Ford have no fix for multiple issues

[Daft2234]

About 4 weeks ago, I started getting a warning regarding my parking brake. Having read many threads on the subject and the fact that it is likely to be simply a sensor issue, I wasn't concerned when the garage told me they couldn't look at it for 4 weeks. However, 2 weeks later, I got 2 further warnings - a High voltage battery warning and a Powertrain Malfunction. Having failed twice to get an answer from my local dealership and then managing to get a promise of a call back, I was still waiting to talk to them to advise of the additional faults. I called again on the Saturday and, although the service department was closed, the sales office took the details of the additional faults. On Monday 23rd (appointment was for Friday 27th), I received a text to 'book in' for my visit. I logged on to find that only my original fault was noted so, once again, I told them of the additions. Yesterday (24th) I received a call to tell me that Ford had not supplied them with a fix. He also said that, if the car was with them, they would have to hold it but I was free to carry on driving it as they didn't have it.
I have to ask:
1. Why are Ford main dealers so difficult to contact?
2. How can Ford not have a fix for a problem - the system knows there is an issue so it must be a known issue?
3. If Ford would want to hold the vehicle, how come they are happy for me to keep driving it?
4. Has anyone else had these issues?

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[Deleted member 16048]

The simple answer is that they are independent dealers and operate as such. They all operate a bit differently and that's the problem. A lot of them will tell you what you want to hear because they don't know the real answer, and don't care to find out. Take everything they say with a grain of salt, and find a better dealer who values customer service with their policies and not just their words.

 

[Logal727]

I know US dealers are bad, but I've heard nothing but terrible things about UK dealers and issues there.

 

[generaltso]

Can you try a different dealer?

 

[RWG]

I concur with AlanJ and would add these thoughts:

EVs are still a new phenomenon. As such, finding an organization or tech that really understands all of the idiosyncrasies of these things is difficult. The problem is compounded with the fact that techs are in short supply and the manufactures are still learning. Since my journey with our Mach E began, we have experienced all of the frustrations/surprises possible.

• Had to place the order online, using a credit card for downpayment. ( After a lifetime of buying cars, that was a first and a bit surprising.)
• Agreed to pay MSRP for the car and then waited 7 months for it to be delivered. Now the price has dropped significantly and I kinda feel "dupped"
• Contacted the dealer several times during the 7 month order/build period and was told to contact Ford myself to determine the delivery schedule. ( In the past, if a dealer ever told me to do that I would have walked on the deal immediately but that was the same treatment all customers were getting so I let it slide.)
• The Ford.com app was useless, dysfunctional during this entire process.
• When I did contact Ford, via phone, I experienced extreme frustration. Ford told me to contact the dealer, the dealer told me to contact Ford. It was a "circle jerk".
• Very few Salespeople really understand what they are selling.

Now, over a year and 21,000 miles later, the car works fine, but I am concerned about the contactor recall. I am glad it is finally being done, but now we have to worry about when . . .

For us, we bought this thing fully knowing it was a first mover technology, high risk, decision. However our overall reliability experience with the car has been just fine. In general, if fits our retirement lifestyle needs just fine but I am concerned it could just "brick" us one day.

in addition, my "first mover" fears are being substantiated.

• The contactor issue is a major reliability risk that creates a bit of anxiety. ( This was a Ford design engineering error, plain and simple and mostly likely there will be other issues in the future.)
• Residual value of the car is disappointing and dropping fast.
• New proposed solid state battery technologies could make our Mach E an unwanted vintage junker that no one wants. i.e. in the future, who would want to own a <300 mile range vintage EV when new models have a range of 600 miles or more? If the solid state battery claims are real, I would consider upgrading the battery pack to solid state batteries. But is that in Fords plan? Even if it cost more than $10k dollars, I would still consider it in light of the residual value devaluation risks. There really is nothing wrong with the rest of the vehicle. The future risks/pain is range and contactor reliability.
• Ford is now very distracted with UAW problems. That will surely impact their ability to react to legacy vehicle problems in a timely manner.

The car technologies and market are not moving as fast as my desires. For us, the ideal vehicle would be a plug in hybrid, with solid state batteries with about 200 miles battery range. However a vehicle that meets those specs does not exist yet and probably won't until 2025 or 2026. As such we will probably get rid of the Mach E and buy a SUV style AWD Plug In Hybrid soon, but not from Ford because they do not have anything.

 

[PA Bob]

The answer to question number three is pretty simple. Once you bring the car in, they would be in the car unsafe for you to drive. To limit their liability, they would keep the car. If you never bring the car in, you could drive it as much as you want. They don’t have any liability.

 

[Billyk24]

I concur with AlanJ and would add these thoughts:

EVs are still a new phenomenon. As such, finding an organization or tech that really understands all of the idiosyncrasies of these things is difficult. The problem is compounded with the fact that techs are in short supply and the manufactures are still learning. Since my journey with our Mach E began, we have experienced all of the frustrations/surprises possible.

• Had to place the order online, using a credit card for downpayment. ( After a lifetime of buying cars, that was a first and a bit surprising.)
• Agreed to pay MSRP for the car and then waited 7 months for it to be delivered. Now the price has dropped significantly and I kinda feel "dupped"
• Contacted the dealer several times during the 7 month order/build period and was told to contact Ford myself to determine the delivery schedule. ( In the past, if a dealer ever told me to do that I would have walked on the deal immediately but that was the same treatment all customers were getting so I let it slide.)
• The Ford.com app was useless, dysfunctional during this entire process.
• When I did contact Ford, via phone, I experienced extreme frustration. Ford told me to contact the dealer, the dealer told me to contact Ford. It was a "circle jerk".
• Very few Salespeople really understand what they are selling.

Now, over a year and 21,000 miles later, the car works fine, but I am concerned about the contactor recall. I am glad it is finally being done, but now we have to worry about when . . .

For us, we bought this thing fully knowing it was a first mover technology, high risk, decision. However our overall reliability experience with the car has been just fine. In general, if fits our retirement lifestyle needs just fine but I am concerned it could just "brick" us one day.

in addition, my "first mover" fears are being substantiated.

• The contactor issue is a major reliability risk that creates a bit of anxiety. ( This was a Ford design engineering error, plain and simple and mostly likely there will be other issues in the future.)
• Residual value of the car is disappointing and dropping fast.
• New proposed solid state battery technologies could make our Mach E an unwanted vintage junker that no one wants. i.e. in the future, who would want to own a <300 mile range vintage EV when new models have a range of 600 miles or more? If the solid state battery claims are real, I would consider upgrading the battery pack to solid state batteries. But is that in Fords plan? Even if it cost more than $10k dollars, I would still consider it in light of the residual value devaluation risks. There really is nothing wrong with the rest of the vehicle. The future risks/pain is range and contactor reliability.
• Ford is now very distracted with UAW problems. That will surely impact their ability to react to legacy vehicle problems in a timely manner.

The car technologies and market are not moving as fast as my desires. For us, the ideal vehicle would be a plug in hybrid, with solid state batteries with about 200 miles battery range. However a vehicle that meets those specs does not exist yet and probably won't until 2025 or 2026. As such we will probably get rid of the Mach E and buy a SUV style AWD Plug In Hybrid soon, but not from Ford because they do not have anything.

A PHEV with 200 mile range isn't going to happen soon or in the future. No one knows the cost of solid srate batteries. Tesla isn't talking about solid state batteries.

 

[Just Lurking]

Possibly similar to the OP, I need to find a dealer to service my Mach-E (giving me warnings about front sensors). Does Ford have EV-certified dealers? Is there some kind of mark of quality I should look for?

 

[Mirak]

I concur with AlanJ and would add these thoughts:

EVs are still a new phenomenon. As such, finding an organization or tech that really understands all of the idiosyncrasies of these things is difficult. The problem is compounded with the fact that techs are in short supply and the manufactures are still learning. Since my journey with our Mach E began, we have experienced all of the frustrations/surprises possible.

• Had to place the order online, using a credit card for downpayment. ( After a lifetime of buying cars, that was a first and a bit surprising.)
• Agreed to pay MSRP for the car and then waited 7 months for it to be delivered. Now the price has dropped significantly and I kinda feel "dupped"
• Contacted the dealer several times during the 7 month order/build period and was told to contact Ford myself to determine the delivery schedule. ( In the past, if a dealer ever told me to do that I would have walked on the deal immediately but that was the same treatment all customers were getting so I let it slide.)
• The Ford.com app was useless, dysfunctional during this entire process.
• When I did contact Ford, via phone, I experienced extreme frustration. Ford told me to contact the dealer, the dealer told me to contact Ford. It was a "circle jerk".
• Very few Salespeople really understand what they are selling.

Now, over a year and 21,000 miles later, the car works fine, but I am concerned about the contactor recall. I am glad it is finally being done, but now we have to worry about when . . .

For us, we bought this thing fully knowing it was a first mover technology, high risk, decision. However our overall reliability experience with the car has been just fine.

Yeah, I will echo this sentiment. Buying a first edition Mach E has been a journey. Hardware-wise there have been some problem, but Ford stepped up to fix them all under warranty. There was the bad half-shaft issue which caused clicking on sharp turns. Ford fixed. The buzzing IPC. Ford mostly fixed. The bad coaxial cable for the front camera. Ford fixed. And while I haven’t been bitten by the HVBJB, Ford will fix that, too. At this point, approaching 40k miles, the car is basically flawless mechanically.

Software is marvelous overall. It’s just frustrating that it could be better with some relatively simple tweaks. My biggest source of Ford frustration at this point.

PAAK isn’t super reliable but I’m the one who chooses to use PAAK for the “convenience,” so that’s on me. Public charging continues to suck but that’s not Ford’s fault.

 

[ChehRob]

Here is my suspicion: Any high school graduate who has been a computer game and iPhone zealot could become adept at EV software. They probably would be happy to have a first job of working with customers, and to get $25 an hour plus benefits. Dealers should (but probably wouldn't) value such a person.

 

[markleigh]

I know US dealers are bad, but I've heard nothing but terrible things about UK dealers and issues there.

Not in my experience. 2021 MachE-X 30k miles. Been in for servicing, a new centre speaker and various checks and software updates - all good! That said, it's a dealership (TrustFord) owned by Ford...

 

[Logal727]

Not in my experience. 2021 MachE-X 30k miles. Been in for servicing, a new centre speaker and various checks and software updates - all good! That said, it's a dealership (TrustFord) owned by Ford...

Wish we could have Ford owned shops here!

 

[Ixoye]

About 4 weeks ago, I started getting a warning regarding my parking brake. Having read many threads on the subject and the fact that it is likely to be simply a sensor issue, I wasn't concerned when the garage told me they couldn't look at it for 4 weeks. However, 2 weeks later, I got 2 further warnings - a High voltage battery warning and a Powertrain Malfunction. Having failed twice to get an answer from my local dealership and then managing to get a promise of a call back, I was still waiting to talk to them to advise of the additional faults. I called again on the Saturday and, although the service department was closed, the sales office took the details of the additional faults. On Monday 23rd (appointment was for Friday 27th), I received a text to 'book in' for my visit. I logged on to find that only my original fault was noted so, once again, I told them of the additions. Yesterday (24th) I received a call to tell me that Ford had not supplied them with a fix. He also said that, if the car was with them, they would have to hold it but I was free to carry on driving it as they didn't have it.
I have to ask:
1. Why are Ford main dealers so difficult to contact?
2. How can Ford not have a fix for a problem - the system knows there is an issue so it must be a known issue?
3. If Ford would want to hold the vehicle, how come they are happy for me to keep driving it?
4. Has anyone else had these issues?

My parking brake/hill hold issue went away when door lock issue was fixed. Some sort of dependency issue.

 

[Donna216]

About 4 weeks ago, I started getting a warning regarding my parking brake. Having read many threads on the subject and the fact that it is likely to be simply a sensor issue, I wasn't concerned when the garage told me they couldn't look at it for 4 weeks. However, 2 weeks later, I got 2 further warnings - a High voltage battery warning and a Powertrain Malfunction. Having failed twice to get an answer from my local dealership and then managing to get a promise of a call back, I was still waiting to talk to them to advise of the additional faults. I called again on the Saturday and, although the service department was closed, the sales office took the details of the additional faults. On Monday 23rd (appointment was for Friday 27th), I received a text to 'book in' for my visit. I logged on to find that only my original fault was noted so, once again, I told them of the additions. Yesterday (24th) I received a call to tell me that Ford had not supplied them with a fix. He also said that, if the car was with them, they would have to hold it but I was free to carry on driving it as they didn't have it.
I have to ask:
1. Why are Ford main dealers so difficult to contact?
2. How can Ford not have a fix for a problem - the system knows there is an issue so it must be a known issue?
3. If Ford would want to hold the vehicle, how come they are happy for me to keep driving it?
4. Has anyone else had these issues?

I had a parking brake fault. It showed up in June. After multiple tries, wasn't fixed until August.

 

[Beege]

Possibly similar to the OP, I need to find a dealer to service my Mach-E (giving me warnings about front sensors). Does Ford have EV-certified dealers? Is there some kind of mark of quality I should look for?

Not sure where you reside. I’m in Vancouver BC, and I can tell you from almost three years of ownership Brown Bros Ford on Marine are simply the best. They know this car inside and out. Never had to go back for any return visits. Any issue, and I mean any, resolved first time.

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