What mods can I do without getting in warranty trouble?

[lzaffuto]

Hi guys. This is my first Ford that I've owned and thought about doing a couple of mods to. I've had other cars with quite a few bolt-ons and never had problems getting a warranty claim done. Some of the research I've done here has made me uneasy because it seems to me like Ford is less friendly about mods on your car than other manufacturers? I have a 7 year 100k mile Ford premium warranty and I'd prefer not to have any issues with it. I'm thinking I'd like to do intake and exhaust at least... do you guys think in general I'll have any trouble getting warranty work done with those items on the car? The only other thing I'd love to do is the MPT tune but what I've read here about tunes it seems like basically if you get caught with one you're done and I can admit I see why they would do it that way. Have any of you been denied a claim or worse had your warranty voided for intake, header or exhaust type stuff?

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[cbass]

Window tint, maybe change the radio presets.

 

[six_shooter]

You can get a warranty denied for any reason pretty much. You'll probably be fine with a CAI or exhaust, a tune will definitely void it.

 

[lzaffuto]

Window tint, maybe change the radio presets.

I'm hoping that's sarcasm but some of the stuff I've read... :shrug:

 

[AoAIronman]

Make sure you only roll the windows down once a day. They may not warrant excessive use of your windows.

 

[lzaffuto]

Make sure you only roll the windows down once a day. They may not warrant excessive use of your windows.

The top won't go down without the windows going down first. :(

 

[AoAIronman]

The top won't go down without the windows going down first. :(

Sorry man. Your warranty will be denied. Also never drive the car. Driving it also caused warranties to be denied. But in all seriousness it depends alot on your relationship with your dealer

 

[lzaffuto]

Sorry man. Your warranty will be denied. Also never drive the car. Driving it also caused warranties to be denied. But in all seriousness it depends alot on your relationship with your dealer

They seem fine so far. I dropped it off for the first time today, middle of the day with no appointment or prior notice, and they diagnosed an issue I was having and ordered the part for install tomorrow. I just wanted them to see the issue and was expecting them to make me an appointment to bring it back later on in the week so I was pretty impressed. But the car is 100% stock.

 

[free]

It depends, do you plan on taking it to the dealer with the mods still in place? If so, nothing really, they can claim any mod as cause for failure (then you get into the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act stuff). I'd say go with an intake and exhaust, keep your stock intake and swap it back (takes 15mins max) for warranty work, and for exhaust get a full catback (this way you require no cutting and can bolt your factory exhaust back up in an hour or so. In terms of a tune, the only way to avoid Ford finding out is to get a second PCM, remove your stock one, install new and tune that one and swap back to stock one for warranty work but thats going a bit too far in my opinion.

 

[lzaffuto]

It depends, do you plan on taking it to the dealer with the mods still in place? If so, nothing really, they can claim any mod as cause for failure (then you get into the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act stuff). I'd say go with an intake and exhaust, keep your stock intake and swap it back (takes 15mins max) for warranty work, and for exhaust get a full catback (this way you require no cutting and can bolt your factory exhaust back up in an hour or so. In terms of a tune, the only way to avoid Ford finding out is to get a second PCM, remove your stock one, install new and tune that one and swap back to stock one for warranty work but thats going a bit too far in my opinion.

Yeah I think I'm going to stay away from the tune. I really just want a little more aggressive sound, TBH. Not even expecting any performance gains (although being a convertible a little weight loss wouldn't hurt).

 

[free]

Yeah I think I'm going to stay away from the tune. I really just want a little more aggressive sound, TBH. Not even expecting any performance gains (although being a convertible a little weight loss wouldn't hurt).

Yeah i'd say skip the intake too, really does nothing but gives a bit more sound. Just get yourself a borla atak catback and call it a day.

 

[soldier989]

Pretty safe with things like a drop in K&N air filter, oil separator, pedalmax, catback exhaust. I asked my dealer straight up about the exhaust, he said that's not a problem. Check out the stock GT exhaust on our V6's, it bolts right up and is factory from Ford and sounds pretty good. Unless they look up the part number or pay attention to the tips, it looks stock.

Keep in mind, Ford has to prove that the mod in question caused whatever issue that the warranty is trying to be used for. So if you throw a rod, and you have an axle back muffler on your car, Ford would have to prove that the axle back caused the issue. Chances are they know that wouldn't cause the issue and would need to warranty the repair.

 

[5SS0]

Yea I agree with @free avoid the hassles and headaches and just get a catback + K&N drop in filter and enjoy your car. The intake is just for sound and even the K&N drop in filter improves the sound (not as much as an intake of course but for the price what's not to love?). That's what I did and I'm loving it and I never have to worry about warranty. For the catback I would say get Borla or Gibson (the best two IMO). Oh and you can do many cosmetic mods every once in a while to satisfy your needs

 

[USMC V6]

Hi guys. This is my first Ford that I've owned and thought about doing a couple of mods to. I've had other cars with quite a few bolt-ons and never had problems getting a warranty claim done. Some of the research I've done here has made me uneasy because it seems to me like Ford is less friendly about mods on your car than other manufacturers? I have a 7 year 100k mile Ford premium warranty and I'd prefer not to have any issues with it. I'm thinking I'd like to do intake and exhaust at least... do you guys think in general I'll have any trouble getting warranty work done with those items on the car? The only other thing I'd love to do is the MPT tune but what I've read here about tunes it seems like basically if you get caught with one you're done and I can admit I see why they would do it that way. Have any of you been denied a claim or worse had your warranty voided for intake, header or exhaust type stuff?

When you take your car in for a warrenty item that's the only item there looking for. There not looking for mods remember the more cars they work on the more they make. I took my in for a oil change and the service rep drove it in came back smiled and said nice mustang.

K&N drop in
JMS PedalMAX
JLT oil separator
SK Throttle spacer
SCTx4 93 tune
Ford Racing Shock tower brace

 

[vernonator]

You can get a warranty denied for any reason pretty much. You'll probably be fine with a CAI or exhaust, a tune will definitely void it.

A tune will not VOID your warranty, however if you have a failure that can be traced back to the tune they may deny your claim.

VOID means they cancel it and its gone - they cannot do that, all they can do is deny a claim if they suspect (or can imply) the mod contributed to the event. :frusty::frusty::frusty:

I drove a tuned Taurus SHO for 5 yrs and had several warranty fixes done without problems - none involved the engine though. Guess what? They did not VOID my warranty because I had a tune or catless downpipes.

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