Tuned guys: post personal experience with warranty claims

[xrocket21]

Most of the warranty decision is not made by the dealer. The PCM monitors countless functions of the vehicle and will take a snapshot of any event that is out of factory specs.

Let me try to explain it this way. I had a customer with a Focus ST that had low compression on 2 cylinders and wouldn't run. He swore up and down it had never been tuned. Which it turned out he was correct. However he had put an aftermarket BOV on that was adjusted way out of spec. So the car was producing more boost at certain load percentages than it was supposed to. So every time this happened the PCM takes a snapshot. Date, mileage, engine temp, rpm, load percentage, etc.. So when Ford requested data files from the PCM on this car they denied the warranty claim. The customer had also cut the cats off and was running a short straight pipe off of the turbo.

So the PCM tracks everything. Even a pedal commander which doesn't reprogram the PCM will produce traceable snapshots every time the truck is producing more specified boost.

So any type of performance mods like a pedal commander or tune can affect a warranty repair. Ford extended warranty is the same as the Factory warranty. So that can affect your coverage on extended warranties also.

Years ago when we had the 03' Cobra's if we had a drive line failure it wasn't uncommon for Ford to send an FSE in to inspect the car for mods. They used to put us through training to detect if a car had mods done to it. Back the it was the dealers responsibility to tell Ford if the car was modded. Of course most dealers didn't. Dealers wanted the warranty work AND they didn't want to **** of their customers. So if Ford would pay and the customer was happy in the end it was a win win for everyone but Ford. However if the dealer got caught doing that Ford would not only kick the warranty claim and refuse to pay it. That would also end up with the dealer getting warranty audits more frequently.

We replaced a motor in a 2008' GT500 that one of my customers blew up. We couldn't detect any mods but when Ford got the blown motor back they felt it was modded and refused to pay the claim. So we were out something like $15k.

So as mentioned above. Be prepared to pay if you make those decision to mod the truck in certain ways.

Now with that said if you tune the truck and the AC compressor goes out both factory or extended warranties won't balk at paying that repair.

So a tune doesn't just void your warranty.

Also as said above if Ford denies the claim goo luck fighting them and saying THEY have to prove that your mod cause the failure.

Well put, this should be copypasta for anytime anyone asks about warranty.

Also @xxaarra 5star sells a warranty with their tunes if you are so inclined.

 

[GaRaptor]

I cant ever decide whether or not to get the extended warranty . My truck has about 4500 miles and I've had it 6 weeks ... what is the general consensus? Did you guys get one ? If so , which company has the best warranty for the money ? Sorry to hijack but its kind of in line with OP topic !

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[GaRaptor]

As far as turning is concerned I'm always worried that Ford turned the engine the way they did for a reason. If someone wants to keep their truck for many miles 200k + , tuning will only wear out the engine and associated components faster . Thoughts ?

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[Gsteve]

As far as turning is concerned I'm always worried that Ford turned the engine the way they did for a reason. If someone wants to keep their truck for many miles 200k + , tuning will only wear out the engine and associated components faster . Thoughts ?

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more power , more wear.... if your using it

 

[1BAD454SS]

The Newer the vehicle the more it can be tracked and information stored for review. Hitting rev limit ,wheel slippage , boost spikes. Bet at some point it will all go through your GPS and Ford we keep track of what your doing in real time. Sure going to miss the good old days

 

[GaRaptor]

The Newer the vehicle the more it can be tracked and information stored for review. Hitting rev limit ,wheel slippage , boost spikes. Bet at some point it will all go through your GPS and Ford we keep track of what your doing in real time. Sure going to miss the good old days

Find that fuse ! All of us car guys will have to become Hackerz as well just to customize our trucks lol already like that with forscan

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[SpeedJunkie]

I blew a motor on a 2015 3.5EB F150 that was tuned (threw a rod through the block). It had about 33k on the OD. Dealer put it through and I got a new motor under warranty. What they told me was that it was Ford's discretion whether to audit and find out if it was tuned. If they did audit then the claim would have likely been denied. Since I didn't get denied, I assume they didn't audit.

I buy a lot of vehicles from that dealer, so that may play into why they treated me well.

 

[Pacific Wheel]

I don't know how the Ford ECU differs from a Mercedes ECU but I have a few customers with late model E63's that are tuned but they have "cloned" ecu's they plug in when warranty work is needed. Not sure exactly how it works but they said got ECU's from E350's (same generation) and had there tuner "clone" them based off the cars OEM ECU. He said he's had it in a few times for warranty work and the dealer has never said anything. Seem like a genius idea but not sure if it would work for Ford's ECU.

And don't quote me on any of this. Just some stuff I was told when chatting with customers on the phone.

 

[TXRaptor]

I buy a lot of vehicles from that dealer, so that may play into why they treated me well.

You might be right on how it was handled by your dealer, but I have heard from others that Ford can still ask for the audit even if the dealer does not think it is needed. (i.e. In your case, the dealer did not ask and Ford did not think it was needed)

 

[bo1966]

Only time I've had an issue was on my 17 powerstroke that's HEAVILY moded and tuned. My dealer is really cool about mods and got creative but it was close. Turned out to be a simple update from the tuner