Mach-E reliability and experience with Ford

[Nolanbro]

Hi everyone!

So here's a little wrap-up on my machine experience after 5 months and 8500 miles.

I purchased a grabber blue first edition mid-January. Really clean example, FDRS report showed no service issues other than the recalls. Thought we were golden....

Issue 1:

Wouldn't AC charge

The dealer misdiagnosed this as bad battery cells, and that didn't work. 2nd dealer correctly identified a faulty charge port, along with failed rear driveshafts and wheel bearings.

Issue 2:

Clicking noise when turning

Front driveshafts replaced and rear trailing arms replaced.

Issue 3:

Failed HVBJB (newest part too)

Issue 4:

IPMA cables were replaced and software updated due to several DTCs being thrown

Issue 5/6/7/8

The big one.

Rear oil pump failed, and then shortly after so did the parking brake! Along with this it rained this day and my trunk was wet and there was water pouring out of the grab handle. In addition, the coolant overheat light came on and the navigation stopped working for like the 8th time this week.

We will see how long this takes for a repair.

My experience with my dealer has been far from excellent (west herr ford of Amherst). The current service advisor is fine but lacks communication skills. The tech is pretty good and I never hear oh we can't replicate the issue. My biggest problem with them is the lack of coordination in the scheduling department. Nobody knows whose available and when so my car often sits there for multiple days without being touched because the tech is working on something else. And whats comedic is I'm always assured when I drop it off that it will be started that day.



Ford Roadside:

Great no complaints for the THREE times I've used them THIS MONTH

Ford BEV team:

They honestly are a joke. The first customer service agent was amazing. She called me every day with updates and went above and beyond (shoutout Dorene if you are reading!). The 2nd one totally ghosted me and I had to get a new rep. The current one is fine but has provided no updates on rental reimbursements at all. I have a buyback claim open with them and have received no updates on it.

TLDR.

The best driving car I've ever owned, but this will be the last Ford product I ever own and I strongly advise people considering a Mach-E (especially a used one) to really make sure their dealer is competent and that you are not getting one with a chronic amount of issues. This is the one and only car that an extended warranty will pay off.


I'm interested to see how many others have a mach-e with similar amounts of issues. I imagine quite a few do as most 21s for sale have double-digit service records in their carfax even with under 20k miles

Sponsored

 

[Snakebitten]

I suspect you are correct that there are more examples of 2021's with chronic issues like yours.

But that can also be misleading because there must also be plenty more that are just like the one that recently hit 111,111 miles and has been as reliable as an anvil.

I wish logic was enough to explain what separates the two possibilities. But it doesn't.

I hope your buyback goes well. That's exactly what the program exists for.

 

[phil]

I suspect you are correct that there are more examples of 2021's with chronic issues like yours.

My impression is that the Job 2 cars from 2021 are relatively reliable, too. It's mainly the Job 1 2021's that are snakebitten. So to speak.

 

[Nolanbro]

My impression is that the Job 2 cars from 2021 are relatively reliable, too. It's mainly the Job 1 2021's that are snakebitten. So to speak.

I know people with job 2 cars with just as many issues. One of my professors told me he has several friends who bought mach e and every single one of them got rid of them within a year due to their issues.

I get first production run has issues. But the lack of help from ford is what my bigger issue is. My family has purchased teslas and their service team goes above and beyond for them. Recently the coolant pump in my dad's model s broke out of warranty and they replaced the entire coolant system for free, and gave him a brand new S loaner. I'm lucky if I can get ford to cover an Uber cost.

 

[kgs999]

I have a 2023 California 1. Owned 8 months 8 repairs, 39 days in the shop, 4500 miles- over 1k from dealer testing car 100-300 miles each time. First buyback request was declined by ford. Ford buyback only agreed after 2 nd request because it qualified for a Lemon in California. It took 3 weeks to get a verbal approval. Still working with the buyback team since they are “backed up”. lol. I am at 6 weeks since the request has been processed and I have not gotten any timeline from Ford or what they will be reimbursing. My first fault was 5 miles after purchase. It has been a long 8 months.

 

[leeman]

I have a job to GT and although it seem fun for the first month or so it was laid in with issues that had the car laid up at the shop often on for about four months including the dreaded high voltage connector failure we've relegated the car to short trips around our area where we live in Orange County because we're too afraid of the time loss in that connector going bad and spending a fortune and towing and waiting for a dealer that could actually fix it right I know it sounds cynical but it seems the world may never be ready truly for battery powered vehicles and maybe they should leave that to Tesla for the folks that really want to do that because that's all they do maybe hydrogen power cars at some point but I will tell you that the right quality and handling is a little sketchy even in the GT the rear end suspension is a joke and it's worse than my gas powered Mustang they seem to always forget certain things that caused that back to always be swirling on a Mustang SUV or this electric vehicle. The quality is sketchy to the quality of the various components of the car are less than adequate for such a high price vehicle including things like the inside of door frames where they continually flex every time you open the door I'm worried about the bolt coming flying out in the door falling off or the hinge controller failing because there's so much flex in the door and this is something that will probably fail overtime at the rate flexing component issues issues overall fit and finish and also the performance the performance of the GT vehicle has gone down considerably and nowhere near the stated 0 to 60 times by two seconds yes I know that you know the battery has to be in a certain state and all that but if you're driving in 70° with an 80% charge you should be able to do the stated 0 to 60 times this vehicle for whatever reason after they change the controller has never met that challenge once so we've renamed the expensive golf cart because that's really all it is at this point a golf cart with a large iPad sc and we're sad to say that the runaround that we get with various things including the fact that we fixed the major problem they had during the recall a week prior to the recall they're not even offering us the package they offered suffered that loss or didn't even break down but got it replaced and then they got more perks for doing so I feel left out in the cold and and left a really bad taste in my mouth about four corporate and how they do things they speak out of one side of their mouth promise the world and deliver nothing it usually requires weeks of painful phone calls and trying to get people to help you and honestly they tell you one thing in their marketing but what actually happens is completely different if I didn't have a decent dealer I probably wouldn't own afford at all now that the vehicle is lost so much value even though it only has 20,000 it's a painful learning experience that's for sure.

 

[phil]

I know people with job 2 cars with just as many issues. One of my professors told me he has several friends who bought mach e and every single one of them got rid of them within a year due to their issues.

I get first production run has issues. But the lack of help from ford is what my bigger issue is. My family has purchased teslas and their service team goes above and beyond for them. Recently the coolant pump in my dad's model s broke out of warranty and they replaced the entire coolant system for free, and gave him a brand new S loaner. I'm lucky if I can get ford to cover an Uber cost.

Yeah, experience varies. FWIW, my Job 2 has been great for over 2.5 years now, and my dealer has been good, too. But for sure there are Job 2s and even '22s and '23s that have had it much worse.

 

[Nolanbro]

Yeah, experience varies. FWIW, my Job 2 has been great for over 2.5 years now, and my dealer has been good, too. But for sure there are Job 2s and even '22s and '23s that have had it much worse.

It still blows my mind ford thinks it's ok to sell cars with this many issues. There's a reason their initial quality is rated last.

 

[Nolanbro]

I have a job to GT and although it seem fun for the first month or so it was laid in with issues that had the car laid up at the shop often on for about four months including the dreaded high voltage connector failure we've relegated the car to short trips around our area where we live in Orange County because we're too afraid of the time loss in that connector going bad and spending a fortune and towing and waiting for a dealer that could actually fix it right I know it sounds cynical but it seems the world may never be ready truly for battery powered vehicles and maybe they should leave that to Tesla for the folks that really want to do that because that's all they do maybe hydrogen power cars at some point but I will tell you that the right quality and handling is a little sketchy even in the GT the rear end suspension is a joke and it's worse than my gas powered Mustang they seem to always forget certain things that caused that back to always be swirling on a Mustang SUV or this electric vehicle. The quality is sketchy to the quality of the various components of the car are less than adequate for such a high price vehicle including things like the inside of door frames where they continually flex every time you open the door I'm worried about the bolt coming flying out in the door falling off or the hinge controller failing because there's so much flex in the door and this is something that will probably fail overtime at the rate flexing component issues issues overall fit and finish and also the performance the performance of the GT vehicle has gone down considerably and nowhere near the stated 0 to 60 times by two seconds yes I know that you know the battery has to be in a certain state and all that but if you're driving in 70° with an 80% charge you should be able to do the stated 0 to 60 times this vehicle for whatever reason after they change the controller has never met that challenge once so we've renamed the expensive golf cart because that's really all it is at this point a golf cart with a large iPad sc and we're sad to say that the runaround that we get with various things including the fact that we fixed the major problem they had during the recall a week prior to the recall they're not even offering us the package they offered suffered that loss or didn't even break down but got it replaced and then they got more perks for doing so I feel left out in the cold and and left a really bad taste in my mouth about four corporate and how they do things they speak out of one side of their mouth promise the world and deliver nothing it usually requires weeks of painful phone calls and trying to get people to help you and honestly they tell you one thing in their marketing but what actually happens is completely different if I didn't have a decent dealer I probably wouldn't own afford at all now that the vehicle is lost so much value even though it only has 20,000 it's a painful learning experience that's for sure.

I agree with the door thing. I had a kia niro ev before this and that car was rock solid. The mach e feels very cheaply made. Materials are nice feeling but you push on anything and it just creaks and flexes. I agree yes it's not a real mustang but the ride could be worse for sure. The newest junction boxes still don't fix the issue and honestly I don't think ford ever will fix this issue.

 

[phil]

It still blows my mind ford thinks it's ok to sell cars with this many issues. There's a reason their initial quality is rated last.

It is disturbing. But very little shocks me anymore. Quality has gone to hell across the auto industry, and a lot of other industries, too.

 

[Nolanbro]

I have a 2023 California 1. Owned 8 months 8 repairs, 39 days in the shop, 4500 miles- over 1k from dealer testing car 100-300 miles each time. First buyback request was declined by ford. Ford buyback only agreed after 2 nd request because it qualified for a Lemon in California. It took 3 weeks to get a verbal approval. Still working with the buyback team since they are “backed up”. lol. I am at 6 weeks since the request has been processed and I have not gotten any timeline from Ford or what they will be reimbursing. My first fault was 5 miles after purchase. It has been a long 8 months.

I honestly would contact a lawyer as that's honestly ridiculous. Ford needs to step up.

 

[Shepherd]

I agree completely about the need for extended warranty. Like with all insurance products you hope you never need it, but very happy to have it when you need it.

 

[Nolanbro]

I agree completely about the need for extended warranty. Like with all insurance products you hope you never need it, but very happy to have it when you need it.

I waited till the last day of B2B as I wanted to see if my car was going to be issue free. It clearly isn't so it was a good purchase. If you buy it from zeigler ford it's so cheap that the rental and towing benefits are worth it on its own

 

[zvez]

I suspect you are correct that there are more examples of 2021's with chronic issues like yours.

But that can also be misleading because there must also be plenty more that are just like the one that recently hit 111,111 miles and has been as reliable as an anvil.

I wish logic was enough to explain what separates the two possibilities. But it doesn't.

I hope your buyback goes well. That's exactly what the program exists for.

social media always falsely skews number of complaint/problems as being greater than no problems. People often join forums to either find a solution or complain, just not typical for people to post how great everything's going. Had a 21 for 2.5 years zero issues, and eight months into a gt with an initial software glitch for charging that ford fixed.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Middle of Job 2 2021 GT-PE. The only major issue I have had was the HVBJB failure. I was expecting it, just not how it happened (3/4 throttle). I got some pre-production headrest plastics as a beta for the design that reduces the creaks. It didn’t have much noise to start with and even less after the plastics swap. Those are the only two times it’s been to a dealer service department. I have occasional little problems like the rear hatch thinking something is in the way when closing or “key not detected.” These aren’t really problems that bug me. ?‍?

Of course, I am still waiting for Poodle Lights. ??

Sponsored