Track Days vs Ford Warranty

[MiamiGT350]

Unfortunately, car companies are marketing their vehicles with all kinds of track and enthusiast imagery. Then you buy the car, use it like they insinuated, and they issue a quick warranty denial.

Toyota literally invited new GR86 owners to a Toyota-sponsored track event, then denied warranties when the engines failed. They've also been known to pull the max speed and max rpm data and deny claims because you are driving the vehicle beyond it's intended limits (or the tire's speed rating).

This has long since been debated, but it's a pretty settled issue. If you track your car, or even show up to the dealer with track stickers or anything to insinuate it was tracked, you run a great risk of denial by Ford.

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[ihasnostang]

w.r.t. a roll cage (bar?), just come off as a safety freak. or ask them how much your life is worth

 

[DonPatr0L]

I'm going through the process right now of changing out all the bolts/rivets on my splitter to remove the obvious signs of tracking before I take it in for a warranty claim. Gotta clean the evidence up

 

[coyote550]

There's talk that Ford will even void the warranty on a Mustang GTD for competitive use and that car is made for the track. Ford literally called it a street-legal track car so go figure

 

[MAGS1]

Just because they call it a track capable car does not mean they will warranty it for such use. There is a difference there. And the warranty language is pretty clear. Not sure I have an opinion one or the other as to how I feel about it, but that’s the reality

 

[SBR70.3]

A friend of mine had a 2022 GT catch on fire during an event. Car was destroyed. His transmission line was leaking while on track. Long story short.....Ford did warranty it and he was able to apply the purchase price to a new 2025 GT.

Did he tell Ford the fire occurred on a track, during an HPDE event? Hell no. He also had to take the car to 2 different dealers to get it properly taken care of. Now he has a license plate commemorating the event.

 

[sachmo133]

Unfortunately I have to add a roll bar as I have a convertible, so that might be a little tough. Although if something major happened, I could remove it.

I think Binge is the only HPDE that allows convertibles without a roll cage. I have a 2020 and I just traded it in for a Mach 1. Putting in a roll cage in a car that isn't mostly for the track and you want to resell down the road is not the way to go IMO.

I would expect to be covered for any issue under warrantee. I would never tell them I tracked the car.

 

[EFI]

And the warranty language is pretty clear.

What I struggle with is the word "abuse" or the phrase "past designed limits". None of those are defined what exactly they entail, so how can we as the consumer determine what is abuse and what isn't. Is taking the car to the OEM rev limiter 6 times in the span of 1 minute considered abuse? Or is it 5? Is taking the car to the designed rev limiter of 7500 considered abuse? Or do we have to keep it under 6000 even though the limiter is at 7500?

Abuse is something that is open to interpretation. Some people thing taking the car to 4000 rpm a few times in a row is abuse. I consider abuse going to 8000 rpm for an hour straight. A service rep can say taking the car WOT to 3000 rpm on the street a few times is abuse and technically can decline warranty.

 

[EFI]

Did he tell Ford the fire occurred on a track, during an HPDE event? Hell no.

Did he have to tell Ford where and how the fire occurred? What did he say to that? And I'm surprised that Ford didn't ask for a police report of the incident that would match his testimony (which obviously wouldn't exist since it didn't happen on a public road).

And he just showed up to a Ford dealer with a charred car on the back of a tow truck and asked for a warranty claim?

 

[MAGS1]

What I struggle with is the word "abuse" or the phrase "past designed limits". None of those are defined what exactly they entail, so how can we as the consumer determine what is abuse and what isn't. Is taking the car to the OEM rev limiter 6 times in the span of 1 minute considered abuse? Or is it 5? Is taking the car to the designed rev limiter of 7500 considered abuse? Or do we have to keep it under 6000 even though the limiter is at 7500?

Abuse is something that is open to interpretation. Some people thing taking the car to 4000 rpm a few times in a row is abuse. I consider abuse going to 8000 rpm for an hour straight. A service rep can say taking the car WOT to 3000 rpm on the street a few times is abuse and technically can decline warranty.

You’re 100% right and it’s intentionally vague as it’s now to their discretion as the holder of the warranty. And they also know that most people don’t/wont/can’t spend the time and resources to fight them on it. The legal bill would end up being a multiple of whatever the engine or transmission costs.

We all saw the one example of the forum member that went to mediation with Ford ESP. He did his homework and presented what most people saw as a good case to win his argument. Except he didn’t. The mediator sided with Ford ESP. It’s incredibly difficult to beat them and they know it. It sucks that that’s the way it is but unfortunately it is that way

 

[Ramairetransam]

some tips , when you get to a track , take off the plates or cover them and also cover up the vin and registration . just an fyi .

 

[SBR70.3]

Did he have to tell Ford where and how the fire occurred? What did he say to that? And I'm surprised that Ford didn't ask for a police report of the incident that would match his testimony (which obviously wouldn't exist since it didn't happen on a public road).

And he just showed up to a Ford dealer with a charred car on the back of a tow truck and asked for a warranty claim?

As I stated in the post...."long story short"......basically, a "yes" to what you said, but drawn out over a 6+month period. There was an issue with an oil leak before the track day. Dealer replaced oil pan and unknowingly damaged the line going to the transmission cooler, hence the leak. There were 2 dealers and Ford corporate involved.

 

[MAGS1]

One other thing to point out in the warranty language. The term “racing” is used and is prohibited to maintain warranty. This term by most people’s definition does not include HPDE. However, the GT350 case I and others have referenced, the mediator did in fact view HPDE as racing. So, just go in eyes wide open that what you think you’re doing is not racing, others including the warranty holder may not (and likely won’t) agree with you. And, to EFI’s point about vague language, the term “racing” is not defined anywhere in the warranty language.

 

[S550HPP]

And that's why street racing never ends....

 

[MAGS1]

And that's why street racing never ends....

Street racing occurs for a variety of reasons. Warranty is not one of them. A decent mechanic would know the car has been run hard (remember, abuse is one of the terms that voids a warranty), doesn’t matter if it happened on the street or on a track

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