Dealer wanted to charge me $1400 for updates!

[agoldman]

But don't expect to get all the latest updates unless they're pushed out OTA or are part of a service campaign that will pay the dealers to install them.

Exactly. Wish I understood this more when I purchased the car. To me it's a huge factor in todays' digital world of automotive technology. One that will be close or at the top of my list next time I purchase, or not. And by the way, if I had to pay a reasonable fee like maybe $150 to get all the updates listed for my car, I'd probably have done it. But $200 per update? Are they insane! That in itself effectively ended my relationship with Sheehy Ford regardless of Ford's policy. Anyway, unfortunately, the next time some random person asks me how I like the car, it's probably going to be a sour face. This whole thing really bothers me.

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[Sam2084]

That's what I thought initially, but I am now convinced that these sort of updates will never be pushed OTA by Ford. At least not in the next couple years. They don't seem to have that large scale capability. Even at the dealers it has to sit at least all day to get updates downloaded.

It doesn't surprise me that many of you are defending this system. But, it is old school thinking that hopefully will be replaced by modern ways of handling these sort of things at some point. To a large extent, dealers are caught in the middle here. But, even though I'm not at all a Tesla fan, I do believe that like it or not, the Tesla way of selling and servicing and updating cars will be common place sooner than later.

I think you just have to be a bit more patient about OTAs. This is Fords first car that is fully OTA updatable. There have been hiccups and they are actively working through them OTAs are a big priority for Ford and that is coming directly from the top. There have been 5 OTA updates sent out to many cars, most don’t apply to you since you have a newer build. There have been up to 13 total for those in the early access program.

Absolutely get another quote for the updates if you want them sooner or install them yourself.

 

[Logal727]

Plain and simple, it is an update of bugs and system operations to my car that is being sold like floor mats. I'm not surprised at this policy, although I'm shocked at the cost the dealer is quoting me, but I will take this policy under consideration for all future purchases. There are companies that give you all the updates free, like Volvo for instance. Not sure what Tesla does, but I think most are free OTA. The way I look at it is how would you like it if Apple or Microsoft charged for every point update or bug fix on phones and computers etc? Feels the same here. But I get that they are entitled to operate however they see fit. Likewise, I am entitled to voice my negative opinion and shop elsewhere. I only hope that the trend in the future is not more of this same nickle and dimeing. It doesn't sit well with me, and at some point there will be other options out there that I hope make updates a feature rather than a costly burden.

And Ford OTA works the same way, these updates just aren’t necessary for your vehicle at the moment. Your OTAs will come eventually, trust me. You should probably quit your whining, you’ve got BlueCruise and a remote frunk probably. There’s still early buyers who are patiently awaiting those updates.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

If there is a safety issue a recall will be issued. The dealer will do it for “free”, only because Ford corporate will pay them for their time

If there is a serious non-safety issue that is effecting the usability of the car, a CSP will be issued. The dealer will do it for “free”, only because Ford corporate will pay them for their time.

If your car is functional but could be better, you’ll get it over the air “eventually.” FOR FREE.

If you’re tired of waiting for OTA to happen and want a dealer to pay a tech to use his time… you’re going to have to pay for it.

I had my GT updated to get the better charging curve. I talked to people who had done this themselves and knew exactly which modules needed to be addressed. I knew how long it would take. I agreed with my local service manager that I would pay for One hour of shop time (at $175/hr which it their shop rate) for someone to install the update. It ended up taking much longer and the service writer tried to charge me for 6.5 hours of shop time. Luckily I had the emails between myself and the manager. But asking the dealer to spend even an hour on my car for free is not rational.

 

[ripperAZ]

The dealer is certainly in the running for pinhead nitwit cash grab dealer of the year
If the car is under warranty the updates are no charge and Ford will tell him that.
Jes sayin. That’s heinous. Find another dealer

 

[generaltso]

If the car is under warranty the updates are no charge and Ford will tell him that.

This isn't true.

 

[MW1515]

Sheehy Ford, Gaitherburg, MD to be exact. They say because the updates aren't recalls. Does Tesla charge for updates like this? I wish I had know this before I bought the car. I'll likely not get another Ford. Not a good experience at all.

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.

 

[jlauro]

So there are 7 updates available? What exactly do they do that you need them for? If you can actually state a specific issue an update fixes that you are experiencing, then the dealer can charge Ford as a warranty repair.

Updates are not always an improvement. (Not aware of a specific case for the Mach E, but been in tech long enough to know of dozens of cases where an update broke more than it fixed.) Personally, in most cases I would rather wait for them to be well tested before they touch my car then be a beta tester of a new update.

 

[WNKent]

I think once Ford splits dealers into 2 camps, Pro or E, new agreements signed, the days of franchises making stuff up, will fix things. I'm getting close to a build date and went in to my dealer asking about price protection, my car went up $2k dealer says they will honor PP, then asks for me to provide the original order sheet that shows the original price level, "215"..... , I never got one, because the guy that took care of that for those of us who ordered the car "online", is "no longer with Ford'... they gave me a phone number to call saying that the people at this number will reproduce this piece of paper that I will hand back to them, so they can lower the price of the car, huh?! I called the number to FORD MOTOR CREDIT, they had no idea what a DORA order sheet is, then sent to Ford Marketing, then Ford Customer Relations and same story. I sent an email to the General Sales Manager that put me on this scavenger hunt, outlining in detail my experience and crickets. When I leave the dealership, before the hunt, I walk past THIS CAR that is my car almost exactly, except I chose AWD and if you look closely at the pic, they put ADM on this Ca Rt 1 of $14,995, bringing the price of this "SOLD" car to $68,870! All of this to say, they do what they want, it's really the wild wild west, until Ford locks them into some rules.... I have a Tesla performance Y and it's all OTA, ALL THE TIME.... Charging for ANY update is outrageous. It's making me think I should just walk away and buy a second Tesla; Ford sucked in 1984 when I bought a new Mustang GT and after a couple years I dumped that car and swore off of Ford, til I saw the ME; I have a big "deja vu" right now.

 

[Logal727]

I think once Ford splits dealers into 2 camps, Pro or E, new agreements signed, the days of franchises making stuff up, will fix things. I'm getting close to a build date and went in to my dealer asking about price protection, my car went up $2k dealer says they will honor PP, then asks for me to provide the original order sheet that shows the original price level, "215"..... , I never got one, because the guy that took care of that for those of us who ordered the car "online", is "no longer with Ford'... they gave me a phone number to call saying that the people at this number will reproduce this piece of paper that I will hand back to them, so they can lower the price of the car, huh?! I called the number to FORD MOTOR CREDIT, they had no idea what a DORA order sheet is, then sent to Ford Marketing, then Ford Customer Relations and same story. I sent an email to the General Sales Manager that put me on this scavenger hunt, outlining in detail my experience and crickets. When I leave the dealership, before the hunt, I walk past THIS CAR that is my car almost exactly, except I chose AWD and if you look closely at the pic, they put ADM on this Ca Rt 1 of $14,995, bringing the price of this "SOLD" car to $68,870! All of this to say, they do what they want, it's really the wild wild west, until Ford locks them into some rules.... I have a Tesla performance Y and it's all OTA, ALL THE TIME.... Charging for ANY update is outrageous. It's making me think I should just walk away and buy a second Tesla; Ford sucked in 1984 when I bought a new Mustang GT and after a couple years I dumped that car and swore off of Ford, til I saw the ME; I have a big "deja vu" right now.

OPs story is a bit of a misunderstanding. He has no available updates that do anything for his car. OTAs are still free. Dealer updates for a specific issue are still free under warranty.

 

[jlauro]

.... Charging for ANY update is outrageous. It's making me think I should just walk away and buy a second Tesla;...

Tesla charges for some of their updates that involved no new hardware. For example the $1500 infotainment upgrade, and they have also had non free updates that unlock additional performance.

 

[benk016]

They were on the scan done here for me. Normal updates to several modules. Being that they aren't so called "recall" updates, the dealer says $200 per each update to install them. I assume that these updates are there for a reason and not a $1400 luxury only customer item. Even if these aren't critical, I would like to have my $62k car updated? Geeze. By the way, other than extending Blue Cruise expiration date, I have not received even one OTA update since November delivery. The whole thing feels cheap and petty to me. Even though it's the dealer that wanted to charge, I think the real problem is Ford doesn't pay dealers for updates unless part of a recall or similar problem related to a particular issue. And why can't these be sent OTA in the first place? I guess OTA is reserved for tic tac toe only. Sheesh..

Cruise Control Module
Driver Status Monitor
Image Processing
Power Steering
Gear Shift
Off Board Charger Controller
HVAC Control Software

You have a GT, and therefore these updates are not required at this time. There is no program from Ford authorizing these updates for your car, so your dealer is correct in that you would need to pay for them if you wanted it done. Some of these may actually be coming to Job2 cars OTA soon.

 

[AKgrampy]

I do realize that for many people these days that it is old fashioned thinking that you should pay for a service. I do think the charge was a bit high though!

 

[newmme]

I think we have to give Ford time to figure out OTA, as the MME has only been out since Dec 2020. There is supposed to be an OTA this fall I think.

 

[Rabidsquirrel22]

If you brought it in with an issue and they updated the software to try and resolve it, then you would have a legitimate case to not be charged.

But this sounds like you brought the car in demanding the latest updates just to have them because you don't want to wait for them to come via OTA (and they will, for free). The dealer saw this as an opportunity to get some easy money out of you. Pretty sleazy of them but it seems like you brought this upon yourself.

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