Do I have a case? PLEASE READ!

What is the name of your state? Oklahoma

This is all the information in a nutshell. For more information on this click this link and it will take you to a thread that may help because of other peoples input. Thank You!


My transmission went out awhile back in my 2000 Ford F-150 Lightning. I took it to the "best" tranny shop around my area and they said they would put the stoutest parts they can in it. They charged me $2,200 towards the end of October. I had a 12k or 12 month warranty, but on the receipt it says " Will not warranty abuse".
As you all can tell from my post my trucks been in the shop and NOT running good at all since I put the 6lb pulley on it in August or around then ( motor modification). Well the transmission has been out for the last month and I hauled it on a trailer back up to Tulsa last Thursday. Last week I get a call saying all the gears are stripped and he asked me how much HP this truck has. I said well it hasnt ran right since I put a pulley on it, but I would guess somewhere around 400HP after all the kinks are worked out.

Here is a couple phone conversations:


I asked where did you get the parts? He said Ford Motorsports. I said They dont offer the right rebuild kits or gear trains for Lightning transmissions. He said well I didnt order the parts **** did. I said let me talk to ****. He wont be in till tomarrow. He said he wasnt sure if it was from there but he knows **** ordered the strongest parts available, without having to special order them from FL.

I said what would you guys have warrantied? He said clutches, TRQ converter, and something else. He said everything looks brand new even the planitarys, but it looks like someone has taken a hammer and just broke them off.

I ask what would have caused this? He said abuse. Its like looking at car with 2 newer tires on the front and bald ones on the back. Its just obvious. NOW Im not saying you did that, but from looking at the gear train it is deffinately destroyed.

I said that just doesnt make sense to me...I have friends who are in the 500-800 RWHP that run from 11's to 9's and there on there STOCK transmisson. He said YES that is the key STOCK transmission. I said well they have a FTVB, that is the most popular mod to have on these. "I said and thats suppose to help the life rather than degrade it. He said NO you dont want hard, knock your head off shifts" You want clean crisp shifts. You dont want your tires breaking traction.

I said well I dont understand why this transmission only lasted 3k miles. My stock tranny went 91ish before letting go and your telling me a "heavy duty" transmission only went 3k? All he says is. All he has is facts and he doesnt know how I drive but the facts are the gears are destroyed.


Then he said I have 1 of 2 options.

#1 - I can pay about 7k and get a "monster" transmission because my truck has too much " raw horsepower" and I will continue to destroy them otherwise.
#2 - I can pay 2k and they will re-build my transmission like before.

What should I do?
I took out a loan to pay for the rebuild to begin with, I'm broke, In college, and now have this to deal with.

If you need to know anything else just ask...Im thinking about goin to a lawyer.

Please Help!

1) You need to find better things to do with your money. PARTICULARLY if you are a broke college student.

2) You increased the stock output of your truck. As such, your transmission would not be covered. You can find a different rebuild shop, or stay with this one and pay for another rebuild (either the "monster" rebuild, or the standard - your choice).

3) You can't afford a lawyer, but if you REALLY want to, you can sue the shop in small claims court. I doubt you have a case.

First rule of modifying your car - things break. Unless you can prove, via expert testimony, that the shop negligently rebuilt your original tranny (IMO, unlikely after 3k miles of use), you have no claim. Just because others get more life out of their stock trannies doesn't mean you should too. Every vehicle, every driver is different. For example, did you get a tranny cooler when you put the pulley on?

(Incidentally, given the number of shift/rebuild kits for the 4R100, I'm sure the tech made an honest mistake when he said it came from "Ford Motorsports").

You have a warranty on an expensive transmission rebuild.

Sue to enforce the warranty (IE the price of the rebuild). You have nothing really to lose.

Unless the gears are specifically excluded, and unless the warranty prohibits engine modification, they are just SOL on those arguments.

They will have to PROVE abuse to have a defense. "They can just tell" is not going to cut it.

I however agree that while truck modding is VERY fun, you will not win any sympathy points from anybody if part of your case is that you are broke. Its not relevant legally and it casts you as more than a little bit irresponsible...

Well how about looking at it from a "law" standpoint?

The key factor here is that the shop was aware of what mods you had on your truck (and the assumption is that they did not change in any material way). If they knew that going in, then they have arguably violated "the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose." That's when a buyer is justified in relying on the seller's skill to select the appropriate product.

Looking at it another way, if they knew that your truck violated their warranty provisions from the get-go, but didn't tell you that at the time, then they have made an implied misrepresentation to you, and should be forced to honor the contract even if your truck did not comply with it as written.

Daniels2386 said:

Well how about looking at it from a "law" standpoint?

The key factor here is that the shop was aware of what mods you had on your truck (and the assumption is that they did not change in any material way). If they knew that going in, then they have arguably violated "the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose." That's when a buyer is justified in relying on the seller's skill to select the appropriate product.

Looking at it another way, if they knew that your truck violated their warranty provisions from the get-go, but didn't tell you that at the time, then they have made an implied misrepresentation to you, and should be forced to honor the contract even if your truck did not comply with it as written.

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Already answered:

You Are Guilty said:

First rule of modifying your car - things break. Unless you can prove, via expert testimony, that the shop negligently rebuilt your original tranny (IMO, unlikely after 3k miles of use), you have no claim. Just because others get more life out of their stock trannies doesn't mean you should too. Every vehicle, every driver is different. For example, did you get a tranny cooler when you put the pulley on?

(Incidentally, given the number of shift/rebuild kits for the 4R100, I'm sure the tech made an honest mistake when he said it came from "Ford Motorsports").

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Well then I guess I have a case. They knew going into this what modifications had been done and if they violated there warranty I should have been notified of they should have installed there own parts so they warranty would uphold. I didnt do these mods AFTER they rebuild. They where done before hand.

Knock yourself out;
http://www.okbar.org/public/brochures/sccbroc.htm

Just remember, if it comes down to just your word against the shop owner/tech's (i.e. no supporting documents or experts), they're the ones with the knowledge of transmissions and you're the student - who do you think the judge is going to believe?

Daniels2386 said:

Well then I guess I have a case. They knew going into this what modifications had been done and if they violated there warranty I should have been notified of they should have installed there own parts so they warranty would uphold. I didnt do these mods AFTER they rebuild. They where done before hand.

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Post back with results.

(Hint: Having heard my fair share of these cases, just reading YOUR version without hearing the other side strikes me as one of those "easy money" cases.)

"easy money"? In whos favor? There is no other side. They just keep giving me the run around. Wont let me talk the person who ordered the parts, so I can see if there even the right ones NOR will he let me talk to the builder!