I'm going to get the '01 3500 this week. The dealer has offered a 5yr. 50,000 mile drivetrain service contract. If I take it the vp's covered but cant make any mods. I asked about a Fass installation and he said it would just give DC a reason to deny coverage. The cost of a vp is over half of the contract price, but as a cummins runner for 35+ yrs, I sure would like to fix the dependability problems on this truck.

 

My warrantee states that everything's covered. But interestingly there isn't a whole lot that is fully covered, for instance the trac bar wasn't covered as a warranty item but the other front end components are. Mine cost me 1500 and I have already recouped it after the front end rebuild. If the VP goes within the next year and a half that is covered also, but I don't want the vp in the fuel tank, which is the warranted repair at the dealer. I can take my truck to whomever I wish to have the work done so I may be able to get the stock pump and vp replaced at one of the local deisel shops that work on Cummins stuff. I will eventually replace/relocate the stock pump w/an aftermarket system when I have some extra dough. The writing usually states that the aftermarket pump must be proven as the reason for the vp's failure but this can turn into a nightmare when dealing w/ the dealership idiots and could tie up your truck for quite a while.

 

My experience is dealers will fight you every step of the way when it comes to warranty claims.

Do you really want that headache?

 

My experience is that warantees aren't worth the hassle.

They push them hard because, in the long run, they make lots of money off them.