Dealer wanted to charge me $1400 for updates!

Fersigo

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My wife has had Teslas since 2019 and in all that time the Tesla OTA system has worked, flawlessly. Routine Tesla update packages are issued every few weeks on average and include bug fixes and improvements, in roughly equal proportions. There is no cost (obviously).

At the time of ordering my Mach-E, Ford advertised it as receiving updates OTA. If Ford is currently unable to update via OTA then it would be reasonable to expect them to provide an alternative means, e.g through dealers. I have no interest in arguments about what is a bug fix and what is an improvement - I bought a product on the basis that it would be routinely updated, at no cost to me.

Although my wife's Tesla is more refined, comfortable, energy-efficient and much better supported, I still prefer my Mach-E. But if Ford doesn't up its game, that will change, and quickly too.

Ford needs to realise that it depends on early adopters to "spread the gospel" about the Mach-E, and damaging the confidence of that group is a surefire way to damage its future market share.
 

Kamuelaflyer

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So one must lie to the dealer to get updates done for free?
There were no updates available to the op's car. After 21P22, the PAAK update, etc were applied, the op wanted additional updates which only applied to cars that were having various issues. If an owner has those issues, they need to tell the dealer, who can then apply the appropriate update at no cost to the owner. Otherwise, they're simply updating simply for the sake of updating. It's FOMO taken to a bit of an extreme.
 

mkhuffman

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Is there a link or a channel that will connect those with vcm that would like to update others and charge a small fee?
Not that I have seen. But there are forum members who have updated other member's cars when they connected here. It might be good to check the regional group in the forum that covers your local area, and ask if anyone is willing to do FDRS updates. That said, my dealer did them to my car at no cost to me.
 


one5460

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Absolutely NOT what I suggested.

I said to document a bug that’s happening in your car and then ask for software updates. No lying needed.
lol, that's not how it came across, but I'll take your word it's not what you meant.
 

Scooter72

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Yikes that's my dealership also! I had a pretty great experience when I purchased/picked up the MME last week. Will have to keep my guard up when going back for service it looks like.
Curious when you ordered from Sheehy. My order from them was Nov 30, 21 (Premium AWD ER) and still no build date. They did change my priority code from 19 to 10 a few weeks ago. So hoping I get scheduled in this next run.
 

MW1515

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Curious when you ordered from Sheehy. My order from them was Nov 30, 21 (Premium AWD ER) and still no build date. They did change my priority code from 19 to 10 a few weeks ago. So hoping I get scheduled in this next run.
Looks like I ordered about 6 weeks before you and I've had my MME for about 2 weeks, so you'll get it soon! Mine is Premium AWD but no ER. VERY much worth the wait. Good luck!
 

newmme

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My wife has had Teslas since 2019 and in all that time the Tesla OTA system has worked, flawlessly. Routine Tesla update packages are issued every few weeks on average and include bug fixes and improvements, in roughly equal proportions. There is no cost (obviously).
Careful, you will get banned for sharing this experience 😂 the MME OTA is fine! /s
 

Kamuelaflyer

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Careful, you will get banned for sharing this experience 😂 the MME OTA is fine! /s
For the most part Tesla’s OTA system works well enough even though every Tesla owner I personally know out here says they cringe when they find out another OTA has been delivered, “What did it break this time?” Is their usual thought process. Nonetheless, on the whole, it’s ok. The same is true of Ford’s PowerUp’s. The number of folks stuck at 1.7.1 was small despite their quite understandable frustration. Ford is taking tentative “baby” steps in the process and will ultimately do better. The forums aren’t a representative slice of the overall MME population.
 

newmme

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The forums aren’t a representative slice of the overall MME population.
Neither are the Tesla folks you talk to about their OTA 😉 It is easy to have different standards based on our confirmation bias.
 

Kamuelaflyer

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Neither are the Tesla folks you talk to about their OTA 😉 It is easy to have different standards based on our confirmation bias.
I have absolutely no opinion on Tesla OTAs. I only know what I’ve been told by the owners I know. They also rather dislike the mobile service (the only service available here). Personally I think their cars are either uglier than sin or rather dated in the case of one model. I’ll not own one so it doesn’t matter what my opinion is.
 

jrstinkfish

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But you still charge people for painting the house right?

Why isn’t your labor free?

As far as “paint drying time” goes, that’s an entirely different argument.

You’ve changed from “it should be free,” to “it should cost less than $1400.”

The second part we can agree on.
I said that updates that mention fixing bugs should be covered under warranty, whether or not your car has yet to experience that bug -- not that it should be free (dealer still gets paid). We're in a different world now where software is a way bigger part of a car than it was even 5 years ago, and dealers/manufacturers need to adjust to that when they send out new cars with half-baked software. Just like fixing Mach-E windshields is a pre-emptive step even though I've yet to be flung out of the hole where the windshield used to be, fixing known software bugs under warranty should be a pre-emptive step. Ford needs to own up to pushing it out before it was ready and cover updates under warranty if they fix bugs and are far from being OTA-ready. But if the argument is that software bugs should not be covered under warranty, then yes, $1400 is insane.

As far the painting analogy, look at it like this:

You pay for two coats of paint on your shed.
Guy says he'll charge you by the day.
Spends one day putting on the first coat.
Comes back two days later to apply the second coat.
He sends you a bill for 3 days, charging you for that day in between where the paint was drying, but he was off working another job.

If a tech starts an update and walks away for 4 hours, comes back and clicks OK on the screen, runs a diagnostic and he's done, do you think the customer should be charged for 5 hours of work, or the hour actually spent doing anything?
 

Mach1E

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I said that updates that mention fixing bugs should be covered under warranty, whether or not your car has yet to experience that bug -- not that it should be free (dealer still gets paid). We're in a different world now where software is a way bigger part of a car than it was even 5 years ago, and dealers/manufacturers need to adjust to that when they send out new cars with half-baked software. Just like fixing Mach-E windshields is a pre-emptive step even though I've yet to be flung out of the hole where the windshield used to be, fixing known software bugs under warranty should be a pre-emptive step. Ford needs to own up to pushing it out before it was ready and cover updates under warranty if they fix bugs and are far from being OTA-ready. But if the argument is that software bugs should not be covered under warranty, then yes, $1400 is insane.

As far the painting analogy, look at it like this:

You pay for two coats of paint on your shed.
Guy says he'll charge you by the day.
Spends one day putting on the first coat.
Comes back two days later to apply the second coat.
He sends you a bill for 3 days, charging you for that day in between where the paint was drying, but he was off working another job.

If a tech starts an update and walks away for 4 hours, comes back and clicks OK on the screen, runs a diagnostic and he's done, do you think the customer should be charged for 5 hours of work, or the hour actually spent doing anything?
No one is saying that fixing software bugs should cost you a penny. Everyone agrees that fixing software bugs should (and are) covered under warranty.

What isn’t covered is updates that haven’t been released OTA or haven’t been approved for warranty work (unless your car has a specific issue).

And just today, we found out an excellent reason as to WHY you may not want “updates that aren’t ready yet.”

There is a recall on 464 cars who got updated at the dealer…….. and could have the unintended acceleration issue!

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...software-issue-464-units-affected-189201.html

So what should we do?
1. Wait for OTA updates
2. Go to the dealer for a warranty claim if you have a bug

But updates for the sake of updates? You may end up like the 464 owners above!
 

Mike G

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Not at all. Owners will get the PowerUps. Ford never said they would come monthly.
But a big problem with PowerUps is that if you live out in the country you may never get a PowerUp at all. And there's zero proof that they are ever pushed over the owner's wifi. They only seem to be pushed using the TCU while the car is driving around in the 'city' with good coverage.

So if you want updates done that aren't ever going to come to you as an OTA...well you either get the dealership to do it or you do it yourself.

Mike
Sponsored

 
 




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