[Caforddude]

Ok been a few days so here is where I am right now. Service writer called friday around noon and said they had it all buttoned back up and finished up their testing. Said a couple of things.

1)did want service records because when they are looking at repairs of this magnitude Ford is going wo want to make sure someone has seen them to make sure regular maintance has been done. She also said her mechanic did not see any signs or evidence that the engine had been abused or improperly maintained. Said the service records thing is just a check box on their list of things to have/see/inspect or whatever. Not an issue because again there had been no evidence of any of that stuff. as she said "The heads don't lie". Told me they would be talking to Ford in the coming week.

This is where I get a little upset Not mad at the dealership mind you but more about the circumstances. The dealership is doing the best they can given the hand they have been dealt.
2) She told me they could not even start tearing down the truck until the week of the 24th, after they talked to Ford. I confirmed she meant March 24th and when she said yes I told her that was completly unacceptable. I told her there was no way I could afford to make my truck payment AND a rental car payment for that length of time. They would have to cover the rental car, or at least part of it if my truck was going to sit idle on their lot for 3-4 weeks. I told her if her shop was just too busy for one customer to monopolize that much of the shops time I would need to get it to a larger dealership with more mechanics available. I understand they are not a "Mega" dealership and I am not their oinly customer. She put me on hold for a minute or so and then came back. Said she had talked to her Service manager and he didn't like the situation either and would see what he could do. Agreed to call me back later.

3) She calls back later with "Good news" I'm not sure exactly what happened but she told me they were going to tear down on the 9th of March. Still not great but WAY better then 24th. Said she would still like me to get service records but it sounded like they had already talked to Ford and gotten approval. Her words to me were "If it was going to be denied we would have asked you for money and written permission to tear down your truck"
She said they still can not cover the rental car but when they submitted everything to Ford once it was done they were going to submit my rental car reciepts and request reimbursement for them also. In the mean time she told me I should call ford and pitch a fit that my rental car is not currently being covered because this is a warranty claim. Especially since I will prolly be in the rental car until AT LEAST the 16th depending on parts.

4) Said it could be the oil pump OR it could be something yet to be discovered. Either way fixing them involves getting into the bottom end of the engine so the time involved in that is about the same regardless of what is wrong at that point.

SO it's me and the Impala for a while longer. The impala is a nice car. Good size, nice power, nicely equiped, rides nice. I would reccomend it if someone was looking for a family car.