General thoughts on long term reliability for the Mach E

[dtbaker61]

This is a purely un-scientific poll and simply based on what you THINK with the experience you have had.

For me, after 9 days at the dealer (and the dealer sucks) and all of the software issues, I don't have faith that Ford can make the Mach E right.
The display is sluggish, the random errors are mind boggling (drive mode) and no complaints would be complete without PAAK.
The hatch randomly stops when you close it, key fob, foot kick or button on the hatch.

I plan on moving on but I don't know what to get next.

Don't crucify me. Just answer the poll and lets chat about it.

'reliable' to me means :
- it starts
- it runs
- it doesn't need much service time at the shop to keep running.

....considering my MME was a early build, I expected a few 'first year design mechanicals', and am pretty ok with the ones so far, except how long it took to sort thru the HVBJB which should have been an actual recall. From this point (27k miles) I don't expect any or many more mechanicals with the exception of the possible front half-shafts as a 'scheduled' recall.

My long-term concerns are the longevity of the displays, sensors, computers, and fly-by-wire steering components.

Sponsored

 

[A-A-Ron]

This is a purely un-scientific poll and simply based on what you THINK with the experience you have had.

For me, after 9 days at the dealer (and the dealer sucks) and all of the software issues, I don't have faith that Ford can make the Mach E right.
The display is sluggish, the random errors are mind boggling (drive mode) and no complaints would be complete without PAAK.
The hatch randomly stops when you close it, key fob, foot kick or button on the hatch.

I plan on moving on but I don't know what to get next.

Don't crucify me. Just answer the poll and lets chat about it.

See, I don't consider most of that unreliable - all of those things are annoyances (and trust me, I get annoyed at them too), but none of them are going to strand you on the side of the road or cause a permanent failure; at worst, they're 10 seconds of WTF while you reclose the hatch or wait for PaaK to get it together.

I think the issues I've experienced are in line with my expectations for a first gen, high tech car. I'm certainly a bit disappointed with Ford's software fixes and update cadence - I've been in a similar industry for decades and think most of it is systemic (coming from Corporate and management decisions rather than poor software itself). I've even had a HVBJB fail (post recall software, so I was able to drive it to the dealer). But overall, I'd still say it's reliable.

 

[elbo]

I had a crap load of short term problems at purchase or shortly after but I have to say that since then all good

 

[Teslaeata]

I did not expect balanced results. I was simply curios what people THINK.
That's all I asked for and all I expect. It's not scientific, just sheer opinion.

Well, you did ask a forum

I’m really very grateful to you for posting the poll, shrapnel of the opinions aside though amusing, the results of the poll are very interesting.

 

[Vulnox]

I definitely think based on a very long history with Ford that it will be above average. I have had some 20 Ford vehicles, and have been fortunate in terms of warranty claims on them (except my 2021 F-150, that was a rough one early on).

With that in mind, about half the issues that brought me in were engine or transmission related. None ever left me stranded, thankfully, but just issues with turbos in one of the early gen 3.5L EBs, transmission issues with a few, etc.

I think we forget how complex an engine or transmission is in an ICE, probably more moving parts just in a 3.5L Ecoboost engine than the entirety of the MachE, and that doesn't even get into transfer cases, transmissions, etc. The MME largely gets rid of this. Either the motor works or it doesn't, either the battery works or it doesn't, and either the HVBJB works... or it doesn't. Yeah there are limp conditions, but the early HVBJB issues aside, the motors and batteries themselves seem solid.

With that in mind, I expect it to be above average on reliability, and so far it's been very good to use. Small rattle in the dash aside, it's coming up to a year now without so much as a hiccup from the driveline components. My just delivered 2023 F-150 however, has a noisy brake pedal, sticky turn signal, and horribly aligned right exhaust pipe, and it tells me almost every day the truck has gone to deep sleep, something my 2021 never did. Yeah basically all of those (except the exhaust tip) could happen to an MME, but it's impressive how solid our MME has been.

 

[tfitzgex]

I'm going to a different brand. I've owned the car for 2 years 1 month, My car has been in the shop just shy of 5 months in total. This is the most unreliable car I've ever owned. I love it, but can't depend on it.

 

[jay1122]

They’re just bugs, but holy crap my car is an ant hill!

They come and go, but the sheer volume of bugs is relentless. Some bugs are daily and don’t go away (like how my auto fan speed will NEVER go to auto speed until I change the temperature). Others are just frustrating (guest profile bug, headlight bug). And only a few have required a trip to the dealer (mag ride suspension fault). Some are poor design (how many times I have to push the unlock button to unlock).

My definition of “reliable” is simple-

Can you rely on the car to do what it’s supposed to do?

And with the Mach E? Unfortunately it’s a HELL NO!

And yet it’s my favorite car I’ve owned. Good thing it’s pretty and drives so dang well!

Here is my list of bugs-
Headlight switch

Profile issue

Memory seat issue

Parking sensor screen issue

Volume control fault

Charge fault

Recall

Blind spot system fault

Cross traffic system fault

Reverse brake assist not available

Driver selectable system fault Service required.

Suspension fault speed limited to 80 mph

Auto ac blower low speed after starting

Screen slow loading

XM presets keep changing

Yeah, I would not give Ford too much credit on software. Experienced quite some bugs myself. Some fixed, the "drive mode not available" one seems to still appear from time to time that annoys me. The thing is I think Ford came from the traditional ICE infotainment system. Family has a 22 CX5. The in car system has basically 4 lines. Navigation, media, Generic info, and setting. HVAC by button. Memory seat by button. Likely controlled by individual dedicated chips. Nothing to change in setting. No fancy features. It is so reliable, but also very limited. MME's in car system has a bunch of settings, Apps, smart features. They clearly tried to copy Tesla and join the "high tech" all in one EV car systems with OTA capability to continuously change and update features. They just don't have the actual skilled software team.

I definitely would not prefer the older ICE era infotainment systems. Let's just hope Ford can catch up in that software department.

 

[Teslaeata]

I'm going to a different brand. I've owned the car for 2 years 1 month, My car has been in the shop just shy of 5 months in total. This is the most unreliable car I've ever owned. I love it, but can't depend on it.

Oh, that is a real shame!

Sorry to hear of your experience.

Only time I was without mine was on the very day I was supposed to collect it new at 11am.

The night before I had gifted my Outlander to a son, after all at that time I thought what could possibly go wrong

‘Phone call at 9am on the day to say I couldn’t have it.

Ah, I though, that’s what could possibly go wrong

Ford instructed dealer not to release, demonstrate, sell or otherwise hand a car over to a new owner until e-call system had been re-programmed.

IT? s-h-I-T more like

I do tend to take control of my own destiny so rented a small van for indefinite period to put all my tools in as I didn’t want a loaner and risk damaging somebody else’s interior trim.

2 weeks later and ‘Stang was ready for action!

Ford paid rental van bill.

I didn’t ask them to but it was a nice Touch.

Not only but also the crooked lying cheating lawbreaking Prime Minister of the time went back on another one of his promises and pulled the EV grant.

Ford covered the £3k grant towards car.

I didn’t ask them to do that.

So, I many be more sympathetic to Ford than the average, but I don’t necessarily need to be because the car’s awesome and I feel I’m in well in credit still from a goodwill point of view.

 

[superdave80]

They clearly tried to copy Tesla and join the "high tech" all in one EV car systems with OTA capability to continuously change and update features. They just don't have the actual skilled software team.

This is where Ford effed up when creating the Mach-E. Instead of concentrating on just the EV aspect of the vehicle, and using their more tried and true other systems (door handles, physical buttons, etc.) that they had developed for decades, they thought, "Hey, what if we threw in every single new techy idea we've ever had into this car and see what happens!?!?"

It has not gone well.

I'm amazed at the people that trust Blue Cruise when their software engineers can't get the trip counter variables to consistently reset to zero on each new trip.

 

[DeluxeStang]

I don't know what Toyota reliability means.....I had a 2009 Prius for about 10 months, the only non Ford I've owned.....when Toyota had the "runaway" acceleration, what I was provided by Toyota was certainly not reliability.....service was no go, only seemed interested in getting something else to charge me for than to fix the problem.....I found their service to be far below what I was used to getting at the Ford dealer I go to.......I traded in the Prius as soon as I could get a 2010 Fusion hybrid......

Of course, what I experienced may be one dealer, but the way corporate Toyota explained the "runaway" acceleration was totally unacceptable for me.....just my opinion

Yeah, my grandma's friend had a Prius, when it was around 10 years old, the battery went out. This was when hybrids used to be genuinely expensive to fix. I don't remember the exact estimate she was given for a repair, but it was five figures. She said screw that, and bought a Ford c-max, which is a very reliable hybrid, the same basic powertrain as our maverick.

Toyota reliability means nothing, the ranger and maverick have considerably better reliability ratings than the Toyota Tacoma, yet I always here how the Ford's are unreliable, despite little evidence of this, and tbe Tacoma is rock solid, despite the fact that newer Tacomas have literal lists of things that go wrong. The Yaris, Corolla, and gr86 are all having blown engines on 2023 models, their EVs are less reliable than Ford's, and even the newer Tundra's are having engine problems. Don't even get me started on Honda, trash brand. My dad's Honda literally blew it's engine after a day and a half. Compare that to our explorer that hasn't had a single part replaced in 8 years.

Japanese cars just aren't good except for Mazda. The Koreans offer everything Japanese brands used to, but to an even higher standard. I hate how people are sleeping on Ford and Kia, but buying Nissan's with CVTs because all Japanese cars must be reliable in their mind.

 

[Yeskamil]

I'm fine with the vehicle reliability overall, but I don't trust a lot of the bells and whistles added on. But if they break, I don't care, I just won't use them. I mean, seriously, who uses PAAK after the first time it goes bad on you? Ford needs to nail down all the EV parts (battery, distribution, motor, charging hardware) before it adds stupid, unnecessary 'cool' features.

My only concern is if I lose some feature that I use gets taken out with some other error, like a camera error taking out cruise control. Seriously, Ford software engineers suck at their job.

I have been using PAAK since I first got the car in December 2022. I have over 17K miles, mostly many daily rides with few miles. Never had a single issue. Don't even know where my keys are.

 

[superdave80]

I have been using PAAK since I first got the car in December 2022. I have over 17K miles, mostly many daily rides with few miles. Never had a single issue. Don't even know where my keys are.

Then... keep using PAAK?

 

[Susanne76]

I voted Above Average..

But I think a big aspect of this as I think someone posted on another thread is the "reliability" of being able to get a problem diagnosed and fixed by the dealership in a reasonable length of time.

 

[jeffdawgfan]

2 years and 31k miles on a Premium ER4x. Only issue has been a wonky Sync system one time and a rattle in rear door that dealers could never fix. (I fixed it myself in 20 minutes. Lazy technicians that could not "replicate" the rattle.) Other than that trouble free and wonderful car.

 

[Sneezy]

Well, you did ask a forum

I’m really very grateful to you for posting the poll, shrapnel of the opinions aside though amusing, the results of the poll are very interesting.

I got what I asked for and knew flames might come out. It is all good.

Sponsored