Tuned GT Question

[Oilspot6G]

Hello,

New to me 2021 Mustang GT convertible. Very low miles (2k), but it has been through several dealers and auctions before I found it. Looks and runs like new, or so I thought.

Went to Ford dealer after purchasing from an Acura dealer a few hours away. Ford dealer cannot connect to vehicle. They made several attempts on two separate visits. They believe the car has been tuned: voids remainder of original warranty and jeopardizes the ESP warranty I purchased a few days ago from Ziegler.

I've emailed a couple tuners with my VIN, in hopes I strike gold with some custom tune that recorded the VIN somewhere. I know, it's a hail Mary to say the least.

Local dealer says if I leave it with them for a week or so, they may be able to do something with it. Don't know if they are mailing it off somewhere or working on it local.

Is this something I can fix by purchasing a new or used ECU? Anyone on here had much experience with this? I did a few searches and didn't find anything specifically like this situation per se.

Thanks in advance for any help or tips you can offer.

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[WildHorse]

Did the Acura dealer disclose that info to you ?

 

[Rael]

Agree. You may need to get legal advice about making the Acura dealer correct the situation. Sounds like the Acura dealer may have breached implied or express warranties.

 

[Oilspot6G]

Did the Acura dealer disclose that info to you ?

No, they provided CarFax and said there was remaining Ford new car warranty. No mention of tune. The sales manager doesn't believe the warranty is voided; Ford dealer believes otherwise.

 

[K Myers]

No, they provided CarFax and said there was remaining Ford new car warranty. No mention of tune. The sales manager doesn't believe the warranty is voided; Ford dealer believes otherwise.

Do your own carfax and it should give you the name or dealer that sold it frist.and start
Their.Whats wrong with the tune? Go to Facebook and post a picture of it and ask if any on know this car. 2015+ Mustang S550 is the Facebook group
This is the link
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2015mustang/?ref=share

 

[Oilspot6G]

I

Do your own carfax and it should give you the name or dealer that sold it frist.and start
Their.Whats wrong with the tune? Go to Facebook and post a picture of it and ask if any on know this car. 2015+ Mustang S550 is the Facebook group
This is the link
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2015mustang/?ref=share

know the selling dealer, so I can try to cont them. based on the car fax I suspect the owner moved from NE to CA, but I could be wrong. Ford also pull a report today, that I may get a copy of for comparison.

My main concern/question isn’t contacting prior owner. I am more worried if the car can be fixed by replacing the ECU and get rid of the tune? Time is of the essence to get resolution with Acura dealer!!

 

[MAGS1]

No, they provided CarFax and said there was remaining Ford new car warranty. No mention of tune. The sales manager doesn't believe the warranty is voided; Ford dealer believes otherwise.

Doesn’t matter what the Acura sales manager believes, he’s not the one that makes the call if there’s an issue. If Ford/Ford dealer is saying it’s voided (which it is by the way if you go by the letter of the factory warranty language), that’s all that matters as they won’t approve your warranty claim.

If the tuning device didn’t come with the car and a factory/ESP warranty is important to you, tell the Acura dealer you want to give them the car back and you want your money back. If it went through a bunch of dealer auctions, I bet they all found the same thing, that it’s tuned and there’s no device with it that would still have the stock tune.

Unless the Ford dealer can figure it out, I personally would get my money back from the Acura dealer, throw the key fob(s) back at them and find a car that hasn’t been tuned. Good luck!

 

[Buldawg76]

Any ford dealer should be able to return the car to the stock tune by flashing the "as built" calibration back into the PCM, but that will not change the fact that Ford will not honor the factory warranty or ESP. Some dealers may overlook the car being tuned in terms of warranty but if Ford corporate becomes involved for whatever reason be it random screening of RO or dealer auditing of warranty repairs, they ultimately have the final say.

Since your local ford dealer already has documented they could not access PCM your already screwed. Go to Acura dealer that sold the car and get money back or get huge discount from sale price and enjoy the car.

BD

 

[ice445]

Any ford dealer should be able to return the car to the stock tune by flashing the "as built" calibration back into the PCM, but that will not change the fact that Ford will not honor the factory warranty or ESP. Some dealers may overlook the car being tuned in terms of warranty but if Ford corporate becomes involved for whatever reason be it random screening of RO or dealer auditing of warranty repairs, they ultimately have the final say.

Since your local ford dealer already has documented they could not access PCM your already screwed. Go to Acura dealer that sold the car and get money back or get huge discount from sale price and enjoy the car.

BD

Yep, for a fee the dealer can recover the PCM to as built default. While the warranty isn't "void" in its entirety, most things relating to the powertrain could be denied based on this.

Three real options for OP. One is to try to unwind the deal. The dealership you bought it from should be willing to work with you since this was an unexpected issue. But they also might not since used vehicles are usually sold "as is".

Two is to pay the dealer to recover the ECU to factory as built parameters and accept that powertrain issues may not be covered going forward. The coyote is pretty reliable and the mileage is low, so this wouldn't be a big concern for me.

Three is to just leave the car tuned and just enjoy it as is.

As far as refunding the ESP, that's probably wise. Take that money and put it away somewhere in case you do need a repair.

 

[Rael]

OP, get quick advice from a lawyer in your area. If you don't know one, ask a legal aid group.

 

[K Myers]

I

know the selling dealer, so I can try to cont them. based on the car fax I suspect the owner moved from NE to CA, but I could be wrong. Ford also pull a report today, that I may get a copy of for comparison.

My main concern/question isn’t contacting prior owner. I am more worried if the car can be fixed by replacing the ECU and get rid of the tune? Time is of the essence to get resolution with Acura dealer!!

Is the tune giving you a problem. Check with Bama , American Muscle

 

[Rael]

OP, what you don't want to do is take any action that makes you even partially responsible for this problem that you did not create.

We all mean well, but please get advice from a Real Lawyer before acting on any advice you get from us.

 

[Oilspot6G]

I’m in talks with the selling dealer to see what they are willing to do. I provided a list of options for them to consider. Remain hopeful; but sales manager says people modify their cars all the time and he doesn’t understand what the big deal is. SMH

The oddest part is the local Ford dealer wants the car for 1 or two weeks, to try and reflash the ECU/PCM, yet the charge would likely be one hour of labor ($215). Makes me wonder if they are trying to make it difficult by requiring they keep the car for at least a week.

I will try to post an update. I’m hoping to avoid going to lawyer or press, but those are next steps if talks with Acura dealer stall.

 

[K Myers]

I think they are stalling I would go to the media then you will get results

 

[Buldawg76]

I’m in talks with the selling dealer to see what they are willing to do. I provided a list of options for them to consider. Remain hopeful; but sales manager says people modify their cars all the time and he doesn’t understand what the big deal is. SMH

The oddest part is the local Ford dealer wants the car for 1 or two weeks, to try and reflash the ECU/PCM, yet the charge would likely be one hour of labor ($215). Makes me wonder if they are trying to make it difficult by requiring they keep the car for at least a week.

I will try to post an update. I’m hoping to avoid going to lawyer or press, but those are next steps if talks with Acura dealer stall.

The issue may they only have one tech that is knowledgeable on the procedure to reflash the PCM back to as built calibration and he may have several other vehicles in line in front of your car and since you did not buy from them you are not a priority. Sadly, it's pretty common these days with the shortage of qualified techs with the experience needed to perform these tasks.

You could call another dealer close to you and may get lucky with getting the car in the same day or a few days out to be done while you wait for it. Also, dealer labor rates vary to some extent as well so may find one that will do it for less costs.

I know I have three dealers within 30 miles of me and to reflash my ecoboost from the ford performance tune back to as built calibration I was quoted 160, 185 and 290 bucks for one hours labor to perform the procedure.

At the very least the selling dealer should be made to cover the cost of reflashing back to stock calibration IMO.

BD

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