How many things can FORScan unlock?

[oreomuffin]

Will unlocking features void the warranty?

NO.
Sorry for the trolls adding confusion.

No modifications will void the warranty if you don't cause a cascading issue. On the rare occasions that people go too far, are careless, and mess things up there is a risk that you void coverage of a particular part. Say you, for example, put the wrong part on your car, and something breaks, the warranty is only voided for the parts that broke as a result of your work. Everything else is still covered.

This is a good Q&A
https://www.ncconsumer.org/news-articles-eg/making-the-most-of-your-auto-warranty.html

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[oreomuffin]

Trolling? You should try reading the actual warranty.

I don't need to. What you're doing is fearmongering and it deters enthusiasts from exercising their rights to have fun with their vehicles.

https://www.edmunds.com/auto-warranty/what-voids-your-vehicles-warranty.html

 

[Eagle11]

Be aware that any changes you make get logged and if you do something with it that damages your car it's a good bet you invalidated the warranty.

Impossible to damage the truck, all we are doing is unlocking features, not playing with engine or transmission settings

 

[Eagle11]

Trolling? You should try reading the actual warranty.

Show where it says in the warranty programming features will void it?

 

[Decayed]

Show where it says in the warranty programming features will void it?

There is language in the warranty specifically stating that owner modifications may invalidate the warranty. Try reading it and remember that they may use mods as an excuse not to cover a repair. For instance, if you lift your truck and wreck the CV joints they may not cover it. I would be surprised if doing things like unlocking auto up/down on the power windows created a problem, but if you were to mess with engine or transmission settings it could.


The point is your ford and/or your dealership may use it as an excuse not to cover a repair and good luck fighting that.

 

[MLowe05]

The point is your ford and/or your dealership may use it as an excuse not to cover a repair and good luck fighting that.

This is the main point. I didn't read it as fearmongering.

I come from a long line of German cars, and I did not hesitate to unlock/modify features on my cars while under warranty. But there is a risk - so this point is valid.

Sure, Magnuson-Moss and all. I get it. They can't legally deny your coverage for one thing if your mod didn't cause it. But this is assuming that whatever dealership is involve has 1) Ethics. 2) Knowledge of the law. and 3) the ability to give a crap.

In my experience, most dealers have none of those three. So you have to decide for yourself if you're willing to have a huge fight on your hands in the unlikely event that you find yourself in that situation.

Personally, I plan to use ForScan to mod my Lariat.

 

[Eagle11]

There is language in the warranty specifically stating that owner modifications may invalidate the warranty. Try reading it and remember that they may use mods as an excuse not to cover a repair. For instance, if you lift your truck and wreck the CV joints they may not cover it. I would be surprised if doing things like unlocking auto up/down on the power windows created a problem, but if you were to mess with engine or transmission settings it could.


The point is your ford and/or your dealership may use it as an excuse not to cover a repair and good luck fighting that.

Let's talk case law for a minute....

Ford needs to show proof that what was done to the truck caused the failure or problems. There is case law that has ruled in favor of the owner who did minor programing to add hidden features. I have read the warranty, and as you wrote, it MIGHT/MAY invalidate the warranty. My BMW has many coded features and the dealership is fully aware of them, but these features won't invalidate the warranty. Remember, the burden of proof is on Ford to PROVE what we do causes the problem.

 

[Eagle11]

This is the main point. I didn't read it as fearmongering.

I come from a long line of German cars, and I did not hesitate to unlock/modify features on my cars while under warranty. But there is a risk - so this point is valid.

Sure, Magnuson-Moss and all. I get it. They can't legally deny your coverage for one thing if your mod didn't cause it. But this is assuming that whatever dealership is involve has 1) Ethics. 2) Knowledge of the law. and 3) the ability to give a crap.

In my experience, most dealers have none of those three. So you have to decide for yourself if you're willing to have a huge fight on your hands in the unlikely event that you find yourself in that situation.

Personally, I plan to use ForScan to mod my Lariat.

The burden of proof lies with Ford to PROVE and that would be costly to them.

 

[Chris_G]

The burden of proof lies with Ford to PROVE and that would be costly to them.

It would be even more costly for me to defend.

 

[Decayed]

It would be even more costly for me to defend.

This guy gets it. I'm not saying use of forscan will cause blanket invalidation of your warranty, but you really should read the fine print. There is plenty of wiggle room and they are experts at wiggling out of stuff. It's literally part of the business like it or not.

And sure, you can hire a lawyer but it might end up costing you more in the long run. Just be careful what you access/change.

The attitude I am trying to change is the one that thinks you can change anything you want and will still get full warranty coverage. There are risks.

 

[Eagle11]

It would be even more costly for me to defend.

Not really, just takes a lawyer to tell Ford they need to prove it.

 

[Prostate Heaven]

Easy and common for dealers to deny your claim for mods - right or wrong - and then you get to decide if you want to go through the trouble of a lawsuit and hope things turn out in your favor.

 

[MLowe05]

I don't believe many people on this forum have a lawyer on retainer, and this is not something one is going to take on a pro-bono basis. I find this sort of response very odd.. as though it's cheap, easy, and convenient to hire a lawyer and sue a dealership.

 

[Eagle11]

I don't believe many people on this forum have a lawyer on retainer, and this is not something one is going to take on a pro-bono basis. I find this sort of response very odd.. as though it's cheap, easy, and convenient to hire a lawyer and sue a dealership.

no one is saying that at all, but people are saying things that aren't true about coding. Let's be fair, the dealership can refuse to honor a claim for anything, that is why we have the law. So if you win your case, the dealership has to pay the complete cost of the lawsuit. As I said, the Dealership needs to prove that, coding sign recognition caused the problem. Or code in auto up on my windows.

 

[MLowe05]

no one is saying that at all, but people are saying things that aren't true about coding. Let's be fair, the dealership can refuse to honor a claim for anything, that is why we have the law. So if you win your case, the dealership has to pay the complete cost of the lawsuit. As I said, the Dealership needs to prove that, coding sign recognition caused the problem. Or code in auto up on my windows.

I haven't read stuff that isn't true about coding, only proceed with caution. Coding is very common among German car enthusiasts - so I'm familiar - and you can really, really screw things up with those systems like DAS (Benz). I don't really know that much about ForScan.

All I was saying is that - for a lot of people - the very idea of that sort of fight is just too much. But I agree, it's all quite unlikely.

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