It Bit Me Like a Snake - Stop Safely Message!

[Calipack]

@Calipack I just drove through Patterson yesterday headed to/from Monterey. You know you got stranded on Prime Day right next to the Amazon fulfillment center. It must be a sign.

If it was a sign from the correct deity, we would have been stranded at a 7-11 yesterday and loaded up on Cola Slurpees for free. But, alas, wrong deity apparently.

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[scoopman]

Okay. I am going to do more research. I was not prepared for this.

How long did the replacement take?

The work takes like a day if you know what you're doing and you have the equipment to do the work. You also have to know to order the right (new, revised) part or else you will have the same problem potentially happen again -- as it did to me.

 

[scoopman]

It depends on your perspective. You received the fault while the vehicle was parked and were left stranded. If you had had the recall updates, you likely would have had the fault while driving which would have immediately reduced your power to allow you to continue driving but that in itself could have been hazardous.

... but you could have potentially driven it to Patterson and saved yourself the risk and worry and expense of genius tow operators sent by Ford.

 

[rolltide]

Yeah. That was what Ford Roadside wanted to tow the car 1.3 miles. The quoted price to tow it to the dealer near my home was $1,180 plus $125. Roadside assistance may be included from Ford, but towing is extra, apparently.

You might want to call back and get that waived or reimbursed. From page 286 of the user manual:

In the event your vehicle's high-voltage battery does not have enough power to move, you can choose where you would like your vehicle towed (within a 35 mi (56 km) radius):

• Nearest public charger.
• EV Certified Ford or Lincoln Dealer.
• Your home residence.

Or was the dealer not ”EV Certified“?

 

[ripperAZ]

Yeah. You can use the Frunk like a cooler, right? Like a cooler that gets really hot.

In all seriousness. Y'all are really helpful. I really like this car and I really want Ford to do well and succeed with the Mach E and the Lightning. And.... I am really, really, really pissed off about this episode and that it stranded me and my wife without any real support from Ford's so-called Roadside Assistance. As far as I am concerned, given the history of this failure, Ford should have showed up with a tow truck and another vehicle for me to drive home.

The good news.... we were in a Walmart parking lot, and not in the Mojave somewhere. We had come from Vegas that day, and there are a lot of places between Vegas and Patterson that would have been less convenient for our car to die. I was with my wife, she was not alone. The tow service was very professional. Ball is in Ford's court now... let's all enjoy this front row seat at the Ford EV Show.

Welcome to the club. My GT threw the brick at me in Dateland AZ. 13 months ago. The home of the date shakes now a topic on the Toyota car ads with the creepy guy who loves Toyotas too much

11 hours to get a viable tow truck.
3 declined to touch it after reading the tow guide. Two of the other guys stayed around to watch it happen. Lol

113 degrees. Probably 85 inside the date shake Emporia. Perhaps the worst collection of food assembled on the planet all propped up with a shake that makes me gag

After watching about the hundredth family buy their Date Shakes I dropped into my fifth episode of dateline NBC just be glad no one had killed me yet

Jes sayin. It could be worse. Take a deep breath and prepare to love your car eventually someday maybe….

 

[Calipack]

... but you could have potentially driven it to Patterson and saved yourself the risk and worry and expense of genius tow operators sent by Ford.

Ford Roadside said they would send a flatbed "tow" truck to get the vehicle if we prepaid the $125.00. We chose to have our insurance company send a free tow truck instead.

Geico sent a tow truck that arrived respectably quickly. However, the car could not be put into neutral so the first tow truck operator called for another tow truck that could put the Mach E on a dolly to tow it. The second tow truck arrived in 20 minutes, as promised. The car was put on dollies on the front and lifted in at the back. The tow went smoothly. The company that did the tow was spectacular and very professional.

I do not have pics of the car on the dolly. In this picture you can see the type of truck that can tow the vehicle.

 

[Calipack]

You might want to call back and get that waived or reimbursed. From page 286 of the user manual:


Or was the dealer not ”EV Certified“?

Thank you Tide. We declined the Ford service at 125.00. We have no idea if the dealer was EV Certified. We dropped the car in the lot and put the key in the dropbox.

NOTE: Do not EVER leave home without a key. Normally, I do not have a key with me. This time, we did.

Ford Roadside asked me where the nearest dealer was. I, in a moment of weakness, lost my shit just a bit and swore at the call operator and told the person that I called for Ford Roadside assistance and they should tell me where the nearest dealer was. I used naughty words in that exchange.

 

[Calipack]

It could be worse. Take a deep breath and prepare to love your car eventually someday maybe….

Indeed. Thank you. I am optimistic that this will be a smooth repair and resolution. If not.... well, the podcast and forum circuit will be its own adventure when we tell the tale. And, there will be plenty to say about the Electrify America charging stations and their hit and miss service. Too many misses. Not enough garbage cans. Slow as molasses sometimes. Why ever do they say 350KW on the stickers? Ford needs another partner and this infrastructure is a bigger issue than the contactors on a HVBJB.

 

[scoopman]

Ford Roadside said they would send a flatbed "tow" truck to get the vehicle if we prepaid the $125.00. We chose to have our insurance company send a free tow truck instead.

Geico sent a tow truck that arrived respectably quickly. However, the car could not be put into neutral so the first tow truck operator called for another tow truck that could put the Mach E on a dolly to tow it. The second tow truck arrived in 20 minutes, as promised. The car was put on dollies on the front and lifted in at the back. The tow went smoothly. The company that did the tow was spectacular and very professional.

I do not have pics of the car on the dolly. In this picture you can see the type of truck that can tow the vehicle.

For your next time (I hope not!) you should read up on the obscure option in Settings called "Tow Mode". It lets your car be towed, provided you have enough 12V battery power left to get it in the mode.

 

[strangeengine]

Ford Roadside asked me where the nearest dealer was. I, in a moment of weakness, lost my shit just a bit and swore at the call operator and told the person that I called for Ford Roadside assistance and they should tell me where the nearest dealer was. I used naughty words in that exchange.

Fully justified.

 

[scoopman]

Thank you Tide. We declined the Ford service at 125.00. We have no idea if the dealer was EV Certified. We dropped the car in the lot and put the key in the dropbox.

NOTE: Do not EVER leave home without a key. Normally, I do not have a key with me. This time, we did.

Ford Roadside asked me where the nearest dealer was. I, in a moment of weakness, lost my shit just a bit and swore at the call operator and told the person that I called for Ford Roadside assistance and they should tell me where the nearest dealer was. I used naughty words in that exchange.

Uh oh. You definitely gotta call that dealer tomorrow and see if they know anything bout those newfangled EVs.

 

[Calipack]

For your next time (I hope not!) you should read up on the obscure option in Settings called "Tow Mode". It lets your car be towed, provided you have enough 12V battery power left to get it in the mode.

Will do. Should have been more prepared.

 

[scoopman]

Indeed. Thank you. I am optimistic that this will be a smooth repair and resolution. If not.... well, the podcast and forum circuit will be its own adventure when we tell the tale. And, there will be plenty to say about the Electrify America charging stations and their hit and miss service. Too many misses. Not enough garbage cans. Slow as molasses sometimes. Why ever do they say 350KW on the stickers? Ford needs another partner and this infrastructure is a bigger issue than the contactors on a HVBJB.

Gosh I hope you can retain your optimism about the world and your car after it's fixed, but HVBJB fixes are not without drama, and are many times not smoothly fixed.

 

[scoopman]

Will do. Should have been more prepared.

No -- your car should have been less incompetently designed and not impossible to tow. Even a Tesla is easier to tow than this car.

 

[Calipack]

No -- your car should have been less incompetently designed and not impossible to tow. Even a Tesla is easier to tow than this car.

There is that.

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