2022 v. 2025: Differences?

[ridgebackpilot]

In early 2022, we purchased a MME Premium RWD ER for my wife on a Ford Options contract. She drove it 91,000 miles since then and it performed flawlessly.

With the end of our Options contract approaching, I called the dealer to explore our choices. We were so far underwater that I assumed we’d have to keep the car and refinance with Ford Credit.

But thanks to generous incentives and rebates from Ford, the dealer was able to work their magic and get us into a new 2025 MME Premium AWD ER. Since we have a long-term relationship with Ford Credit, they were able to erase nearly all of our negative equity and give us zero percent interest on a new loan.

I love the fact that Ford has moved the shifter from the dial to the control column. And that the new car has a heat pump. But what other changes or differences should we expect to see?

We had zero issues with our 2022 MME in nearly 100K miles. I'm hoping the new MME treats us the same!

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[SonicBlue]

Not to get all Dave Ramsey on you, but it kinda sounds like you agreed to take on a boatload of new debt (interest free - for a while) to “upgrade” from a 2022 to a 2025. Granted, I’m not seeing the math, so I could be wrong.

If money isn’t an issue for you and you just want a new car every 3 years, that’s great! But it kinda sounds like money is tight, so I’m not sure why you are saddling yourself with car payments in perpetuity.

Anyway, I could be wrong. Would be interested to see the numbers of why this makes financial sense.

 

[Snakebitten]

I think Ford tweaked the suspension (damping/spring)?

I also think that Bluecruise, both hands free and hands on has been refined. Along with instrument cluster graphics?

 

[RonOinAZ]

We have both a 2022 and a 2025 Premium. The first things that come to mind for me on the 2025 are the lack of a solenoid to push the front doors open once the button is pressed and the black rocker panel moldings and the rear trim are black textured plastic rather than glossy as on the 2022. Also, the wheel well arch trim pieces match the car's paint on the 2025 while they're black on the 2022. The dash display layout is completely different and the 2025's frunk is much smaller than the 2022's. No kick-to-open rear hatch on the 2025 and I think the portable charger & tire repair kid are both options rather than standard equipment on the 2025.

 

[ridgebackpilot]

Not to get all Dave Ramsey on you, but it kinda sounds like you agreed to take on a boatload of new debt (interest free - for a while) to “upgrade” from a 2022 to a 2025. Granted, I’m not seeing the math, so I could be wrong.

If money isn’t an issue for you and you just want a new car every 3 years, that’s great! But it kinda sounds like money is tight, so I’m not sure why you are saddling yourself with car payments in perpetuity.

Anyway, I could be wrong. Would be interested to see the numbers of why this makes financial sense.

Fair question — and I actually ran the math pretty carefully before making the move.

The key piece you’re missing is that I had significant negative equity in the 2022 and was paying interest on the Ford Options loan. Continuing to hold that vehicle meant continuing to service interest on a depreciating asset while carrying negative equity forward. That’s not “Dave Ramsey conservative” — that’s just slow bleed.

The 2025 deal allowed me to reset the depreciation curve, reset the factory warranty, reduce my long-term exposure, and avoid continuing to throw interest at a car I was already upside down on. The short-term financing structure is strategic and manageable, not perpetual lifestyle debt.

So this wasn’t about upgrading for vanity. It was about stopping an unfavorable financial trajectory and repositioning into a cleaner balance sheet with better terms.

Totally fair to question it — but in this case, the move was intentional and numbers-driven.

 

[DennisD]

Fair question — and I actually ran the math pretty carefully before making the move.

The key piece you’re missing is that I had significant negative equity in the 2022 and was paying interest on the Ford Options loan. Continuing to hold that vehicle meant continuing to service interest on a depreciating asset while carrying negative equity forward. That’s not “Dave Ramsey conservative” — that’s just slow bleed.

The 2025 deal allowed me to reset the depreciation curve, reset the factory warranty, reduce my long-term exposure, and avoid continuing to throw interest at a car I was already upside down on. The short-term financing structure is strategic and manageable, not perpetual lifestyle debt.

So this wasn’t about upgrading for vanity. It was about stopping an unfavorable financial trajectory and repositioning into a cleaner balance sheet with better terms.

Totally fair to question it — but in this case, the move was intentional and numbers-driven.

I actually have never thought about trading my 22 premium ER AWD in? I purchased mine with cash and can purchase another one w/o a loan. Mine is flawless with 22 k miles. If I were to purchase a similar 25 to what I own now, what difference would you guess that I would need to pay?

 

[ridgebackpilot]

I actually have never thought about trading my 22 premium ER AWD in? I purchased mine with cash and can purchase another one w/o a loan. Mine is flawless with 22 k miles. If I were to purchase a similar 25 to what I own now, what difference would you guess that I would need to pay?

You have a lot fewer miles on your 2022 MME than we had. But your factory warranty has expired, while the powertrain and battery warranties continue.

If you want to upgrade, it's a great time to do so. Although the government canceled the $7,500 tax credits that you and I got back in 2022, meanwhile Ford lowered the base price of the MME Premium by $5,000. Ford Credit is also offering a whole suite of rebates and incentives, including zero percent interest loans (free money) that weren't available back in 2022.

To upgrade, you'd have to come up with the difference between the discounted price of a new MME and the value of your old one. Ford has far better incentives for the remaining 2025 new cars than for the 2026 models. I don't believe there is any material difference between the two years.

Of course, trade-in value would be significantly less than what you might get if you sell your 2022 MME privately. But that assumes you could sell it privately, which you might with relatively low mileage. You also might be surprised at how much the dealer offers you on trade. My trade-in offer was around $2,000 higher than I expected.

Good luck!

 

[RickMachE]

I love the fact that Ford has moved the shifter from the dial to the control column. And that the new car has a heat pump. But what other changes or differences should we expect to see?

Tilting headrests are gone. Windshield wiper deicer is gone, washer on front camera also. Kick to open is gone. Ventilated seats are added, rear motor is now from the Lightning. Heat pump is added.

Per Mark Boris going from a 2021 GTPE to a 2024 GT:

1. Rear cargo hold down rings are plastic instead of metal
2. Driver/passenger kick plates no longer have an aluminum "Mustang/GT" plaque
3. Dual USB-C ports at the console rear instead of one USB-C and USB-A
4. Front Driver/Passenger doors no longer have a lock actuator (presenter)
5. Removed kick to open liftgate feature
6. Eliminated the inside illuminated open/close button on the liftgate panel
7. Rear speaker grills no longer have a B&O emblem
8. Removed the windshield wiper defrosters
9. Removed hood bump stops
10. Removed parking assist feature
11. Ceiling grab handles no longer damped, when released, they snap up quickly
12. Front camera through windshield has a white casing instead of black
13. High beams don't seem to be as bright as the ones in the '21 (low beams the same)
14. Front headrests on premium no longer tilt forward/backward
15. No more sound insulation padding behind door panels
16. Removed front grille camera washer
17. Cargo cover has slightly thicker support posts, more difficult to attach and remove
18. Shark fin antenna on roof no longer on a separate metal area by itself
19. Wireless charger is a separate metal plate within the plastic console bottom
20. Front proximity sensor beep has a higher pitch tone than rear proximity sensor beep
21. Now comes with a full printed owners manual
22. Start/Stop button no longer has a flashing green LED
23. Front side windows are no longer acoustic (laminated) after July '24
24. Frunk tub is lighter, has half the screws securing it and they‘re exposed
25.There are three things about the audio system that I've noticed
(a) The overall volume is at least 2db louder for any given volume control setting
(b) Dash tweeters sound more harsh in their lower frequency range
(c) The OEM 6x9 woofer bass frequencies sound deeper but it has an mis match of time alignment. It hits after the door speakers so a single kick drum almost sounds like two kick drums hit.
After removing the rear quarter panel to access wires I needed to install my aftermarket sub, I noticed the B&O amp is a different shape and it is also a larger than the previous one.

 

[AliRafiee]

AFAIK. There is no way to be under water with Ford Option. You can just hand in the key when term is over, regardless of the residual value.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

As for the now no longer tilting front headrests, you should be able to order a pair through the dealer's parts department that match your interior for a 21 -24 premium and replace the non-movable ones. Worth considering if the new ones bother you.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

AFAIK. There is no way to be under water with Ford Option. You can just hand in the key when term is over, regardless of the residual value.

91,000 miles on the car. That might be an issue.

 

[ridgebackpilot]

AFAIK. There is no way to be under water with Ford Option. You can just hand in the key when term is over, regardless of the residual value.

Well, the dealer credited me with $14,500 for the 2022 MME, on which I still owed $23,922 at the end of my Options contract. That's the definition of "underwater!"

@Kamuelaflyer is correct: If I had turned in the car, Ford would have charged me more than $15,000 in excess mileage fees. I avoided that by trading in the car on a new one, and Ford Credit eliminated my "underwater" status through rebates and incentives.

 

[devmach-e]

AFAIK. There is no way to be under water with Ford Option. You can just hand in the key when term is over, regardless of the residual value.

I believe they stated they had 90K miles on the car, so they'd be paying some large amount in mileage fees at turn in time (something like 20 or 25 cents a mile). That certainly seems like it could count as being underwater. That fee probably got waived because they leased/bought another MME. I'm going to be a bit over my 72K miles when my Options term ends. I'm opting to keep the car and refinance/payoff the balloon amount. There's nothing in a 2025 or 2026 model that would convince me to go even more into debt for a longer period of time.

 

[silverelan]

@Mach-E VLOG just did a video on this

 

[SonicBlue]

Not to derail the thread, but just curious if I’m doing it all wrong when it comes to car ownership. When I buy a car, I pay it off fast and keep it for a long time. So, my math is pretty simple on my First Edition… I think I paid about 52k out the door after tax credit. It was on Ford Options but I paid the whole thing off before Options ended, so basically 0% interest loan. I’ve owned it for five years and I’ll likely keep it another three, after which I’ll either sell it for maybe $12k or gift to one of my kids. Either way, I credit that value back to me so i basically spent $40k to drive a car for 8 years. $5,000 a year or $417/mo.

So how would perpetually leasing a Mach E (or comparable) compare?

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