This is not how it works in real life - I asked the "lawyer" a similar question in this thread earlier, and he hasn't replied
I mess with all my vehicles, and I've been on the wrong side of Mag Moss
The biggest misconception is this - you can't force a dealer to do the work; once they suspect mods when you're trying to get a cratered piston covered, they will simply say we can't push it through under warranty, the truck has been modified
It is actually up to YOU (not the DEALER) to then hire a lawyer and prove that (a) you didn't do any modifications or (b) your modifications didn't cause the issue needing repair - this easily gets into the THOUSANDS of dollars quickly
If you win, then Mag Moss helps you recoup all your costs and fees, but you have to pay up front first to start litigation
I should add my PSA - I was a normal service dept customer before, but now I make sure to go out of my way to take care of my service manager and techs every time
I understand the nature of things in how legal questions like that often play out, but that is not always the case. I have been in the aftermarket with three companies of my own for over ten years now and dealt with similar issues with customers and myself many times. I have had dealerships try to void a customer's warranty for a transfer case failing on a brand new truck because he had installed aftermarket brakes. Some dealership claims are ridiculous and some are at times justifiable. Some dealerships are easier to deal with than others in regard to warranty repairs. I know a dealership close to me that does everything they can to avoid warranty work at all costs while another dealership down the road is just the opposite and will provide warranty coverage any time they can.
Sometimes it is the luck of the draw, sometimes it is the dealership, etc.
That being said, when I make purchases such as these for my vehicles, I also look at the track history of the products themselves and products like them. There are several other products on the market that are similar to this one and we sell those too. We have had issues with them on some vehicles and not on others. But the overall % of issues like trouble codes verses actual issues that cause the need to a visit to the dealership is phenomenally low. Matter of fact, the blown turbo truck running SDP adapters was the only one I know of to date on Gen2's. (Not blaming the adapters either as I doubt they caused the failure) But, to date, I have yet to see or hear about any "engine management system", "Boost fooler" or whatever you want to call it, actually causing a failure like that. I would expect someone running downpipes, intercoolers, turbo upgrades, tuning, etc, etc, etc, to blow an engine if things go wrong, but not this type of mod. Hecek, Banks engineering has been using a similar style of "Fooling" ECM's for YEARS and has so few problems that they are one of the most popular companies out there in the diesel industry.
In the end, we are debating semantics on perceived possible future issues that to date, have not happened in any way. This is just my opinion, but if I made the decision to add modifications to my vehicles based solely on the possibility of future failures or what could go wrong, no one but a Ford dealership would ever work on them and nothing but Ford parts would go on them, etc.
I WILL also add this. If your number one concern is as such, do not mod your truck at all. The ONLY way to truly avoid issues with dealerships in this regard and not always 100% guaranteed that you will avoid the issue, is to leave your truck 100% stock. Period. I have seen Ford dealers void warranty claims due to the offset of stock wheels or because a catback exhaust has been installed (which has no modded performance value since it was catback).
