Truck has a bad bad owie
 

One my way to work yesterday morning I stopped to get gas so I wouldn't have to when I got off. Got back in, started her up and heard this awful noise. Pulled her into the parking lot, there was no smoke and no check engine light so I drove it 3/4 mile to my office. Called Ford. Because I got behind on my ESP payments with the move and change of jobs (2 months) they cancelled my warranty. According to Ford, that happened on Nov 9. Even though they cashed the 100.00 check I sent them on Nov 13. Ford on demand picked the truck up for 69.99 and towed it to Bell where so far they have been the best dealership I have dealt with. I am waiting for the bill, but i have to be honest...I don't think I am going to be able to afford it. And this is the only vehicle I have...had. I don't know what I am going to do...Any words of wisdom?

CA

Oh yeah, I guess it would be helpful to know...somehow, the third plug back on the passenger side blew off. That was the noise. Sounded too violent to be a vacuum line, but I didn't see anything to indicate I had actually blown something up. The tow truck driver used to be a service writer, told me what it was before he even looked under the hood to confirm it.

ouch, i think that warrants a new head, not sure though, but if your stuck paying for it i think a new head is maybe 1000? then labor on top of that...if you are a wrench turner you might be able to do it yourself but its a pain in the ass

I had the same plug blow. My truck is under warranty, but the guy at the dealership told me it was about 500 bucks for a new head, I am assuming that doesn't include labor.

Since they cashed you last check after they voided the warranty, I would fight it. Go to them and let them know, or at least if they wont honor the warranty, get your $100 back!

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Is your ESP not part of your monthly payment? How many miles do you have on your truck? Any mods?

Good luck!

Sounds like you need head. For the truck. Not going to be cheap at the dealer. Need to find a L buddy or mod-Mustang expert in the area. Heads can be found pretty cheap. Dealer will bend you over bad if it's not warranty.

WhiteLightninSVTGirl,
I would get a copy of the cashed check from your bank and go to the dealer with it. The contract is not void if they took your money as payment. Even if you are late. To take payment and refuse service is fraud.

If they still do nothing get a lawyer. He/she may be able to get your warranty back at a much lower cost then the head replacement. Might be worth a try??

:confused:

Damn Christy! Im sorry to hear about your bad luck! Try to fight it with ford on the ESP thing! If you have no luck gimme a shout! I have a set of spare heads! Keith

you could also heli coil the head too if there's no other damage. Cheaper then getting a new head.

Thanks guys. I am going to wait and see what the dealership says. The service writer told me she was going to take care of everything and I shouldn't worry. I talked to Sal and he said he had some heads he could let go for cheap, if I can't get ahold of him I might give you a call Keith, thanks again. One of the other SVTOA AZ members owns a shop and I may be able to talk to him about helping me out. I am just not looking forward to the process and don't have another car...one step at a time I guess. Would the fact that my SVT tech was the one who installed the new plugs less than 7K miles ago matter?

CA

damn girl, you got some real luck there.
I left my cell at work friday, I'll give you a shout monday

Things may be looking up (under the circumstances) I am signing a new lease with my apartment and they are going to waive 6 weeks of my rent so if they can do it for this month that would be awesome. I can afford the rental car, and am fairly confident that since they cashed the check they will bring my esp current if I pay what I owe on it and then I will be looking at the deductible. That will be a good thing. To answer the previous question, after seeing the problems other 99s were having after the factory warranty expired I had the foresight to purchase the esp to 75K and got a pretty good deal on it. That's why it isn't incorporated into my monthly payments. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Seems like every damn bad thing that can happen will build up and wait for the worst possible time. I am picking up a rental tomorrow from the dealership and will find out what the damage is then. I'll probably get to work and find out they are cutting back and I don't have a job the way my luck has been lately. If that happens all this joking in other threads about moving to Mexico and living on the beach will become a reality I swear it. :(

CA

owie
 

CA
If you need some help tomorrow for anything (Monday) call me, because its my day off. You may want to follow two tracks here; #1, get your warranty re-instated and #2, lean hard on Ford to warranty the problem (not using your warranty) based on the fact that the Colorado dealer changed the plug that ended up blowing out. Obviously, they need to stand behind their work, it's just a question of how long. Also,just because they did the work in Colorado does not mean you have to return there to get it fixed. I would think Bell Ford could fix it, and charge it back to Colorado. If you get no satisfaction from Bell Ford, I'd call the SVT 800 number, and/or talk to John Griffith 623.873.5074. He's a service writer at Pioneer Ford who owns a Lightning and should be aware of the ongoing spark plug issue. We can also lean hard on Kristen, to see if they will back up a club member.I spoke to her after you left and said I thought she needed to step to the plate on this.
Good Luck.

Neil,
Thanks so much. I hope you and Margie know how lucky I feel to have met you all. I'll be in touch to let you know news as soon as I hear it.
*bighug*
CA

I hope everything goes well Christy! Shoot me a message on AIM sometime........Havent talked with you in awhile:)

I'm selling the truck. If anybody is interested let me know.

I have spent the last two days on the phone. This is what I have learned. First of all I contacted the Customer Service Dpt where they had me explain the entire story and then made record of it and told me there is nothing else they can do then transferred me to another department who told me they would make record of it and that was all they could do. Then I called one of the other SVTOA AZ officers who is the SVT Fleet manager at a local Ford dealership. She said she has no control over it because her dealership didn't sell it, I need to call the dealership that sold it to me. I called the dealership I bought it from, Burt Arapahoe Ford, spoke with Rick Bozerleri there, who used to be a pretty cool damn guy. His exact words to me when I explained that I wanted to bring the esp current and have it reinstated..."If this is the same Christy that had her truck out at Bandimere I'm not going to do a damn thing about this. It's YOUR problem, I don't know who was authorized to sell an extended warranty to YOU in the first place." He laughed and hung up. So I called Bell Ford where my truck is, talked to Edie, my service writer. She tells me between sobs that they are bringing a Ford rep down to help me, they are going to put me into a loaner so I am not paying for a rental, don't worry about a thing. 2 this afternoon, Edie calls. The Ford rep has determined that this is a problem stemming from improper installation by Courtesy Ford in CO, therefore, Bell is doing what they can for me....not a damn thing, no help, no loaner, nothing. I need to call Courtesy, tell them the plug blew because of the workmanship (c'mon do any of us really believe that) and they need to give me some help clear the hell out here in AZ. I call Courtesy, talk with Steve Coe, they have recently changed the computer system over, he will pull the file in the am and call me and let me know what they can do. My SVT tech, one of our fellow Lightning (former) owners was the one who put the plugs in. I can't remember if there will be an invoice for it or not, just like I doubt that there is an invoice in their system from when he put his headers on my truck in Fords shop on Fords time. I just don't know, but the way that things have gone thus far...I doubt it will be found. I have saved (to my knowledge) every invoice I have received from all maint. and service. I'll dig thru them and see what I can find. I guess that 25 years of loyalty, 40 vehicles, all Ford, through their troubled times (and we all know there have been more than we can remember), tattooing my loyalty to the company on my shoulder, fighting every anti Ford comment made by every other brand owner, countless thousands of dollars spent on vehicles, repairs and mods doesn't get me a Goddamned thing. I am selling the truck because if a plug blows at 41K miles, what the hell am I supposed to do at 45K when the entire f'ing engine goes? This whole experience has made me hate the damn truck anyway. It's kind of ironic that SVTOA AZ just appointed me their secretary...I'm done you guys. Some of you guys have been like family. I hope that we don't lose touch. But it's just too much to ask in the position I am in to expect that I will stick with this company. So, if anybody is interested, the truck is for sale and I will be working on getting it fixed in the meantime. Sorry so long
CA