MY21 Blue Cruise Fix Not Covered Under Warranty

[Tampamike]

A 45 minute call with the BEV team informed me that I am fully liable to pay for the 4 hour service repair to restore Bluecruise (for which I previously paid @Ford Motor Company a $700 subscription fee to be able to use). The dealer used the procedure laid out in the TSB for MY22 & MY23 TSB 24-2087 to fix my MY21 vehicle. There was nothing vehicle-specific about my issue. It was a Ford software issue. This is complete insanity. Note for those that own this car after 36k miles - whenever Ford causes a software issue, YOU will be financially responsible to pay for the repair to correct it.

I did this when they didn’t want to pay for my stress-cracked panoramic roof:

Look into your warranty documentation. There is a process outlined whereby you can file a case with the Better Business Bureau and appeal Ford’s decision. The process was surprisingly painless- fill out some information online and relatively quick - maybe two weeks. Ford ended up making me a reasonable offer that I accepted. I think I paid something like $200 and they paid the rest including the new roof.

I had started with the BEV team and they sounded sympathetic at first. Then when they called back, the agent stood firm that they weren’t going to cover it under warranty.

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[HowdyDoody]

I did this when they didn’t want to pay for my stress-cracked panoramic roof:

Look into your warranty documentation. There is a process outlined whereby you can file a case with the Better Business Bureau and appeal Ford’s decision. The process was surprisingly painless- fill out some information online and relatively quick - maybe two weeks. Ford ended up making me a reasonable offer that I accepted. I think I paid something like $200 and they paid the rest including the new roof.

I had started with the BEV team and they sounded sympathetic at first. Then when they called back, the agent stood firm that they weren’t going to cover it under warranty.

This may be an option. I sincerely hope that a lot of others see this as a warning. It's a major liability for owning/not leasing these cars.

 

[PrimeFuture]

Hey @Ford Motor Company, this thread just confirmed that I won't be renewing BlueCruise. You also just lost one of your biggest advocates, as I own the third Mach-E sold at my dealership and have been proudly advertising this car for you since I got it. No more.

If I'm paying for software, then the assumption is the software will work. Why pay for something if paying for it doesn't ensure it will work?

Utterly ridiculous.

 

[troublebot]

Since this is something being broken by an OTA, it would be akin to taking your car to the dealership, the dealership breaking something on your car, and then trying to make you pay for the repair to fix the thing that they broke.

Imagine where enabling that behavior would lead...

On the same coin, you just paid $700 for a subscription, they break the software that makes it work, and then shake you down for the repair costs because you've already sunk $700 into it. And where's the guarantee they don't break the software again?

Depending on how recent you paid for your subscription, you should go nuclear and have your bank file a chargeback.

Unless they make this right, I'm going to hold off on renewing like I planned to before my next long trip (in 3 weeks).

 

[MTNestr]

I have similar issues with my 2021 FE where Ford seems to forget about us 2021 Mach-E owners. The Blue Cruise in my Mach-E is a safety issue and even though I purchased Blue Cruise for an addition 3 years Ford will not correct.

Whenever I see that Blue Cruise has engaged and I leave go of the steering wheel my Mach-E makes an immediate move to the right side of the road and then warns me to take back control. It often takes several attempts to properly engage Blue Cruise. In addition, when I am passing a truck and the truck is close to the center lane line, my Mach-E will also move over toward the center lane line. My software has not been updated in months even though I’ve asked to have it updated.

I was given a loaner Mach-E at my last recall and none of these issues were noticed on the loaner.

 

[Knuckles39]

I had an issue with BC not working on my 2021 premium. It sat at the dealer for five weeks while engineers tried to fix it. I am not sure of the fix but it now works. I believe there was something wrong on the server side and after that the fix worked. Maybe @rugedrow would be able to check your con to see if there is something simple that could be fixed.

 

[Snakebitten]

I'd never give one thin dime to a dealership to install an update. The mere thought irks me. Lol

While I'd be a lot happier if Ford included the necessary OBD adapter with their vehicles, (a fella can dream) I'd still rather purchase and own the tool myself rather than fund the apathetic dealership.

It stung a little purchasing it when I acquired my first Ford vehicle with OTA folly (2021), but now that it's been amortized across multiple vehicles over several years, it's liberating to be free of waiting on OTAs and/or dealing with the frustration of a service department.

My warranty might not last the lifetime of the vehicle in my ownership, but the tool will, and has long been paid for.

 

[azerik]

4 hours of labor. It's insane. 2 months ago @Ford Motor Company sold me a Blue Cruise subscription service that the car can't run properly due to their software issue. I now have to pay to fix this, with no guarantee that it won't happen again. These frequent nuisances were no big deal when all these trips to the dealership were covered under a 3 year/36k B2B warranty. Now that they're not, every little issue with this car coming out of my pocket is a very scary thought.

However Ford took your money for BC doesn't promise your cameras, tires, alignment, windshield etc will be flawless to work with said subscription. Which is why I ended up coughing up $2k for an ESP warranty, exactly for all these modules. Sorry.

Why anyone would ever buy a BEV from Ford when any software update could break functionality which then is the responsibility of the customer to pay to fix, per the company's policy?

Any car from any dealer from any manuf. that can be updated. It's the sad state of tech that we live in. (and manuf.'s know it. Part of the reason Android deprecates phones and tablets as fast as they do. No reason to try to support some old crap, you should have to buy something new every year to help line the pockets of those who make the product, any product. Ever wonder why most Samsung things only have a 6 month warranty?)

 

[electric-in-the-desert]

However Ford took your money for BC doesn't promise your cameras, tires, alignment, windshield etc will be flawless to work with said subscription. Which is why I ended up coughing up $2k for an ESP warranty, exactly for all these modules. Sorry.

I think the key aspect for why OP is rightfully upset here is the issue started because of an OTA gearing up for BC1.4 and their active subscription is useless because of this.

I agree it would be a different story if it was a random fault or something that bricked the camera because shit happens. But I would certainly hope an active BC subscription includes TSBs for when they mess up the BC software update process.

 

[rgreene]

Man, I gotta say this is a new low. Making customers pay for botched OTA updates shouldn’t be a thing at all.

I’ve been debating what to do with my 21 GTPE when my options comes up and this kind of thing makes me want to look around. I love the MME, but it’s hard to swallow the pill of paying out the balloon payment knowing this is how @Ford Motor Company is treating its customers.

 

[azerik]

I thought the OTA was flagging an issue with the camera, not even that it’s actually crapped out. I’d be all over the BEV team. I’m not sure a TSB should expire, but if they didn’t flag the 21’s with it (which btw I haven’t gotten past 6.4 which is probably why mine is still working) the BEV team could start working on adding the 21’s to another TSB. Part of it is the dealer is blowing smoke, which doesn’t help.

 

[ARK]

I think the key aspect for why OP is rightfully upset here is the issue started because of an OTA gearing up for BC1.4 and their active subscription is useless because of this.

I agree it would be a different story if it was a random fault or something that bricked the camera because shit happens. But I would certainly hope an active BC subscription includes TSBs for when they mess up the BC software update process.

It's not OP's fault, but part of this might be Ford hasn't really figured out a policy yet on how to deal with OTA updates breaking things that were previously working fine for out of warranty vehicles. Prior to this year, with large numbers of Mach-Es now starting to exit their factory warranties, I don't know if they've had to deal with this type of thing before.

I agree completely that if it's not a hardware issue, but an OTA update that created the issue, troubleshooting and fixing the software should absolutely be covered by Ford.

 

[phidauex]

Frustrating experience - one option may be to do a CC chargeback on the subscription renewal (if you are within the date ranges allowed by your CC company), you paid for a service that the company is choosing not to provide.

My hope is that things like this are eventually a wake up call for car companies - subscriptions aren't "free revenue" - you actually have to deliver the service paid for, which means OTAs have to work, dealers have to support, etc. I've already been regretting renewing my BC subscription since I did it expecting that the 1.3/1.4 update would be coming soon, which was coming up on a year ago now. If they keep playing games like this it really reduces the chance that my next EV will be a Ford.

 

[HowdyDoody]

Since this is something being broken by an OTA, it would be akin to taking your car to the dealership, the dealership breaking something on your car, and then trying to make you pay for the repair to fix the thing that they broke.

Imagine where enabling that behavior would lead...

On the same coin, you just paid $700 for a subscription, they break the software that makes it work, and then shake you down for the repair costs because you've already sunk $700 into it. And where's the guarantee they don't break the software again?

Depending on how recent you paid for your subscription, you should go nuclear and have your bank file a chargeback.

Unless they make this right, I'm going to hold off on renewing like I planned to before my next long trip (in 3 weeks).

You hit the nail on the head. An OTA update breaking your vehicle is the same as if they did it in person in the service department - their liability to fix. I am sure if I had the time, it's a very easy lawsuit.

 

[HowdyDoody]

Frustrating experience - one option may be to do a CC chargeback on the subscription renewal (if you are within the date ranges allowed by your CC company), you paid for a service that the company is choosing not to provide.

My hope is that things like this are eventually a wake up call for car companies - subscriptions aren't "free revenue" - you actually have to deliver the service paid for, which means OTAs have to work, dealers have to support, etc. I've already been regretting renewing my BC subscription since I did it expecting that the 1.3/1.4 update would be coming soon, which was coming up on a year ago now. If they keep playing games like this it really reduces the chance that my next EV will be a Ford.

I have a white glove credit card, but still don't think the chargeback is a viable option. Bluecruise is now working again following the dealer fix. It's a legal matter that Ford is requiring payment for the fix.

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