i have a rattle in my dash that i have taken to the shop on 4 seperate occasions....they have basically redone the whole dash and everything and it still isnt fixed....is this grounds for arbitration?.....in the 4 times ive had it in...they have kept my truck about 27 days......once it was 15 days at one time...im really tired of it...need some help....its a 2002 with only 23,500 miles

 

Take a look at both door panels.
They are held on with screws that come loose across the bottom and at other locations.

 

That is a VERY common rattle point for late model Screw owners... my old 01 had it as well.

But, to answer your question about arbitration... I seriously doubt that it's grounds. If I were you, I'd pursue another dealership that doesn't demand your truck for 3 weeks to isolate a rattle. That sounds like a load of horse hockey to me...

Warranty work can be performed by any Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealership; not just the one you purchased the vehicle from...

RP

 

I had a rattle in the dash of my Screw that drove me nuts. I had it into the dealer, and they found a loose screw that had been placed inside the same housing as the speedometer, a deliberate act of boredom by a worker on the assembly line according to the service manager. They only found it by disassembling the entire dash. You might have the same problem. Otherwise, it could be the screws on the lower door panel as mentioned in other replys, I have had that problem as well. Re-screwing them in fixed it.

 

My fuse box under the hood caused what sounded like a dash rattle. I just stuck a piece of rubber under it and now it's gone.

Good luck

 

Those loose door screws bugged the heck out of me...... I thought it was a speaker that was loose or something I had in the door pocket!!

 

Go around and talk to service managers at different dealerships. See if you can find one that sounds like he/she know a little about rattle problems and appears committed to help you out, and fix it. They can be a real bugger to find sometimes. Any dealer that keeps your truck for 15 days is full of “horse hockey”, as previously stated. It probably sat there with no one working on it for the majority of those (15 days).

 

You may also wish to re-read your warranty.


Most car makers state in their warranties that squeaks and rattles are considered normal and not covered under warranty.

So as RP suggested, arbitration or lemon laws probably wont apply.

 

A friend of mine bought an '03 SCrew. He complained of a rattle in his dash and it turned out that the hood strut was making the noise. Dealer fixed it up for him.

Otherwise, like I tell him, just turn up the radio!

Good luck!