Lemon Laws and our Warranty

[Mike06_10pm]

I live in NY and want to do some modifications to my 05 GT such as 4.10 gears, exaust etc. etc. nothing major like a supercharge or turbo. I asked the dealer what he covers and if he will void the warranty if stuff is done and he said anything modifing the original factory car will void. I know he is lieing and thought I read if for example exaust is added and the transmission breaks, it still has to be covered since they do not relate to each other... is this true? I also thought I read something about they have to prove the modified part broke the part which is under warranty. Can someone please help me with this and also post the part of the Lemon Law which states this so if I have to bring it into him I have the law with me also?... thank you!
-mike

 

[ttown]

I'd find another dealer now, if you did ever have an issue it's a lawyer and court time rather you win or lose. It's a big hassle to say the least. One solution is have a Ford dealership install the parts, it cost more but you don't have warranty issues.

Dealers vary widely so hopefully someone in your area will tell you the best one's around you. You may have to drive 50 miles but at least you'll have piece of mind. JMO

 

[sacha]

I emailed Ford customer service about this yesterday and just received a response. Here's what they wrote:

"Thank you for contacting the Ford of Canada Customer Relationship Centre. Wereceived your message sent on 5/11/2005 regarding after-market modifications for your vehicle.

Please be advised that all alterations or modifications to Ford or Lincoln vehicles must be done in compliance with all applicable Provincial and Federal
statutes and regulations. If an after-market modification is responsible for a
component failure, the Ford warranty would not cover that repair. Therefore,
Ford of Canada does not recommend modifications to your vehicle. However, if
you would still like information regarding modifications to your vehicle, please
speak with the service department of your local Ford or Ford-Lincoln Dealership."

 

[celticstanger]

Do what you like to your car. If you mod and something unrelated breaks, you're covered. If you break something because of your mods, however, warranty won't cover it (which is fair). Dealer is a fn idiot.

Also, say you get your gears changed at an independant shop, and then some fault under the hood turns up (like the "popping" sound, documented on this site), there's no way F. Witt and Son Dealer would even KNOW you'd made the mod. I'd take my car into him for the fix, just for the pleasure of sticking it to him!

Getting mods done at a reputable independant will save you $, and keep your car off the dealers radar as a modded vehicle. Even though you may be in the right when a dealer tries to deny coverage, as stated above, it's gonna be a pain to fight them on it.

 

[Mike06_10pm]

so, if i do change the gears for example and a TSB comes out on something else there will be no problem as long as the mod doesnt effect the part(s) which are being recalled with the TSB?

 

[LXXVICOBRA]

There was a link at the bottom of this web page a few min ago about Lemon Laws. Apparently they keep changing...you might keep a watch for it, or do a search under that title...I'm sure you can find all the info you seek.

 

[EarlB]

I'd say it could be a slippery slope. For instance there is a TSB now on the rear differential. I'd imagine that if you had replaced the gears, a pain in the butt dealership could say that the problem is due to your work. Proving otherwise would result in a legal expense on your part.

Earl

 

[eric n]

I would definately contact another dealership. Further since FORD RACING makes rear end gears, I absolutely would have them make the changes. Much more likely they would honor your warrenty.

 

[GT-03]

I know he is lieing and thought I read if for example exaust is added and the transmission breaks, it still has to be covered since they do not relate to each other... is this true?

Nope. Well, it might not be true.

Federal law (its the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act not the "lemon law"), allows the entire warranty to be voided if you abuse your car. If you make high performance modifications, they can be considered to be evidence of abuse (if you installed them, you must be making good use of them, right?).

Trying to use your example, if you installed a high performance exhaust, they could claim that it is evidence that you are "racing" or "hot rodding" around, and it was that "racing" or "hot rodding" around which caused you to abuse and break your transmission.

In reality, though, you would probably need to do more high performance mods than just the exhaust to trigger such a claim.

BTW, the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act was really intended to allow a car owners to have normal maintenance type of items done elsewhere than at a dealer. For example, have your brake pads replaced at your favorite town garage. Before the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, dealers would actually threaten to void your warranty for such things. The difference to be careful of, is the difference between normal maintenance items, and high performance mods.

 

[LXXVICOBRA]

http://pagead2.googlesyndication.co...lemon_law.html&client=ca-pub-3493638625014715

 

[05Stangster]

The part that cracks me up about voiding the warranty because - "they could claim that it is evidence that you are 'racing' or 'hot rodding' around" is the Steve McQueen commercial. They advertise the Mustang on National TV by "smoking the tires", "racing with a Ford GT through the streets" etc. Ha, ha. Wouldn't it be nice if you could tell the Service Manager - in response to him/her voiding the warranty - that, according to Ford's "advertising", the Mustang is designed to race and hotrod around. Or, was Ford providing "False Advertisement"?. Just a thought - I know it wouldn't work, but I'll bet if you had to hire an attorney, they would bring this up.

 

[topless beach]

Maybe I'm being naive, but don't ford dealers make $ on warranty work? Isn't warranty work paid for by Ford? Aren't ford dealers independent businesses trying to make a profit?

It seems to me that if a dealer is being a jerk about warranty work on an unmodded part of the car then another dealer would probably be more than willing to take the job. They are not corporate divisions of the parent co.

 

[celticstanger]

Maybe I'm being naive, but don't ford dealers make $ on warranty work? Isn't warranty work paid for by Ford? Aren't ford dealers independent businesses trying to make a profit?

It seems to me that if a dealer is being a jerk about warranty work on an unmodded part of the car then another dealer would probably be more than willing to take the job. They are not corporate divisions of the parent co.

I believe that there's a big difference between Ford's paying the dealer to repair under warranty and the azz-raping dealers give Joe Schmo with their hourly rates and retail-markup on parts.

 

[Kerrdogg]

I'd take my car into him for the fix, just for the pleasure of sticking it to him!

Dealers make money on warranty work, 40% mark up on the parts and a good percentage of their normal hourly labor rate (about 80%), the difference is that they tell the tech the hours they will pay vs a customer pay job where the tech may fluff the hours required to complete a job a bit.

Warranty of a failed component all comes down to dealer perception on how the failure occured and their standing with Ford in regards to how much warranty work they have done recenty, too much and Ford cracks the whip.

BTW Ford charges back a percentage of component failure to the part manufacture, try to buy a window regulator for a Town Car right now, company went out of business, last person they told was the buyer at Ford! To many failures, too many chargebacks = no money = no reason to be in business.

 

[JAZ 5.0]

I have read somewhere that the dealer has to prove that the aftermarket part directly caused the failure the OEM part. I know SEMA woud have more info on this so I would email them. There's alot on their site...sema.org