Mods And Warranty

[NoVaGT]

I've had 0 issues in the past, with mods that I've done and warranty repairs.

Steeda suspension mods caused no issue when my rear wheel bearings failed. The dealership just took care of it under warranty.

An after-market CAI caused no issue when my intake manifold cracked. The dealership ignored it and replaced the manifold under warranty.

However.......I think things might be changing.

A fellow forum member Shogun32 was denied a warranty claim on an inner tie-rod, due to their Steeda suspension mods. His car has 11K miles on it, but I think it had Steeda outer tie-rods.

I'd like to start a sticky of warranty repairs and modifications, to see if there's a trend with Ford being hard-nosed on not covering items when mods are present. Or ya'll can just add to this thread when something pops up.

And of course please share what experiences you've had so far.

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[shogun32]

I do have a name, you know...

A fellow forum member Shogun32 was denied a warranty claim on an inner tie-rod, due to their Steeda suspension mods. His car has 11K miles on it, but I think it had Steeda outer tie-rods.

correct, the outer tie-rod was a Steeda part and included the bump-steer kit, and lateral roll-correcting links and shod with bearings instead of rubber.

The inner tie-rod was defective at the car end. But for $60 delivered I am about to have 2 new rods, boots and so forth and have an actually competent mechanic do the work instead of the dealer.

 

[NoVaGT]

I do have a name, you know...

Well I don't know if you want to remain anonymous.

 

[Doc2020GT]

Well I don't know if you want to remain anonymous.

Bond, James Bond.

 

[ICU812]

I would think, it is dependent on the dealerships, service manager and what failed.
A tie rod fail after someone Changed front end parts, would be a hard sell to the warranty dept. at ford.
Honestly, If it wasn't for the internet and a customer that would roast them if they didn't cover many warranty repairs even when there are mods done, is the only reason many get the green light.

 

[WCGT]

Interested in this as well. Warranty issues like the one mentioned above is a big reason why I am looking at going with the FP track suspension, installed by a Ford dealer, on my 21 GT instead of piecing together the suspension upgrade with parts from other vendors.

 

[shogun32]

the dealer had the nerve to quote me 50% markup on the part to boot.

 

[Ebm]

Well I don't know if you want to remain anonymous.

Yes, real inconspicuous lol...

 

[JimC]

Mods and warranty are really quite simple. Ford warranties the car that Ford built. IF the mod can be shown to be A cause of the failure, then Ford will deny the warranty (the dealer doesn't deny it, Ford denies coverage - the dealer likes warranty work because it is a guaranteed payment from Ford). One of my friends from grade school was the service manager at a dealer and explained it to me when he was able to get some work covered for me, but advised "don't do anything that I can't explain to the engineer or that forces Ford to send one out here".

In the OP case, the cracked manifold likely had no connection to a change of the CAI. Pretty hard for Ford to say that caused the crack in that part. You may have been lucky on the wheel bearing and Ford just didn't ask about any modifications.

"Matt's" change of the tie rods may have been enough for Ford to say, "wait a minute, if that hadn't been changed it wouldn't have affected our part, so we're not paying".

And before someone brings up Magnuson Moss -- all that means is that Ford has to look at it, and say, "we determined your modification caused this". That is all the proof that Ford needs to deny your warranty claim. They don't have to do anything more at that point because they submitted their proof. The burden shifts to the consumer then to start the lawsuit, bring in the experts to show that the failure was NOT caused by their modification and was in fact a manufacturing defect. Then the burden to come forward shifts again to Ford.

 

[Spartan1]

Mods and warranty are really quite simple. Ford warranties the car that Ford built. IF the mod can be shown to be A cause of the failure, then Ford will deny the warranty (the dealer doesn't deny it, Ford denies coverage - the dealer likes warranty work because it is a guaranteed payment from Ford). One of my friends from grade school was the service manager at a dealer and explained it to me when he was able to get some work covered for me, but advised "don't do anything that I can't explain to the engineer or that forces Ford to send one out here".

In the OP case, the cracked manifold likely had no connection to a change of the CAI. Pretty hard for Ford to say that caused the crack in that part. You may have been lucky on the wheel bearing and Ford just didn't ask about any modifications.

"Matt's" change of the tie rods may have been enough for Ford to say, "wait a minute, if that hadn't been changed it wouldn't have affected our part, so we're not paying".

And before someone brings up Magnuson Moss -- all that means is that Ford has to look at it, and say, "we determined your modification caused this". That is all the proof that Ford needs to deny your warranty claim. They don't have to do anything more at that point because they submitted their proof. The burden shifts to the consumer then to start the lawsuit, bring in the experts to show that the failure was NOT caused by their modification and was in fact a manufacturing defect. Then the burden to come forward shifts again to Ford.

It's basically common sense, if you start modifying a factory build on anything, you're giving the manufacturer a reason to not honor the warranty.

That is buyer beware.

 

[shogun32]

I'm not sore or particularly surprised at their decision but they have made sure I don't give them any discretionary business. Had I taken it to Koons Falls Church which is a FP shop with a Shelby tech the answer might have been different. As it is the dealer is out 2 Lyft fares and mechanic time to glance at it.

 

[ICU812]

I'm not sore or particularly surprised at their decision but they have made sure I don't give them any discretionary business. Had I taken it to Koons Falls Church which is a FP shop with a Shelby tech the answer might have been different. As it is the dealer is out 2 Lyft fares and mechanic time to glance at it.

Why, because you changed out parts?
Why you change to the aftermarket parts, to get better handling, that in turn loads the car and parts more and/or differently than stock.
I know I know. having been a dealer tech, it's the oem's fault that the customer changed the dynamics of the car changing parts and a part failed. It is never the fault of the customer, then they put the oem and /or dealer on blast.
Even If the aftermarket speed part didn't cause the oem part to fail, You gave them an out, as they have no idea if it was installed correctly, or installed because the customer smacked a curb and upgraded to the aftermarket "speed" brand while they had to fix it anyways.
The ones I liked were the guys that tune a car to an inch of it's life, blow it up then re-flash it, and want it covered under warranty. Those customers were the biggest KAREN'S going.
So glad I don't have to deal with that crap anymore.

 

[bluebeastsrt]

We’re all adults. We all understand we are rolling the warranty dice when you mod. If you cant afford the repair. Don’t mod.

 

[shogun32]

Why you change to the aftermarket parts, to get better handling, that in turn loads the car and parts more and/or differently than stock.

riddle me how the tension on a tie rod is different by changing the wheel end. Let me guess, If I had the nerve to use TW200 tires or a different brand of TW300, or changed from the 9 to 9.5 or 10" wide front wheel and since the Ford part designed by the biggest morons in Detroit with sh*t-for-brains in the QA department, that any failure for any reason should automatically result in a denial? An extra 1/2 turn on the adjuster is also cause for denial because failure is a resonable outcome right? What about if someone was fool enough to use -2.7 deg of camber. Or maybe it is that almost all ramps in the USA are to the right so the driver-side takes more load.

Will nobody think of the ungodly amount of extra stress we are all putting into the poor tie rod ?!

Next up, tint on the window trapped heat on the anti-fog elements and it cracks.

 

[ICU812]

riddle me how the tension on a tie rod is different by changing the wheel end. Let me guess, If I had the nerve to use TW200 tires or a different brand of TW300, or changed from the 9 to 9.5 or 10" wide front wheel and since the Ford part designed by the biggest morons in Detroit with sh*t-for-brains in the QA department, that any failure for any reason should automatically result in a denial? An extra 1/2 turn on the adjuster is also cause for denial because failure is expected right? What about if someone was fool enough to use -2.7 deg of camber. Will nobody think of the ungodly amount of extra stress you're putting into the poor tie rod!

Next up, tint on the window trapped heat on the anti-fog elements and it cracks.

Ford, saw a new aftermarket part and then questioned why?
Why change out a part, if it changes nothing as far as loading,dynamics. The only other reason is damage.
Because if the outers failed you'd have gone in for warranty, that didn't happen, So Ford looks at it as why are they there, did this car smack a curb and the part needed to be replaced. and later the part now trying to be warrantied failed because of that smack?
You are either claiming the new parts you added do nothing to better the car, if you are claiming they don't help the car handle better, have more adjustability for track days, or other, and if so, Ford wonders why they got changed out , but not under warranty , that = red flag.
I was not there so, I can only ASSUME what they were thinking. But they have a good idea of how long a part last, and what if anything the customer part will do to the rest of the parts it is connected to. So if it does nothing, the question is why were they changed out? part out of spec, can't do a 4 wheel alignment, they get replaced under warranty, customer replaced for some reason. but forgone warranty replacement, so why.
Smacking a curb, is a common reason.

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