Before buying a new Ford consider this.

[Capri306]

I'll get my response to the original thread post out of the way first. By reading what was posted, this is a LEASE vehicle? Why would you ever modify a leased vehicle? Did they not explain you have to return it after the lease is up? I mean, it's not like you own it or anything. Kinda like knocking out walls in an apartment building, ya know?

Having said that, I do agree Ford is STUPID about their warranty policies. I fail to see how one totally unrelated modification voids the entire warranty, as in your case. Ford is simply counting on people NOT taking them to court, which is a modern (but HORRIBLE) business practice. Kinda like how they calculated how many people would die in rearend-collision-induced explosions of Pintos. Same beat, different song. Personally, I fail to see the use of even having a warranty if the car won't last much past 100k miles anyway, but that's just me.

Originally Posted by Mr 5 0

What I see is a clear distinction between the short and long term benefits and that Ford is ignoring that. They stop any more free repairs on your car is the short-term win. You never buy another Ford and tell as many people as you can, which, when done via the internet, means thousands - and Ford loses many potential sales down the road is the long-term loss, but Ford doesn't care. Fine.

I'm not sure if GM, Honda or Toyota care either but I'll probably not buy another new Ford. Not simply because of this one example of corporate arrogance and short-sightedness but because of their 'quality issues' and other negative perceptions I've been getting about Ford. This example of stupidity and a 'screw the customer' corporate attitude is simply another reason to look harder at the many other manufacturers out there making quality cars - cars that don't need a lot of warranty work.

I second Mr. 5.0 for pointing out Ford's overall shortsightedness and $hit quality over the past decade or so. He's right; it's as if they don't even CARE that neither I nor my family will EVER BUY ANOTHER FORD AGAIN. You'd think this would be tragic to Ford if you considered that I used to be a die-hard Ford fan. Apparently, they don't care enough to keep a "Fan Base" alive these days.

Fine Ford, don't live up to your self-imposed Q1 standards, crap on your customers, and keep making crap. I'll just keep buying Hondas since Honda, not you, seems to CARE about whether I'm happy with my cars or not and they want to keep my business.

Seriously, is anyone else just saying "DUH?!?!" to all this? Isn't keeping customers how you make money in the long term? If you owned a manufacturing (well, Ford doesn't make much anymore, they're really just assemblers) business, wouldn't you want to create products that were competitive and long-lasting so you'd expand your customer base?

Yay Mustang, Boo Ford.