Warranty VS. Tuning

[gadgtfreek]

I am with @Hangman77 on this.

If your mustang is 'your' only vehicle and under warranty. Hold off on any mods 'until' you can bring on a second car as a daily.
Hope for the best, "but" prepare for the worst!

Any mods? Cmon man. You can walk outside to check the mail get hit by a meteor. I get the chicken little on tuning, even though I personally don't agree, but there are plenty of other mods that won't void anything by what they replace.

Plus this whole doesn't mod a daily driver is a crazy talk. I get not putting a VMP Odin on the daily driver, maybe, but geez. We should just all go buy Camrys I guess.

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[Bikeman315]

Any mods? Cmon man. You can walk outside to check the mail get hit by a meteor. I get the chicken little on tuning, even though I personally don't agree, but there are plenty of other mods that won't void anything by what they replace.

Plus this whole doesn't mod a daily driver is a crazy talk. I get not putting a VMP Odin on the daily driver, maybe, but geez. We should just all go buy Camrys I guess.

I think by "any" mods he meant warranty claim refusal mods. Wheels, tires, exhaust, suspension, cosmetic are all just fine. Just stay away from engine mods and you should be OK.

 

[ctandc72]

Personal preference. Your money, your car, your time. I've been around the car business for a good while and know more than a few techs and service managers. The only powertrain warranty denials I've personally heard of were not because of tunes. A LOT depends on the dealer.

I tuned my daily - because it's my daily. It makes it much more engaging to drive every day in the RPM range where I actually drive the car.

It's an age old argument. If you search this forum you can even find the "guide" that Ford sent out to dealers with pictures of aftermarket modifications and what to look for - thing is, even that guide then pushes a tech to diagnostic steps where they have to essentially prove that the modifications are responsible for the failure.

Most powertrain failures are going to be either TSB related (things that pop every now and again and manufacturers know this - oil consumption etc) or the engine / drive train had a problem from day one. YMMV.

 

[ctandc72]

IMO not really. E85 is the only real reason the tune the car. 93 tunes can help dead spots and shift logic but horsepower gain probably isn’t worth it alone.

I agree. HP gain was not the reason I tuned mine. Gains under the power curve is what I was looking for and in that - I'm satisfied.

 

[ctandc72]

I think by "any" mods he meant warranty claim refusal mods. Wheels, tires, exhaust, suspension, cosmetic are all just fine. Just stay away from engine mods and you should be OK.

That's the thing - and I swear I'm not being argumentative - but if you look at the posts talking about why "not" to tune your car - that very same argument holds for suspension, wheels etc. If something breaks in the suspension and car in question has aftermarket springs, dampers, sway bars etc - the dealer could deny the claim because of those mods.

It's literally the same logic.

 

[turbopk]

I guess I speak from my own personal experience. Having only 1 car and it being a daily to work, etc. Modding it and things breaking. I did not have a warranty, and was making payments.
It put me in a bad situation, this was a long time ago way before we could take an Uber to work.

Ever since then I have always had at least 2 cars. 1 daily, stays stock, typically a non-performance vehicle. And then a fun, toy car that I can mod on and if something breaks I still have my daily to drive.


With my new GT the finance manager was a car guy( 2020 Supra) he even said now I know you will mod on this car so if you do and something breaks, put it back to stock then bring it in so it will be under warranty.

 

[NeedForGreen]

If you want a tune and want to play it safe, get one that's actually covered under a warranty. Roush and Ford Performance are the only 2 if installed at a dealer or ase mechanic. They are more calibrations then anything, but can wake the car up a little. You just won't get anything dramatic.

 

[ice445]

If you want to mod it, mod it. Just have money on hand to pay for stuff if it breaks. A longblock for these cars is about $9k, although it's rare you'll need that entire thing.

I'm personally happy with the stock performance, so I'm not tuning anything or doing any power adders.

 

[Jackson1320]

Get a no tune required cai a catback exhaust and your warranty is safe.
the law says that if they refuse to do a repair under warranty that they must have proof that the modification caused the problem otherwise they have to fix it. If something happens and you need warranty work done but you have a tune be ready to go tow to tow with them. If you fight you will win. If they refuse a repair 99% of people will just bend over. I have seen Ford refuse a repair because the mustang has 20” wheels even though the car was available with 20” wheels. But it came with 19” so they denied the repair under warranty. But after showing that we were willing to go all it and fight they covered the repair

 

[Jackson1320]

If you want to mod it, mod it. Just have money on hand to pay for stuff if it breaks. A longblock for these cars is about $9k, although it's rare you'll need that entire thing.

I'm personally happy with the stock performance, so I'm not tuning anything or doing any power adders.

If it blows get a used f150 engine for under 2k

 

[Black19GT]

I have the Premium Care extended warranty and I’m glad I haven’t tuned my car yet. Already replaced one axle and car is currently at dealer with a clutch/trans issue. Both issues Ford would likely decline coverage for if my car was tuned.

 

[Jackson1320]

I have the Premium Care extended warranty and I’m glad I haven’t tuned my car yet. Already replaced one axle and car is currently at dealer with a clutch/trans issue. Both issues Ford would likely decline coverage for if my car was tuned.

They can’t deny a axle because of a tune. They can’t just check every car to see if it has a tune before they decide if it needs to have work done to it. they can only check the tune if there’s a reason to believe that the tune caused the failure. They can’t just check the tune to find a way out of paying.

 

[Jackson1320]

That's the thing - and I swear I'm not being argumentative - but if you look at the posts talking about why "not" to tune your car - that very same argument holds for suspension, wheels etc. If something breaks in the suspension and car in question has aftermarket springs, dampers, sway bars etc - the dealer could deny the claim because of those mods.

It's literally the same logic.

Only if they can prove that those mods caused the part to break

 

[kz]

Only if they can prove that those mods caused the part to break

I don't know why people think that - there is no court they have to prove anything in (unless you sue them) - they will say that it broke because of an aftermarket part, may come with a reasonable argument why (which is extremely easy to form) and good luck proving otherwise (especially that 99.9% owners do not have engineering knowledge to do so).

 

[Bikeman315]

I don't know why people think that - there is no court they have to prove anything in (unless you sue them) - they will say that it broke because of an aftermarket part, may come with a reasonable argument why (which is extremely easy to form) and good luck proving otherwise (especially that 99.9% owners do not have engineering knowledge to do so).

That’s why we have consumer protection laws.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/businesspersons-guide-federal-warranty-law

The good news is that the majority of dealers follow the law and file the warranty claim. Unless you have a engine issue the odds of a claim refusal are slim.

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