HVBJB service notice after recall firmware update

[Jayco86]

This is my 2nd Mach e GT 2022, my first one was a lemon. The way ford is handling this recall is disgusting. Less than a 1000 miles and it has to go back to the dealership to get fixed and there is no way telling how long this will take.
Instead of putting a bandaid on this issue with a firmware update how about you have the dealer just fixed it when it’s there?
Now I have to go through a repair order all over again and considering how my first GT went for repairs I won’t see this car for at least a mo th. Considering a buy back at the 30 days and ditching ford all together. Paying 60k for a vehicle twice and both have issues is dumb and shouldn’t happen.
Stop rushing products Ford.

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[Logal727]

This is my 2nd Mach e GT 2022, my first one was a lemon. The way ford is handling this recall is disgusting. Less than a 1000 miles and it has to go back to the dealership to get fixed and there is no way telling how long this will take.
Instead of putting a bandaid on this issue with a firmware update how about you have the dealer just fixed it when it’s there?
Now I have to go through a repair order all over again and considering how my first GT went for repairs I won’t see this car for at least a mo th. Considering a buy back at the 30 days and ditching ford all together. Paying 60k for a vehicle twice and both have issues is dumb and shouldn’t happen.
Stop rushing products Ford.

It shouldn’t take a month to get it fixed now, open a case with Ford or maybe one of the members on here will reach out. But the part isn’t hard to get and the dealer has all the steps to do to get it fixed and it can be done in a day.

 

[ohmslaw]

When you get a product perfect the first time out the gate we can talk.

I think fords approach is quite good for this recall. Update vehicles software to fail safe; replace hardware as needed.

Yes, it may be annoying but it is absolutely the correct approach as a company.

 

[tannerk89]

This is my 2nd Mach e GT 2022, my first one was a lemon. The way ford is handling this recall is disgusting. Less than a 1000 miles and it has to go back to the dealership to get fixed and there is no way telling how long this will take.
Instead of putting a bandaid on this issue with a firmware update how about you have the dealer just fixed it when it’s there?
Now I have to go through a repair order all over again and considering how my first GT went for repairs I won’t see this car for at least a mo th. Considering a buy back at the 30 days and ditching ford all together. Paying 60k for a vehicle twice and both have issues is dumb and shouldn’t happen.
Stop rushing products Ford.

My Mach-E went in for replacement HVBJB on Saturday of last week and the dealer called Monday after getting to look at it and confirm HVBJB issue - they said I would likely have it back by Wednesday next week so about a week to get the part and get it fixed. This is in a somewhat rural area with very few EVs around, so basically no experience with them. It is a good dealer with a great service dept though (Berglund Ford in Salem, VA). I had a case open with Ford’s customer experience dept before I brought it in and gave service manager the case number. Call 800-392-3673 to open a case.

 

[scoopman]

When you get a product perfect the first time out the gate we can talk.

I think fords approach is quite good for this recall. Update vehicles software to fail safe; replace hardware as needed.

Yes, it may be annoying but it is absolutely the correct approach as a company.

And how many junction boxes and Ford Roadside tows and different Ford dealers have you experienced here to have this opinion?

 

[scoopman]

This is my 2nd Mach e GT 2022, my first one was a lemon. The way ford is handling this recall is disgusting. Less than a 1000 miles and it has to go back to the dealership to get fixed and there is no way telling how long this will take.
Instead of putting a bandaid on this issue with a firmware update how about you have the dealer just fixed it when it’s there?
Now I have to go through a repair order all over again and considering how my first GT went for repairs I won’t see this car for at least a mo th. Considering a buy back at the 30 days and ditching ford all together. Paying 60k for a vehicle twice and both have issues is dumb and shouldn’t happen.
Stop rushing products Ford.

As others have said, look in @DevSecOps HVBJB thread, open the case, and folks here might be able to help poke things along, especially with your car being a second attempt by Ford to get you the car you paid for....

I've had to separate the emotions of how crappy Ford treated customers with this defect from the end result -- my car is running great with the redesigned part (that you will get), and there are few other direct competitors right now on the market, and all EVs (and cars) are insanely expensive and come with dealer shenanigans.

TLDR: go through the hassle of getting GT #2 fixed, and then a couple of weeks later, you'll feel less emotional and make the logical (and actually good) decision to keep the car.

 

[ohmslaw]

And how many junction boxes and Ford Roadside tows and different Ford dealers have you experienced here to have this opinion?

Roadside tows and dealers are not under direct control of Ford corporate. Let’s keep that out of this. Unfortunately that is the system we bought into.

I have experience with 1. The service writer I have been dealing with is clueless, my vehicle immediately failed after the software update and I probably won’t get it back for another week. Am I mad at Ford as a company; no. Find me clean sheet first model year design without a major recall.

Let’s be real for a second on root cause and mitigations. One of two things happened, the contactors were either undersized or not meeting manufacturer specifications. Since the vehicle looses power in this situation it absolutely should be a stop drive order. Their engineers found a way to detect the condition and protect the vehicle.

Would you rather Ford just not tell you to drive the car and have it sit at the dealer with hundreds of other cars? Because that is what would happen. Replacement by attrition is the right path.

 

[AKgrampy]

This is my 2nd Mach e GT 2022, my first one was a lemon. The way ford is handling this recall is disgusting. Less than a 1000 miles and it has to go back to the dealership to get fixed and there is no way telling how long this will take.
Instead of putting a bandaid on this issue with a firmware update how about you have the dealer just fixed it when it’s there?
Now I have to go through a repair order all over again and considering how my first GT went for repairs I won’t see this car for at least a mo th. Considering a buy back at the 30 days and ditching ford all together. Paying 60k for a vehicle twice and both have issues is dumb and shouldn’t happen.
Stop rushing products Ford.

Just to be sure did you have the HVBJB failure on your current GT or just anticipating failure?

 

[scoopman]

Roadside tows and dealers are not under direct control of Ford corporate. Let’s keep that out of this. Unfortunately that is the system we bought into.

......

Would you rather Ford just not tell you to drive the car and have it sit at the dealer with hundreds of other cars? Because that is what would happen. Replacement by attrition is the right path.

First of all, it's absolute incompetence that Ford is not ensuring that every one of these cars that is needing a tow is getting a competent operator who knows how to tow the car properly. So many of these cars have been stranded and needed a tow, and Ford has overseen it's Roadside operation as a clown show. Give me a break, did you see the guy last weekend who had a tow truck sent by Ford incompetently launch his car into his garage door? How tough is it when a Mach E calls for a tow to have someone trained to find good towing companies and to follow up closely to ensure the car is towed right?

Second, you are making a ridiculous assumption about how Ford could have handled this differently. And then saying "oh this would be so much worse!" as if that was the only option, in order for you to claim that Ford can do no wrong here.

One could very easily imagine that Ford could have set up waves of replacement eligibility of the junction boxes by VIN to allow those with the much higher chance of failure to SCHEDULE appointments with dealers to get their boxes fixed in a controlled way. Of course it is also a good thing to push the software they did so that cars with it will largely avoid needing towing. GT cars are so disproportionately represented in these failures that it should be quite logical how to manage fixing these cars in a prioritized order.

Three things:

1. Yes new cars such as ours can have problems, but as a customer I resent that Ford decided to greatly inconvenience me and put my family in potentially unsafe situations because it decided to handle this whole mess by deciding to make my car fail TWICE before fixing it properly to save money on the warranty repairs.

2. In many different aspects of my fiasco, Ford showed itself to learn slowly, adapt poorly, and to show a singular lack of empathy and customer focus on their new conquests to their brand. I was incorrect in expecting better, but maybe people who buy Fords regularly are cool with how they treat their "Ford family."

3. I have been shocked at how poor the service quality and overall feel of the Ford dealers I've been forced to visit have been. Honestly again maybe I'm just not their customer they want long term, but I'm not expecting a dealer to treat me like dog crap like I've experienced. I'm not expecting service areas to be dirty and look like they have the sophistication of a 1973 Motorcraft parts catalog. I'm not expecting service advisors to treat me like I'm a drag on their day. Seems clear from what I've read on these forums that Ford dealers are varying quite widely in their standards in how they address these vehicles and their perhaps different type of owners.

I'll stop now, but getting this many buyers new to their brand should be thought of as a golden opportunity for Ford and their future.

For me, Ford really blew it in making me not feel like they valued the trust I placed in them by taking a chance on their very new car and their very old and stale brand.

 

[kennethjk]

Roadside tows and dealers are not under direct control of Ford corporate. Let’s keep that out of this. Unfortunately that is the system we bought into.

I have experience with 1. The service writer I have been dealing with is clueless, my vehicle immediately failed after the software update and I probably won’t get it back for another week. Am I mad at Ford as a company; no. Find me clean sheet first model year design without a major recall.

Let’s be real for a second on root cause and mitigations. One of two things happened, the contactors were either undersized or not meeting manufacturer specifications. Since the vehicle looses power in this situation it absolutely should be a stop drive order. Their engineers found a way to detect the condition and protect the vehicle.

Would you rather Ford just not tell you to drive the car and have it sit at the dealer with hundreds of other cars? Because that is what would happen. Replacement by attrition is the right path.

I had a 2015 first year Porsche Macan, no major recall that I can remember. Especially one that would brick the car.

I am thrilled that Ford found a way to detect the condition, that should only be step 1. A mandatory Step 2 is fixing the part. Every person that bought the car should have the option to bring it in and have part replaced. if it takes months to get all fixed that’s ok since I have the new software but they should still fix the sub standard part. I think that’s what they called it, sub standard or something like that. . I don’t like ticking time bombs especially when I am hundreds of miles from home with family.

I happen to be in cape cod right now on vacation. I don’t floor the car and generally take it easy because I don’t want to be in a situation of having an issue 250 miles from home and getting stuck here. A major inconvenience and I am retired. Imaging those of you who are working and have major time restrictions.

I haven’t owned a ford in 30 years. My experience with ordering , waiting and now this is not was I was hoping for. I come from dealerships that treat customers much better and even they have issues but I still expect more from Ford. My dealership has been great so no complaints about them. The directives they get from Ford are not timely and causes confusion.

Not acceptable.

 

[ohmslaw]

First of all, it's absolute incompetence that Ford is not ensuring that every one of these cars that is needing a tow is getting a competent operator who knows how to tow the car properly.

Second, you are making a ridiculous assumption about how Ford could have handled this differently. And then saying "oh this would be so much worse!" as if that was the only option, in order for you to claim that Ford can do no wrong here.

One could very easily imagine that Ford could have set up waves of replacement eligibility of the junction boxes by VIN to allow those with the much higher chance of failure to SCHEDULE appointments with dealers to get their boxes fixed in a controlled way.

I'm not expecting service advisors to treat me like I'm a drag on their day.

I'll stop now, but getting this many buyers new to their brand should be thought of as a golden opportunity for Ford and their future.

For me, Ford really blew it in making me not feel like they valued the trust I placed in them by taking a chance on their very new car and their very old and stale brand.

Ford doesn’t operate a tow service; they subcontract. I am sure they have updated all of the manuals provided to tow operators. It’s unfortunate that they don’t follow them. Not sure what you would expect there.

It sucks that you were in the ‘figure it out’ part of the recall and had to be in multiple times. I’m not saying Ford can do no wrong; I’m just saying they are unfortunately caught in a tough place being only a manufacturer.

You do make some good points; Ford should provide some options as to how the recall is done. Communication initially was poor (I thought this was going to be software only at first; that nearly caused me to lose it). I still stand by the fact that the method they have chosen is a good one. The unfortunate thing is there are a lot of bugs in their processes that haven’t been worked out yet (successful OTA updates; knowledgeable dealer network) that would have made this much smoother. My car went into low power mode the day after the recall software. It was fully driveable, I bet I could have driven it that way for weeks. I would much rather have that than an unscheduled stop or being told to stop driving my car until parts are available.

Ford dealer service is all over the place. Th service writer where my vehicle is being serviced is ‘willfully ignorant’. Without saying it directly he made it very apparent he wants nothing to do with BEVs.

Recalls are complex. These vehicles are new to many that are now being told they have to sell and service them. I’m not saying anyone is without fault; just not in the mood the burn the world down for this.

I had a 2015 first year Porsche Macan, no major recall that I can remember. Especially one that would brick the car.

The Macan was far from a clean sheet design. It was highly leveraged from the Q5 that was on the market for 7 years when the Macan was launched.

 

[HuntingPudel]

<SNIP>
Communication initially was poor (I thought this was going to be software only at first; that nearly caused me to lose it).
<SNIP>

Technically, the recall *is* only software. Blown HVBJBs are being warrantied as they fail. While that is a legitimate strategy, it’s one that a lot of us find distasteful. ?‍?

 

[kennethjk]

The Macan was far from a clean sheet design. It was highly leveraged from the Q5 that was on the market for 7 years when the Macan was launched.
[/QUOTE]

you are correct it’s not a clean sheet

The Porsche Macan shares its platform and wheelbase with the Q5. The suspension configuration is based on it but the engine, transfer case, suspension tuning, interior and exterior body are unique to the Macan.

the important things that can go wrong are Porsche and yes they are modified from other Porsche cars.

I believe the real issue (of course to me) is that Ford knew when releasing this car to public that there were issues and released it anyway. one thing giving me that thought is the 5 second limit on acceleration for GTPE.

I wonder how many miles and how long they tested this car before releasing it. 500k miles? a million miles ? Obviously not enough.

they aren’t the only ones of course, GM and other car companies are no saints but it doesn’t excuse it.

if customers don’t hold them responsible for their actions there won’t be any improvement.

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