MaverickMLFD371

Well, as many of you know, I had the problem with my B&M Shifter and the tranny linkage snapping.

Well after several days, I called Ford RoadSide Assistance to come tow the vehicle because it was stuck in first gear again. Before I called Roadside Assistance, I bolted the stock shifter back in the vehicle to give Ford the idea that I did not have an aftermarket shifter in the car and maybe get away with it getting fixed under warranty. They towed it to the dealer 2 miles down the road from me.

Towed the vehicle to the dealer on Tuesday, they finally did not get around to putting the car on the lift today (Thursday). The Ford guy calls me and says, "Mr. ****** the problem is your tranny linkage snapped. Yada yada yada", everything I've seen and heard for myself. "This is not a warrantable item, and it will not be covered under your extended warranty." "how is the breaking of my shifter not covered under my warranty?" "The shifter is classified as a "Wear & Tear" item. The total repair is going to be $350 with parts and labor." "Sir, do you realize that you have quite a few aftermarket parts on this vehicle, i see you have some suspensions parts on here, that could void your warranty?" "Yes Im aware of the parts being on the car." Being very suspicious about this, i told them to go with the repair, but they said it might be a few days because they needed to get the part.

So I called my guy at the dealer I bought my car from and I asked him if they were correct with the information he gave me. He told me to call the 800 number to the Ford Warranty Hotline and told them to see what they say.

So I called the 800 number, told them of the situation and what was going on to see if the information was accurate. They put me on hold for 5 min. while they contacted the dealer.

The woman from the hotline came back and told me this.

"I spoke with the service manager at the dealer and they claim that the vehicle is heavily modified with aftermarket parts and some of these parts are the cause of the fix?"

"Are you joking?" "Can you tell me what they specify the part caused the break?"

"I'm not a ford technician, but they claim there are some aftermarket parts bolted underneath the vehicle that have caused some smuging buildup underneath the vehicle, they claim it's some suspension parts? and because of these parts, the fix is not covered under the repair.."

"So what your saying ma'am, is they told you because of the aftermarket SUSPENSION PARTS that I have bolted underneath the vehicle is the cause of a manual shifter breaking??"

"Yes Sir"

"Thank you very much for the time, I will be in contact with the dealer for further information regarding this situation"

So the dealer claims that my SUSPENSION PARTS, that include, upper and lower control arms and a strut tower brace, along with an a-arm support brace, are the cause of the tranny shifter linkage breaking.

I cant stop laughing at this, but this is total bull of what dealers will go through to do this kind of stuff.

I know I bolted a B&M in there, but I didnt expect them to blame it on aftermarket parts that dont come anywhere near touching the shifter!!

What you guys think I should do?

OKCMustangGT

Try another dealer. They have to prove that the aftermarket part is the CAUSE of the problem. I don't see how they could accurately place the blame on your suspension mods.

MaverickMLFD371

well apparently i got the advice from my dealer and they said that i cant pull the car out and go to another dealer because my car is logged into their system which goes directly to ford motor co. and if the Ford co. see's that I've been dealer hoping, then they know something is up.

vistablue mustang

I would call another dealer tell them what happened and let them know that your current dealer denied the warranty repair for your shifter because of after market suspension. See what they think about it if they give you more run around BS then let them fix it and never go back there. Man am I glad my dealer does not suck ***. Whats up with these places?

Burke0011

Dude this is TEXTBOOK, right out of the article in the latest Muscle Mustans/Fast Fords written by that lawyer about warranty work. Find it and read it and it describes your situation exactly. When it comes down to it, its the specific dealership you deal with, and more than that, the SERVICE GUY.

If all that dealership does is simply sell cars, and that's it, they don't deal with any of the higher performance models, most likely their service guys are going to react exactly this way. They make more doing REPAIR work than warranty work. The minute they see an aftermarket part, they will use that as excuse leverage to get you to pay. That article mentions a guy whose Air conditioner went and the service guy said his aftermarket air intake caused it.

Stupid, yes, but it happens. Find a place that deals with more of the perfomance Ford products and you should not have a problem.

Galaxie

You're in a catch-22 to be honest, because the aftermarket shifter did cause the problem in the first place. Maybe the service manager lurks on TMS.

If I were you, i'd bite the bullet, try and send the bill to B&M, since their product caused the failure.

Otherwise, you could always just buy the part itself and install it on your own.

Tiberius1701

Agreed, Catch-22 is the word here, while the dealer is way off base trying to blame other aftermarket parts on your concern, the fact remains that you were not being above board with your reported failure-your problem is with B&M not Ford Motor.

In my store we do not go looking for reasons to deny warranty coverage, we do our best to be fair with our clients.

gkaufman

Not being honest about what broke it may end up costing you more now... Hopefully they wont flag your car as a risk.

MaverickMLFD371

If that were the case, i wouldnt be complaining about this whole thing. I would of fixed it and sent B&M the bill, but Chris @ B&M and their people there refuse to do anything because they claim that I did something with the shifter, which I didnt. But then again in the beginning I should of threw the B&M shifter out first when I heard about the known bolt that kept falling out, but i stuck to it like glue because of what chris @ B&M told me so I kept it and 2 months later, this happens. But yea, B&M refuse to do any more business or deal with me, so they are making me bite the bullet.

I'm actually talking to my dealer guy now and he told me to get everything in writting why they are denying it and the reason they feel the breaking of the shifter. My dealer rep is then phoning Ford to get a representative out to look at the shifter piece and if the rep feels that the SUSPENSION PARTS caused the break in the shifter, then Ford will refund the money spent on the repair. So I will have to wait it out, but until then, wish me luck.

And I attempted to see if I could take the shifter assembly off, but its hard and the interlock bolt is a PITA to get off! So rather than further trying to screw things up, I just let it be and submitted it to the dealer.

sodaman

pay for it. you used a aftermarket shifter, bottom line. It caused the problem. Why are you even trying to do it any other way, when you know it was the aftermarket part. So instead of blaming the dealer, just get it fixed.

300HPGT

I am going through the same BS with my transmission. I sent it into the dealership and they test drove the car. When I put it in neutral and then push the clutch in and try to put the car in 1st gear it grinds. And also shifting from 1st to 2nd. All of the other gears work fine and it dosnt grind into reverse either. Well the put the car up and they tell me "sir your clutch is bad". But i needed my transmission looked at and they know its the transmission that is the problem. They wanted to charge me 1400 dollars to put in the new clutch and put the car back together. and then they would determine if the transmission was bad. The car has 51,000 miles on it and has an extended warranty that covers the transmission and not the clutch because its a wearable item. EVERYTHING IS A WEARABLE ITEM!!!! But then they tryed to blame the problem on my aftermarket wheels, springs, and electric water pump. Saying "those are major modifications to the car that will void any warranty" just another dealership that wants money. Where is customer service anymore. Well they put the car back together they way it came in there and I didnt pay them a dime. I was so fuming mad. Well good luck with your shifter I am going to try 1 more dealership and if that dosnt work them Im buying a tremmec tko600 and a hurst 8 in extension plate to mount the shifter to in the stock location. That will ensure that I can put 600 plus ftlbs of torque and powershift with out any problems.

AmericanMuscle281

According to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act the dealer has to prove that the after market part caused the fialure from what I have read on some sight doing some research about dealers dening warranty work. I would check out some search engines on this, also check out this sight they have some good info. www.sema.org/main/semaorghome.aspx?ID=/content/SEMAorg/HomePage.

AmericanMuscle281

Mav, If your car has more than 36,000 and if you are know cover by your extended warranty (I believe that is what you had said)then it is possible that it may not be covered, you would have to read the policy to see what is specified with your extended warranty company. There are a lot of them out there and of course they are not all the same.

MaverickMLFD371

car only has 18,500 miles on it.

mrkabc

Dude, you got nailed... you tried to pull one over on the dealership (and Ford) and they didn't go for it.

Just man up and pay for the repair.

AmericanMuscle281

With that mileage it should be covered under your factory warranty bumper to bumper 3 years or 36,000 mi. Not sure why they were trying to cover it under your extended warranty, sounds kind of shady. Like I said in my earlier thread the dealer under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act has to prove with some sort of testing unless obvious like an accident and not guess the aftermarket part or parts, (even if you had left the shifter on) was the cause of the problem i.e. improper installation, abuse, ect.... and has to have documentation stating the 4 W, s

MaverickMLFD371

**UPDATE**

Today I get the vehicle back and it is going to be a battle with the service manager when I go to pick it up. He enlightened me with some very very very pathetic information as to why they are not covering it.

The bottom line, he has NO proof! He is saying that ALL the aftermarket parts on the vehicle is the cause of the shifter breaking. But then constantly kept telling me that there is rubber in the wheel well, like he was trying to get at something.

So as soon as I get back from the dealer, I'd be more than happy to post the "written explanation" that is going to be handed to me when I pick up the vehicle. This should be interesting!

MaverickMLFD371

Well guys, the battle has ended.

My father picked up my Mustang at the dealer while I was at work, he was to settle the score with the service manager about the two run around excuses the service manager first gave us. So after getting 2 completely different answers, guess what, my father got a 3rd excuse!!!

The end result, the service manager claims that I abused the shifter while driving. and of course in the warranty guide, no abused parts are covered. so $368.47 is out of my pocket.

so the next step, send the bill to B&M......

pitpup

Mav, cancel the extended warranty. Get your money back. They're going to give you grief and agravation at every turn. My .03 cents (inflation).

MaverickMLFD371

its ok, i've got one dealer I can always go to if i have any problems. I'm good friends with the G.M. of that dealer and he's the one that sold me the Mustang, thats where I bought my extended warranty as well. He is aware of the situation as to what happened at this dealer and he said from now on, any problems, to go to him and he will cover me under warranty. So I'm good to go, everything is back to normal, the B&M shifter is gone far away at the dump and the stang is running.