Anyone have front end body/mechanical work done yet...? :(

[LS61303]

Was cruising down a local freeway when, what I thought to be just a chunk of ice/snow, fell off the car in front of me.... I had maybe a half second to try and dodge, although I do not think it would have worked. I hear a big ole CLUNK, and kept driving til I got home, thinking I just ran over some hard ice. Get home, turns out the pictured rock (with my fist for scale) was lodged into the back of the front end, past the adaptive grills, and into what I would guess is an EV's "radiator" (for lack of the correct component lol). As pictured, the "radiator" is dented and warped, and there was coolant coming out of the area. Fired up the vehicle this morning, no codes or anything quite yet, but only a matter of time I am sure.

Taking it into my Ford dealer here in South Bend, IN., and going to settle in for the long wait... It really doesn't look like too many components are damaged, so I am hoping it'll be an easy going repair. However, with it being one of, if not the first, Mach E they are servicing, I am betting it's gonna be a while. Additionally, I am going to have them try and knock out the Pano Roof recall, and get my brakes and rotors swapped as part of the brake shudder TSB. Guessing I'll be down and out for at least a month... No bueno! Stay safe and vigilant out there folks!

 

[ChasingCoral]

You mean like this?
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-travels-with-marlin-gb-fe.3298/post-141106
About $12,500 as I recall.

 

[Nklem]

Was cruising down a local freeway when, what I thought to be just a chunk of ice/snow, fell off the car in front of me.... I had maybe a half second to try and dodge, although I do not think it would have worked. I hear a big ole CLUNK, and kept driving til I got home, thinking I just ran over some hard ice. Get home, turns out the pictured rock (with my fist for scale) was lodged into the back of the front end, past the adaptive grills, and into what I would guess is an EV's "radiator" (for lack of the correct component lol). As pictured, the "radiator" is dented and warped, and there was coolant coming out of the area. Fired up the vehicle this morning, no codes or anything quite yet, but only a matter of time I am sure.

Taking it into my Ford dealer here in South Bend, IN., and going to settle in for the long wait... It really doesn't look like too many components are damaged, so I am hoping it'll be an easy going repair. However, with it being one of, if not the first, Mach E they are servicing, I am betting it's gonna be a while. Additionally, I am going to have them try and knock out the Pano Roof recall, and get my brakes and rotors swapped as part of the brake shudder TSB. Guessing I'll be down and out for at least a month... No bueno! Stay safe and vigilant out there folks!

Ouch! My guess a no dashcam footage to get the plate of the offending vehicle?

 

[RickMachE]

I hit a small animal. Put a crack in the lower black piece (on the bottom, barely noticeable), and cracked the shutters. Each of those parts is $700, and no paint was needed. I also had nearly $600 of labor. Many hours to remove and reinstall fasteners. You've also broken the white section. So you need the part, which is much bigger than the other two, and you need it painted. Figure at least $800, plus painting. And of course the radiator.

 

[LS61303]

You mean like this?
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-travels-with-marlin-gb-fe.3298/post-141106
About $12,500 as I recall.

Thank you for the response, your damage is actually SUPER similar to mine, so reading about your repair experience helped set some expectations for me! I am glad you got yours up and running after all of that, and it looks like your repair turn around time was right about what I expect mine to be. With not as much damage as yours, maybe a little shorter... You are right though, the body work is NOT cheap by any means! Thanks for sharing your experience, hopefully my repairs go smoothly.

 

[LS61303]

Ouch! My guess a no dashcam footage to get the plate of the offending vehicle?

No dash cam unfortunately... It all happened so fast, it may have not even came off their car, and they hit it as well. It was rolling towards me when I saw it, so either they hit it too, or it fell off. I'm just trying to wrap my mind around how a rock this big ends up falling off someones car, or in the road at all. Massive, massive rock. Ugh

 

[Nklem]

No dash cam unfortunately... It all happened so fast, it may have not even came off their car, and they hit it as well. It was rolling towards me when I saw it, so either they hit it too, or it fell off. I'm just trying to wrap my mind around how a rock this big ends up falling off someones car, or in the road at all. Massive, massive rock. Ugh

I agree. That’s what Insurance is for, I guess. But, $100 for a dash cam may help in the future. We will never get a Sentry mode, I am afraid. It’s a comprehensive claim so the lower of your deductibles…at least.

 

[RickMachE]

While a rock falling off a construction truck's load of rocks is one thing, if this was in fact a chunk of ice that was built up in someone's wheelwell, and then broke free, it would be near impossible to prove fault.

 

[LS61303]

While a rock falling off a construction truck's load of rocks is one thing, if this was in fact a chunk of ice that was built up in someone's wheelwell, and then broke free, it would be near impossible to prove fault.

This was an actual rock, not just some ice... so yeah, maybe one fell off a truck. Not sure at this point, and really wasn't trying to point any fingers or catch the guy in front of me. Accidents happen, is what it is! Was mainly hoping to get some similar experiences from this forum so I can know what to expect for repairs, and will probably document my repair journey here so that other unlucky owners can use it in the future.

 

[RickMachE]

This was an actual rock, not just some ice... so yeah, maybe one fell off a truck. Not sure at this point, and really wasn't trying to point any fingers or catch the guy in front of me. Accidents happen, is what it is! Was mainly hoping to get some similar experiences from this forum so I can know what to expect for repairs, and will probably document my repair journey here so that other unlucky owners can use it in the future.

If a vehicle kicks up a stone/rock, they have no liability.

HOWEVER, if this is from a pothole, the locality or state MAY have liability, but you'd have to do some work to prove it.

My wife hit a pothole a few years back on a state road at 70mph, blowing out the left rear tire and destroying the wheel. We may a claim with the state because the pothole was on a well-traveled road, where they have to constantly patch potholes. There was a form to fill out, and the claim then went to a review board that granted it.

Two caveats - they required us to submit to insurance first, and then they only paid the deductible. And, making the claim (no fault, no increase in rates) made us lose our "claim-free discount" for 3 years (some policies may only lose this if you're at fault). Still, we came out way ahead by making the claim and getting $500 back from the state.

 

[Neil4Real]

Can’t you roll this as a comprehensive claim?

 

[LS61303]

Can’t you roll this as a comprehensive claim?

Yup, that's exactly what I am going to do. Sounds like one part alone is going to cost more than the deductible. Hoping they take care of all the damage under insurance, then all the covered issues after.

 

[LS61303]

Thought I'd provide a quick update for my own sake, as well as anyone who stumbles across this thread:

2/21/22 - Dropped the car off at the dealership's body shop. On the way there, the car went into an overheated state twice; both times accompanied by "Turtle Mode" and a dash notification. Got the car safely to the shop after having to stop once due to power loss going up a hill.
2/23/22 -The body shopped called to let me know that they completely disassembled the front end and were able to identify which parts needed to be replaced. They said that 99% of the parts were in stock and able to be acquired in a week or so, but one part (the active aero shutter on the lower bumper) was back ordered with no ETA at all. The parts guy said that these shutters are in high demand and they always have a hard time getting ahold of them for other cars that use them.
3/2/22 - Got a text from my insurance guy that "all the parts were in and they were going to move forward with the repair". I called the body shop for further details, and apparently every part that they initially identified as needing to be replaced did in fact arrive, including the shutter. Pleasant surprise!

At this point, I am definitely not getting my hopes up too high, seems too good to be true that I may get my Mach E back in a little over 2 weeks. I am keeping in mind that complications may arise due to this being the first Mach E the body shop has got in, and most likely, more parts will need to be ordered in the event that they missed some during the initial disassembly or parts were damaged during the repair. But, good news so far! In an ideal world, I may have it back by the end of next week! We shall see.

 

[LS61303]

Continuing the documentation of my repair status, unfortunately my vehicle is still at the body shop... There have been a few "logistical dropped balls" by the body shop that have caused me to become increasingly frustrated. At this point, I have reached out to Ford Corporate to see what all can be done to get me my vehicle back, as it has been 36 days since I dropped it off for repairs.

3/9/2022 - I received a call from the shop saying that "Someone in the parts department marked a part as received and created an invoice for it, but they never actually physically took delivery of the part". They went on to explain that they were not sure why it was invoiced if they never got it, but that ordering a new one might be tough since "Ford doesn't like sending multiple of the same parts to a shop." Logistical dropped ball #1.
3/11/2022 - 2 days later now, they miraculously found the part they thought they never received... WHAT?? How do you lose a part for the only Mach E your shop has ever worked on? Repairs were supposed to continue now that the part was found.
3/14/2022 - The lower bumper needed to be painted as one of the first steps of reassembly. Their primary painter was out sick, so that was delayed. (Does Ford not have a VAST network of auto painters they can reach out to fill in...?)
3/17/2022 - Painter was back, and just before they were going to paint they realized "the metallic tint that goes over Star White Metallic is specific to the Mach-E and they weren't aware of that, and didn't have the tint..." Logistical dropped ball #2. I KNOW that Ford has an inventory management system... this is something that should have been caught the DAY they checked the car in... its as simple as seeing what parts/paint/considerations are required, looking at your own inventory to see what you have and don't, and reconciling the differences. I am blown away as to how 20 some days goes by and they had JUST found out about the special tint. That is ridiculous.
3/22/2022 - They were able to get ahold of the paint tint and paint the part, reassembly was scheduled for 3/23. Mind you, this day was the last day I had a rental covered by insurance (30 day rental policy). I had told the body shop that from the beginning, hoping that it would keep them proactive and diligent about getting the repair done. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
3/23/2022 - I was told that after reassembly, the front radar suite needed to be recalibrated by the Service shop, and "they weren't sure if they could get the car in since they're a separate business". (The FORD service shop is attached to the same building as the FORD sales center, and the FORD body shop, collaborating and building relationships with the "separate" divisions of the dealership should not be an issue).
3/24/2022 - During reassembly, they discovered that a certain mounting bracket that they thought was supposed to come on a new part assembly did not come with the new part. I asked where the old mount was and if they could reuse it, they said "we don't know it might have been lost during the disassembly." Not "The mounting bracket was damaged during the incident, so we can't reuse it." Just "we don't know where it is..." this leads me to believe it was either damaged or lost during the disassembly. Neither of which is good practice.

So it was on 3/24 that I lost my patience with these folks... I told them from the very beginning that I COMPLETELY understand if they did all of their due diligence to make sure the repair went as smoothly as possible, and the repair was delayed to simply not being able to get the parts. I get that, we live in a crazy world at the moment. However, 32 days had elapsed and FIFTEEN of those days were lost due to them not being organized and dropping the ball. And that is where my frustration comes in. So on 3/24 I called Ford Corporate. The first rep listened to my whole story, and got me to a "customer care advocate". This person offered to reimburse me for the now out of pocket expense I am now accruing for the rental, and to reach out to the service shop to see what was going on.

3/28/2022 - The Customer Care advocate is going to show the dealer how to expedite part deliveries for Mach E's in the future, and the bracket part they were waiting on is going to be expedited this week.

 

[2FlyMache]

Wow! so sorry for your experience. That's the only concern I have with the car as it being new with not much real time experience by body shops or service centers. I've had my car in for the recalls on windshield and pano roof. While they did a great job on the work, it was a little choppy on progress and it was over 2 weeks before completed.

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