Tune / Warranty

[PhoeniX7115]

Hey,

So I purchased a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty from the place I bought my car at. The warranty specifies that I can take the car to any approved places, which include not dealerships.

Anyway, I was reading that a tune could possibly void a warranty.

Hypothetical: I add a CAI / Tune to my Mustang and something breaks at some point, that could possibly be related to the PCM.

If I was to take the car to a friendly mechanic (not a dealership); in theory he could just pretend that the car was never tuned?

I did my best to articulate this correctly but any input would be very welcomed.

Thanks

Sponsored

 

[Bikeman315]

Hey,

So I purchased a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty from the place I bought my car at. The warranty specifies that I can take the car to any approved places, which include not dealerships.

Anyway, I was reading that a tune could possibly void a warranty.

Hypothetical: I add a CAI / Tune to my Mustang and something breaks at some point, that could possibly be related to the PCM.

If I was to take the car to a friendly mechanic (not a dealership); in theory he could just pretend that the car was never tuned?

I did my best to articulate this correctly but any input would be very welcomed.

Thanks

I see you have a 2017. Based on this I presume that you do not have a Ford ESP extended warranty. For the most part 3rd party warranties are worthless. Tons of exclusions and exceptions. You really need to read it carefully.

As far as the tune, don’t. The odds of a 3rd party warranting an engine related issue on a tuned car is slim and none. Now if you can afford the cost of a possible engine replacement (worst case, of course) go for it.

 

[luc]

Don’t get it, or more exactly I get is very well: you want to comit insurance fraud ....
You want to have something covered by lying about it.....
So since you were asking for input, think about it and hopefully you can distinguish between right and wrong....

 

[PhoeniX7115]

I see you have a 2017. Based on this I presume that you do not have a Ford ESP extended warranty. For the most part 3rd party warranties are worthless. Tons of exclusions and exceptions. You really need to read it carefully.

As far as the tune, don’t. The odds of a 3rd party warranting an engine related issue on a tuned car is slim and none. Now if you can afford the cost of a possible engine replacement (worst case, of course) go for it.

Car has 19k on it, it still has the factory powertrain, for a bit longer.

 

[PhoeniX7115]

Don’t get it, or more exactly I get is very well: you want to comit insurance fraud ....
You want to have something covered by lying about it.....
So since you were asking for input, think about it and hopefully you can distinguish between right and wrong....

I would prefer to avoid insurance fraud.

Edit: If the problem is directly related to the tune, then game over, for me. I meant more so, if the problem was more so, ambiguous, if you will.

 

[Bikeman315]

Car has 19k on it, it still has the factory powertrain, for a bit longer.

Understand. Then it’s 50/50. Depending on the problem and the dealer involved a tune can certainly have an impact on whether or not a claim is excepted. Bottom line with a tune is hope for the the best plan for the worst. Be prepared to pay, just in case.

 

[AZ18yote]

Tune won't void a warranty but dealership can deny warranty work if attributed to the tune. Now if your ac needs work it would still be covered by warranty as I can't imagine them being able to blame a tune lol.

Also if you're going to tune make it worthwhile. Tuning for e85 or longtubes merits the risk. A cai definitely does not.

 

[Andrew@Lethal]

Hey,

So I purchased a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty from the place I bought my car at. The warranty specifies that I can take the car to any approved places, which include not dealerships.

Anyway, I was reading that a tune could possibly void a warranty.

Hypothetical: I add a CAI / Tune to my Mustang and something breaks at some point, that could possibly be related to the PCM.

If I was to take the car to a friendly mechanic (not a dealership); in theory he could just pretend that the car was never tuned?

I did my best to articulate this correctly but any input would be very welcomed.

Thanks

Most custom tunes void warranties. The Roush and FP tunes can retain your warranty if they are dealer installed. If you are installing simple bolt ons like a cold air intake you can always pull the custom tune off and intake to revert back to stock and to bring to the dealer for warranty.

 

[K4fxd]

If you are installing simple bolt ons like a cold air intake you can always pull the custom tune off and intake to revert back to stock and to bring to the dealer for warranty.

They can see that the car was tuned.

This is one reason I don't like the tuners locking tunes. If Ford could read the tune they could see if it contributed to the failure. IE car has CAI and valve drops. If the tune did not raise the rev limiter the tune would not cause the failure and warranty would cover it.

BUT, since the tune is locked you are screwed.

 

[PhoeniX7115]

They can see that the car was tuned.

This is one reason I don't like the tuners locking tunes. If Ford could read the tune they could see if it contributed to the failure. IE car has CAI and valve drops. If the tune did not raise the rev limiter the tune would not cause the failure and warranty would cover it.

BUT, since the tune is locked you are screwed.

Could I just refresh the pcm if that happens?

 

[K4fxd]

Could I just refresh the pcm if that happens?

No. Ford has a few ways of seeing if the car has been tuned, one of which is key counts. If you have 10,000 miles and 5 key counts they know it has been messed with.

A key count is the number of times the car has been started. This gets reset to zero after any tune.

 

[PhoeniX7115]

No. Ford has a few ways of seeing if the car has been tuned, one of which is key counts. If you have 10,000 miles and 5 key counts they know it has been messed with.

A key count is the number of times the car has been started. This gets reset to zero after any tune.

Shifty people over there, huh

I could just skip the dealership and go to a private mechanic, I suppose, in the worst case

 

[Bikeman315]

Shifty people over there, huh

I could just skip the dealership and go to a private mechanic, I suppose, in the worst case

Not for warranty work. For that you go to the dealer. You have all your answers now. It up to you to decide the level of risk you are will to take.

 

[shogun32]

If I was to take the car to a friendly mechanic (not a dealership); in theory he could just pretend that the car was never tuned?

if warranty work can be done by any approved agent, and if in that mechanic's opinion the tune is not at fault then this warranty you bought should be honored. Whether a Ford Dealership mechanic would come to the same conclusion or would instead just respond with "it's been tuned, FU" is likely but not a given.

 

[Bikeman315]

if warranty work can be done by any approved agent, and if in that mechanic's opinion the tune is not at fault then this warranty you bought should be honored. Whether a Ford Dealership mechanic would come to the same conclusion or would instead just respond with "it's been tuned, FU" is likely but not a given.

OP is still under factory 5/60.

Sponsored