Well its been a long week, going on 6 days without my truck and the story dates back a couple weeks beyond that in terms of how big of a headache this is turning into.

Long story short I finally got around to replacing my XLT cluster with a Lariat cluster I got off ebay. From the description of the new cluster they are so close in mileage getting that corrected isn't even an issue.

So I ordered the message center switch so it could be installed from the dealership. Well dropped my truck off on Thursday after work. So they could get it done on Friday. Was told when I called Friday morning it would be in for the work just before lunch or right after lunch depending on how the day went.

I show up right around 5pm and well truck is still inside the building. Only work done so far was 1/2 the work being done on my leaking cv boot, which turns out today wasn't the problem anyways.

But back to my cluster issue. The tech says it can't be installed at all because I am missing the wireing harness. This sounds like total crap to me since I have seen more than 1 swap done on here. Also called another shop and they have done plenty of swaps and said to call when I have my truck back to set up an appointment. SO my real question is, Just how much crap is my dealership full of?

 

Sounds like they don't want your business. Find a better dealership.

 

x2

Ive got a friend that is gonna put an SVT cluster in his v6 and his dealership said its not possible

 

I called a few dealers and stopped in to ask about doing mine. Most wanted nothing to do with it, although one went the distance trying to get me a Roush cluster. The dealer I stopped into, this guy was a real ***** and swore up n down it wasn't possible and he wouldn't even know where to begin. Fast forward about 8 months, call another dealer and they had no issue doing it. Get there in the morning and get pull the truck up and give the keys to the advisor. Turn around and they have 4 more advisors sitting there, right on the end is the above mentioned *****, I wanted to rub it in but just kept going. Same owner, just different location guess he transferred over.

I'd try to get your truck out of there and get it to a different dealer, sounds to me they don't want to even try to help you. Good luck getting it installed.

 

Try to understand, most dealers ain't in business to try to retrofit something that they honestly don't know whether it's gonna work or not...

 

Do you have the part number still and parts list?

 

I pulled the part number off the forums here, let me see if I can find the post.

Found it.

Part number for the message center switch is 2L1Z 10D996 AAB

 

Man I have been through this type of crap before. It is almost a waste of time to get a dealership or any shop to do this type of work. This si the type of thing you need to start on a Saturday morning with all the correct parts and jsut go for it.

 

x2, people don't understand that the majority of dealerships will not do non-factory approved retrofits. There is alot of liability in that if something should fail in the future and they don't want the hassle.

 

Not to mention why pay $110 an hour for something I can do in the driveway.

The ONLY work I let the stealership do is warranty work. Period.

 

Well finally got my truck back today. Now I have all my parts and just need my cluster programmed. Had my girlfriend call a friend who works at another dealership and they are gonna take care of it all for me at a very nice little price.

 

COMPLETELY understandable, but why not just level with the customer. I think in MOST cases honesty goes a long way. If my dealer told me he couldn't do it and gave me the reason why I'd have that much more respect for him, for being upfront instead of bsing me or blowing me off.

That's just my 2 cents.

 

x2. For the guys who told me no, it wasn't a big deal. I just had issues with the one who wouldn't just say no and then hem n hawed about it like a jerk. For the line of work I'm in we simply tell clients if we can't do something and stand behind what we can, communication is a must.

Don't get me wrong, I hear where Quintin is coming from. I've got a good friend who is a BMW tech and they stick to only factory approved alterations/repairs. They always need to turn away people wanting to "cutomize" their rides.