HVBJB Problem - Galpin Ford doesn't have enough techs

[Mike Curtis]

So - my '22 ER AWD had a bad high voltage battery junction box on the day I picked it up. A week or two later, they had it fixed. OK. Now, less than a year later, I got the same kind of errors again last week - Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power and High Voltage Battery Warning (driving over the Grapevine on a hot day). I took it into the dealership where I got it, Galpin Ford in the Valley outside Los Angeles last week. Five days later I checked in on it, and they say there's about a dozen cars ahead of me to be looked at ahead of mine at this time. Deep, deep frustrated sigh.

OK Ford - this is, literally, the #1 Ford dealership in the world they claim - selling either more cars or more $$$ of cars, I dunno. In any case, if this is one of the biggest dealerships in the world, and they're this backed up on serving EV customers...Ford has a serious, serious maintenance/training/staffing problem here.

It would be one thing if these cars had just come out - but they're shipping their third year of these.

It would be another thing if this was some podunk rural dealership in an ICE heavy market - but this is the biggest dealership in the biggest EV market in one of the biggest cities in the United States. If you can't get it decently serviced here, where the heck would you???

It sounds like it'll be weeks before they can even look at it.

Come on Ford, get your act together.

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[BigMach-E]

It’s a combination of a whole lot of factors, some Ford corporate’s fault, but mostly not. I think you should place blame where it rightfully lies, at the dealership’s feet. I suggest you call around, find a dealership who will work on the car, if it only has an SVS, drive the car to a dealership that says they will fix it sooner. Unlike a lot of other folks, you have options.

 

[RickMachE]

Totally agree. This is almost entirely on the dealership, not Ford. It may be somewhat beyond their control, getting more EV techs requires them to be in the market for a job, and then getting certified via training which takes a while.

My former dealership had a queue, and for 2 years I heard "we only have 1 EV tech but are training more", which never changed. Then they refused to service my Lightning bought out of state, so I switched dealers. New dealership is much smaller, has one EV tech, who was out ill for 5 days when I was awaiting service.

 

[heisnuts]

That is (and is going to be) a huge problem. Even a 25 year ASE certified tech is not qualified to work on the high voltage battery electric systems until they go through extensive training. And right now there are nowhere near enough people wanting to go through that training and start working on EVs.

You also now have a huge competition problem in the industry where makers like Tesla, Rivian, etc. are snapping up a lot of the few people who do want to go through that training. So that leaves the traditional dealers like Ford, Chevy, etc. scrambling to hire techs at the lowest price possible. To make matters worse, companies like Tesla and Rivian can offer some work from home positions since a lot of problems with their vehicles can be solved OTA due to their much more advanced OTA capabilities.

I don't see how it is going to get any better anytime soon. As a matter of fact, I think it is only going to get worse.

 

[Susanne76]

Someone else in So Cal posted not too long ago they had a favorable experience at Star Ford in Glendale. Might be on the HVBJB thread but not sure. Maybe worth a try. I bought 2 previous Fords from Galpin but had all my Fords serviced in Valencia with few problems but now they will never pick up or return any calls even though I bought the MME from them so it seems to be bad everywhere.

 

[4sallypat]

Definitely not Ford's fault.

Ford dealers are independent businesses with a franchise contract.

I used to go to Galpin when I lived in the SFV to service my Taurus.

Galpin used to have great sales & service teams in the past but now post pandemic, a lot of skilled mechanics are not found or lacking in dealer and independent shops.

My independent who used to employ a full staff and be able to handle drive in customers in volume; no longer can due to the lack of mechanics.

My indy is now appointment only and sometimes takes a week just get to in.

Times have changed for sure.

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