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2012 Chrysler Town & Country with 69k miles. Vehicle jumps when putting into gear and from that diagnosed a failed engine mount. I bought this car used (CarMax) and took the claim to my warranty service provider (MaxCare), and they refused the claim saying it was under manufacturer 5y/100k power-train warranty.

I took the vehicle to a certified dealer who disagrees, stating that only internal engine components are covered. The Chrysler Warranty does not itemize "engine mount", but does itemize "vibration damper". I assume "vibration damper" means specifically the balancer bolted at the front of the crankshaft, but seems to me there's latitude there -- engine mounts "dampen vibrations"!

So, do I have any warranty leverage here, or are engine mounts truly excluded?

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  • What's the cost here? Is it worth fighting? You'll have to read your docs. There's usually a huge list of inclusions and exclusions on warranties.
    – cory
    Oct 18, 2016 at 14:03
  • @cory Well, I've looked for the "huge list of inclusions and exclusions", but I've not found it. Do you have a link? And, IMO, it's always worth putting up some fight, even if my BATNA is to pay for it. :)
    – bishop
    Oct 18, 2016 at 14:07
  • Knowing chrysler on covering things, I would say they will represent that a vibration damper is for damping vibrations on the crank shaft an internal engine thing. Where as engine mounts prime function is to hold the engine in place (an external to engine thing) and the damping function relates to the chassis. But you can always go into mediation with both MaxCare and Chrysler maybe you will win one of them. After two years of my Ram truck I have had enough of them, to many little got yas!
    – spicetraders
    Oct 18, 2016 at 16:09
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    Just have the Chrysler dealer write a letter saying that the engine mount is not covered under powertrain warranty, and take it back to MaxCare and tell them they are wrong about it being covered and that MaxCare's warranty should cover it. You might also point out the text on their website that says AVAILABLE ON ALL CARMAX USED CARS: MaxCare benefits all customers, whether your car is still under factory warranty or not.
    – Johnny
    Oct 19, 2016 at 4:37

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I very much doubt it. I don't specifically know about Chrysler, but some manufacturers definitely don't cover the engine mountings due to it being one of the members under the considerable stress. Under hard use it is more likely to be damaged, and because hard use can't really be measured to void or validate the warranty, parts like this are sometimes left out. They're pretty much saying that if you thrash the car to bits or always travel up steel hills with 1/4 ton of equipment and the engine mountings give way, then it's your fault :)

That said, mountings are usually built to take a lot of grief, and it's not usual to find faults with them, and specially so in modern cars.

My advice would be to do your best to get it under warranty, if you push your point hard enough, they just may let it go, although I'd say very unlikely. Big company standard is to have a flat policy and the bigger the company, the less likely they are to depart from it. I'd try for the warranty, push my point, see how it goes, if it seems hopeless, than I wouldn't waste my time on it! If you have the time to chase them up, then good luck and let you know how you get on! I'd be interested to hear :)

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