36,000 mile report card

SnBGC

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This car gets a split score from me due to extenuating circumstances. 82 points for the first 35,000 miles and 56 points for the last 1,000 miles unfortunately. If given the choice and I could go back in time to Feb 2021, then I would definitely purchase the car again. But if I had to make that same decision today, I would look for some other car instead.

So now that I've had some time behind the wheel, there are some really great things about this car that I appreciate.
  1. 360 Camera View is excellent. I don't think I want to go without that feature going forward.
  2. Ford's native navigation is also excellent. By far the best navigation program that I have ever used (and I've used a lot of them over the years).
  3. The cross traffic alert when backing up is really superb. I don't know how it can detect oncoming vehicles in such a crowded parking lot but I am glad it works. Has saved me some embarrassment more than a few times.
  4. The L mode is genius. Love that feature. Hope Ford keep it in future models.
So, how did it only score 82 points out of 100 for the first 35,000 miles?
Assuming a perfect vehicle is 100 points and then deduct for deficiencies....
  • -5 points for ride quality. It rides like a truck, but it's an SUV so I guess that is to be expected but even new pickup trucks are smoother than this car.
  • -1 point for SiriusXM radio alert song/artist not working when vehicle was delivered
  • -5 points for PaaK. It works, but it is poorly executed and not convenient at all. Requires way too much effort to use that feature and it is very unreliable.
  • -2 points for only 1 key fob
  • -2 points for a loose RR door striker latch (repaired myself)
  • -2 points for no remote start on key fob
  • -5 points for sometimes missing it's charge schedule. Kinda important for a EV to get this one right.
  • -3 points for sometimes missing it's pre-condition schedule.
  • +9 points for real world range exceeding EPA estimates. I average around 295 miles per full charge so 1 point for every percentage point increase over the promised 270 miles.
The most horrible experience with this car has been the update process. This has really soured my opinion of what is otherwise a great vehicle. I have owned a lot of cars in my years, including 4 EVs (2 are first year models). I have never had a manufacturer take away functions after the sale like Ford has done to me with this car. The hardware is fantastic but the software isn't up to the task.

Due to loss of use on several features, I deduct another 26 points. Most of these features were removed from my vehicle about 1,000 miles ago when my car was at the dealership for safety recalls and software "enhancements". The list below are things that worked perfectly well prior to the various updates....
  • -3 points for full screen CarPlay which also now causes my native nav to malfunction whenever a passenger with an iPhone rides in my car with me.
  • -1 point for auto high beams. That was a nice feature but now it doesn't work the same. The car now flashes it's high beams 3 times before switching back to low beams. I now have to turn them on manually when the conditions require.
  • -3 points for door locks not always opening on first press. It was 100% before the update. I guess "more robust door lock update" means it won't let you into your car even with a fob. I sometimes have to press the button 6 or 8 times before the car unlocks.
  • -5 points for HVAC no longer automatically switching to Max A/C when first started in hot conditions. It worked great before but now I have to open the HVAC screen and turn on Max A/C myself.
  • -5 points for broken Lane Centering. It worked so good prior to the update and would hold the lane position that I choose. Now it just goes straight down the center of the lane or ping pongs back and forth. So annoying that I now have to drive with it turned off. Why would Ford take that away? Doesn't make sense...???
  • -5 brake feel. Car drove so nice before but now it's grabby and jerky at times. Sometimes it does fine but once or twice a day I get my fillings jerked loose. Pretty upset about this one to be honest.....
  • -5 Walk away locks fail about 20% of the time now. They were 100% for the first 35,000 miles but now they are unreliable since the updates
  • -1 point for adding a front compartment hood button to Sync but it doesn't work. WTF? Why add a button just to tease us? That just seems cruel.
That adds up to a 28 point deduction for senseless deletion of function and features due to updates.
But, I'll give 2 points back since the updates DID fix the error that caused the tenths to vanish from the odometer at 10,000 miles AND they did fix the song/artist alerts in SiriusXM. So, we end up with 26 point deduction for these past 1,000 miles. Add to the 18 points from the first 35,000 miles then I end up with a very embarrassing 56 points for this car.

I have decided this is my last Ford vehicle. I have cancelled my Lightning reservation because I don't want to have this experience ever again. I enjoy my vehicles when they operate correctly. And when something wears out or breaks, then I repair the car and continue on but to have features taken away for no reason just makes me more and more angry each time that I am reminded at how well it USED to work BEFORE the updates.


If you read this far, then you are correct in that my ONLY mechanical issue was a loose right rear door striker latch. If it wasn't for the reckless and irresponsible software included with this car then it would likely rank way up high on my all time list. I think the guys and gals in Cuautitilan Mexico did a fantastic job building this car, especially for a first year model. When I took delivery, the car was near perfect. Apparently Ford decided that it worked a little too good and knocked it down a few notches by subjecting me to updates that didn't actually improve anything.

Oh yeah.....one more thing. My car has the hardware for BlueCruise but I can't get it. Dealer updates fail and does not work on my car. I didn't deduct any points because I signed a paper when I bought the car saying that I understand that BlueCruise does NOT work on my car so nothing lost in that regard.

Ford Mustang Mach-E 36,000 mile report card 20220429_105046
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RockwallRick

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Did the CSP ( 21P22 ) cause most of your new problems? I haven’t noticed that many since having it done back in February. Had some charging issues. I am in no hurry to get Blue Cruise so I will just wait for it to come via OTA!
 

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Thanks for your time and honesty. I can’t say I disagree with what you said I have sold two already. Both Voltage issues. Made some $ on them so trying again .. Giving the 22 a chance. We’ll see. You are absolutely correct about the updating process considering most peoples Internet capabilities it’s ridiculous how it is applied. Heinous!
Jes sayin
 

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This car gets a split score from me due to extenuating circumstances. 82 points for the first 35,000 miles and 56 points for the last 1,000 miles unfortunately. If given the choice and I could go back in time to Feb 2021, then I would definitely purchase the car again. But if I had to make that same decision today, I would look for some other car instead.

So now that I've had some time behind the wheel, there are some really great things about this car that I appreciate.
  1. 360 Camera View is excellent. I don't think I want to go without that feature going forward.
  2. Ford's native navigation is also excellent. By far the best navigation program that I have ever used (and I've used a lot of them over the years).
  3. The cross traffic alert when backing up is really superb. I don't know how it can detect oncoming vehicles in such a crowded parking lot but I am glad it works. Has saved me some embarrassment more than a few times.
  4. The L mode is genius. Love that feature. Hope Ford keep it in future models.
So, how did it only score 82 points out of 100 for the first 35,000 miles?
Assuming a perfect vehicle is 100 points and then deduct for deficiencies....
  • -5 points for ride quality. It rides like a truck, but it's an SUV so I guess that is to be expected but even new pickup trucks are smoother than this car.
  • -1 point for SiriusXM radio alert song/artist not working when vehicle was delivered
  • -5 points for PaaK. It works, but it is poorly executed and not convenient at all. Requires way too much effort to use that feature and it is very unreliable.
  • -2 points for only 1 key fob
  • -2 points for a loose RR door striker latch (repaired myself)
  • -2 points for no remote start on key fob
  • -5 points for sometimes missing it's charge schedule. Kinda important for a EV to get this one right.
  • -3 points for sometimes missing it's pre-condition schedule.
  • +9 points for real world range exceeding EPA estimates. I average around 295 miles per full charge so 1 point for every percentage point increase over the promised 270 miles.
The most horrible experience with this car has been the update process. This has really soured my opinion of what is otherwise a great vehicle. I have owned a lot of cars in my years, including 4 EVs (2 are first year models). I have never had a manufacturer take away functions after the sale like Ford has done to me with this car. The hardware is fantastic but the software isn't up to the task.

Due to loss of use on several features, I deduct another 26 points. Most of these features were removed from my vehicle about 1,000 miles ago when my car was at the dealership for safety recalls and software "enhancements". The list below are things that worked perfectly well prior to the various updates....
  • -3 points for full screen CarPlay which also now causes my native nav to malfunction whenever a passenger with an iPhone rides in my car with me.
  • -1 point for auto high beams. That was a nice feature but now it doesn't work the same. The car now flashes it's high beams 3 times before switching back to low beams. I now have to turn them on manually when the conditions require.
  • -3 points for door locks not always opening on first press. It was 100% before the update. I guess "more robust door lock update" means it won't let you into your car even with a fob. I sometimes have to press the button 6 or 8 times before the car unlocks.
  • -5 points for HVAC no longer automatically switching to Max A/C when first started in hot conditions. It worked great before but now I have to open the HVAC screen and turn on Max A/C myself.
  • -5 points for broken Lane Centering. It worked so good prior to the update and would hold the lane position that I choose. Now it just goes straight down the center of the lane or ping pongs back and forth. So annoying that I now have to drive with it turned off. Why would Ford take that away? Doesn't make sense...???
  • -5 brake feel. Car drove so nice before but now it's grabby and jerky at times. Sometimes it does fine but once or twice a day I get my fillings jerked loose. Pretty upset about this one to be honest.....
  • -5 Walk away locks fail about 20% of the time now. They were 100% for the first 35,000 miles but now they are unreliable since the updates
  • -1 point for adding a front compartment hood button to Sync but it doesn't work. WTF? Why add a button just to tease us? That just seems cruel.
That adds up to a 28 point deduction for senseless deletion of function and features due to updates.
But, I'll give 2 points back since the updates DID fix the error that caused the tenths to vanish from the odometer at 10,000 miles AND they did fix the song/artist alerts in SiriusXM. So, we end up with 26 point deduction for these past 1,000 miles. Add to the 18 points from the first 35,000 miles then I end up with a very embarrassing 56 points for this car.

I have decided this is my last Ford vehicle. I have cancelled my Lightning reservation because I don't want to have this experience ever again. I enjoy my vehicles when they operate correctly. And when something wears out or breaks, then I repair the car and continue on but to have features taken away for no reason just makes me more and more angry each time that I am reminded at how well it USED to work BEFORE the updates.


If you read this far, then you are correct in that my ONLY mechanical issue was a loose right rear door striker latch. If it wasn't for the reckless and irresponsible software included with this car then it would likely rank way up high on my all time list. I think the guys and gals in Cuautitilan Mexico did a fantastic job building this car, especially for a first year model. When I took delivery, the car was near perfect. Apparently Ford decided that it worked a little too good and knocked it down a few notches by subjecting me to updates that didn't actually improve anything.

Oh yeah.....one more thing. My car has the hardware for BlueCruise but I can't get it. Dealer updates fail and does not work on my car. I didn't deduct any points because I signed a paper when I bought the car saying that I understand that BlueCruise does NOT work on my car so nothing lost in that regard.

Ford Mustang Mach-E 36,000 mile report card 20220429_105046
Have you noticed any battery degradation in 36k ?
 


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SnBGC

SnBGC

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Did the CSP ( 21P22 ) cause most of your new problems? I haven’t noticed that many since having it done back in February. Had some charging issues. I am in no hurry to get Blue Cruise so I will just wait for it to come via OTA!
Not sure. They attempted a PaaK update, the 21P22 and 21G01 BC updates. Paperwork says the first two installed but BC failed. Might be the BC update that caused most of the issues. However, I am guessing the 21P22 broke the walk away lock feature and made my brake feel so bad. So maybe a little of both?

I haven't tested PaaK or DCFC since I got the car back so I don't know if those work or not. The car used to plug and charge at DCFC so hopefully that feature still works. ??
 
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SnBGC

SnBGC

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Have you noticed any battery degradation in 36k ?
No observable deg yet. I charge to 100% displayed because I can't trust the charge schedule to work. So if it forgets to charge overnight, I can still usually have enough charge to get to work and charge there.

Last three days shown attached. My estimated range will decrease slightly as summer approaches because I use my A/C more often.

20220429_064119.jpg


20220428_063325.jpg


20220427_055636.jpg
 
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SnBGC

SnBGC

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Good summary. Hopefully @Ford Motor Company will take note.
I am expecting a call. I went to the dealership yesterday to cancel delivery of the eTransit van sitting on their lot and the Maverick that hasn't been assembled yet. The van was for our fleet but I don't feel confident it is going to survive fleet duty without breaking down. The Maverick was for my daughter but she will have to wait for something else. Besides, the dealer wanted to charge $1500 ADM on the van (even WITH my FIN) and $5000 ADM for the Maverick.

Time for a new dealership. We'll, time for a new manufacturer to be honest. Will start looking around....
 

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Greg,

I’m sorry you’re have such issues with the car and so “late” in the game at that. It makes no sense to me that the updates you had done would cause such issues, but I have no alternative explanation either.

One note, I picked up @ChasingCoral yesterday at the airport, he uses an iPhone as do I. CarPlay was acting a bit odd imo. I’ve never seen that before and he’s never been in, nor even seen Otto. No real issues with the car interface beyond operator error on tte way home.

I haven’t had any of the ACC issues you have had either. I’m on 2.5.3 via OTA through early access. What I haven’t had done is either the PAAK CSP or 21P22. One other thing along those lines, one of the lead in OTAs for BC also changed the braking. I have that OTA, I have no issues, again I haven’t had 21P22 either. So I’m wondering if you have unfortunately uncovered a bug in the updates? This certainly wasn’t intentional on Ford’s part, but it still exists and they need to make it right.

How about it @Ford Motor Company?

It also seems to me that there ought to be some sort of “restore” option for the maintenance technicians to set the car back to factory new settings and updates.
 
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And maybe one of the lurking Ford Employees could pass the info on or talk to @SnBGC via dm so this matter gets resolved and doesn’t affect anyone else.
 
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Thanks for your time and honesty. I can’t say I disagree with what you said I have sold two already. Both Voltage issues. Made some $ on them so trying again .. Giving the 22 a chance. We’ll see. You are absolutely correct about the updating process considering most peoples Internet capabilities it’s ridiculous how it is applied. Heinous!
Jes sayin
A second year model should be much more stable mechanically. Not sure on the software side though. In the 14 months with this car, I haven't seen any successes with software improvements. ????

I feel lucky to have an OKTB car since it was subjected to a much more intense and invasive QC process. Ford even sent me correspondence to explain the 2 month shipping delay due to their desire that I receive a perfect vehicle with no defects. They actually replaced SYNC hardware components, reprogrammed and then shipped to me. I did receive a nearly perfect vehicle. Only 2 issues of note were the occasional software glitches that prevented overnight charging and/or cabin conditioning.

I feel my review is fair and truthful. I didn't deduct points for the Stop Safely Now episode that I experienced immediately after the first Power Up OTA. I received the dash alerts (along with every other known fault message apparently) but the car did not shut down. It continued to drive normally and allowed me to get off the highway and park safely. Then the issue resolved itself after the car had been shut down for 5 minutes or so. Like it never happened. Car has been fine ever since.

Most all of my major complaints are related to poor software in my opinion. :(
 

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I have decided this is my last Ford vehicle.
What makes will you consider for your future vehicle purchases?

I have not had any of the problems you describe, and I hope that I never get them as 'enhancements' like you did. My impression is that this sort of thing is becoming more prevalent for a lot of car makers, and especially for electric cars.
 

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I suspect the dealer didn't apply the updates correctly and there are more updates needed. Besides some PaaK issues, I don't have any of the problems you have and my software was fully updated in January.

At this point I guess it doesn't matter because you are done with your car and Ford, but I would have my VIN checked in FDRS to see what updates failed and how many are still needed. It could be most of your issues are not due to Ford, but are dealer service issues.

You have been a Forum member a long time. It is sad to see you leaving the MME community.
 

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Really sorry to hear about your continued woes post update. I sincerely doubt and adamantly hope that the loss of features was inadvertent. I can't imagine Ford would intentionally delete features as that would really kill buyer confidence. I hope you can get them back with a return to the dealership.

Yes, software updates indeed seems to be a shortfall Ford is working through. Marlin now has BlueCruise after the third attempt at the dealership (I didn't bring him home after the first that left the APIM in a partially updated status -- Sync 358 as I recall). Since it happened while I was away I will find out next week how everything feels. Growing pains.

I don't blame you for not being willing to be a guinea pig for the Lightning as well. I hope you don't completely give up on Ford though.
 

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Tough to hear, @SnBGC. Funny enough, I feel the same way about the brake feel after I did the powertrain module update myself - I wasn't bothered by the "squishiness" in the brakes in their original form. After I did the update though, I had a week of motion sickness while I had to relearn the brake sensitivity. I'm (more or less) used to it now, but I feel your pain.
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