacation over the holiday he will review the warranty and issue a written statement to that effect.
That is a great result! Big thanks to you @Tomster.
 

jmn444

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Wow, I never noticed that paragraph in mine but it's there for 2019 too....

That's excessive if you interpret it as each track day.

But the way it's worded, the fluid was new before I started the track use, and I'm not done with the track use yet, so I'll probably be aggressive and change it a few times DURING my track use, and then again when I am done with track days as it will officially then be "after" my track use.


Interesting and also contradictory to that paragraph, this is in the 2020 gt350 supplement:

Track Use Maintenance Intervals
Follow these maintenance intervals for
when you use your vehicle on a track or in
a high speed event.
Interval Vehicle Use and Example
Change the engine oil and filter One track weekend or approximately
4 hours of track use
Change the rear axle fluid1 Every 500 mi (800 km)
1 Change the fluid every 500 mi (800 km) or when a message appears in the information
display stating that the axle fluid is over temperature


Not a word about the trans fluid and seemingly openended about the diff fluid since the "or" is in there about when to change it.
 

Cobra Jet

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Between the warranty language, and the cars wanting to phone home with all my driving data, I am no longer considering a new GT500 or GT350R,

No offense to those who don't track their cars, but owning one and not tracking it is ridiculus to me.

Nowhere can you even remotely explore these cars potential on the street.

I don't want to be one of those poser types, "yep it's got 760 HP, goes 180 top speed, 1/4 mile in 10 seconds, but I've never done any of those things in it, I just rub it and stare at it."

No thanks!

Isn't Farley supposedly a "car guy". This is short sighted IMHO. Nothing pisses a customer off more than not standing behind the product.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/ford-ceo-farley-warranty-costs
It isn’t that Ford isn’t standing behind its product - it IS trying to cut down on fraudulent warranty claims - which they have every right to do so.

The newer technology will allow them to interpret stored or live data in a more efficient manner to really know:

1) if a new car owner did have a true warranty failure based on design, manufacturing, and/or supplier defect

2) if a new car owner was flogging the vehicle beyond “normal” driving (ie: racing it 24/7/365, or taking it off road and swamping it, etc).

3) if a new car owner tampered with any of the systems or modules (ie: tuning)


On this site alone since the 2015 S550 inception there’s been saps on here who have been proud to say they tuned their vehicles, blew up engines, rears or transmissions. Then have the audacity to continue to tell how they had warranty work done playing the “dumb card” fully knowing the failure was directly correlated to intentional “abuse” and/or their modifications (that some are even proud to say they removed the mods before bringing it in for warranty work).

Unfortunately fraudulent warranty claims also hurt those who have legitimate failures based on design, manufacturing OR supplier part defect.

There has to be a line drawn at some point.

Those statements and presentation of text in those documents are fully vetted by Ford’s Legal Team before they even make it to print. They’re not going to revise it from the “boo hoos” of those who want to buy a production car and turn it into a track car - but still want full warranty coverage if they intentionally cause a part failure.

key word: intentional

A part or component failure from intentional abuse is quite different from the same part or component failure that has inadvertently or prematurely failed due to Design, Manufacturing or Supplier defect.

Oh, I can already feel the smart ass comments coming with regards to “intentional” ...”but I intentionally drive my S550 everyday and XYZ can fail, so what’s the difference”.... LOL

Tomster has excellent intentions on seeking additional info to the wording found in the manual.

Ford covered all bases:
Timed events
Racing
Track Use

If you’re on a drag race strip, road racing, or auto crossing then by all defined terms you’re:
At a timed event, you’re racing and you’re using the vehicle on the track.

If you’re engine blew doing 55-65mph on the freeway under normal load - it’s quite different from your engine blowing at high rpm @ 125mph above normal load while at a timed event, racing competitively and while on a track.

We’ll see what gets returned by Ford Performance....
 

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jake_zx2

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You can get your "free weekend" (partial day) if you buy a Shelby. It is pretty fun and I highly recommend doing it in a GT350. I'd bet it's great in the GT500 as well. The Mach doesn't come with it. I don't see why that would make you mad. It's not like Ford said they were going to give you something and then took it away. If you decide to buy a Mach 1 you have full knowledge of what is included and what isn't.
I don’t want a Shelby. I won’t tell you why in this setting because I know you Shelby folk get your jimmies rustled pretty easy, but just know that a Shelby is not at all what I want to buy, or else I’d already have a Shelby

However, I don’t see why it’s so hard to see the frustration in the fact that I’m spending Shelby money for yet another limited production (in fact, likely moreso than any Shelby) Mustang, yet getting the same treatment as a run-of-the-mill Ecoboost buyer. In fact, I remember specifically the mentioning this before pricing was released, and you yourself were the one who told me “gotta pay to play, Shelby owners pay more to have that kind of stuff included”... which I totally understood when we were under the impression that a loaded Mach 1 was going to cost significantly less than a Shelby. But a Shelby buyer spends $60k and gets a free track weekend (among other things) included with it. I spend $60k on a new Mustang with Shelby-level everything, just without the name... there’s no reason I shouldn’t get the same thing, especially when someone spending $18k on a Fiesta even gets that

But alas...
 

jake_zx2

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But anyways, it’s definitely refreshing to hear Jim Owens is looking into it. If you get another chance to speak with him and could ask for clarification on what levels of Mustang this will apply to, that would be awesome!
 

firestarter2

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It isn’t that Ford isn’t standing behind its product - it IS trying to cut down on fraudulent warranty claims - which they have every right to do so.

The newer technology will allow them to interpret stored or live data in a more efficient manner to really know:

1) if a new car owner did have a true warranty failure based on design, manufacturing, and/or supplier defect

2) if a new car owner was flogging the vehicle beyond “normal” driving (ie: racing it 24/7/365, or taking it off road and swamping it, etc).

3) if a new car owner tampered with any of the systems or modules (ie: tuning)


On this site alone since the 2015 S550 inception there’s been saps on here who have been proud to say they tuned their vehicles, blew up engines, rears or transmissions. Then have the audacity to continue to tell how they had warranty work done playing the “dumb card” fully knowing the failure was directly correlated to intentional “abuse” and/or their modifications (that some are even proud to say they removed the mods before bringing it in for warranty work).

Unfortunately fraudulent warranty claims also hurt those who have legitimate failures based on design, manufacturing OR supplier part defect.

There has to be a line drawn at some point.

Those statements and presentation of text in those documents are fully vetted by Ford’s Legal Team before they even make it to print. They’re not going to revise it from the “boo hoos” of those who want to buy a production car and turn it into a track car - but still want full warranty coverage if they intentionally cause a part failure.

key word: intentional

A part or component failure from intentional abuse is quite different from the same part or component failure that has inadvertently or prematurely failed due to Design, Manufacturing or Supplier defect.

Oh, I can already feel the smart ass comments coming with regards to “intentional” ...”but I intentionally drive my S550 everyday and XYZ can fail, so what’s the difference”.... LOL

Tomster has excellent intentions on seeking additional info to the wording found in the manual.

Ford covered all bases:
Timed events
Racing
Track Use

If you’re on a drag race strip, road racing, or auto crossing then by all defined terms you’re:
At a timed event, you’re racing and you’re using the vehicle on the track.

If you’re engine blew doing 55-65mph on the freeway under normal load - it’s quite different from your engine blowing at high rpm @ 125mph above normal load while at a timed event, racing competitively and while on a track.

We’ll see what gets returned by Ford Performance....
That's a lot of words. Am I covered for HPDE or not.

Ford said the car would be covered for track use it is part of the reason people bought the car. So yes I want a warranty on my car if something fails on the track.

Who is intentionally causing damage to their car???

I don't get your fraud angle seems like you are making up an imaginary problem to respond to.
 

pilotgore

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That's a lot of words. Am I covered for HPDE or not.

Ford said the car would be covered for track use it is part of the reason people bought the car. So yes I want a warranty on my car if something fails on the track.

Who is intentionally causing damage to their car???

I don't get your fraud angle seems like you are making up an imaginary problem to respond to.
As long as your car isn’t a 2020, then yes, you’re covered.
 
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Tomster

Tomster

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People are still bickering back and forth. The problem is essentially solved thanks to Jim. Any ambiguity has been resolved and the written word is forthcoming.

I wish we could all just get along. There is nothing more to argue about.
 

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Tomster

Tomster

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As long as your car isn’t a 2020, then yes, you’re covered.
if your car is a 2020, you are covered. Im surprised to hear that a lot of people don't know who Jim is. His last name ought to be Ford. He and his team wrote the warranty.
 

pilotgore

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if your car is a 2020, you are covered. Im surprised to hear that a lot of people don't know who Jim is. His last name ought to be Ford. He and his team wrote the warranty.
My bad, I was just going off of your logic from earlier posts:

“I hate to be argumentative, but that is not what the warranty says.”

“All you can rely on is the written word. The written word says that any track use is not covered under the warranty.”
 
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Tomster

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My bad, I was just going off of your logic from earlier posts:

“I hate to be argumentative, but that is not what the warranty says.”

“All you can rely on is the written word. The written word says that any track use is not covered under the warranty.”
Then have yourself a seat, eat your turkey dinner, and after the holiday is over, you will get your written word. Until then, please stop stirring the pot. (I can just smell the hate in you)

Thank you.
 

pilotgore

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Then have yourself a seat, eat your turkey dinner, and after the holiday is over, you will get your written word. Until then, please stop stirring the pot. (I can just smell the hate in you)

Thank you.
No hate here whatsoever. I apologize if you perceive me quoting back your own words to be stirring the pot.
 

luc

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if your car is a 2020, you are covered. Im surprised to hear that a lot of people don't know who Jim is. His last name ought to be Ford. He and his team wrote the warranty.
don’t know if you see the irony in the last part of your post:
Jim and his team wrote the warranty but they screwed up and now, because of you bringing it to his attention, he say that it was never his intent and he will review it , modify it, per your statement, and issue a written statement about it after the holiday.....
Not trying to pick up a fight, just pointing out some “weirdness”
Have a happy Thanksgiving
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