I'm taking it in Monday for the following

Rear axle "whine"
blown door speaker
Clunk under truck in front ( either transfer case or 4x4 related )

Its an 03 FX-4 XLT S-crew with 10K and had had these problem pretty much from day one. The dealer said I will have to pay for a rental car which absolutely sucks!!!!! I cant believe Ford wont cover this.

Has anyone had these problems and how long am I looking at being in a rental? Hopefully no more than a couple of days. FWIW I HATE Ford dealerships and especially the service departments. I have had more bad experiences with Ford service in the past 5 years than you can possibly imagin and that I care to get into right now. I just hope this doesnt turn into one of those again. I am trying a new a dealership so maybe they will do me right this time. Wish me luck guyz and galz

 

Be prepared for them to look at it and have to order parts causing a another visit. This will be your second chance to complain for a free rental. I work with a dealer that rents cars. This makes it much easier to get a free rental. Anohter dealer I worked with only had a few loaners and not a real reatal program. You could always ask for a real long test drive in a new truck, or ask for one of the Salseman's demos.

It just suprises me how the dealer shoots themselves in the foot on this. You have a vehicle under warranty. You paid big bucks and its broken (not a happy thing). Then there is no rental, so you paid big bucks and now have to hitch or rent (even more unhappyness). Now the dealer is under a time crunch. If you were in a loaner, no problem just keep it for another day. If you are not, now your mad.

I hope all your problems are solved this visit.

 

Ford won't cover a rental however, the dealership can provide one. I've developed a relationship with my dealership.... just about any time that I'm in there, they'll offer one up. Now, they don't put me in an Excursion or anything of that nature (typically like a Ford Focus or similar) but, none the less, I have wheels and I'm not left thumbing it...

Make it an issue with your dealership. Talk to the salesman that you bought the truck from and see if he can pull some strings. From the sounds of it, someone can and should pull a string...

Good luck with the warranty work!

RP

 

Once again, the good and bad experience usually rests with the actions of the dealer. My Ford dealer always offers a loaner, no charge. That is one of the biggest reasons why I purchased my vehicle from them.

 

Update:

2 days and no word from the dealer
Yes Im hitching rides
Yes it sucks
I just hope its fixed when I get it back. Ill keep you posted

 

While it's there, get them to double check on the AC drain line to verify that the evaporator core housing is draining to the outside of the vehicle. My tube was short from the factory causing the jute felt pad under the passenger front carpet to be completely soaked. On first glance the service rep and I both thought it was a leaking windsheild seal. The fix is farily easy to complete w/ a piece of rubber hose and a hose clamp.

TonyPTX

 

Well I got my truck back Thursday and all is fixed !!!!

The went through and replaced every component in the rear axle. Ring, pinion, bearings and what ever else. there were metal shavings in the rear diff. fluid when they took it aprt and the "whine/whistle" noise was from the carrier bearing and pinion (i hope thats right I am no expert) Also the clunk underneath the truck was something under the skid plate that was loose (dont remember) and was found by the mechanic that owns a truck exactly like mine. I guess that help alot when they own one themselves :-) I am happy its fixed and it was a good dealer experience this time

 

i had to get the cable that runs from my batt to my started replaced they guy that had it b4 me did somethign to strip some of the insulation off of it and it ended up breaking but thats not the point my loaner (no charge) was a '78 F-150 with a 460 and 36's on it very very sweet much better than a focus or an old taurus but i too had probles with the service dpt they ordered the wrong part twice they seem to have a problem with that because they did it when i ordered my V8 emblems too

 

Glad to hear all went well. My experience has shown that it does not help to go into the dealer all hot under the collar, but you do have to be firm and not let them walk on you.