The Curse Of A Car

Yeah. My last three, including my current Ranger.

I sat down in December of 2003 and special ordered my first new vehicle ever. An 04 F250 with the 6.0 Powerjoke. By 36K, I was so tired of it spending 10 days out of the month in the shop from everything to chasing never ending coolant leaks, to blowing oil out of the turbo to burning up differential clutches that I finally traded it on an 08 Jeep Wrangler with the 3.8 V6. 18K into the Jeep, one night as I was unlocking the gate to come in the driveway, I heard a knock in the engine. Took it in the next day. Got a call later on that day that I had to have a short block. Long blocks were not available. After two solid months at the dealer, and fighting with them to send the heads out to be redone (they were going to slap them back on the new short block) they finally agreed. Got it back after two months and it was never the same. Kept returning for coolant leaks, oil leaks, you name it. Got fed up about the same time the economy tanked and decided to trade down. I looked originally for a Dakota but found the 04 Ranger I have now. I went from a 460 buck a month note to a 175 buck a month note. Great, right? Wrong. The day AFTER I traded for the Ranger, the check engine light popped on. I took it back and they said it was just a "random misfire code" and reset the computer. Back on the next day, so I did some digging online. Come to find out there's a HUGE factory TSB on the Ranger 3.0 V6 from 03-06 about Ford not using hard enough metal for the exhaust seats. Gotta have new heads. So, I found some at Dover Cylinder head in Atlanta. 300 bucks for heads, gaskets and new head bolts SHIPPED. I called the dealer and filled them in. They basically said "tough, you bought a used vehicle". Wrong answer Tim. I took my *** up to the dealer asking nicely to see the dealer principal. They said no. I kept raising my voice to the point that everyone in the showroom and all the offices knew why I was there and what had happened. Turns out the truck had been sitting in the very back of the dealership for over 6 months......because they KNEW what was wrong with it and didn't disclose it. Finally, the bossman heard me and came out. I told him that all I wanted was a check cut for 300 bucks and I would fix it myself. He refused at first and actually asked me to leave or he was going to call the police. I told him to get one of his sales men to call the police because he was fixing to need them and an ambulance to haul his lying *** away. I told him I had no problem going to jail for kicking his *** over 300 bucks and he needed to decided then and there if me stomping his *** in the middle of the showroom was really worth 300 bucks or not. He cut my check. That was a little over three years ago. Just recently, my truck began the same problem all over again. Yup. Valve seat recession. I pulled it back down and discovered Dover Cylinder head had not done what they had advertised. Old valves with old reground seats, when new valves and tungsten carbide seats were supposed to be installed. Since their warranty was only 12 months, I was screwed that way. So, I bit the bullet and paid for it myself. Upgraded, wider margin valves, real tungsten carbide seats installed by the machine shop that I normally use. Now the truck is running great. I hope it does not do it again. Even if it does not, this is my LAST time around with any kinda newer vehicle. I'm done.