Recall #25S65 - 12V battery discharge may cause door lock-out (Vehicle Entrapment Allegations). Stop Sales issued by Ford

[PL281]

So if I read this recall correctly - it isn't just 2025, its all years. My 2022 Ford Options plan is up in November. I did not "order" a new Mach E and my dealer wants to purchase mine back - I'd like to stay with the Mach e but I'm waiting to see where everything shakes out.

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[devmach-e]

So if I read this recall correctly - it isn't just 2025, its all years. My 2022 Ford Options plan is up in November. I did not "order" a new Mach E and my dealer wants to purchase mine back - I'd like to stay with the Mach e but I'm waiting to see where everything shakes out.

Pretty sure they will have a solution in the next 5 months.

 

[RickMachE]

I'm surprised they are halting deliveries.

Yeah, it's 100% a liability thing. Trust me, if it had been up to me I would have taken delivery of my car yesterday if I had the choice - I said it earlier in thread, but I currently have no reliable car. I took time off around the 4th to take a road trip in my new MME, and now that's totally up in the air.

But yeah if they'd sold me the car knowing about this issue, if someone gets locked inside my car and dies, that would be the lawsuit to end all lawsuits. My sales dude said they can't allow any test drives either, he had a test drive scheduled that night he had to call and cancel as well.

Federal law dictates than any RECALL, which this is, immediately halts all sales. If you sell a car under recall, I believe the fine is $20,000. So it's not a "liability thing", it's federal law.

So if I read this recall correctly - it isn't just 2025, its all years. My 2022 Ford Options plan is up in November. I did not "order" a new Mach E and my dealer wants to purchase mine back - I'd like to stay with the Mach e but I'm waiting to see where everything shakes out.

At the end of Options, you can keep the car and pay or refinance the balloon, or hand it back to the dealership. They don't purchase it from you.

 

[Gloff]

The annoying thing is that the recall states:

In all of the affected vehicles, in the event of unexpected 12V battery discharge below 8.4V at key-off, the front door electronic latches retain their last lock/unlock status.

8.4V means you would have had to jump start the car to start it in the first place. That's a battery that would be completely toast already, and would likely not even hold a charge. I could only see a battery getting to that voltage in a short scenario or if the car sat for a long, long time.

 

[Space_Pony]

Which is the opposite of the scenario we are talking about, so the tool wouldn't help at all.

The tool I demonstrated is clipped to my pocket at all times so I can access it when I need it in or out of the car.

 

[Timelessblur]

This is going to be a hardware recall. I have been on the recieving side of this issue. It was thank god I was picking my kicks up and they were not in the car at the time. Otherwise yes I would broken a window really fast.

It is surprising how easy it to not notice a total 12v failure.

 

[Timelessblur]

The annoying thing is that the recall states:

In all of the affected vehicles, in the event of unexpected 12V battery discharge below 8.4V at key-off, the front door electronic latches retain their last lock/unlock status.

8.4V means you would have had to jump start the car to start it in the first place. That's a battery that would be completely toast already, and would likely not even hold a charge. I could only see a battery getting to that voltage in a short scenario or if the car sat for a long, long time.

No it does not. I can promise you that there is no warning. I was on the receiving side of these. I drove the car multiple times during the day no issue. Wife and I went to pick up our kids from day car and stop it. The only odd thing that happened when I turned the car off everything turned off instantly but what I noticed was the brake pedal kicked back a little. it was odd but not enough for me to think much of it.
Both my wife and I opened the front doors and didnt even noticed something was wrong. It was so normal. Now the vents on the front of the car were still opened.

100% no warning and just a total failure of 12v system.

My case I jump started the car the next day and took it straight to the dealership and they fixed it but did not notice any issues until it totally failed.

 

[BMT1071]

Use head rest if inside, whatever you can outside. How often is someone locked in when everyone locked out and can't open door? But we have warning to check back seat cause 1 guy said he forgot his kids in car.

It's a bit more serious than "one guy said"
The National Safety Council (NSC) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) both reported 39 child hot car deaths in 2024.

 

[Ajax]

I got my 40k service today and there was a note in the paperwork about this, but no remedy is currently available. Confirming it's for 2021-2025 models.

Line item says this:
25S65 2021-25 MACH-E - 12V DISCHARGE VEHICLE ENTRAPMENT ALLEGATIONS
RECALL NOT PERFORMED. ADVANCE NOTICE

 

[brianegge]

Fwiw, if someone ever gets trapped in the car... just break the glass. Unless I'm misreading something, this seems more like a head's up for the "can't fight their way out of a paper bag" buyer. Having a glass breaking tool in the glove box should be mandatory. Cheap life saving security tool for the very rare instance you'd need one.

I think this is more when you exit the car, close your door, and then go to open the rear door to get your baby out and find you are locked out of the car. Yes, I would be looking for something to break the glass with, but something might not be nearby.

 

[E90alex]

Not sure if it’s a hardware limitation due to the computer modules being derived/shared with ICE vehicles, but they just need to reprogram the logic to keep the DC-DC converter active longer after the car is powered off instead of isolating the HV system right when ignition is turned off.

Keep it on until like 5-10 minutes after lock command is received and/or after all doors are closed. And keep it on during “accessory mode” too or whenever a door is opened or as soon as unlock command is received.

 

[cereal]

It's a bit more serious than "one guy said"
The National Safety Council (NSC) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) both reported 39 child hot car deaths in 2024.

It also likely depends on the seriousness of the heat of summer depending on where you live. Sure, living in San Francisco in the summer buys you a whole lot more time than someone who lives in Phoenix, or even where I am where we routinely see days of 110+ F in the summer. I've seen 120 F on my porch!

Yes, if its 62 F out and my kid is stuck in the backseat, I'm concerned but if its 120 F its a life or death scenario. If you live in San Francisco and...take a road trip to Death Valley or even Sacramento, this is suddenly also a concern for you!

Add in complications of how rural or urban you are, it could mean your minutes of reaching help are drastically reduced too. I personally living in a pretty rural area, police are near but nothing like a major city so, yeah, I'd call but I also wouldn't just sit around waiting for them either.

 

[DYohn]

I think this is more when you exit the car, close your door, and then go to open the rear door to get your baby out and find you are locked out of the car. Yes, I would be looking for something to break the glass with, but something might not be nearby.

If this sort of situation applies to you (or if you are afraid it might and are otherwise unprepared,) then the easy answer is do not close the front door until you have opened the rear.

 

[Mike G]

Well supposedly according to what was released already....the PCM and SOBDMC modules get a software update to fix this problem. Just how updating those two modules will solve this 'lockout' problem is a mystery to me though...

 

[rreddy3]

The annoying thing is that the recall states:

In all of the affected vehicles, in the event of unexpected 12V battery discharge below 8.4V at key-off, the front door electronic latches retain their last lock/unlock status.

8.4V means you would have had to jump start the car to start it in the first place. That's a battery that would be completely toast already, and would likely not even hold a charge. I could only see a battery getting to that voltage in a short scenario or if the car sat for a long, long time.

I am curious, what is the source reference to 8.4v? I don’t see that referred to in the notice on FordPass, Ford.com, or the NHTSA lookup page. (Although that doesn’t mean it’s not there; it may be simply I didn’t see it.)

“In all of the affected vehicles, in the event of unexpected 12V battery discharge below 8.4V at key-off, the front door electronic latches retain their last lock/unlock status.”

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