Extremely Disappointed with Ford Mustang Mach-E – Charging Issues & Buyback Denied

[sdgolfer]

I’m posting here out of frustration and disappointment after what’s been an incredibly discouraging experience with my Ford Mustang Mach-E. I wanted to love this car as much as I love my f150 lightning.

Since purchasing the vehicle, I’ve experienced intermittent charging issues that make it unreliable and frankly stressful to own. Despite following all recommended practices and using both home and public chargers, the car will sometimes simply refuse to charge. This isn’t a one-time glitch—it’s a recurring issue That happens about 10-15% of the time. Like I mentioned, I have a 2022 ford lightning that charges flawlessly on the same charger so I’m confident it isn’t a charger or home electrical issue. Charger is a fcsp wired for 48 amps.

It’s been in the shop three separate times and has spent over 45 days total out of service. Each time, the dealership runs diagnostics, attempts to replicate the error, or performs a software update, and then sends it back to me. But the problem always returns.

The final straw? I filed a buyback claim with Ford, thinking the downtime would clearly qualify under lemon law protections. But Ford Customer Service denied the buyback. No clear explanation—just a flat rejection. After all this time, money, and inconvenience, I’m left with a vehicle I don’t trust and a brand that won’t stand behind its product.

Has anyone else had similar issues with the Mach-E or gone through the buyback process with Ford? I’m open to advice, especially if there’s any recourse I haven’t tried yet.

Thanks for reading - hoping someone has an idea on something to try.

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[devmach-e]

I’m posting here out of frustration and disappointment after what’s been an incredibly discouraging experience with my Ford Mustang Mach-E. I wanted to love this car as much as I love my f150 lightning.

Since purchasing the vehicle, I’ve experienced intermittent charging issues that make it unreliable and frankly stressful to own. Despite following all recommended practices and using both home and public chargers, the car will sometimes simply refuse to charge. This isn’t a one-time glitch—it’s a recurring issue That happens about 10-15% of the time. Like I mentioned, I have a 2022 ford lightning that charges flawlessly on the same charger so I’m confident it isn’t a charger or home electrical issue. Charger is a fcsp wired for 48 amps.

It’s been in the shop three separate times and has spent over 45 days total out of service. Each time, the dealership runs diagnostics, attempts to replicate the error, or performs a software update, and then sends it back to me. But the problem always returns.

The final straw? I filed a buyback claim with Ford, thinking the downtime would clearly qualify under lemon law protections. But Ford Customer Service denied the buyback. No clear explanation—just a flat rejection. After all this time, money, and inconvenience, I’m left with a vehicle I don’t trust and a brand that won’t stand behind its product.

Has anyone else had similar issues with the Mach-E or gone through the buyback process with Ford? I’m open to advice, especially if there’s any recourse I haven’t tried yet.

Thanks for reading - hoping someone has an idea on something to try.

How old is your car? Lemon law in California requires that the car be less than 18 months old, and have less than 18K miles on it at the time of the first repair attempt. Your profile says it is a 2023, so it is possible you are outside the 18-month/18K-mile period and that's why they denied the buyback request.

You should look into this website: https://www.dca.ca.gov/acp/ for arbitration options. You might have to get a lawyer involved.

Also look at https://www.dca.ca.gov/acp/pdf_files/lemonlaw_qa.pdf (which references the arbitration site above).

 

[sdgolfer]

How old is your car? Lemon law in California requires that the car be less than 18 months old, and have less than 18K miles on it at the time of the first repair attempt. Your profile says it is a 2023, so it is possible you are outside the 18-month/18K-mile period and that's why they denied the buyback request.

You should look into this website: https://www.dca.ca.gov/acp/ for arbitration options. You might have to get a lawyer involved.

Also look at https://www.dca.ca.gov/acp/pdf_files/lemonlaw_qa.pdf (which references the arbitration site above).

its within 18mo and 18k miles. Purchased July 2024 and had 6800 miles at first service appt. I’ve engaged a lemon law attorney this week

 

[Mach-Lee]

Is the car 100% updated? If not then you may want to find an independent person to do all the FDRS updates for you. If there are still issues, then you might have a bad SOBDM or OBCC module.

Lemon law is next if you're done trying to fix it.

 

[Track9979]

Is your charger smart and can you lower the charge rate?

What was your last update version?

Also, i see you're in San Diego. What dealer do you use?

 

[Stuieb]

I’m posting here out of frustration and disappointment after what’s been an incredibly discouraging experience with my Ford Mustang Mach-E. I wanted to love this car as much as I love my f150 lightning.

Since purchasing the vehicle, I’ve experienced intermittent charging issues that make it unreliable and frankly stressful to own. Despite following all recommended practices and using both home and public chargers, the car will sometimes simply refuse to charge. This isn’t a one-time glitch—it’s a recurring issue That happens about 10-15% of the time. Like I mentioned, I have a 2022 ford lightning that charges flawlessly on the same charger so I’m confident it isn’t a charger or home electrical issue. Charger is a fcsp wired for 48 amps.

It’s been in the shop three separate times and has spent over 45 days total out of service. Each time, the dealership runs diagnostics, attempts to replicate the error, or performs a software update, and then sends it back to me. But the problem always returns.

The final straw? I filed a buyback claim with Ford, thinking the downtime would clearly qualify under lemon law protections. But Ford Customer Service denied the buyback. No clear explanation—just a flat rejection. After all this time, money, and inconvenience, I’m left with a vehicle I don’t trust and a brand that won’t stand behind its product.

Has anyone else had similar issues with the Mach-E or gone through the buyback process with Ford? I’m open to advice, especially if there’s any recourse I haven’t tried yet.

Thanks for reading - hoping someone has an idea on something to try.

Filing a case with the auto dept. of BBB had impact and will help.

 

[sdgolfer]

Is your charger smart and can you lower the charge rate?

What was your last update version?

Also, i see you're in San Diego. What dealer do you use?

I use a ford charge station pro and since I have a lightning I would like to avoid changing the charge rate daily depending on the car being charged.

I’ve been taking it to the closest dealer which is Aaron ford of Escondido.

not sure what version software I’m on but it’s been a while since I’ve received an OTA update.

 

[chuckles]

Back in 2021 there were a ton of people with similar, understandably high frustration levels from charging errors. Many were using the Ford mobile charger that came with the car.

IIRC, switching to a highly rated charger did the trick for a number of people. (At the risk of jinxing it, I’ve used both a decade-old BOSCH and an Emporia EVSE with solid reliability for the life of my job 1 2021 so far)

 

[Track9979]

I use a ford charge station pro and since I have a lightning I would like to avoid changing the charge rate daily depending on the car being charged.

I had an issues when I first got my 23 GT with 40A Wallbox charger. It would occasionally error out on charging - not sure if it was car or charger software. I was able to lower the charge rate via software to like 35amps, and issues stopped. At some point, the car updated, then the charger, and i moved the rate back up to 40a and it's been fine since.

That's why i was asking what SW version you're on. Go to settings > updates and see what the last update was. If it's 10.x then you're more or less up to date, if it's something older, maybe there's an update to the on-board charging module that can be done, which would be done at the dealer.

That said, Ford dealers suck, and trying to troubleshoot an at-home issue that happens 10-15% of the time sucks even more. Maybe you can PM your vin to @rugedraw or @Mike G and they can see if your car is throwing any errors, and if it is and your dealer is useless, you may want to try a different dealer.

 

[Bobcat17]

Back in 2021 there were a ton of people with similar, understandably high frustration levels from charging errors. Many were using the Ford mobile charger that came with the car.

IIRC, switching to a highly rated charger did the trick for a number of people. (At the risk of jinxing it, I’ve used both a decade-old BOSCH and an Emporia EVSE with solid reliability for the life of my job 1 2021 so far)

Wallbox has been extremely reliable charger for me for over 4 years on my 21 MachE

 

[sdgolfer]

Wallbox has been extremely reliable charger for me for over 4 years on my 21 MachE

I really don’t think it’s the charger bc it’s charged my lightning flawlessly for almost 3 years

 

[phil]

Despite following all recommended practices and using both home and public chargers, the car will sometimes simply refuse to charge.

Mine never refuses (going on 4 years and 40,000 miles). I don't remember anyone reporting a charge failure rate of 10-15% (or anything similar).

I don't suppose that is very helpful to you, but it does sound like a rare issue - whatever it is.

 

[Guss-E 2021]

That sucks. Given my 2022 has never had a charging issue in almost three years (including using a Lectron adapter to charge on my friend's home Tesla charger), I think you are right: you have a lemon.

Hope you manage to find recourse. Please update this post if the situation gets resolved.

 

[Mandretti]

If you’re having issues with public charging as well it’s not your charger. Hope you get this squared away - very frustrating that the dealer won’t help you out, but not too surprising unfortunately.

 

[sparkout]

I’m posting here out of frustration and disappointment after what’s been an incredibly discouraging experience with my Ford Mustang Mach-E. I wanted to love this car as much as I love my f150 lightning.

Since purchasing the vehicle, I’ve experienced intermittent charging issues that make it unreliable and frankly stressful to own. Despite following all recommended practices and using both home and public chargers, the car will sometimes simply refuse to charge. This isn’t a one-time glitch—it’s a recurring issue That happens about 10-15% of the time. Like I mentioned, I have a 2022 ford lightning that charges flawlessly on the same charger so I’m confident it isn’t a charger or home electrical issue. Charger is a fcsp wired for 48 amps.

It’s been in the shop three separate times and has spent over 45 days total out of service. Each time, the dealership runs diagnostics, attempts to replicate the error, or performs a software update, and then sends it back to me. But the problem always returns.

The final straw? I filed a buyback claim with Ford, thinking the downtime would clearly qualify under lemon law protections. But Ford Customer Service denied the buyback. No clear explanation—just a flat rejection. After all this time, money, and inconvenience, I’m left with a vehicle I don’t trust and a brand that won’t stand behind its product.

Has anyone else had similar issues with the Mach-E or gone through the buyback process with Ford? I’m open to advice, especially if there’s any recourse I haven’t tried yet.

Thanks for reading - hoping someone has an idea on something to try.

Is it set to change only certain hours of the day, or is it set to change anytime you plug it in?

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