From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E

[scoopman]

If that is the case I think selling my car and buying a different EV makes sense now. The BMW i4 M50 EV looks promising.

It does until you see how much dealers are charging for them.

Sponsored

 

[scoopman]

Is this the hint???? @scoopman is the grim reaper? For those who's cars he took out, did you hear him playing Blippy before his evil ways took hold??? We need to know!

HAHAHA. Honestly I was thinking this the other day, and I think 5 MME owners I've met have had HVBJBs replaced, and 3 have not. Definitely not as rare as it was earlier thought by some.

 

[IamIA]

It wouldn't be fair to Ford and the team helping me to say yet because there's too many unknowns. As soon as I know more and have some level of confirmation I'll say what's going on. I promise.

oh, you are probably having the 5-second limiter removed?

btw, Frontier Ford service just called me and the job will take till the end of next Friday, 8/26. Looks like i have to get a loaner after all

 

[scoopman]

If that is the case I think selling my car and buying a different EV makes sense now. The BMW i4 M50 EV looks promising.

BTW I would say the i4 M50 drives promisingly, but it certainly does not look promising. Man is that thing ugly.

 

[scoopman]

It's a Blackvue LTE model. The LVB doesn't drain quickly. If I don't drive it or charge it, it'll take about 3 days before the DC/DC gets engaged. You don't have to worry about draining the battery because the HVB will top it off. You'll get a message saying there's drain, but you know what the drain is, so that's actually a good message meaning the car is working as it's supposed to.

Todd is using the same camera line (different model though) that I used for my "How Not to Tow a Mach-E" video. I retrieved all of the video remotely while the car sat at the dealer. I run a special battery connected to the camera because I didn't want to stress out my 12v battery too much. I can run the cameras and hotspot in parking mode for over 3 days without starting my car.

 

[scoopman]

The failure rate for NON-GT vehicles is probably still really low and .5% is likely very close to reality. The failure rate for GTs is going to be significantly higher in my estimation. I don't think we have hard numbers on how many GTs have been produced and crippled so it would be complete speculation but I would guess that it's closing in on 10% at least.

Also, the failure rate is probably far higher for those who are driving the car harder and DCFC -- if you do those behaviors, I'm sure the failure rate isn't as low as the overall.

 

[chrisGT]

HAHAHA. Honestly I was thinking this the other day, and I think 5 MME owners I've met have had HVBJBs replaced, and 3 have not. Definitely not as rare as it was earlier thought by some.

1 out of 3 is me because I drive like a grandma to prevent failure and most of my drives are short 3 mile drop offs.
Ford's stance is simply disappointing. I am trying to find a replacement and I doubt I will buy another Ford. I had a reservation for an incoming Volvo XC60 Recharge Extended range to replace my MME but unfortunately the Volvo no longer qualifies for the federal tax credit simce last Monday so I canceled the reservation and I am back to searching for a plug in hybrid or EV replacement.

 

[Logal727]

Was at my dealer today in St. Petersburg and they've probably sold 100 of these cars and they said they only had to deal with HVBJB replacement once and they couldn't do the repair cause they didn't have the tie-downs or something. But they have them now. Definitely seems to affect certain regions differently. Take that for what you will.

 

[kindofblue]

BTW I would say the i4 M50 drives promisingly, but it certainly does not look promising. Man is that thing ugly.

I test drove an i4 40e and it handled beautifully. Long wait though even to be able to put an order in. That may change now though with it losing the fed tax credit.

 

[Neil4Real]

1 out of 3 is me because I drive like a grandma to prevent failure and most of my drives are short 3 mile drop offs.
Ford's stance is simply disappointing. I am trying to find a replacement and I doubt I will buy another Ford. I had a reservation for an incoming Volvo XC60 Recharge Extended range to replace my MME but unfortunately the Volvo no longer qualifies for the federal tax credit simce last Monday so I canceled the reservation and I am back to searching for a plug in hybrid or EV replacement.

You're over the MME because of the HVBJB issue that you're yet to even experience? I wish they would do a recall calling for the replacement of the HVBJB in GTs/GTPEs, but I definitely don't think the current handling of the situation warrants a "time to sell, Ford can't handle jack squat" especially when you seem to be close to DevSecOps and can just take your car to the same dealer as him if the issue comes up.

You most certainly don't need to drive like a grandma to prevent failure, it seems steep grades are the culprit while apply power, not cruising, although it can still happen while cruising. Why wouldn't you just drive it normal and let it fail if it fails? The turn around is much quicker than people are making it out to be.

 

[chrisGT]

You're over the MME because of the HVBJB issue that you're yet to even experience? I wish they would do a recall calling for the replacement of the HVBJB in GTs/GTPEs, but I definitely don't think the current handling of the situation warrants a "time to sell, Ford can't handle jack squat" especially when you seem to be close to DevSecOps and can just take your car to the same dealer as him if the issue comes up.

Yes I am over my MME because I want to be able to drive from SF to LA (and other long trips) with my young kid and I don't want to get stranded with high probability.
For context I replaced my 10 month Taycan 4S with the MME because I had experienced the automotive power loss issue that the Taycan had and it was not fun. Porsche recalled the Taycan with a software update but mine died again even after the recall update. I heard they updated the same module again recently..
I understand that cars have problems but I expect manufacturers to address known safety issues properly.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I don't know your dealership, but the recall states like 268 out of 50,000, or about 1/2%. Your dealership's rate would be 76%. Somebody is full of malarkey.

Don’t forget that this statistic is a few months old and there have been a number of HVBJB failures, including repeats since then. I’m not saying the failure rate or rabid, but it’s higher than the original published stats. ??

 

[HuntingPudel]

1 out of 3 is me because I drive like a grandma to prevent failure and most of my drives are short 3 mile drop offs.
<SNIP>

I’m another of the 3 because my dog got the stupid cancer and I was driving him everywhere with me until the cancer killed him. Then I was depressed and drove like grandma’s more timid cousin. Then I got a new dog who goes everywhere with me. Nowhere to lash his crate down (thanks Ford for giving us forward cargo ring recesses without rings in them), so I still drive like grandma’s more timid cousin. ??

I beat the hell out of the car before all that, so I am pretty sure that I have damaged the HVBJB but not to the extent of near-failure. ??

Of the GT or GT-PE owners I have met, more than 50% have had a failure (doesn’t include my car). I have not met face to muzzle with owners of any other trim that have had a failure. Small sample size, so statistically insignificant, but collated with the rest it becomes part of the larger whole. ??

 

[bncwhite]

It shouldn't LOL. If you have the GT and had the recall software done and are doing a route with a steep incline, I'd just have a backup plan in place on where you want to take your car for service or if you plan to turn around should you get it on the way there.

AFTER the software update, we are definitely going to see large amounts of failures, primarily on GT/GT PEs due to their higher voltage. If you live in the flat lands, maybe you'll be fine, but elsewhere, definitely a ticking time bomb.

I’ve made trip several times over the years. The Arbuckle Mountain area of I-35 in South Oklahoma is probably five miles or so of up and downs. After that, it’s mostly flat all the way to Galveston. Based on what I’ve read, it sounds like it will be okay to go with the car. Trip Planner shows 3 DC charges each way with an L2 overnight charge between the trip there and back.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

HAHAHA. Honestly I was thinking this the other day, and I think 5 MME owners I've met have had HVBJBs replaced, and 3 have not. Definitely not as rare as it was earlier thought by some.

Well I was thinking about suggesting a meet up but... ?

Sponsored