Warranty Claims?

[Giddyup71]

I asked around recently at my local ford dealer about lowering my ute and placing a set of pipes on it.

They said it would void all warranty to the vehicle, after spending the extra dosh getting 5 year extended warranty i dont wanna lose it.

Took the time to head up the road to another dealer and they were happy to let warranty with these mods.

This has me confused as i thought all Ford dealers answer to the same warranty terms.

My concern is go ahead with these early stage mods, not knowing if i have lost warranty if i.e diff blows or wheel bearing hub lets go,

Has anyone outthere been burnt by warranty, or are mot cases prety good in what you can do?

[snappy]

I could not get a warranty claim on a stock one . So yes i been burnt more than once to.
But generally you can mod the car but if the mod causes the problem they wont cover it of coarse. But they will also blame everything on the mod .
Best ive heard was the drone from the exhaust is the reason why the transmission failed .

[zetec]

They legally can't void your entire warranty, only the part related to the mod - i.e. lowering it will void anything like diffs and directly related that they can possibly connect to your mod - IF something fails.

They won't void electrical or trim or anything else though. It's the same for every manufacturer.

When my Focus had lower suspension (installed by the Dealer no less) and an aftermarket exhaust, the processed a claim on a failed Cat Converter because they said they couldn't conclusively prove it either way so gave me the benefit of the doubt! Can't say it was ever an issue for me, must just depend on your relationship with the Dealer. I'd been going there for 2 years and trusted them very highly and they knew by looking at my car, tyre and brake wear how it was treated - very well. (Bayford Epping in Melbourne)

[Giddyup71]

Yeah i baby my car so maybe that applies too, i agree with snappy, they said exhaust noise will void all drive components, which isnt great cause the diffs arent the best, already mine had hum under light throttle at 105 kph

[FPV+fteT3]

Anything you do that is not standard could void your warranty if they feel your mod may have caused the failure the dealer doesn't have to prove that fact just that it may have been a contributing factor.

Custom tuning of your motor can lead to voiding your driveline warranty even without mods dont forget on the FG even if you return the computer to std ford can tell it's been flashed.

With things in the auto industry slow at the moment expect warranty repairs to become tougher to obtain as the factories try to save a dollar.

[sly_ba]

Half the time dealerships dont honour warranty claims on near new stock cars anyway.....

After I got into an argument with Westpoint Ford they flagged my car as modified in FoMoCo's computer system (at this point the car was NOT modified so it was purley done in spite). Subsuquently I went to have a GENUINE issue looked at under warranty at another dealer (with 6 months remaining on factory warranty) and was knocked back as my rego was flagged on the system as a heavily modified car. Westpoint Ford has basically wiped my warranty. My point is they dont need much of an excuse to void your warranty.......doesn't even need to be a spec of truth involved.

[mik]

one thing to remember is there are two perspectives to look at this from, if you have ever worked in a workshop, there are times when people come in for warranty work claiming a manufacturers fault, work shop guys take one look at the car and come to the instant conclusion the vehicle has been thrashed within an inch of it life, for eg, bloke arrives with car on tilt tray and claims diff is faulty, upon examination the gear teeth laying in the bottom of the diff, mechanics see spin cuts in the tyres, rubber under the gaurds, or the car comes in for a new clutch ...again upon inspection the bell housing is full of hairy friction material from absolute abuse, engine bearing rattle at 1500 service anyone? its obviouse abuse it probably cost`s car makers mega dollars, i hate to sound like a spoil sport but if i was a car maker /dealer i would also void warranty if the car was altered from standard during the warranty period, many times the manufacturer /dealer bites the bullet and does the repair.....if you alter the car from standard i would`nt expect the dealer to come running when it has a problem.

[Elks]

Earlier this year, Bayfords (Epping) did a recall on my TS and whilst they had it fixed another albeit small issue No charge. No expectations. I felt so guilty I left it there and had a couple of more things done. (they got their payback)

This is a 2000 model folks. so the warranty expired only 6 years ago.

When it was new and still under warranty we had a couple of things fixed by NewOaks, again fabulous. Only changed as my work changed and NewOaks is the wrong side of town.

Of course we have had some ordinary experiences (though no really bad ones) but I thought I should praise those that have looked after me rather than give free publicity to those that don't care.

It's how the dealership does it and the people they employ, and all about attitude.

When we update our Territory in the 1st half of next year (our 15th ford and 5th brand new one) guess which dealers will have a chance of selling it. There probably is other good dealers out there but I unless something unusual happens I'm not going anywhere,

Sly_ba your story with Westpoint is scary. It's not a ford thing it's the retail store. Make ford customer assistance centre aware of your problem (assuming your car IS stock) they will address it.

[Windsor220]

Originally Posted by mik

one thing to remember is there are two perspectives to look at this from, if you have ever worked in a workshop, there are times when people come in for warranty work claiming a manufacturers fault, work shop guys take one look at the car and come to the instant conclusion the vehicle has been thrashed within an inch of it life, for eg, bloke arrives with car on tilt tray and claims diff is faulty, upon examination the gear teeth laying in the bottom of the diff, mechanics see spin cuts in the tyres, rubber under the gaurds, or the car comes in for a new clutch ...again upon inspection the bell housing is full of hairy friction material from absolute abuse, engine bearing rattle at 1500 service anyone? its obviouse abuse it probably cost`s car makers mega dollars, i hate to sound like a spoil sport but if i was a car maker /dealer i would also void warranty if the car was altered from standard during the warranty period, many times the manufacturer /dealer bites the bullet and does the repair.....if you alter the car from standard i would`nt expect the dealer to come running when it has a problem.

Yep well said.
The thing is the dealer doesnt know you so if they see its modified then they can only assume the worst (driven hard/thrashed).

It all depends on the dealer in the end. Anything can be done on warranty. Its just a case of what gets written down on the paperwork.