Ford's EV service model has completely failed me.

[radioactiveToys]

I was initially optimistic when @Ford Motor Company showed up on these forums directly responding to people's requests for help. But the lack of coordination between Ford customer relations (i.e., this social media presence), the engineers, and the dealerships effectively means it's all for show.

Here's a rough timeline of events:

• June - I get a notification about the PAAK software recall and schedule a service appointment to apply the updates. I get the car back and notice it no longer syncs with FordPass
• July - I make another appointment to address the connectivity problems and occasional "electrical system drain" messages. They keep my car for almost two weeks (with no offer of a loaner) to re-apply the same software updates. No dice.

At this point I get in touch with Ford through this forum. They helpfully light a fire under the dealership and get them to call me back after 10 days without my car.

• August - I make another appointment, as the service foreman claims there are some new updates Ford tells him will fix the issue. They keep my car another four days (again, no loaner) to re-apply updates, until my wife's car loses a tire and I have to pull teeth to get the service desk to return my car instead of holding it the entire weekend. No connectivity fix. I finally get verbal confirmation from the foreman that he agrees with my initial suggestion that the modem is busted.
• September - I call the foreman. He hasn't even attempted to order the replacement modem. He'll call me back Monday. It's now Thursday.

At this point I message Ford through this forum asking to reopen my case. They tell me to talk to the foreman, there's nothing they can do.

So, buyer beware, I guess. I'm looking at 4 months with zero connectivity and no end in sight.

We're about to depart on a cross-country road trip with one key fob and no ability to sync my phone through FordPass for a PAAK backup. I sure hope I don't lose that fob. They've turned one of this car's staunchest supporters into someone who almost avoids talking about it, because the conversation inevitably turns to how utterly incapable Ford is of fixing simple service requests.

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[Peaceowl]

I hope Ford recognizes that treating loyal customers like this is no way looking towards the future. In just two years the e-car competition will be huge, and first class auto companies who will gain back what Ford has neglected to treat with class. Service is everything.

 

[scoopman]

Perhaps you should take the car to another Ford dealer for service?

 

[woody]

Perhaps you should take the car to another Ford dealer for service?

Good luck.

 

[Kabish]

IMO Ford has absolutely no idea what it is to support their EV market. Its no longer a piece of metal that works or doesn't and requires basically no interaction with the customer.

This is a new age, the car is mostly software and requires Ford to actually put time into their customer. There is zero excuse that they don't have an EV/Software Help Desk for customers to call in when having issues. Lets face it, the average consumer is going to be SO overwhelmed with the car's software. Not only would this provide better customer support and help with EV adoption, it would also pinpoint issues quicker that hopefully they could resolve. Instead, they use forums on someone else's dime to attempt to show some effort in support but ultimately have no power over the dealers which the consumer is forced to use, its not enough...

The car is some great hardware, outside of the windshields and roof lol Tesla has shown that the majority of consumers are "ok" with "spotty" hardware as long as the EV experience/software and customer service are up to snuff. Not saying Tesla is free of nightmare stories, but zero cost house call service is pretty cool.

If Ford wants to be successful in this market they need to make some immediate changes in how they do things. Banking on the Mustang name and the F150 name is only going to get them so far. It feels like that is the only thing they have going for them right now and what they are depending on to make them successful in the EV space. Brand will only get you so far.

 

[Shayne]

I was initially optimistic when @Ford Motor Company showed up on these forums directly responding to people's requests for help. But the lack of coordination between Ford customer relations (i.e., this social media presence), the engineers, and the dealerships effectively means it's all for show.

Here's a rough timeline of events:

• June - I get a notification about the PAAK software recall and schedule a service appointment to apply the updates. I get the car back and notice it no longer syncs with FordPass
• July - I make another appointment to address the connectivity problems and occasional "electrical system drain" messages. They keep my car for almost two weeks (with no offer of a loaner) to re-apply the same software updates. No dice.

At this point I get in touch with Ford through this forum. They helpfully light a fire under the dealership and get them to call me back after 10 days without my car.

• August - I make another appointment, as the service foreman claims there are some new updates Ford tells him will fix the issue. They keep my car another four days (again, no loaner) to re-apply updates, until my wife's car loses a tire and I have to pull teeth to get the service desk to return my car instead of holding it the entire weekend. No connectivity fix. I finally get verbal confirmation from the foreman that he agrees with my initial suggestion that the modem is busted.
• September - I call the foreman. He hasn't even attempted to order the replacement modem. He'll call me back Monday. It's now Thursday.

At this point I message Ford through this forum asking to reopen my case. They tell me to talk to the foreman, there's nothing they can do.

So, buyer beware, I guess. I'm looking at 4 months with zero connectivity and no end in sight.

We're about to depart on a cross-country road trip with one key fob and no ability to sync my phone through FordPass for a PAAK backup. I sure hope I don't lose that fob. They've turned one of this car's staunchest supporters into someone who almost avoids talking about it, because the conversation inevitably turns to how utterly incapable Ford is of fixing simple service requests.

Not a common problem and as it appears reproducible by your service and ford it is a problem. You paid for the right to be a squeak wheel and all should understand. Since not many are having this problem I will go with your guess on hardware. What component I will not guess as there are too many controllers.

They dropped the rear sub-frame to get to my defective module and replace it. It functioned just reset a lot and no charging schedule. 4.5 months so I know it would be great to be perfect. Unfortunately with electronics, as cars are becoming, there is no 100% without defects on any of the many components in this vehicle. At least it is reproducible which makes it easier for you but sometimes still hard to diagnose. Especially with first year and you may be the first time they have seen this problem.

I think you should just keep on them, forget timeline and make sure it continues to progress in a positive manner and gets fixed. It is no bodies fault that no one is perfect and defects happen. When it starts working right you may love it again. The car functions without a phone so not a real show stopper.

Your car functions well otherwise? Can you make calls? Carplay/android auto work? Cable/wireless?

I think you understand keep an eye on your fob as we all do and you should be good. Order a second one would not hurt.

 

[radioactiveToys]

Not a common problem and as it appears reproducible by your service and ford it is a problem. You paid for the right to be a squeak wheel and all should understand. Since not many are having this problem I will go with your guess on hardware. What component I will not guess as there are too many controllers.

They dropped the rear sub-frame to get to my defective module and replace it. It functioned just reset a lot and no charging schedule. 4.5 months so I know it would be great to be perfect. Unfortunately with electronics, as cars are becoming, there is no 100% without defects on any of the many components in this vehicle. At least it is reproducible which makes it easier for you but sometimes still hard to diagnose. Especially with first year and you may be the first time they have seen this problem.

I think you should just keep on them, forget timeline and make sure it continues to progress in a positive manner and gets fixed. It is no bodies fault that no one is perfect and defects happen. When it starts working right you may love it again. The car functions without a phone so not a real show stopper.

Your car functions well otherwise? Can you make calls? Carplay/android auto work? Cable/wireless?

I think you understand keep an eye on your fob as we all do and you should be good. Order a second one would not hurt.

I realize this thread is a little ranty. I did expect to be a guinea pig in this process and have given the dealership a lot of slack and understanding while they figure out how to service these cars. To your point, I think for such an expensive car that represents a pretty significant investment on Ford's end in the world of EVs, they need to understand that these "fluff" features like connectivity are part of the selling point and should be treated with some urgency. So I guess this is an attempt to wave my arms a bit and reinforce that point.

Yes, the car drives great and I'm still loving it. But planning for this road trip has highlighted how many features depend on that modern... Like PAAK and backup pass codes, my connected EA account with my charge credits, the built in navigation's traffic and charging data, remote start for pre-conditioning, viewing vehicle location remotely.

 

[one5460]

I realize this thread is a little ranty. I did expect to be a guinea pig in this process and have given the dealership a lot of slack and understanding while they figure out how to service these cars.

This kind of 'forgiveness' is never helpful in the long run. Manufacturers love to hear this. Yes, first year cars will have bugs, and ones that heavily depend on software and electronics for major functions will have quirks. That's really not in question (although one can argue that certain important features should be thoroughly tested before release).

The main problem here is how the customer is treated after the fact. And, the lack of onsite competence when it comes to troubleshooting the issues. There is little excuse for that and you have every right to be angry. Hopefully, someone high up reads this and let it sink in.

 

[voxel]

I lurk here waiting for 9/27 so in the meantime I got an ID.4 that would keep me occupied for 6+ months... If you think Ford problems are bad you should see the VW ones.

My 5 day old ID.4 electrically shut off in the middle of the road and the dealer does not know why. Before I bought the ID.4 that owners with problems were whiners and didn't know a thing about electronics or EVs when I read about battery coolant pump problems or the defective steering switch. Electrical drivetrain problems are real for these new EVs. The Mach-E seems to be more reliable given the complaints are mostly around PAAK but it seems there is lack of EV knowledge at the dealership across all brands.

 

[Shayne]

I realize this thread is a little ranty. I did expect to be a guinea pig in this process and have given the dealership a lot of slack and understanding while they figure out how to service these cars. To your point, I think for such an expensive car that represents a pretty significant investment on Ford's end in the world of EVs, they need to understand that these "fluff" features like connectivity are part of the selling point and should be treated with some urgency. So I guess this is an attempt to wave my arms a bit and reinforce that point.

Yes, the car drives great and I'm still loving it. But planning for this road trip has highlighted how many features depend on that modern... Like PAAK and backup pass codes, my connected EA account with my charge credits, the built in navigation's traffic and charging data, remote start for pre-conditioning, viewing vehicle location remotely.

None of that sh!t works you should get that fixed. As noted keep on them and understand. It is always nice being green.

 

[JB20]

Well Ford better get their shit together with the Lightning rolls out.

This reminds me of an issue I had with Nissan back in 2017. I had a Titan XD with the gas engine. I took it in for an oil change that I made an appointment for. Got their and was told their XD tech was off today and they could not do a simple oil change unless the tech was trained on the XD. I tried explaining to them that the engine is no different than the other 2 regular Titans they had on the lift doing oil changes for and to have one of those techs do it. After about 30 minutes and me repeatedly telling them to either let me back there to do my own oil change or give me the oil and filter and I will do it at home, that it clicked with the service department that it is the same engine and procedure to do the oil change. Most of my experiences with "Service Advisors" is that they do not know much about mechanical issues.

 

[Maquis]

I'd say it more your dealer failing you than it is Ford's service model.

While I've had my share of issues, my dealer has always addressed them in a timely fashion with professionalism and courtesy. They never had the car more than a day for module updates and Always offered me a loaner if they were going to have the car more than a couple of hours.

They needed two days to replace my cracked roof and when I dropped the car off, they were getting ready to set me up with a loaner. I told them I really didn't need one, for which they thanked me - they were scrambling to come up with needed loaner cars that day. But I could have had one if I needed it.

 

[ZuleMME]

I'd get yourself one of the $30 and under keyfobs off ebay (they work great, I have 2 extras - https://www.ebay.com/itm/224576753062) and then demand they program it due to the inability to use PaaK. Ideally you'd get a nice one from Ford; but supplying the hardware yourself has a way of greasing the issue into being solved.

As for the service issues, I get the feeling Ford corp wants to change and the dealers don't. Until they get on the same page this is what we're gonna get.

 

[agoldman]

Where is the Ford rep that lurks in the forums for this sort of thing?

 

[radioactiveToys]

Where is the Ford rep that lurks in the forums for this sort of thing?

They're the ones who messaged me a couple days ago saying there's nothing more they can do.

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