gidyup

Before buying the new Mustang I drove the same car for 10 years so I haven't had a car under warranty for a while. I think I know the answer to this question but I want to make sure....

As long as I have the recommended service done per Ford's schedule, it doesn't matter who does the service, i.e. I don't have to take her to the dealer to keep the warranty in effect; I just need to keep records of the service if I have an outside shop do the work, yes?

My reason for asking is that I'd rather not have to pull off the CAI and reflash the tune when the first 5k service comes up, if I don't have to...plus I'd rather avoid the awkward questions as to why the history has been deleted

Heavyg72

Interesting as I was just going to post the exact same question as I'm approaching the 5000K service and will be traveling this week and then take the stang for its first long road trip as soon as I get home. I'm hoping I do not have to schedule time to take it to the dealership as I have some of the same mod's you listed as well.

flewbyu

You are correct, the service must be done. It does not have to be done by Ford! I think that is illegal to force you to go to them FYI. One other thing, Check with your service advisor. Give him a call and just ask his thoughts on the CAI. You are just a random caller asking a question. (no names)

The reason I say that is largly it depends on the dealer you go to. Some are VERY **** about anything. That is more because they are Di*** than anything else. My dealer happens to be very cool. I dont take my CAI off when I go for oil change or what ever. Infact I drive by two other dealers that are closer to my home to go to them. My service guys knows me by my clean car better than my name. He knows how important my car is and only lets two guys there touch it. On my last visit when they replaced my clutch paks via the TSB groan with low speed uturn. My service guy gave me the name of another dealers Service writter. he said that if I ever cant make it all the way to him go to the other dealer and ask for him and tell him who sent me and that he would take care of my car as he does.

Long story short, feel them out and ask questions. Some will tell you directly its cool and work with you, others think they are the end all final say in all Ford related and will **** on you if you change your wiper blades to an after market brand. (Exaggeration)

I asked the same thing a few months ago. I decided to not revert back to stock and have had no issues.

Good luck!.

LegallyTorchRED

Service @ 5k is one thing that can be done by anyone, be sure to have it documented.

Check up @5K must be done by an authorized FORD shop. Only they can enter your vin in the data base, and check off the misc tasks required, they also check TSB's, make adjustments etc. TSB's are not recalls, and most ppl don't know about them. They go out to the dealers, so adjustments can be made at regular service/check up intervals..

These are free, so there is no excuse for not having this type of "check up" done. If something breaks at 9000 miles, and they could have caught it, and fixed at the required 5K check up, I'm not sure if warranty would cover that, and it would up to you to fight it out, if they refused coverage.

JMO

gidyup

Thanks for the replies. Thinking I may do the first 5k service outside the Ford Matrix (keeping all the docs) and then do 10k at the dealer sans mods (if necessary), but first I will also give the dealer an anonymous call (from a payphone in a different zip ) to get their attitude on the subject.

Thanks again.

03Cobra05GT

Just a word of advice....if you retune your car...if a dealership so chooses, they no longer have to honor your warranty, because you technically voided it.

There new systems can tell if the system has been flashed, even if you flash it back to stock. Once they see that, they will tell you that you are not running the car to factory specs. So technically if you already flashed your car, the warranty is no good...BUT some dealers don't care if its just a tune.

gidyup

Regarding the new tune, from what I've read in other posts the only thing the dealer can tell is that the log has been deleted, which can also happen if the battery has been disconnected. Since I had the radar detector hardwired I was going to blame Car Toys if the subject came up.

Stooge

You can do all the scheduled service yourself or have anybody do it. As long as it's done right and keep your receipts, your warranty is in place. This is the law. If any Ford dealership says you have to have scheduled maintenance done there or the warranty is void, they have to do it completely FREE. That's the law.

CrazyAl

Exactly. They can tell if the ECU history is gone but they can't tell why or how it happened. If you reflash the ECU to stock, they can't tell that you had an aftermarket tune in there. They can suspect as much, but they can't prove it.

You can tell them you had your battery cable disconnected becasue you were having your battery tested, or your car was being worked on. Disconnecting the battery is the #1 step for any serious auto work. It's a safety thing--that way you can't accidentally short out anything if you are clumsy with a wrench.

Anyway, this situation is the primary reason for the Magnuson-Moss act. Ford can't force you to use their service department, and they also can't force you to use "Ford Brand" supplies (like oil and filters). However, they CAN require that the maintenance be done. So if you do your own maintenance or you have it done by other shops, save your reciepts so you can document that the work was done.

5StangsandCounting

Like it was stated earlier, getting the service dept's take on aftermarket stuff really is the best idea.. it varies dramatically.
I re-did my rear-end gears, and shortly after had my clutch packs go bad (a known tsb) and had it brought in..
not only was the rearend already opened by non-ford aftermarket people, I also had my JLT intake and Hurst shifter on...

the Ford guys told me "man, we love this car, everything will be covered under warranty of course, just make sure if you do your gears again, that you have enough Friction modifier added"
So it really is all in who does the warranty stuff, and if they care about aftermarket items... It could just as easily gone the other way though...

Matt-