Cars in for service, now im worried

[2013Boss302]

ok so 2 weeks ago i installed my maximum motorsport lower control arms on my 2011 gt. i also installed my panhard bar. i took my car to auto club speedway last weekend and the car ran fine. i did notice a clunking that sounded like it was coming from the drive shaft. so this morning i went to look to see what the noise could be and noticed fluid all over the right underside of the diff and axle and everything. the car was covered with this fluid, everything before the diff had no fluid on it. i took the car to ford and they said that the warranty might be voided cause i installed the lower control arms. so i called maximum motorsports and explained to them what i was hearing. they said the clunking could be the lashing being to loose on the gears. they also said that installing lower contrl arms should never void the warranty. im am kind of woreied now because my car has 2000 miles on it and now this. can anyone please help me with any info that will help me. so far everyone i have talked to except the ford dealer said my warranty should not be effected. i would appreciate any help please!

 

[69gt4speed]

Oh we heard this about 03's back in the day. Put stockers back on and try a friendly place if they don't flag it. I think really if it was frpp piece probably not say much if anything.

 

[kingnut]

the dealership can void your warranty for any aftermarket parts not installed/warrantied by them. return it to stock and try it somewhere else. but im sure its in the computer now by your VIN. gl.

 

[AmnDucky]

the dealership can void your warranty for any aftermarket parts not installed/warrantied by them. return it to stock and try it somewhere else. but im sure its in the computer now by your VIN. gl.

The dealership can void your warranty for any aftermarket parts not installed/warrantied by them that directly led to the failed part. Its almost impossible to have your entire warranty voided at once.

 

[203Cree]

Magnuson/Moss. Look it up. You're fine.

 

[Driver72]

Magnuson/Moss. Look it up. You're fine.

Some people always say that, but the fact of the matter is the dealer can still void the part of your warranty where an aftermarket part was installed and caused or led to a problem or failed part.

Some people then say, "they have to prove that".
To which I say, "no they don't, YOU have to prove they wrongfully voided part of your warranty."
And proving that by you is going to cost you a boatload more than it will to just fix the problem that needs fixing due to the aftermarket part.

So in short, if the fluid all over the place down there can be even remotely attributed to the lower control arms that you installed, a dealer CAN void that part of your suspension or drivetrain warranty that would cover the cost of repairing it. Even if it wasn't DIRECTLY related to the lower control arms.
You can't just walk into the Service Advisors office and say, "you can't do that, I'm protected by the Magnusson/Moss Act."
They can simply say, "ok take the car somewhere else then" or say "take us to court then with your aftermarket modified lower control arm car and prove to a judge that we wrongfully refused to warranty the parts and labor that caused fluid to spray all over your underside and needed repairing."


What one needs to ALWAYS remember, and should be STANDARD fare.
If you are going to modify a car, and ANY problem you even remotely think might of been caused by said modification, return the car to stock BEFORE taking it into a dealer for service. And for the love of common sense, if you tune the car, return it to stock even to take the car in for an oil change.

If the dealer refuses warrantied service on your car, just take your car and head home. Return it to stock and take it to a different dealer that you know of/heard of that is more "mod friendly" anyway and have the work done there.

Good luck

 

[203Cree]

I guess I'm confused. Are these lowers the front or rear?

 

[2013Boss302]

they are rear lower control arms. but what do thay have to do with a fluid leak? they were adjusted for my car by maximum motorsports.

 

[203Cree]

Ah, Well that can change things. Pinion angle could've changed or something along those lines I suppose. Good luck.

 

[Nathan'sTsi]

Some people then say, "they have to prove that".
To which I say, "no they don't, YOU have to prove they wrongfully voided part of your warranty."
And proving that by you is going to cost you a boatload more than it will to just fix the problem that needs fixing due to the aftermarket part.



Good luck

IIRC from my last reading of the a few years back, the burden of proof lies on the dealer.
Although, it probably is more trouble than it's worth either way, unless a second dealer also gives you crap.

 

[Driver72]

IIRC from my last reading of the a few years back, the burden of proof lies on the dealer.
Although, it probably is more trouble than it's worth either way, unless a second dealer also gives you crap.

Yes technically that is true.
But, as you stated, the dealers know that for you to prove that they didn't supply the burden of proof in court, means a lot of money and time on lawyers and such on your part to prove they didn't prove the aftermarket part caused the problem.
So in a sense, it's on the customer to prove the dealer did wrong in denying the warranty wrongfully, if in fact they DID wrongfully deny the warranty claim.

Now if your engine blew and they claimed it was the control arms and denied the warranty, that would be worth getting a lawyer over. Chances are a letter to the dealer's owner from a lawyer with stern warning they'd be going to court over that, would get the dealer to settle up and not deny the warranty claim over that.
But if there's even a 5% chance a aftermarket mod caused a failure of something on the car, the dealer can deny coverage and you'd better be ready to fork out thousands in lawyer fees and months of your time to prove otherwise.

 

[apg2369]

Some people always say that, but the fact of the matter is the dealer can still void the part of your warranty where an aftermarket part was installed and caused or led to a problem or failed part.

Some people then say, "they have to prove that".
To which I say, "no they don't, YOU have to prove they wrongfully voided part of your warranty."
And proving that by you is going to cost you a boatload more than it will to just fix the problem that needs fixing due to the aftermarket part.

So in short, if the fluid all over the place down there can be even remotely attributed to the lower control arms that you installed, a dealer CAN void that part of your suspension or drivetrain warranty that would cover the cost of repairing it. Even if it wasn't DIRECTLY related to the lower control arms.
You can't just walk into the Service Advisors office and say, "you can't do that, I'm protected by the Magnusson/Moss Act."
They can simply say, "ok take the car somewhere else then" or say "take us to court then with your aftermarket modified lower control arm car and prove to a judge that we wrongfully refused to warranty the parts and labor that caused fluid to spray all over your underside and needed repairing."


What one needs to ALWAYS remember, and should be STANDARD fare.
If you are going to modify a car, and ANY problem you even remotely think might of been caused by said modification, return the car to stock BEFORE taking it into a dealer for service. And for the love of common sense, if you tune the car, return it to stock even to take the car in for an oil change.

If the dealer refuses warrantied service on your car, just take your car and head home. Return it to stock and take it to a different dealer that you know of/heard of that is more "mod friendly" anyway and have the work done there.

Good luck

once your tune is down loaded even if you take it out they can see one was already there .............once your vin is the system your screwd to on a specific problem ...even if they dont fix it and you go somewhere else ...they still leave it in there so your screwed .

 

[metaman]

Dealers will refuse to work on the car and also make a note in the computer about the modification. They know that the likely hood of anyone taking them to court is slim so they just do what ever they want.

The reason that do this stuff is because the dealer and the techs working on the cars do not make much money off of warranty work. Therefore, they use any excuse to avoid doing it.

The notes they make in the computer will not void the warranty on the car. I had a dealer try this on me one time because I had aftermarket springs in my 03 cobra. They where like, "We have to charge you to work on it, the entire suspension warranty is voided now." The two front shocks where broken.

They where just trying to make money off of me. I yelled at the service manager in front of all of the customers until he gave the car back to me without the stupid 120.00 inspection fee.

Next I called Ford Customer service and told them what this dealer was up to. Ford does not like for these types of abuses of authority to occur because they have a mod friendly marketing strategy with the mustangs.

I told them that I was taking the car to a different dealer and that I wanted them to make sure that this did not happen there. I then took the car to a different dealer and got the shocks fixed under warranty.

Contact Ford customer service immediately. Tell them that the modifications that you did to the car did not change the geometry or pinion angle of the diff to the drive shaft and therefore could not have caused the brake. They have the authority to over rule the service managers call to charge you.

 

[2013Boss302]

i got a little update. they inspected my car and said the diff was leaking heavily. there fixing it under warranty, now im just scared that the control arms i installed effected this in any way. is that possible?

 

[metaman]

If they are the same length as the stockers then you are fine.

 

[silverbullittgt]

Dealers will refuse to work on the car and also make a note in the computer about the modification. They know that the likely hood of anyone taking them to court is slim so they just do what ever they want.

The reason that do this stuff is because the dealer and the techs working on the cars do not make much money off of warranty work. Therefore, they use any excuse to avoid doing it.

The notes they make in the computer will not void the warranty on the car. I had a dealer try this on me one time because I had aftermarket springs in my 03 cobra. They where like, "We have to charge you to work on it, the entire suspension warranty is voided now." The two front shocks where broken.

They where just trying to make money off of me. I yelled at the service manager in front of all of the customers until he gave the car back to me without the stupid 120.00 inspection fee.

Next I called Ford Customer service and told them what this dealer was up to. Ford does not like for these types of abuses of authority to occur because they have a mod friendly marketing strategy with the mustangs.

I told them that I was taking the car to a different dealer and that I wanted them to make sure that this did not happen there. I then took the car to a different dealer and got the shocks fixed under warranty.

Contact Ford customer service immediately. Tell them that the modifications that you did to the car did not change the geometry or pinion angle of the diff to the drive shaft and therefore could not have caused the brake. They have the authority to over rule the service managers call to charge you.

Ford does not have the authority to MAKE any dealer fix a vehicle under warranty. If you had lowering springs it probably did cause your shocks to blow out, not Ford's fault. And to the OP I never recommend yelling in a service department you just look like an whiney-ass to everyone around you, gotta remember this is someone doing their job just be cool, the service department doesnt make any money if they deny the repair

 

[kingnut]

Dealers will refuse to work on the car and also make a note in the computer about the modification. They know that the likely hood of anyone taking them to court is slim so they just do what ever they want.

The reason that do this stuff is because the dealer and the techs working on the cars do not make much money off of warranty work. Therefore, they use any excuse to avoid doing it.

The notes they make in the computer will not void the warranty on the car. I had a dealer try this on me one time because I had aftermarket springs in my 03 cobra. They where like, "We have to charge you to work on it, the entire suspension warranty is voided now." The two front shocks where broken.

They where just trying to make money off of me. I yelled at the service manager in front of all of the customers until he gave the car back to me without the stupid 120.00 inspection fee.

Next I called Ford Customer service and told them what this dealer was up to. Ford does not like for these types of abuses of authority to occur because they have a mod friendly marketing strategy with the mustangs.

I told them that I was taking the car to a different dealer and that I wanted them to make sure that this did not happen there. I then took the car to a different dealer and got the shocks fixed under warranty.

Contact Ford customer service immediately. Tell them that the modifications that you did to the car did not change the geometry or pinion angle of the diff to the drive shaft and therefore could not have caused the brake. They have the authority to over rule the service managers call to charge you.

you lowered a car on stock shocks and expected ford to warranty it? lol

 

[metaman]

You guys are idots. The story is complete and true. The car got its shocks fixed under warranty because according to the law they have to prove that the modification caused the problem. Last time I checked shocks with rubber bump stops installed on them from the factory did not fail because of a lower initial resting position.

If Ford customer service does not have the authority to over ride the service manager then how where they able to over ride the service manager?

And to the OP I never recommend yelling in a service department you just look like an whiney-ass to everyone around you, gotta remember this is someone doing their job just be cool, the service department doesnt make any money if they deny the repair

Let me guess, you work at a dealer? I also am a total dick to the people who try to sell me the car when they lie to me also. I guess that I should just roll over and be nice to everyone because they have a living to make even when they are attempting to take advantage of me.

service department doesnt make any money if they deny the repair

If they have got cars lined up for service work that are not under warranty, then they make more money working on those. If they work on the car with a "voided warranty" then they make more money on the service then they do under warranty. If 9 times out of 10 the customer just takes their word for it and rolls over when they say that the repair is not covered, then they make more money.

Since when does the words honest and car dealer belong in the same sentence? Have fun living in la la land where everyone is honest.

 

[zilla8]

I've been followng this thread and I'm glad to see you found the leak and the dealer is fixing under warranty.

I've got 3800 miles on my car now with no issues.things get real iffy when it comes to mods and dealers.

I saw in another thread where a guy was denied warranty work for a clutch.

He said the dealer told him they saw where he talked about racing his car on a forum and that he overheated it while racing.

I'm going to start looking for the mod friendly dealers in Socal as I've got my first service comming up soon.

good luck bro and I hope everything works out for you.

 

[01cobravortech]

Thanks for posting up all that good info Metaman.:beer: