2020: Two Warranty Case Studies & Good Video

[Dustan]

I wish Car manufacturers would let car enthusiasts choose if they want a warranty or not. Maybe cover obvious defects in manufacturing but that’s it. Give me options of warranty level at purchase. I’ve never purchased a vehicle because it had a warranty, because I know I’ll probably void it anyway. I was reading about the guy that just bought a raptor with 37’s and blew the tranny up and understand why it won’t be covered. Meanwhile the guy on keep it dirty has had his front end completely rebuilt under warranty while running 37’s. Doesn’t make sense to me.

 

[Jakenbake]

I wish Car manufacturers would let car enthusiasts choose if they want a warranty or not. Maybe cover obvious defects in manufacturing but that’s it. Give me options of warranty level at purchase. I’ve never purchased a vehicle because it had a warranty, because I know I’ll probably void it anyway. I was reading about the guy that just bought a raptor with 37’s and blew the tranny up and understand why it won’t be covered. Meanwhile the guy on keep it dirty has had his front end completely rebuilt under warranty while running 37’s. Doesn’t make sense to me.

I’ll pose a hypothetical piggyback comment/question.

How is the line drawn in the sand so to speak?

Would the hypothetical warranty be void for a swap to factory size MT tires? What about factory size AT tires? If the argument was made about increased load on the drivetrain, you could bring up a point that some AT tires can get quite heavy. Falkens, Nitto Terra’s, etc.

For reference I drive a gen 1 without warranty and just like to have a good discussion.

 

[TheTeej]

I don’t understand the logic behind 37’s causing a denial of transmission warranty. Specifically if it’s a lighter 37”, with aftermarket wheels you could be lighter than stock weight with oem beadlocks

 

[TheTeej]

I wish Car manufacturers would let car enthusiasts choose if they want a warranty or not. Maybe cover obvious defects in manufacturing but that’s it. Give me options of warranty level at purchase. I’ve never purchased a vehicle because it had a warranty, because I know I’ll probably void it anyway. I was reading about the guy that just bought a raptor with 37’s and blew the tranny up and understand why it won’t be covered. Meanwhile the guy on keep it dirty has had his front end completely rebuilt under warranty while running 37’s. Doesn’t make sense to me.

he also swapped to 35’s whenever he took it back to the dealer. At least for a while

 

[1BAD454SSv2]

Kah 24. Manufacturer built it and need to stand by it . Known design and oem part quality issues are not going to paid by me. Unfortunately you have to sue to get the evidence of the known issues internal emails usually. Is not worth it in short term . I have modded supercharged gen 1 that only went in for warranty on interior failures moonroof rear window slider. Camera heated seats. My 2019 raptor is stock and has not even seen dirt road yet. Leaking rear shock was almost not covered at 8000 miles on odometer . I had to escalate to get it covered. Only reason it was covered, underneath was spotless . This is Crap I'm talking about . I would been stuck with a $1200 bill if my truck was driven offroad. You can defend your integrity all day long . You have to look at things from owners point of view also.

 

[Muchmore]

@KAH24 I have to ask what prompted this thread? I find it very interesting and I thank you for bringing it up but I just have to wonder what brought it up?

 

[GordoJay]

@KAH24 I have to ask what prompted this thread? I find it very interesting and I thank you for bringing it up but I just have to wonder what brought it up?

Without naming names, it's all kind of pie in the sky. Everyone honest = good. That's pretty obvious. There are honesty problems at all three levels, OEM, dealer, and owner. Technology is shifting the advantage more toward the OEM from wherever it was. That puts a premium on finding an honest OEM that works hard at keeping dealers honest. It looks to me like that information isn't going to show up here. I'd be curious to see where Ford sits. Since I have to guess, I'd say somewhere in the middle. They certainly do a crap job of keeping dealers honest, but appear mostly OK otherwise. Thoughts? Experiences?

 

[KAH 24]

@KAH24 I have to ask what prompted this thread? I find it very interesting and I thank you for bringing it up but I just have to wonder what brought it up?

@Muchmore Thank you. Candidly, this topic is one that is intensely debated within my organization (and I’d imagine in others). I think about it and discuss it with many.

Five of a vast plethora of reasons I brought it up:

1. Dealerships profit significantly from unfitting aftermarket accessories (which they install).
2. Some accessories may adversely impact major components (I say may as they were not tested during vehicle development).
3. If the dealer installs the accessory and things go kaboom during the factory warranty—who is liable (the OEM/dealer, the aftermarket company, the consumer).
4. Some data suggests that if the vehicle breaks—the consumer/market will attribute it to the vehicle being unreliable/failure prone (which no brand wants).
5. Some dealers want the aftermarket to have 100% responsibility, some want the OEM/dealership to have responsibility, and some hover in the partial responsibility area. Legal pulls their hair out thinking about this.

As a Raptor owner, I have no desire to modify it—but understand some do. My clear bias is that Ford should not be responsible for aftermarket mods installed by the dealer, but I find myself wavering occasionally (as there is a break point somewhere between sales profit/repair costs/etc).

Given the success of the Raptor, other OEMs have customers who want the “rugged lifestyle appearance”—which of course the aftermarket is more than thrilled to address.

Unsurprisingly—biases/opinions likely exist depending on what division a person works in (budget, profit/loss).

NOTE: I also own an AEV Rubicon which I bought new from a dealership and added an extended warranty (which I voided willingly by modifying the engine). Hypothetically, if AEV had gone out of business a month after I bought the Jeep—there would be no way to hold the aftermarket company liable for anything (the AEV warranty). The OEM/dealer would then be “stuck” so to speak in repairing failures (drivetrain being a major concern given the lift, heavy tires, and significant weight of accessories)

 

[Harvey Singh]

I wish Car manufacturers would let car enthusiasts choose if they want a warranty or not. Maybe cover obvious defects in manufacturing but that’s it. Give me options of warranty level at purchase. I’ve never purchased a vehicle because it had a warranty, because I know I’ll probably void it anyway. I was reading about the guy that just bought a raptor with 37’s and blew the tranny up and understand why it won’t be covered. Meanwhile the guy on keep it dirty has had his front end completely rebuilt under warranty while running 37’s. Doesn’t make sense to me.

keep it dirty is playing the system, I’m surprised Ford hasn’t watched his YouTube videos and voided his warranty yet. He beats his truck with 37” tires than complains it’s a lemon. Guys an idiot.

He switches to 35” tires everytime he goes to the dealer, which is probably why they let it slide.

 

[DFS]

keep it dirty is playing the system, I’m surprised Ford hasn’t watched his YouTube videos and voided his warranty yet. He beats his truck with 37” tires than complains it’s a lemon. Guys an idiot.

He switches to 35” tires everytime he goes to the dealer, which is probably why they let it slide.

Totally agree with this, and he keeps swapping back to smaller tire size for going into the shop. I can't believe they've replaced his steering rack as many times as they have, then he blames Ford for not designing the stock suspension + aftermarket springs to be engineered for totally different geometry and weight distribution. If I was to put 37's on my truck I would beef up the whole thing with an SVC mid travel kit and say adios to the warranty.

I can't imagine his lemon law pursuit would be successful given his public documentation of modifications outside of OEM spec directly affecting his steering rack/components. Probably the primary reason he hasn't but likes to claim it for YouTube.