Dealer Service Using PAAK

Scarpia

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@Scarpia, that’s a reasonably legitimate concern imo. A simple enough solution is to:

1. Buy a second fob and have it programmed. If you want to ensure you always have it, then put it in a faraday bag and keep it in the car, somewhere out of sight. Just be aware of the risks of doing that last part. There was a fob shortage a while back. Don’t know if that’s still true.

2. Program your wife’s smart phone for PAAK. Have your dealer comply with the SSMs if PAAK is flakey for you.

3. Do both of the above. Then you’ll have 2 extra fobs with both of you using PAAK.
Ha, I'm way ahead of you, got the fob already with Faraday bags on the way. I have been trying to get the fob programmed but the four dealers near me want $130-$190 to program, which is why I have been trying to get a locksmith to do it (unsuccessfully). This on top of shelling out $85 for the fob rankles me a bit.

The cheaper dealer is 30 minutes away and I'm not driving there until they can verify they can program the fob. So far, they haven't been able to do that.

This whole thing is, to me, a pretty big fail. Seems there are aspects to PAAK that weren't fully thought out, plus I think a key should be bulletproof and PAAK obviously isn't.
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ChasingCoral

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I've gotta say (and this is not meant to offend anyone), it wouldn't even occur to me to try to drop off my car for service without the key fob. Why wouldn't they need it? It's not like you would leave them your phone.
Agreed. You think I want to sit around in the waiting room without my phone? Catch a ride home without my phone?
 
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nivlem

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Agreed. You think I want to sit arou the nd in the waiting room without my phone? Catch a ride home without my phone?
Do I need to carry my Key Fob with me at all time just in case the car needs service. If so, why do I need PAAK? Ford marketed PAAK as a tool that got rid of the need for a Key Fob. Obviously that is not the case. Either give PAAK the functionality of a of a Key Fob, or give all Mach E owners a second Key Fob, at no cost to them. By the Ford is still working to resolve my wife setting PAAK with her phone since March.
 

Scarpia

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Do I need to carry my Key Fob with me at all time just in case the car needs service. If so, why do I need PAAK? Ford marketed PAAK as a tool that got rid of the need for a Key Fob. Obviously that is not the case. Either give PAAK the functionality of a of a Key Fob, or give all Mach E owners a second Key Fob, at no cost to them. By the Ford is still working to resolve my wife setting PAAK with her phone since March.
My thoughts exactly! If PAAK doesn't have all the functionality of the fob, and work just as reliably, I'd rather just use a fob.

I saw in another thread that someone had their car towed to the dealer unexpectedly and didn't have his fob. He had to somehow get home, get the fob, and go back to the dealer. So we're now left with buying Faraday bags and leaving fobs in the car, which just seems kind of asinine to me.

I think PAAK is a solution in search of a problem. Carrying a fob is just not a big burden to me.
 


Timelessblur

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You need the first fob to program a second one.
So, if my one and only FOB gets run over and ruined, the car is trash? That seems like a pretty severe design flaw. Also, there is a point in each Mach-E’s life where they don’t even have that first fob programmed, there has to be a way.
The need the first fob to program the second one because they they add another fob it wipes out all other fobs programmed to the car. In programming mode it wipes out all the other keys. It is all keys or none from my understanding.
At least that has been the case on every other car I have had that has needed to get keys reprogrammed. They needed all the current keys to add in a new one.
This is partly a security issue as often times when someone is getting another fob it is because they lost one. Easiest way to deal with that problem is just to wipe all the keys and start over.

I know the first time I take my Mach E in for service I am going to get a 2nd fob made at the same time.
 

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Agreed. You think I want to sit around in the waiting room without my phone? Catch a ride home without my phone?
In my case, they'd be calling me to let me know the car was ready ... and it'd ring to my cellphone, which would be in their possession. Bring your fob. :)
 

RVAtom

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It would be nice if there was some way you could use your phone that has PAAK to grant some dealer owned device access to your car, that you could also revoke from the Fordpass app. If you could walk in with your phone, and use NFC to boop something the dealer could use for 24/48/however many hours, that would be nice.

Until that exists, I think the FOB is going to be the best bet. I certainly don't want some sort of a universal back door the dealer can use during service.
 
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nivlem

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In my case, they'd be calling me to let me know the car was ready ... and it'd ring to my cellphone, which would be in their possession. Bring your fob. :)
Since you can not know exactly when you will may unexpectedly need to have your car serviced, the precautionary thing is to have a Fob in the vehicle at all times. That's really not a problem, especially if both drivers have Fobs. In that case, why would you need PAAK? The problem is Ford has told us that PAAK can replace the Fob and they made provisions for more than one driver to use PAAK. Yet, PAAK does not have the necessary functionality. Ford needs to improve the functionality of PAAK or provide Mach E owners a second Key Fob. We should not have to jump through these kind of hoops to get service because Ford defectively designed PAAK function.
 

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Since you can not know exactly when you will may unexpectedly need to have your car serviced, the precautionary thing is to have a Fob in the vehicle at all times. That's really not a problem, especially if both drivers have Fobs. In that case, why would you need PAAK? The problem is Ford has told us that PAAK can replace the Fob and they made provisions for more than one driver to use PAAK. Yet, PAAK does not have the necessary functionality. Ford needs to improve the functionality of PAAK or provide Mach E owners a second Key Fob. We should not have to jump through these kind of hoops to get service because Ford defectively designed PAAK function.
If it was emergency service, I would think you could give the dealer the backup start code (not valet). But for a pre-planned service visit, I would just bring the fob.
 

Kamuelaflyer

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Since you can not know exactly when you will may unexpectedly need to have your car serviced, the precautionary thing is to have a Fob in the vehicle at all times. That's really not a problem, especially if both drivers have Fobs. In that case, why would you need PAAK? The problem is Ford has told us that PAAK can replace the Fob and they made provisions for more than one driver to use PAAK. Yet, PAAK does not have the necessary functionality. Ford needs to improve the functionality of PAAK or provide Mach E owners a second Key Fob. We should not have to jump through these kind of hoops to get service because Ford defectively designed PAAK function.
I have a fob in a small dark faraday bag in the car in a small dark cubbyhole. I’ve also had zero troubles with PAAK other than the occasional phone in the back pocket and approaching the car from directly behind it issues. I was simply responding g to the scenario of not having a fib snd leaving your phone behind is all.
 

Davedough

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I have a fob in a small dark faraday bag in the car in a small dark cubbyhole. I’ve also had zero troubles with PAAK other than the occasional phone in the back pocket and approaching the car from directly behind it issues. I was simply responding g to the scenario of not having a fib snd leaving your phone behind is all.
Off topic-ish, but are you an iPhone or Android user? I've read that Android users are fairing much better with PaaK reliability
 

ChasingCoral

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Agreed. You think I want to sit around in the waiting room without my phone? Catch a ride home without my phone?
If it was emergency service, I would think you could give the dealer the backup start code (not valet). But for a pre-planned service visit, I would just bring the fob.
You can also just keep the fob in the car. Take the battery out -- no need for a Faraday bag and the battery doesn't drain.
 

Kamuelaflyer

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If it was emergency service, I would think you could give the dealer the backup start code (not valet). But for a pre-planned service visit, I would just bring the fob.
Yeah. Makes sense. In reality I think most would bring the car in unexpectedly (tie or limping) and then head home to get the key and return with it. For some, that’s a bit impractical as dealers may be a ways away. In our case the dealer will actually drive us the 1 hour trip to the house to bring us home. Give that guy the key and we’re set. Others mileage will vary.

One other solution, as silly as it might sound as it’s never been raised here before (?) is to oh … provide a second fob for the car. Yeah I know, the ravings of a mad man. ;)

In the FWIW department, I bought an extra MME keyfob before I got the car. My dealer programmed it during delivery. No charge, and the car didn’t need to be at the mx department for that quick programming. Not sure what’s up with other dealers.
 

generaltso

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In the FWIW department, I bought an extra MME keyfob before I got the car. My dealer programmed it during delivery. No charge, and the car didn’t need to be at the mx department for that quick programming. Not sure what’s up with other dealers.
Same here. My dealer said they were going to charge me for the programming, but didn't.
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