G.T

As an owner of a 2006 Mustang GT, and a founder of "Dubai Mustang Club" here in Dubai..
My club members and i are faced with major issues from the local dealer related to after-market modification on our Mustangs.
The dealership is simply voiding the entire vehicle warranty once something as simple as Cold Air Intake, or after market exhaust is installed.
while i believe it's purely illegal in the states for a dealer to void a vehicle's warranty purely based on the fact that it's equipped with after market parts, unless these parts cause a directly related problem in otherwise stock components of the vehicle,
and that it's my understanding that all Ford Vehicle warranties can only be voided with a direct approval from Ford, rather than simply the dealer making a random decision on their own.
could you please shed some light on the situation here, as discussing the matter with the dealer has simply resulted in pointless arguments similar to "you have an after market exhaust system, your faulty throttle body will not be repaired under warranty"


i've sent the above to Ford US hoping to get their take on the matter.. they replied me suggesting that i contact my local dealer

Louie

As an owner of a 2005 Mustang GT in Holland, I can relate to your problems. We're pretty much at the will of the local dealers, since our cars were not officially imported through the local Ford networks, therefore the dealers can make their own rules.
The problem is that any warranty work they do on our cars is actually supported by their own budget, based on the type of coverage included in the purchase papers. In my case, I have a 2 year warranty.
So far I've already had some issues when they tried to charge me full price for replacing the front rotors when they were both warped from factory. The service manager tried to convince me that it was somehow my fault that the rotors were damaged. In the end I had to agree with paying the labor while they covered the rotors and pads. On the other hand, they never said anything when they saw my shaker, Flowmaster exhausts and hood pins.

My advice for you is to stand firm when it comes to repairs normally covered under warranty and switch back to stock engine/tranny parts whenever you take your car in. As long as they don't see anything to complain about (CAI, exhaust, tune), you should be ok. I will do the same and remove the CAI before I go over next time.

Good luck!

G.T

So we're both suffering warranty related issues, and we both have the same name.. coincidence?

well, what bugs me even more, is that my car was obtained officially through Ford Middle East!
my dealer is an official ford dealer listed as part of their official network!

I've contacted Ford Middle East and North African operations, they said the Operations Manager herself will be in touch with me once she returns from a business trip the coming Sunday.

i can only wait and see..

scramblr

Hey Louie's... LOL That is pretty funny. I've spoken with both of you before..I'm in Germany, although I purchased my vehicle through AAFES which is virtually through the US Military Car Sales. I know that all my warranty work has to be approved by some office within that venue and the dealerships here know they have to get approval from them before doing any work. However, at the dragstrip a few weeks ago, I met a guy that works for Ford in Koln. I asked him the same question you guys are discussing and he pretty much affirmed what you guys are saying. He said German Ford dealerships have very low tolerance on modded vehicles, and since they don't have the Magnusson (spelling) Act to answer to, they can just void whatever they want if you modded your car. Take that with a grain of salt since it' just a guy I met. Luckily I haven't had to go to a dealer...Can you imagine their face if I drove my car in there with my mods? LOL

GT...I owe you an answer based on a PM you sent me. Been out of the country, so I'm playing catch up.

Louie...We'll work something out and get together when the winter passes.

mvon919

Hah. I'm sure I'll be facing lots of troubles if I ever need to fix something under warranty in Finland... but I'm not concerned about it right now... I'm in US now and Warranty works fine (I hope, let's see tomorrow). IDK when I'm going back to Finland, but sure will ship my Stang over and I already know they simply won't cover anything under warranty, it's a risk that I know, but still there's not many S197s in Europe...

My car is also bought from OMSC (Overseas Military Sales Corp. / Military Cars).

scramblr

Oh...That's what they're called.

lattjolarsson

For you guys in Europe (bring my Stang back to Sweden in a year, YES!)...do you fing it hard to get spare parts bught? Does Ford dealerships have the parts you need, or do you purchase ove rthe internet from the US?

Louie

The European Ford dealers don't carry an inventory of OEM Mustang parts, because this car is not officially imported here. They can however order any parts you need, especially those who do the "grey" imports.

As for aftermarket parts... not all US-based stores would ship to the EU, although some of the largest ones do. Check out my list here:

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showpo...89&postcount=2

07VistaGT

Hey Scramblr did you run your car when you were at the track?