Tow Vehicles - Warranties - Suspension Lifts

Hope this is not too off topic (as I need a tow vehicle to get the boat to the water) but has anyone had a good experience with any extended warranty companies?

Specifically those that have tow vehicles with lift kits/oversize tires, does your warranty cover you?

I am seeing that most warranties (and extended warranties) are null and void with such modifications so it would seem pointless to buy one or place a value on any manufacturer's warranty still left on the truck.

Thanks,
Chaun

The choice is; do you want to BOMB your truck, or do you want a worry-free truck? If you want a worry-free truck get your manufacturers warranty, as third party ones are always problematic. When you BOMB, it then depends on the service department. Some managers will clearly see that those big tires had nothing to do with the center console malfunctioning, others will see the tires and say, "that'll be $950."

But if your foolish enough to have it hauled in with a smoked clutch/TC and the TST box still installed, nobody's gonna warranty that.

Now if you are thinking of buying a new truck and immediately lifting it you can technically void the warranty. The easiest way around this is to have it lifted (New rims and tires?) by the dealer which you can also roll into your loan. This insures that the dealership is now responsible for all warranties regardless.

As for the aftermarket warranty that is something that they do over the phone and will never see the vehicle, so it is up too the shop you are working with whether they tell them the truck is lifted or modified. The aftermarket warranties work pretty well, but there are somethings they just don't cover.

What a bunch of crock. Magnessun-Moss act clearly states that the modification has to be proven to cause the problem-defect to void the warranty. Not sure why these posters are telling your FALSE information.

True point, but with a lift kit they could probably make an argument for any problem with your tranny, axles, suspension or engine could be caused by the lift kit. Might be a stretch, but guarantee you will have a fight on your hands if you roll in with an 8 inch lift, huge tires and a fried transmission. Of course if it is an unrelated part (like your A/C dies) then you're fine, but a lot of stuff can be claimed to be related. Trust me I've had dealers try to make all sorts of excuses that something I did was somehow responsible for the problem and I wasn't running a big lift or anything.

True point, but with a lift kit they could probably make an argument for any problem with your tranny, axles, suspension or engine could be caused by the lift kit. Might be a stretch, but guarantee you will have a fight on your hands if you roll in with an 8 inch lift, huge tires and a fried transmission. Of course if it is an unrelated part (like your A/C dies) then you're fine, but a lot of stuff can be claimed to be related. Trust me I've had dealers try to make all sorts of excuses that something I did was somehow responsible for the problem and I wasn't running a big lift or anything.

here's an idea, just like boat, find a good dealer. I rolled with chip, exhaust, gauges, never even a question, why? I will buy my next truck from them and I they really don't want to argue with a person that has time and resources on their hand. That being said, American car companies SUCK!!!! You can go to most BMW dealers and they will install and warranty Dinan performance, wouldn't it be nice if Ford and GM would take a page out of their catalog?

I bought a Ford F250 SD 4x4 Diesel.. I spoke to the dealer about lift and warranties. They said that if I went with a certain lift (in this case a Donahoe 4.5") they would continue to cover everything. Their experience with that lift was that it was not invasive to the standard workings of the truck. I got the truck and the lift and have been really happy.

Downside of having the dealer do the lift and having it covered is cost. Some big joker dealer in my hood wants $10,500 for a 6" lift and tires that I could get for $4,000 all day long anywhere else.

In my case, I'm not really in the market for a new vehicle. I'm more eyballing a 2000-2002 SuperDooty F250 PSD or maybe the Chevy 2500 with the Duramax.

I'm also not looking at trucks with any outlandish suspension mods, just enough to get a set of 33's or maybe 35's on there. Still "any modification to the suspension i.e 'lift kits', oversize tires....blah blah blah..." seems to give the warrantors a way out.

I'm pretty much only concerned with the warranty covering the powertrain. A couple of the trucks I looked at were advertising that they had X number of months/miles left on thier warranty which I would put some value in, but it looks like its not a strong selling point for someone selling a modified truck.

Also, in deciding wheather to purchase the extended warranty or not, it looks like I might be better off just throwing the 1600-2000 for an aftermarket warranty into some type of interest bearing account and let it sit there. I guess its their option not to cover, I just would be really P.O.'d to find out after the fact that they would not cover a high $$ repair and I get refunded some pro-rated rate of what I paid for the warranty.

Thanks for all the input.

Magnessun-Moss ACT does not alow to to modify the vehicle and not void the warranty. It was written to prevent the mfgs from requiring you to use original equipment parts to keep a warranty valid. Big difference.

That being said, just beacause you put a lift on the truck, does not mean you"voided" the warranty. The lift must be proven to be the cause of the damage. If your tranny blows because you are running boggers, yes the dealer will probably tell you to go pound sand. If your power windows stop working, then they SHOULD fix it.

Just remember, you play you gotta pay. Take responsability for your actions. You know if what you did caused the damage, and if it did not, then try to get a FAIR outcome from the warranty, if it did cause the damage, then open your wallet wide.

BTW, I have been involved in a warranty dispute that resulted in a lawsuite. And I prevailed.

I have a Dodge Ram 4 X 4 with 6-1/2" of lift and 36" tires. My warranty was voided after I lifted it 3" and it doesn't matter whether or not it's a suspension lift or a body lift. Each one changes different manufacturer specs. I would rather still have my warranty but because I put the lift on myself I see their concern.

you will have no problems if you go with the diesel. It is only with the gas ones that you have to worry about.

I don't think you can put a body lift on a diesel though.

Warrenty was void on my jeep after i put a suspension lift on it, thats why i waited till it wasn't covered (put a lot of miles on it quick).