I see your point, and if that’s been your experience with your local dealers then that sucks man! But I don’t completely agree that a tune will void a warranty just because the dealer puts in the system it’s modified.
Using your engine failure example. Yes, if you throw a rod out the block running a high power tune, they have a strong case for denial. (BTW to throw a rod out the side of a gen 2 ecoboost you’d probably have to be pushing north or 550 WHP before that became a concern, Which requires a e30 tune at a minimum)
But anyways. Lets say your cam phasers fail while your tuned. There is plenty of documented issues on stock vehicles. Tuning would not cause cam phaser failure. This is a warranty claim that would not be denied because of tuning.
My repsonse to the OP about getting a tune was suggesting a transmission only tune or a moderate pump gas tune. Neither of which are going to give him warranty issues if he has a good dealer. If he is looking for drivability improvement, nothing will make a bigger difference than a good tune. But to the OP, if your going to buy an extended warranty or aftermarket warranty, read up on the requirements to maintain said warranty.
For what it’s worth, been taking tuned vehicles in for warranty work for years and never had an issue. Everything from misfires to turbo issues to transmission concerns on both fords and rams. All of which were tuned. It comes down to the relationship with your dealer in my experience. I live in a rural area where lots of vehicles are modified to some extent so maybe the dealers around here just
I have had / and in some cases still have good relationships with service writers and managers at some of the dealerships I use. However, over the last 5 years the rules by which dealers are mandated to operate and be reimbursed by OEMs have changed substantially. Where it used to be the service managers decision on many warranty things, now all warranty repairs must be pre approved by the OEM in advance prior to the repair beginning. Any deviation will result in the claim by the dealer automatically being rejected and the dealer not paid for the work and / or parts. I know for a fact that dealers must upload the vehicles current engine and chassis control module logs and status, which of course tell many things.
In this case, tuning of the transmission controls, if documented by the data upload, would cause the warranty for this repair to be denied. I would also like to point out, it would NOT void the warranty on the entire vehicle, just deny this and possibly future trans warranty repairs. Similarly, there would not need to be a rod hanging out of the side of the block for engine work warranty work to be denied. If a turbo or a head gasket were to fail and if tuning was documented, even if the vehicle was not running the tune at the time of failure, then those repairs would also be denied.
A recent example of how far OEMs are going: Over on Corvette forum, the new Z06 cars are also having a fair amount of transmission issues. There is a well documented case of an owner having trans issues. He took the car in around 4000 miles for repairs during which the fluid was changed as part of the work. The car started having issues again around 8000 and GM denied the trans replacement because the owner missed a 7000mi fluid change interval requirement. The owners position was he thought since it was changed at 4000, he didn't think he needed to change it again at 7000 and the GM app that tells him of all required service, did not remind him, which, in theory it should have.
In this case. the owner already had documented trans issues, there were / are already numerous other documented trans issues with other C8 vehicles, GM and the Dealer had already done repairs on this vehicle's transmission and GM had added a 7000mi trans fluid change to attempt to counteract some of the problems they were having (ever heard of a 7000 mile trans fluid change requirement on any vehicle?)
Yet GM uses this small / inconsequential thing to deny a $20,000 trans replacement. He will now need to hire a lawyer and spend $$$$ or just pay $20,000 for a new trans which he is clearly entitled to, on a new $130,000 vehicle under full factory warranty.
This, among other things, are why I removed my name from the C8 Z06 waiting list.
