The bottom line is this ? The info that I originally obtained from the field service engineers about dealerships voiding Ford factory warranties was correct and that only individuals such as PERTANO who work for FORD CORPORATE are legally authorized to make those decisions in which I clearly stated from the very beginning of this thread just as I also clearly stated that dealerships are only authorized to refuse servicing vehicles under a warranty claim if ? an aftermarket part was directly responsible for causing the warranted part or parts in question to fail..My entire point from the very beginning was this ? there's a very huge difference between dealerships refusing to service a vehicle under a warranty claim than having the authorization of VOIDING A FORD FACTORY WARRANTY ? in which we now all know was a myth just as I suspected it was in the first place...Therefore dealerships can do all the finger pointing until their blue in the face ? if in the event you should happen to come across a bone headed dealership like that ? then just move on to another dealer who will work with you and not against you and I don't want to hear any BS excuses that it all depends on the dealership ? They all have to follow the very same procedures and requirements under Ford's policy..
Ok let me clear this up a bit so you see how it works..
The dealer really does not care if the customer pays or if ford pays for the repair, the only thing the dealer cares about is that SOMEBODY PAYS..
IF we at the dealer level don't notify ford that a mustang that came in with a blown engine had nitrous run in it or a supercharger and ford during inspection of the motor when it gets back to them decides that they will not cover it then the dealer itself pays.. DEALERS DO NOT LIKE TO PAY TO FIX YOUR CAR.
So what we do at the dealer level to protect ourself is we the techs make a note of whats on the car and let the service manager know. At this point if he does not want to warranty the problem then the customer can appeal this and a Ford rep will inspect the car and make the decision on the claim and if the warranty will be voided.
IF the ford rep wants to allow the repair to be done under warranty then the dealer is protected from charge back because a ford rep inspected the car and signed off on it.
I have seen a few warranties get voided over the years including one of the techs I work with who did not bother taking a aftermarket pulley off of his lighting with a blown motor.
Other times a aftermarket part can cause a problem is if it makes servicing the failed ford part harder. I used to run into this a lot when I was the mustang/lightning tech at a dealer that specialized in those cars. Ford pays the dealer and the tech a fixed amount of time to perform a repair, if your aftermarket part makes it take longer then you are responsible for the added cost.
My best example of this was a SVT contour that needed the dash replaced under recall. This car had a very high end stereo and video system in it that was all hardwired so I would have to cut and re splice everything, I refused to do the job since it would take many hours more than ford would pay since ford would only pay for the amount of time needed to replace the dash in a STOCK car.
I told the writer to see if the car owner wanted to remove the stereo/video stuff himself and then I can put the dash in or he could pay himself to have us mess with it. Ford compromised with him and the cost for me to do the added work was split by him and ford.
