Concerns about dealer service dept.

[azulejost]

My wife and I each have a '22 Mach-E and have been unable to get some issues resolved by our local dealer.

For her car, it has not received any OTA updates in well over a year, we've taken it in multiple times, and most recently had a case number with Ford BEV team. Even after reported discussion with the Ford Service Engineer, the dealer was unable to arrive at any way to resolve the issue, and the BEV team said the only thing they could recommend was to try taking the car to another dealer. I asked why a Ford engineer would give a different dealer different advice for the issue, and the BEV rep couldn't offer any explanation.

My car stopped updating Ford Pass, and I tried to remove the car and add it back without success. Ultimately, I called Ford Pass Hotline and they diagnosed this as a modem issue because their system also was not updated since when my app had stopped. They advised me to schedule a service appt. with my dealer. With this info, I scheduled a service visit and explained the issue and recommendation that Ford Pass had diagnosed this to be a modem issue not a Ford Pass issue. However, after the dealer kept the car for 2 nights, I got a call saying they could not identify any issue, and that I need to add my car back to Ford Pass because they don't have my phone or password to do so. I again emphasized I had already tried to do that and couldn't because of what I was told was a modem issue.

I'm in North Carolina (Triad), but I'm irritated enough at this point that I will make a drive to a dealership whose service department seems more competent, if any exist. We love our cars, but having issues that should be able to be relatively easily resolved turn into unsolvable, time wasting issues leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Any advice or thoughts appreciated.

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[Eagertrader]

Call several dealers around. Ask to speak with the service manager. Ask the service manager if he is experienced on servicing the MME, and if not, ask him/her to let you speak with their most knowledgeable EV tech. Explain your issue in detail and ask how confident they are that they'd be able to resolve your problem. Take the car to the repair shop that gave you the best answer.

 

[Maui]

I too am concerned about this and would like a more definitive review of the various near by locations. When I called previously to a local dealer, they said they had staff on but when I got there to talk to them they didn't seem to have any depth and it felt like they were just repeating what they had read from a powerpoint slide. Some of what they were repeating was either old or just inaccurate.

So I worry for the day I have to go in for service. Is there not a website that would do reviews or have more information about the competence in the service department.

 

[stoopid]

I've been ghosted by my dealer service department and Ford's engineering team regarding an important, but very infrequent issue. I suspect they operate on a FAaFO customer service model. If it's not easy, just drag their feet and kick the can until the customer gives up or the 1% that hire a lawyer. Basically -- because you're having an issue they can't fix, for whatever reason, they are operating under the assumption they already lost you as a future customer -- so go pound sand.

And yes, if we're keeping track, this is likely my first and last Ford. Thankfully the MME is super cheap and does most things fine. It's my only reason for staying in the car at this point. The lack of capable technical support has me gravely concerned. Kia lost my business for similar reasons. Buick lost my business for similar reasons. Eventually I'll either have to go broke going up-model with an expensive but properly supported manufacturer, or I'll run out of vehicle makers to buy a car from. Being 50 -- I'll likely die or stop driving before that happens.

 

[flapjake314]

And yes, if we're keeping track, this is likely my first and last Ford.

yeah my servicing experience has been terrible in nyc area as well. dealers act like tell me they're doing me a favor by even taking an appointment with me

one of the big reasons why i chose MME over tesla was all the servicing depts that would be available, in retrospect i was wrong and view the [lack of] servicing as one of the biggest disadvantages for the MME

haven't made up my mind i'd never get a ford again, but it's definitely a huge downside now

 

[grein002]

I had my HVBJB replaced at University Ford in Durham. Though the service advisor kind of brushed me off when I suggested it might be the issue, they replaced it same-day. In at 8:15AM, done at 3:30PM.

 

[EB87]

Im confused. Is the issue that things on the fordpass and in the car aren’t working properly because of the lack of updates? Or is the annoyance just that you haven’t gotten updates and you want them even tho everything is still working? My ford pass has issues. It says all the time that I charged for 9hrs when I only charged for 4hrs for example but as long as the car is working then who cares if you haven’t gotten any update. Now if because of the lack of updates the car itself is having issues then I would see your frustration.

 

[azulejost]

Im confused. Is the issue that things on the fordpass and in the car aren’t working properly because of the lack of updates? Or is the annoyance just that you haven’t gotten updates and you want them even tho everything is still working? My ford pass has issues. It says all the time that I charged for 9hrs when I only charged for 4hrs for example but as long as the car is working then who cares if you haven’t gotten any update. Now if because of the lack of updates the car itself is having issues then I would see your frustration.

The issue with my wife's car is that because it will not receive OTA updates, she doesn't have BC 1.3 mostly, but also not the updated battery management, etc. It's not that it compromises day to day use, but she actually uses BC on the interstate at times so it'd be nice if she had the updated version. (Her '22 still has a center speedometer as it never got the update to put the car in the center and speed off to the right).

The issues with my car are that I cannot add my car back onto the Ford Pass app, I cannot set a charging location to limit max charge, and I suspect I will also be without the ability to receive any future OTA updates. All of this because the car is not communicating with Ford Pass.

When I first realized my Ford Pass wasn't updating, I had to leave on a business trip for 1 week. My HVB SoC dropped from 63% to 18% over the week. It's never dropped more than 1% when I've left it parked (unplugged, in an airport parking garage) there or anywhere else. I suspect it was trying to connect and couldn't and that prevented it from entering Sleep Mode or Deep Sleep or whatever. After that, I tried pulling the 11/12 and 21/22 fuses with no success nor did disconnecting the battery resolve the issue. That's when I called Ford Pass and they advised it is a modem issue.

So partly because I don't want to have to manually unplug my car before it charges to 100% every night, partly because I don't want to get back from a trip out of town to find the HVB is totally dead or drained to the point I can't reach a charging station, and partly because I like having the full functionality the car and app had until early this month, I want the modem issue fixed.

Her car and mine were built 1 day apart.

 

[ChehRob]

For now, Ford needs a regional repair facility specializing in diagnoses, electrical, and software in difficult cases. The training for such technicians is too specialized for many local dealerships.

 

[Billyk24]

My wife and I each have a '22 Mach-E and have been unable to get some issues resolved by our local dealer.

For her car, it has not received any OTA updates in well over a year, we've taken it in multiple times, and most recently had a case number with Ford BEV team. Even after reported discussion with the Ford Service Engineer, the dealer was unable to arrive at any way to resolve the issue, and the BEV team said the only thing they could recommend was to try taking the car to another dealer. I asked why a Ford engineer would give a different dealer different advice for the issue, and the BEV rep couldn't offer any explanation.

My car stopped updating Ford Pass, and I tried to remove the car and add it back without success. Ultimately, I called Ford Pass Hotline and they diagnosed this as a modem issue because their system also was not updated since when my app had stopped. They advised me to schedule a service appt. with my dealer. With this info, I scheduled a service visit and explained the issue and recommendation that Ford Pass had diagnosed this to be a modem issue not a Ford Pass issue. However, after the dealer kept the car for 2 nights, I got a call saying they could not identify any issue, and that I need to add my car back to Ford Pass because they don't have my phone or password to do so. I again emphasized I had already tried to do that and couldn't because of what I was told was a modem issue.

I'm in North Carolina (Triad), but I'm irritated enough at this point that I will make a drive to a dealership whose service department seems more competent, if any exist. We love our cars, but having issues that should be able to be relatively easily resolved turn into unsolvable, time wasting issues leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Any advice or thoughts appreciated.

e Complete DIY Guide to Updating Your Mach-E with FDRS----seek out one of the forum members who has the FDRS license so they/you can take a deep dive into the vehicle. This will allow you to see what Updates are needed and what ever else exists. There is some money involved to obtain a FDRS license and hardware needed to operate such. Be willing to donate a small fee to obtain this information.

 

[Track9979]

Service is very hit or miss depending on a dealer. You may just want to find another one and see if it's any better.

Re: fordpass not updating, you can try disconnecting the battery for a while to see if that works or pull fuse 11 (TCU) and 21/22 (GWM) in the passenger side interior fuse box to reset gwm and tcu.

 

[azulejost]

Update:
I tried the other advice of pulling the plug below the 21/22 fuse in the fuse box (after I had pulled the fuse for that, for 11/12, and also had disconnected the battery previously) without improvement. The FordPass guide said I need to tell the service dept I have an “unresponsive modem and Error Code SSM50873.”

Brought my car to the service dept at the dealer where I bought the car. After they did a couple of brief software updates, the tech had me try to pair my car with the FordPass app again which didn’t work.

He spent some more time as he thought it could be an antenna issue, but ultimately the advisor came back and said it is a modem/module issue and that it will be ~$3600 to replace (~$2800 for the modem/module) and then the labor to diagnose and replace it. Seems high compared to what others have posted, but the service folks here keep referring to it as a module (instead of modem) and also said there are 2 versions, and they can only determine which version my car has by getting to the module and looking at the code/number on the physical device.

So while I want to be optimistic that the problem has been identified and this will fix it, still a couple of things that make me unsure. We shall see.

 

[azulejost]

Update now 3 weeks later: Dropped off the '22 Mach-E 7/10 for the TCU to be replaced while I was out of town for 1 week. TCU replacement didn't resolve the issue.
The service dept. communicated with Ford's Technical Support hotline and went through a series of updates and diagnostics to ultimately arrive that the GWM is corrupted and must be replaced before any further steps can be taken with the TCU. So now I'm out >$4600 and the car has been at the dealer for almost 3 weeks. Guess we'll see if all of the issues are resolved with the new GWM and TCU. All of this at < 40,000 mi but > 36,000 mi.

The longer and more expensive this becomes, the more if feels like Ford should be covering this as with many previous connectivity issues particularly since no owner behavior caused it.

 

[Jimrpa]

Call several dealers around. Ask to speak with the service manager. Ask the service manager if he is experienced on servicing the MME, and if not, ask him/her to let you speak with their most knowledgeable EV tech. Explain your issue in detail and ask how confident they are that they'd be able to resolve your problem. Take the car to the repair shop that gave you the best answer.

Highly doubtful that a service department will allow a “random caller” to speak directly to a tech. Heck, my dealer and service department know me well for almost 20 years, and on the few occasions I’ve actually interacted directly with a tech, it’s always been the tech who initiated the interaction.

It’s cases like these that would be perfect for a “Genius Bar” at Ford dealerships.

 

[Homer007]

Update now 3 weeks later: Dropped off the '22 Mach-E 7/10 for the TCU to be replaced while I was out of town for 1 week. TCU replacement didn't resolve the issue.
The service dept. communicated with Ford's Technical Support hotline and went through a series of updates and diagnostics to ultimately arrive that the GWM is corrupted and must be replaced before any further steps can be taken with the TCU. So now I'm out >$4600 and the car has been at the dealer for almost 3 weeks. Guess we'll see if all of the issues are resolved with the new GWM and TCU. All of this at < 40,000 mi but > 36,000 mi.

The longer and more expensive this becomes, the more if feels like Ford should be covering this as with many previous connectivity issues particularly since no owner behavior caused it.

Why isn't this covered under warranty? I'd ping @Ford Motor Company to see if they can help you here.

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