Well, we called the national Ford customer service phone number. The young lady was very nice, but ultimately didn't offer much help. She did get us approved for X-plan pricing on a new or certified pre-owned vehicle, but we could have gotten that on our own since Linda's deceased father worked at the Ford truck plant in Louisville.
Still, we've got several other hot irons poking Ford from different directions. I'm a very polite pest .... for now. :)
We also have a few people diligently searching for used F-450s. If we can find a decent used F-450 and get even a little financial assistance from Ford (plus an extended warranty), that's probably the route we'll take. But things could change overnight. :)
At 9:00 a.m. we were back in the vendor area with Linda holding down the RVSEF booth while I observed and trained at the Wholesale Warranties booth. Traffic was light today, but Linda got a few more weighing sign-ups.
I watched as Jeff signed a few folks up for warranties. Some of the rally attendees traded in their motorhomes for different motorhomes that area dealers had on display here. And a few of them came to get quotes to compare to the dealer quotes on extended warranties. Of course the savings was huge. One gentleman saved $4,000 and got better coverage.
It's interesting seeing the different attitudes about extended warranties. Some absolutely will not ever have one. Some are simply skeptical, and ask lots of very specific questions. Some really would prefer to have one, but have to see the value. And some won't own an RV without one.
Jeff and I discussed his vision for our roll, and I think that may morph over time. We established that he doesn't have the same expectations for us as he does for his in-house sales staff. That's good, 'cause we still want to try to maintain some semblance of balance. On the other hand, we told him he can fly us anywhere in the country to do shows or rallies and we'll be happy to go as long as it doesn't conflict with our own rallies or other speaking gigs.
I think we are going to go ahead and try being "warranty specialists". We've got a little bit to learn and we won't know the answers to every question, but Jeff is already comfortable enough to turn me loose to do quotes. So, in the next few days, we'll set up a separate section on our website and we'll be able to get started with that.
Many of the vendors were gone this morning and everyone else packed up around 2:00. We packed up and went home so we could start making phone calls and doing research we need to do.
So, as the temps approached 100, we settled into a routine. Make a phone call, return an email, pull up a used truck on the web, and repeat. We did that for hours.
Finally, we took a break and Linda whipped up a nacho dinner. After that, my eyes were sore from looking at trucks, reading the details, and scouring the fine print and CARFAX reports.
Tomorrow, we have some morning weighings, we have to run some errands, and then we'll be back to gathering more information and trying to get a step closer to making a decision.
One day at a time. :)
Kudos on your diligence in the truck search. Your situation has me thinking hard about an extended warranty for our truck.
We traded in the Prius we had when we saw you in Goshen last summer, for a 2011 Dodge Ram. When you are up and running with the warranty world, let's talk.
I know you are not in HDT mindset yet. I am sure you and Jack talked at length, but given your travels and W-O-R-K schedules, I bet a combo of his old truck AND his New Horizon would be a great way to go. Just a thought....
-- Kevin
Posted by: Kevin | Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 01:20 AM
Don't know why I forgot this part when I commented the other day about yours and our Ford truck problems--the current Ford F350 we drive from which Michael removed the engine to replace injectors is a "lemon" turn back. Our original F350 had problems from the get go--I (Janna) documented, complained, documented, complained and finally a year later Ford replaced the truck--the system does work sometimes! The original truck was out of warranty when the problems started. Just FYI!
Posted by: Janna | Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 09:22 AM
Howard, sorry about your truck issues, not what one would expect from a Ford Diesel. You mentioned possibly the idea of an 08 or newer 6.4...am sure you have already researched their history, however, those early 6.4s had issues of their own, radiator leaks, "making oil" during regeneration periods..to name a couple.I have an 2010, 20K miles, love it, would look very closely before buying an earlier model though. Would really like it even better if it had an engine brake instead of the transmission brake....
Posted by: Marty | Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 10:30 AM
Too bad we traded our 2008 F-450 in last year on a car. Got $23,500 for it. Would have been so ironic if you got it since you started us on the RVing world. Left Jojoba March 20 and recently have been in Newfoundland, New Brunswick and PEI - in our car - so behind on blogging news. Back home in Sept. I know you will find the right solution.
Posted by: Lynda and Bob Soady | Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 07:59 PM
Whew Howard I am tired just reading about your life these days with RV Dreams and RVSEF and WW and the truck hunt. You guys are really something! That's what youth will do for you. :-))
Posted by: Sherry | Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 10:00 PM
Hi again,
This is what I got back from Gordie:
They should be able to get a re-man for less than what was quoted, ford customer assistance should kick in something if they buy a reman, they can also check an independent shop to see if it is any cheaper, a reman 6.0L has 2 year UNLIMITED mile warranty.
Personally I would NOT buy a 6.4L
hope it helps
Mike
Posted by: Mike Davis | Sunday, July 22, 2012 at 02:20 AM