Tim, when you say the "Dealership", do you mean the Chrysler dealership? If so, that is the biggest broblem so far.They seem to think they have the service market cornered. You could have it towed to an independant mechanic that needs your business. A few metal shavings is not evidence enough for me to determine that the whole engine is shot.
If it is, could your parts guy order the engine and have it shipped directly to them? Have you priced low milage used engines from wrecking yards in that area? And it seems like the money you will pay for shipping would be better spent directly on the vehicle.
Moondawg--I hear ya! I know everyone at my local Chrysler dealership from the porters to the owner and they always take good care of me. I have bought my cars and done most if not all of my service there for 20 plus years and they have a specific mechanic who works on all of my vehicles. This truck was a new (used) vehicle to me and unfortunately, it has crapped out away from home. On the other hand, I don't know the dealer in MN from Adam. I also do not have any contacts in MN and if I had the work done up there and there were warranty issues then where am I? That is why I want to get the car back to guys I can trust who are not going to replace the engine unless it needs it. My best friend at the local dealership is the parts manager so I typically get my parts at cost plus a minor mark-up. I coached the Service Manager's kid in junior football so she always discounts the labor as well.
The real challenge is finding a shipper. I have some decent quotes from U-Ship and have been mulling those over. I just remembered today that a friend of mine works for an auto transport company and I have a call into him to see if he can assist.
Then I made the mistake of requesting a quote through a website called American Auto Shipping. To get a quote, you had to enter your email and phone number. That was about 15 minutes ago and I have already gotten 4 calls including a guy who reminded me of the car salesmen of the past. He hands me over to the dispatcher to see if
"we can get you a better deal" and then this guy gets on the phone with the hard press closing tactics. Sheesh! I am in sales so I appreciate his position but after telling him nicely several times that I was not going to make a decision based on his call without checking him out, I finally had to tell him to email and I will call him. He tried to get a time to call back and I reiterated that I would call him! Mygoose101 was correct--there must be a lot of hungry truckers out there!
In any event, when the truck gets back here we will decide if we go with a re-manned engine or a salvage engine. Or hope of all hopes--an oil pump and pick up tube!
Quite an adventure!
Tim
PS: sc101--It wasn't me!
