WOAH! I thought the truck was running smidgen roughly on my trip to the Gulf Coast, but I attributed that to my not having driven the truck in a few days and needing to get reaccustomed to it as the drive did get a little smoother as the day progressed and everything was fine on the highways.

What was happening is that when I was doing a manoeuvre at low speed, I was getting the sound the transmission makes when you’re trying to move at low speed in too high a gear, a sound I’m very accustomed to from nearly 10 years of driving manual transmission vehicles. I wasn’t worried and kept reminding myself that the truck needs to be run in lower gear that what I was used to in my Accent.

Now that the throttle cable has been replaced and the assembly cleaned, I didn’t get that sound once on the drive back home from the Ford dealership. I seriously doubt my driving skills have improved that much in a few days. 🙂

The total bill with tax was $341 and change. This included a ‘complimentary’ 27-point inspection that made the ‘dealership premium’ worthwhile since it included a thorough exam of my brakes! They do need work, but it’s not urgent and I can save up, so this was not bad news in the least. In fact, I was planning to have the brakes examined and possibly serviced in Texas, and it’s nice to know for sure that the work will need to be done.

The car return happened without incident. I went in ready to argue that I had the car for four days, not five the way the guy I spoke to yesterday calculated. But the guy at the counter came to the same number I did, so I didn’t have to raise a fuss. And someone was available immediately to drive me to the Ford dealership.

I stopped at the post office on the way home, but my package has not arrived yet. I’ll try again early-ish on Thursday so I’ll know whether I have to move to a new spot or if I can roll out of town.