Do you trust OTA updates, and why ?

[phil]

This forum is for your fringe enthusiast not your everyday owner.

As are OTA software updates for cars.

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[Mach1E]

A more interesting take is that you would compare Fords OTA update process to living next door to a serial killer.......a apples to apples comparison if I ever read one.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This forum is for your fringe enthusiast not your everyday owner.

lol you totally missed the analogy.

Trusting something because it hasn’t hurt you……..when you know other people have been hurt.

Do you honestly think I was comparing buggy software to murder?

That said, I don’t trust the OTA update process because I haven’t gotten one in 9 months, and the dealership can’t do anything to fix it.

 

[Snakebitten]

I get OTA updates on occasion, but I usually beat Ford to it because I have been using FDRS since around I first discovered it about 2 1/2 years ago.

There wasn't a poll choice that represented my approach. It would go something like:

I trust OTA updates enough to leave the capability enabled. But I normally use FDRS before the OTA is sent to my Ford's.

 

[Ravensfan1996]

And what are your thoughts on the Bunches of people that have had their updates and other repairs put on hold until the 1p software bug is resolved? I think there are a fair number of people that are suffering some pretty significant issues with misplaced trust in OTA updates. That's why I started this thread

But from what ive read on here, that wasn’t a OTA update. That was a dealer update done after replacing the HVJB. Ive never had an issue with an OTA and Ive had just about all of them since i got my car July 2021. The OTA updates arent versions, they all do separate updates to different modules. Farley explained this about how the modules are made by different companies with different software, so it’s all done individually. He admitted not a great way and in the future hopes it all be done in-house. If you are that much into the software you can get a FDRS account and do it at home. Some people do their own updates.

 

[Space_Pony]

I get OTA updates on occasion, but I usually beat Ford to it because I have been using FDRS since around I first discovered it about 2 1/2 years ago.

There wasn't a poll choice that represented my approach. It would go something like:

I trust OTA updates enough to leave the capability enabled. But I normally use FDRS before the OTA is sent to my Ford's.

So you trust OTA updates, you're just not satisfied with the process and are not patient enough to wait for the updates like most MME owners are required to do.

 

[Mach1E]

So you trust OTA updates, you're just not satisfied with the process and are not patient enough to wait for the updates like most MME owners are required to do.

Yeah, that doesn’t sound like trust to me.

That’s like someone saying they trust taxi cab drivers…….. but whenever they get in a taxi, they kick the driver out of the seat and drive themselves…….

OTA are so great that they pay thousands of dollars for hardware and software and spend countless hours updating their cars themselves.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

Yes I trust them. Why would I not trust them?

 

[Snakebitten]

So you trust OTA updates, you're just not satisfied with the process and are not patient enough to wait for the updates like most MME owners are required to do.

Yeah, that doesn’t sound like trust to me.

That’s like someone saying they trust taxi cab drivers…….. but whenever they get in a taxi, they kick the driver out of the seat and drive themselves…….

OTA are so great that they pay thousands of dollars for hardware and software and spend countless hours updating their cars themselves.

I guess it depends on what "do you trust OTA updates? " is actually asking.

Do you trust the update itself?
Do you trust the delivery process itself?
Or both?

I was simply stating that I trust the updates themselves enough to leave the feature enabled in/on the car itself.
But admittedly I'm not patient enough to wait on the delivery process itself, sometimes. So I use FDRS. (BC1.4 was something I really wanted for the truck. It's so much better than what the truck shipped with)

Is that a lack of trust?

And I don't think MME owners are required to wait. I don't fault anyone for waiting, of course. But required?

Also, $thousands of dollars to update themselves is a bit of an exaggeration.

I have 3 vehicles to amortize across the $500 I paid for the Mongoose.
And if/when I license up for $50, that's used to update all of them as well.

 

[rugedraw]

I remember when I first got my job 1 truck and discovered the problem(s) associated with the OTA process on the forums. I went to three dealers and got no help. Cried on the forums for months about how much Ford sucks and my $71k truck doesn't have the BC and full-screen phone capability that I paid for.

It didn't take me long to realize that like 99% of the things in life, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

 

[Snakebitten]

I remember when I first got my job 1 truck and discovered the problem(s) associated with the OTA process on the forums. I went to three dealers and got no help. Cried on the forums for months about how much Ford sucks and my $71k truck doesn't have the BC and full-screen phone capability that I paid for.

It didn't take me long to realize that like 99% of the things in life, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

And look where that led you!

You first, as you described it, did it yourself.
But then you generously became the source for helping countless others. Including myself!

Sorry to make you blush publicly.

 

[rugedraw]

And look where that led you!

You first, as you described it, did it yourself.
But then you generously became the source for helping countless others. Including myself!

Sorry to make you blush publicly.

 

[dtbaker61]

I remember when I first got my job 1 truck and discovered the problem(s) associated with the OTA process on the forums. I went to three dealers and got no help. Cried on the forums for months about how much Ford sucks and my $71k truck doesn't have the BC and full-screen phone capability that I paid for.

It didn't take me long to realize that like 99% of the things in life, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

this is kindof my point.....

I just want to drive my MME. I got really tired of strange little side effects and settings that reset after OTAs... so last sept I turned off auto-update because there has been no 'enhancement' published in release notes that I cared about.

I am not willing to spent the time and money to do FDRS updates myself... especially not without much better documentation on what is in an update, and the ability to roll-back if it's buggy.

Until/unless @Ford Motor Company demonstrates the ability to do a better job testing updates, and provides ways to 'roll back' and 'skip forward' I know I don't plan on turning auto-update back on....

I started the thread mostly to see if there were many other people that felt the same.

 

[rugedraw]

this is kindof my point.....

I just want to drive my MME. I got really tired of strange little side effects and settings that reset after OTAs... so last sept I turned off auto-update because there has been no 'enhancement' published in release notes that I cared about.

I am not willing to spent the time and money to do FDRS updates myself... especially not without much better documentation on what is in an update, and the ability to roll-back if it's buggy.

Until/unless @Ford Motor Company demonstrates the ability to do a better job testing updates, and provides ways to 'roll back' and 'skip forward' I know I don't plan on turning auto-update back on....

I started the thread mostly to see if there were many other people that felt the same.

Well, if you think turning auto updates off is going to prevent updates from installing on your vehicle, then prepare for further disappointment. That only applies to updates that require the vehicle to be inhibited. The only way to stop updates is to unplug the TCU and make your car excommunicado from the mothership.

Edit: I have auto-updates off to prevent PCM tunes from coming into my truck and erasing my tune. If I see a notification for an update, I check PTS to see which one it is and decide if I want to let it go through or not. It is rare since I do most updates myself, but I still get the occasional OTA sent to me.

 

[dtbaker61]

Well, if you think turning auto updates off is going to prevent updates from installing on your vehicle, then prepare for further disappointment. That only applies to updates that require the vehicle to be inhibited. The only way to stop updates is to unplug the TCU and make your car excommunicado from the mothership.

I have had no notices of updates having been installed, no release notes, and the version number of software appears the same (4.3.4). If @Ford Motor Company is pushing updates without release notes to tell you what was in a pushed update or why, that's a whole different trust issue.

One of my issues is actually that the version number we can see as owners doesn't seem to correlate to any table of ALL module versions.... It is impossible as far as I can tell to know what version of all modules are actually installed in your vehicle.

The core issue for me is that I see too many side effects and bugs introduced along with updates and 'enhancements' for me to trust the process or the contents.

 

[rugedraw]

I have had no notices of updates having been installed, no release notes, and the version number of software appears the same (4.3.4). If @Ford Motor Company is pushing updates without release notes to tell you what was in a pushed update or why, that's a whole different trust issue.

One of my issues is actually that the version number we can see as owners doesn't seem to correlate to any table of ALL module versions.... It is impossible as far as I can tell to know what version of all modules are actually installed in your vehicle.

The core issue for me is that I see too many side effects and bugs introduced along with updates and 'enhancements' for me to trust the process or the contents.

Many vehicles across several Ford platforms "stopped" getting updates after the 4.x.x. series. Eventually, your VIN will be added to the roll out for the next batch of updates and more will come in.

You can tell which software version each module is on. With FDRS.

I get the your concern with annoying bugs. You can roll back software with FORScan if you back up the module before the update is applied. Everything can be done (or undone). It is just a matter of how deep down the rabbit hole you feel comfortable going.

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