Will Modding Void Warranty?

Hello everyone! This is a very common question among people just entering the modifying game. “Will this part void my warranty” has a complicated answer. I will try my best to answer this as clearly as possible.

“Will modding void warranty?”

“Will this aftermarket part void my warranty.” The answer is maybe. To understand that answer let us look at the Magnusen Moss Law. The Magnusen Moss Law states that a manufacturer has to prove that an aftermarket part caused the problem before they can void the warranty case. For example, if the AWD module goes out, Ford cannot void the warranty because you installed a catch can. In that sense, any aftermarket part has the possibility to void warranty, but is has to be the cause of the problem to do so.

That is the way it should go. However, that is not how it goes sometimes. Although by law Ford cannot void warranty without proving the aftermarket part caused the problem, this doesn’t mean they will follow it all the time. You could encounter a bad dealer or get a bad corporate representative who denies the warranty case, or the part could mistakenly be attributed as the cause of the problem. It would then very hard to get the warranty case looked at again and get pushed through. Not an overly huge chance of happening, but the risk is still present. I’ll talk about parts later that have a really low chance of that happening, but major mods like tuning run the risk of being the automatically assumed cause of the problem.

So that leads to my next point. I believe that the biggest variable is the dealer. The dealer chooses how they want to write up the warranty case. The dealer can choose if they want to make a big deal of the aftermarket part, or they could just let it slide to get the car out of the door. Some dealers may overlook the aftermarket parts and do not care, some may nitpick every small part. Ford is still the decision maker, but a dealer could let it slide. So, it depends on how the dealer feels about the mods and whether you have a good relationship with them. There is one thing that would render the dealer variable null-and-void. I have heard rumors about Ford sending corporate representatives to inspect vehicles on big ticket warranty cases like engines and such. It could just be rumors, but a very interesting rumor to consider.

What parts have a very small chance of voiding warranty?

So any aftermarket part has the possibility to void warranty, there’s no way around that. However, there are parts that run a very low risk of voiding warranty because they have a really low failure rate (if any), and would be very hard for Ford to falsely point to and say caused a problem. I am going to assume they are good quality parts that aren’t defective and are installed properly. They are the following:

• Any Suspension Work: lowering springs for example won’t cause any problems
• Intake or charge pipes: Can’t cause any problems.
• Differential Brace or differential support products: Fixes a problem, and won’t cause any problems
• Exhaust and Downpipes: Can’t cause problems or be falsely attributed to having caused the problem
• 99% of exterior add-ons: given that they are quality parts and don’t radically change the original design of the exterior (and I don’t think that there are any radical exterior mods)
• Intercooler: The #1 mod for ExSTs won’t cause any problems unless improperly installed
• Interior Cosmetic Mods
• Proper wheel setups

Will the dealer notice modifications (tune specifically)?

If you are just going in for simple oil change, dealers will not care, but any major repair of those parts could be put underneath the microscope. Let us address tunes specifically, as they are the biggest risk of being attributed as the cause of the problem. The dealer can tell if a tune has been put on the car. You could remove the tune before going in to the dealer, but the dealer can see that the key cycles do not match the mileage of the vehicle. Key cycles occur every time you turn the vehicle on (and not just into accessories mode, actually turning the vehicle on). This means the dealer can tell the vehicle has been tuned. I will say there could be one excuse for the reseted key cycles. When you disconnect the battery and let the car reset itself by letting it sit unpowered for about 20 minutes, it resets key cycles also. Not saying you should do it, but could possibly be an excuse 🙂 Tuning has the big chance of voiding powertrain warranty cases, it’s a risk if warranty is really important to you.

In the end, this is a pay to play game. If you want to mod, mod and you are going to take the risk of voiding certain warranty cases. For the record, I have not seen a quality aftermarket part cause problems, and problems that have arisen on a vehicle were going to come up with or without those parts. Modifications can completely transform how the vehicle looks, performs, and feels. However, all that fun has its inherent risks, so I hope that I detailed the warranty perspective of it well.

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