2023 Mach E GT — 1.5 days old 99 miles

[Ford Motor Company]

I purchased a 2023 Mach e on Dec 22, 2023 with an estimate of 6 miles on it. On Christmas Eve me and my family (husband and 3 small children) was heading into DC for the first time ever to go a Christmas Event at the Nationals Stadium. As I was driving over the bridge that goes into DC, the car pops up a turtle and tellsme to “Stop Safely Now”. The car immediately went limp and would not respond. Again, I was over the bridge going into DC panicked because I have no clue what’s going on and I’m trying to figure out what to do next without getting hit. I somehow managed to get onto this ramp before it completely stopped rolling. There’s no shoulder so here I am on the corner of a ramp far over as I possibly can be with a 3,7, and 11 year old freaking out in the back seat. I’ve only had this car for 1.5 days at the point with 99.9 miles on the car. The battery wasn’t dead but nothing we could do as we couldn’t get it to start again. The accessory power still worked. We tried googling everything to try to get it to start up, but nothing. So here we are on Xmas eve, on a ramp exit on the DC bridge, still partly in the road as cars was passing by. We called a tow truck and it took them 1:30-2 hours to even find us. Being on a bridge there’s the road right below us and so it was like the tow truck couldn’t figure out what road/bridge we were on. This was our first trip to DC as we just moved to VA so we couldn’t be much help. We finally called the cops to see if anyone was available to at least stay behind us so we wouldn’t be hit by another car not seeing us. Again, the kids are freaking out. The cops were amazing with their help. When the tow truck got there we decided to first take it to a charging stations just to make sure it wasn’t an easy fix. This is our first EV so we were clueless on what it would be and why it happened. So fast forward, the tow truck tows it a few miles away and the cops were nice and let us ride in their vehicle to the charging station. So now the cops were gone, the tow truck left and the car wouldn’t charge. But NOW we can’t even get into the vehicle at all. So we are DT DC on Xmas eve with nothing opened within walking distance. We can’t even get into the car at this point so we are just outside in the cold. So now we have to call another tow truck to get it towed to the dealership. Over 1:30-2 hours went by again and no update on the tow truck being dispatched, we were using the ford road assistance this time. We used our insurance the first time to get it towed to a charging station. So now we are pretty irritated. It’s Christmas Eve, we have Xmas presents we need out of the vehicle, and we freezing outside waiting. We ended up calling another tow company and just paid out of pocket. So now we wait for the next tow truck. They finally arrive and I googled how to open the frunk/ open car if it’s locked up. So we finally were able to do that and get out our things. The tow truck towed it to the dealership and now we have to pray that we can find a way home on Christmas Eve. It was probably a 1 hour drive home. So this was over a course of 5-6 hours. The entire night was ruined. I had to make sure we got home for Xmas as we have small children that was already upset with not going to the Nationals Stadium and doing our Xmas Eve traditions. Even dinner as well. It was a cluster. So now it’s January 17 as I am typing this with no update on a fix date or exactly what even happened. It has been at the dealership since December 24 with no ETA.


Any suggestions? This post is a little long as I wanted to detail what happened. We have been researching buy back/Lemon. It’s financed through ford. The downside is I carried negative equity into the loan and I am really not wanting another Mach E as my first experience was scary and my first EV as well.

Hi there! If you send over a DM with your VIN and Ford dealer info, I can look into your concerns on my end.

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[jay1122]

A typical infant mortality case. Just bad luck. It may or may not be HVBJB. Could be other defective parts. After it is eligible, ask for a buyback. While it is being processed, press dealer for updates. The fact that they haven't found the cause of problem after this many days tells me the dealer is terrible. Probably not even working on the car.

 

[Mach1E]

HVBJB and the new cold turtle error is super rare?

It happening on day one is super rare.

It happening at all is at least newsworthy enough for people to post about it each time it happens.

The point was more about worrying about things we have no control over. Hakuna Matata!

 

[FordFamily]

We are not being very helpful to you. let me try a little bit more.
1. Our condolences and support to you for this terrible event. This may be the worst story we’ve ever heard.
2. the Ford dealership should be able to diagnose and give you a projection within 24 hours.
3. On this forum, we have experienced that there are a good dealers, and there are bad dealers. Yours is a bad dealer.
4. Calling Ford Central should get things going. (it would’ve helped to have called them from the car, or the next day.). Ford motor Central will push the dealer. Many of us have had the experience of a complex problem being resolved by engineers on the phone in Dearborn talking directly to the technician while they are working directly on the car. That should’ve happened on about Day 3.
5. I cannot tell from your posting. Are you a woman? If so, that’s why they’re giving you the runaround. Or doing nothing.
6. Where is the Ford motor representative who monitors these postings? They can definitely get things rolling immediately.
7. Yes, get rid of that car. Demand Ford close your file and pay you back, regardless of what your choice of your next vehicle is.
8. your experience is an outlier. The large majority of us have had good luck, appreciate and love our vehicles.

Again, I’m sorry for your experience.

 

[Jessieaddington]

Thank you! We only got an update because my husband went to the dealership to get my mailbox keys about 2 weeks ago and had asked for an update. Other than that it’s been crickets. So my husband just been counting the days. But we started the buyback case last night to see what they say and go from there since it will be 30 days next week.

I don’t know exactly the issue but something about the battery cells and that it was more complex. Which was 2 weeks ago.

We also purchased the Ford Lightning about a week ago and it has been great so far. We bought it from another dealership

I am not sure as to whether we want another mach E or just pick out something else. I know all don’t have issues and run great but it’s just hard not to think it will happen again.

I appreciate your kind words. Supposedly should hear something in the next 5 days or so.

 

[Jessieaddington]

Anyone know how long it takes for a buyback to even get approved? I submitted it back on January 16th. We were told the claim did not start until January 24th. My contact person doesn’t ever respond and every week we get told someone will follow up the next week with updates. And nothing.

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