Mods that WON'T void the Warranty...

[BlackenedSVT]

I have an 02 GT and have a warranty on it for another year. What are some mods that i can do to it that -WILL NOT- void the warranty. I realize just about everything does butlet me know what you think....

I'm thinking about these:
- Mid H or X pipe
- Cat-Back SLP Exhaust
- Rear End Gears
- Intake (plenum or throttle body)
- LT Headers

 

[FallenPhoenix]

you'd be pushing your luck with the gears, they could try and void your entire drivetrain warranty, and aside from expensive legal advise and proceedings, they may be successful. I'd say you're pretty safe with the exhaust system, I'd get a mid-pipe with race pipes you can swap for cats when you need to get it looked at, or just stick with a non-offroad mid-pipe. I don't think there's a CARB approved mid-pipe since changing the mid-pipe at all in Cali is illegal.

 

[jstreet0204]

By law they can only void the warranty on the part you change and any part that is damaged as a result of it. The problem is that they can argue theories of how a particular mod caused a chain reaction, and most can't afford to fight it in court. Your best bet is to find a mod friendly dealer.

 

[PSCBrenden]

It all about the dealership, some are cool and some are total a$$holes.

 

[onesticker]

This is true it is all about the dealer. I just had my drivers side power window motor replaced and I'm getting my hood painted next week. I have paint peeling off about the size of quarter, Anyway, dealer had no problems doing the warranty repairs.

 

[COBRA90GT]

It all about the dealership, some are cool and some are total a$$holes.

What he said. In all honesty, the only item on that list above that a dealership probably *won't* hassle you over is the catback. Sad, but true.

Keep in mind that all dealership service departments operate differently, so you may come across one that is more "mod friendly" than the other. Moss Magnuson warranty act or not, it's not easy to convince certain dealerships that YOU are right and THEY are wrong. LOL

Bottomline is, if you CANNOT afford your car to be down because they refuse to work on it due to aftermarket parts, then LIMIT your mods (or don't mod it at all). That's the safe route to take.

If you do choose to add all the usual bolt-ons & whatnot, then your other option is to have a speedshop or a general car repair garage perform "warranty work" on your car, on your dime of course.


My .02 Plan accordingly, based on your needs.

 

[hognutz]

dealership might waranty 3.73 gears if they installed them.

cat back is a no brainer

midpipe violates emissions laws so that one is going to get tricky. I kept my old one in case I ever needed to take it in.
shifter same thing. kept the old one in case something happened.

not sure on longtubes.

plenum and tb should be okay.

my .02 is do exhuast and plenum. then save you original midepipe and plenum. you are talking about 2hrs to swap it back to stock if something major happened. that is what I did. If my tranny went or something I would have just converted back to stock before I took the car in.

 

[BlackenedSVT]

Well i bought the car from an Independent Dealer in Mass, and i live here in NJ. So i have a 'factory' warranty on the car. So how does the ford dealer come in? Isn't the warranty good at ANY dealership? I guess you mean take my car to any dealership that is cool with the mods.

Well i have one dealership by me where my mechanic works at. He is a mechanic for Ford. So i guess i'll bring my car there and have him continue to mod and maintain the car

Thanks for the input though! I'll go with the Cat-back and plenum/TB work 1st...and my warranty will probably be void before i can do any other hp mods...or maybe i'll just do appearance mods until the warranty is expired...

EDIT: Oh i forgot! I REALLY wanted to do: STEEDA Springs, shocks, and Cast-Camber plates. Would that void the warranty? I wanted to do them this december and drop the car an inch or two.

 

[johnnyvista]

Find a good dealer and stick with them. I got SCREWED by my dealer. I put on a MAC cat back and it worked great, sounded nice. Then my check engine light came on so i took it to the dealer to get it looked at. I was told that they couldn't do anything for me since I had modded the car. I argued with them that, by law, that doesn't void my warranty - only my warranty of that part or other affected parts as jstreet0204 correctly stated.

After 2 hours of arguing with the parts manager and then the service manager, I was told that the check engine light was just a smog light and it was labeled 'check engine soon' because if it was labeled 'smog light' no one would ever take their car in over it. They said that, since I had modded my exhaust, that they couldn't do anything about the light. I should have known better than to believe their line of BS but I did.

So, I left the light on for 2 years figuring that it was just a smog light that would stay on since i later put a catted X on my car. When i started hearing the knocking in my engine, my warranty was done so I took it to a real mechanic (3 different ones actually). I found out from all 3 that the light was on because i had a bad coil on the 8th cylinder and the knocking was coming from inside the cylinder, probably a blown wrist pin but there's no way to know for sure unless we rip apart the whole motor. I don't know if a bad coil can blow a wrist pin but it's a hell of a coincidence. Right?

Anyway, to make a long story short, it was cheaper to put in a new, forged motor than to rebuild the stock motor. So, from my perspective, 7k in the hole, let me tell you that it's a good idea to find an honest, mod-friendly dealer.

Oh, and if anyone wants to know which Ford dealer screwed me, just ask. I'm HAPPY to chase their business away.

 

[cmb91LX]

billet AC knobs

 

[GT-03]

By law they can only void the warranty on the part you change and any part that is damaged as a result of it.

That is true, but unfortunately, is only 1/2 of the Moss Magnuson Act. The "pro-consumer" half.

The other part is the "pro-business" half. That allows a manufacturer to fully void the entire warranty if there is any sign of abuse. "Racing" is considered abuse, and performance mods are the potential evidence of such abuse. One needs to be careful of this "back door".

But you are very right. Having a "mod friendly" dealer, where you don't need to start down the road of litigation, is really the best thing.

 

[BlackenedSVT]

Well i think the choice is clear for me then. I'll just do appearance modifications until my warranty is up in April/jun-ish. Take it in for one last warranty inspection to make sure the car is in tip-top shape...and then ill work over the summer for some HP under the hood.

 

[decoy562]

Find a mod friendly dealer, thats all I gotta say

 

[firemedic]

UDT,
Good plan playing it safe. As others have mentioned it is ultimately the dealer who makes your day good or bad.

Spend the next year researching your mods, quoteing prices and finding a good parts supplier. Have your parts ready so when the warranty runs out, like you said get one last check and your away to the races... sorry!

So since you will be spending cash in the next several months, start with some nice billet "show" items for the interior/engine compartment.

Good luck.

 

[IJUSTWON]

With the extended 75,000 mile warranty from Ford does that cover everything?

 

[TenaciousD]

everyone here has a good point, but if you can find a cool dealer(and have them install it) that would be your best bet.
I live in tampa,fl and Brandon ford is a reccomened Ford racing dealership. just look around