Has ANYONE EVER had warranty work denied by Ford?

[JimiJak]

If you've ever had any warranty work denied or your factory warranty voided, for ANY reason, this is your thread. We need to hear about it!

Please, no; my sister's cousin's uncle's brother's, stories. First or maybe strong second hand stories only.

 

[Dxlnt1]

Dont know if this is right place for this, so I will create separate post too.

As my car now sits at dealer awaiting transmission repairs, I was told by dealer that ANY repairs that may come under TSB or recall from Ford are NOT automatically repaired. Only time it is addressed is IF customer has specific complaint that leads to TSB or recall issue. This seems strange to me. I never had this approach by any car manufacturer. Typically if car goes into dealer, once VIN is submitted, any and all service needed including TSB, recall, oil change or any other "maintenance" item is documented, noted and repaired.

One of the first things dealer said to me about my car when I took it in for transmission problems was, "you are due for oil change! Want us to change your oil?"  And, "your transmission fluid is a little low! Although car not having any problems relating to a late oil change (like a thrown or bent rod, lol) then why cant or wont they do the same check for TSB's and such. Especially if safety and maintenance of vehicles is the primary concern? Just saying!

http://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php/topic,3008.0.html

 

[kinder]

Most dealers I have worked for here in Canada do TSB's on cars as soon as they see it needs it.

I have seen many dealers refuse warranty work when they see that the problem, even if it may have been prevented by a TSB, may be caused by abuse/ modification.

 

[JimiJak]

I know we've all heard of it happening, but I want a first hand report of someone getting told their warranty was no good because of a mod or something.
It's a topic that gets brought up a lot on this forum andba concern of many of our. Just wondering how prevalent, or if it's just an urban legend. LOL

Anyone??

 

[BiGMaC]

I know we've all heard of it happening, but I want a first hand report of someone getting told their warranty was no good because of a mod or something.
It's a topic that gets brought up a lot on this forum andba concern of many of our. Just wondering how prevalent, or if it's just an urban legend. LOL

Anyone??

I'm like JimiJak.... Any first hand reports... especially FORD, and especially EB engines

I have yet to see an actual denial of service/cancellation of warranty here.... I'd like to here from someone who had it happen to them... not more speculation and 2nd party reports

 

[crash712us]

I've had it happen to me, and I guy I work with also. For myself dealer refused to warranty. I still have factory warranty intact. My coworker ford axed his warranty. His issue was cam phasers, and the voided his warranty saying he didn't change his oil often enough on a truck that only had 20k on it. For myself had drive line whine which the dealer said was PTU and warrantied. When that didn't fixed it was a bearing in trans and they said they wouldn't submit they claim to ford due to the mods I had on my car.


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[FoMoCoSHO]

Did you go to a different dealer? Its not the dealerships call to honor or not honor your warranty.

 

[Tuner Boost]

For ages we bought new F350 dually diesels for the race team every 3 years or so, the first one after the 7.3 was dropped (6.0 diesel if I remember?) lifted the heads (as they all did) and when we brought it in the dealer refused warranty claiming the K&N filter we added caused it.  Went to dealer down the road (a Lincoln Mercury dealer) where we did not buy it from and they warrantied it no problem.  And the second, and 3rd time as well. Then we did our own ARP head studs and no more problems after that.

Needless to say that dealer NEVER will get another purchase from us.....they lost a good long term customer, but the other dealer went up and above the call of duty.  Bad dealers and good dealers.

 

[DRII]

I've had it happen to me, and I guy I work with also. For myself dealer refused to warranty. I still have factory warranty intact. My coworker ford axed his warranty. His issue was cam phasers, and the voided his warranty saying he didn't change his oil often enough on a truck that only had 20k on it. For myself had drive line whine which the dealer said was PTU and warrantied. When that didn't fixed it was a bearing in trans and they said they wouldn't submit they claim to ford due to the mods I had on my car.


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so the mods were obvious?  was it the tune or something else?  did you try to flash to stock before bringing it in?

 

[crash712us]

Did you go to a different dealer? Its not the dealerships call to honor or not honor your warranty.

The dealer has to obligation to Ford motor to submit a valid claims. My dealer was aware of my mods to car, they warrantied PTU. And that didn't fix they couldn't turn around and say its the trans now. Especially when Ford head quarters is only 5mi's away. Ford would have sent a inspector and my warranty would be voided and the dealer would take a hit for submitting a invalid claim. Now should the repair been warrantied? I'd say yes, cause I have chalked up to being a faulty part. As I have more miles and more HP car now then I did prior to repair. But the rules are clear. If want to play be prepared to pay.

 

[FoMoCoSHO]

Did you go to a different dealer? Its not the dealerships call to honor or not honor your warranty.

The dealer has to obligation to Ford motor to submit a valid claims. My dealer was aware of my mods to car, they warrantied PTU. And that didn't fix they couldn't turn around and say its the trans now. Especially when Ford head quarters is only 5mi's away. Ford would have sent a inspector and my warranty would be voided and the dealer would take a hit for submitting a invalid claim. Now should the repair been warrantied? I'd say yes, cause I have chalked up to being a faulty part. As I have more miles and more HP car now then I did prior to repair. But the rules are clear. If want to play be prepared to pay.

Did you ever consider the possibility that they refused to submit your claim because they would've been charged back for the misdiagnosed PTU?

Your claim was a valid claim up to the point they are able to prove the mods caused the failure.

I know for a fact that dealerships and Ford can and do honor the warranties of modded cars. I know specifically of a f250 that had been heavily modded (flash, gigantic exhaust, intake, etc), Ford was aware, and they covered 2 transmissions. The third one they washed their hands of, fair enough. 3rd time around he had a tranny built to handle the power.

Having a tuned car does not automatically void your warranty, and Ford and good dealerships aren't running around voiding peoples warranties. In fact their policies have softened quite a bit since 04 ish.

That really sucks you were treated like that.

 

[crash712us]

Sure there are always possibilities and serval scenarios it could played out for. For yourself I would say you where very lucky in your situation. But I work for ford motor, I wouldn't say where soft at all on warranty issues. It's the manufactures greatest expense. I know at my plant they investigate ever warranty claim.


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[FoMoCoSHO]

Sure there are always possibilities and serval scenarios it could played out for. For yourself I would say you where very lucky in your situation. But I work for ford motor, I wouldn't say where soft at all on warranty issues. It's the manufactures greatest expense. I know at my plant they investigate ever warranty claim.


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I absolutely believe warranty claims are their greatest expense. I would love to know how the numbers break down when comparing modded vs stock claims.

It seems like there are some very different outcomes depending on the dealership. My suspicion is that owner loyalty, and behavior of said owner may play a huge part in the outcomes of these issues as well. I guess my point is this is not a broad stroke policy issue, it seems to be taken case by case.

This wasn't my truck and i wouldn't have faulted ford if they had denied it, I'm sure you're aware of the crazy shite some of these diesel owners do to their trucks...this was a classic example. In fact I think Ford went above and beyond in this case.

I just hope if I'm ever in this situation with the SHO, I get similar consideration. Every dollar spent on vehicle purchases and service goes to Ford. If my mod was proven to cause the issue, I'd take my lumps. But for them to say modded car = voided warranty without any investigation as to the cause of the failed part is a bit hard to swallow.

 

[DRII]

crash, why didn't you try another dealer?

and why does the one dealer know about all your mods, did you tell them?

seems to me, you working directly for Ford makes your perspective, and resulting behavior, different from what most would probably do...

 

[crash712us]

They dealer chose cause I personally know the service manager. And do believe he did everything he could for me in my situation, without risking penalty to him self. So yes he was apprised of everything I did to my car, he was really in between a rock and hard place. The only he could do is give a great deal on the repairs, and from what he showed me for any one else it would have been double. And quote his words exactly. " if ford seen my car they'd void the warranty on the spot."
As I am a employee I will keep my opinions about Ford brief. Its not the place it use to be. Even with my coworkers ecoboost f150 with 20k on a cam phasers going out, which is well known problem. They wouldn't warranty because of varnish on internals, and he claims he changed the oil every 3-5k. And after working there for 28yrs you get to know a lot of people inside there, and nobody could help him. And he was told if he continued pursuing they'd just void his warranty all together.

I know all about magnus moss act. But Fords don't have to prove nothing, they got deeper pockets and better attorneys.

 

[FoMoCoSHO]

There is something very important everyone needs to take from crash's story.....maintenance! Make sure you keep excellent records if you don't have it dealership serviced. Make sure your exotic oils and fluids meet all of Fords standards because that is one thing I know for sure will get your claim denied. I find it simpler just to take my stuff to the dship.....have them do the labor using my fluids.

 

[Tuner Boost]

Also what I have heard (though rare) is a dealer that denies a warranty and charges the customer AND submits for warranty reimbursement.  I have never seen it personally, just was related from an ex-employee.  Hope that is very rare.

 

[donky4444]

There is something very important everyone needs to take from crash's story.....maintenance! Make sure you keep excellent records if you don't have it dealership serviced. Make sure your exotic oils and fluids meet all of Fords standards because that is one thing I know for sure will get your claim denied. I find it simpler just to take my stuff to the dship.....have them do the labor using my fluids.

This is what I do  I buy the oil and filter and pay them to do the labor.  $14.95 is cheap labor for an oil change.  Plus when I go to sell the car I have proof of all maintenance done on my car which is always a good selling point.

 

[JimiJak]

So we've heard from crash and about crash's friend, a couple of un-honored tsb's, and I've been pm'd with one instance of a dealer basically "warning" a customer to make sure they have their car back to stock when they bring it in for work.

This thread has 530views.

Happily, this is the response I was hoping to see. Please, if anyone else has had warranty work denied due to mods, please share so we can get a more accurate sense of this topic's prevalence.

 

[panther427]

This isn't Ford specific but when I modded as a mechanic for GM and Chrysler Dodge Jeep. I had only seen all few cases of voided and refusal To do warranty work. Most cases where due to extremely modded vehicles or horrible maintenance and or neglect.