Or it will be.

It turns out the truck engine is toast.  Even an in-frame (engine rebuild) is not enough.  The dealer took our engine apart to find out exactly what is wrong and the fuel in the oil has obviously been a long term problem.  The block needs to be replaced.  Kind of a big deal.  The total bill will be #27,000….gulp.  The dealer has really been awesome, or really crappy, we cannot decide.  They DID sell us a total lemon but they ARE doing everything they can to find a solution.  Of course, the best solution for us is if they would just offer to fix the truck for free.  That has not happened.  What they have done is significant, however.  The dealer has met with Volvo Corporate and Cummins.  Volvo is giving us $3500 towards the repair and we are waiting for an answer from Cummins.  The $27,000 includes tax and they are trying to find a way to classify it as a warranty repair which will save us $2500 in tax.  They dealer is also giving us a rental truck for free on Monday so we can get back to work.  The repair will take at least 2 weeks so that helps a lot.  Volvo finance is working on refinancing the truck to include the repair.

So, the good news is we will end up with a truck we love with a brand new engine that has a two year, 250,000 mile warranty and a payment we can still afford.  We will also be able to use our brand new turbo and the dpf filter we just put on our truck so that salvages $6000 in parts.  This is a business and it is all about cash flow and profit margins.  This is going to work.

I want to spend a minute talking about Worldwide Equipment in Chattanooga.  They are our Volvo dealer.  Joe, the General Manager, Johnny the Sales Manager and Glen the Service Manager have all been awesome.  They have invested in our success, worked together and they really do care about us.  Pretty awesome and they have bought our loyalty for the future.  When we are ready in a couple of years to buy a new truck, it will be at this dealership.

This has been a very hard couple of weeks and we are really excited to get back to work.  We are sure loving living in Chattanooga.  Had Jason, Anna and the grandkids over for dinner last night and it was so nice to see them.  It is kind of a victory when your child marries well.  We love being around these two and their kids.

Heading out to Rocktoberfest at Rock City tomorrow.  Should be a lot of fun and then we are off to work.