Lemon Law Initiation

[Ruben Anthony]

Quick rundown: Bought 2023 Mach-E Select on 30-Jul-2023; ten days later I get all the vehicle service/pull over safely lights, and after a month of waiting for an appointment finally get my car in to find out it is the dreaded faulty high voltage battery junction box (HVBJB).

Two weeks of driving a car that could only be charged at home waiting for the new HVBJB to come in was annoying. HVBJB came in, took over a week to replace. Then they called me and said everything is fine and I can pick the car up later that day.

I go to pick it up and get told the lights came back on and the evaluation showed the new HVBJB was bad. So back to square one. Five days later I get my car back almost two months after the initial problem started.

Yesterday, 8,000 miles on the odometer, lights came back on for all the same errors. All the nearby dealerships told me they're booked solid for several weeks. Because this is a major safety issue and the third HVBJB malfunction in four months at 8,000 miles, I want to initiate a lemon law claim out here in California.

Anyone know how long they have been taking? I just want my money back for this horrible car so I can get a different EV, possibly a Tesla.

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[heisnuts]

Lemon laws are state specific, but all of them will require multiple visits for the same repair or X amount of days in the shop (usually 30 days) for the same repair before it is even eligible.

That said, give your dealer a chance to fix it. Parts are now readily available and if ordered correctly and the dealer gets it into the shop right away, it can be a 3 to 4 day repair.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

There are lemon law alternatives should it come to that. Ford has a buyback program and the Better Business Bureau has a program as well. Research your state lemon law and look into the others if your car is in the shop long enough to qualify.

 

[Ruben Anthony]

Lemon laws are state specific, but all of them will require multiple visits for the same repair or X amount of days in the shop (usually 30 days) for the same repair before it is even eligible.

That said, give your dealer a chance to fix it. Parts are now readily available and if ordered correctly and the dealer gets it into the shop right away, it can be a 3 to 4 day repair.

I hit "CTRL" / "ENTER" thinking that's how to begin a new paragraph and it posted instead. But this is the third HVBJB to malfunction since I bought the car at the end of July and the car barely has 8,000 miles on it. I haven't even made it to my first 10,000 mile service appointment.

 

[heisnuts]

I hit "CTRL" / "ENTER" thinking that's how to begin a new paragraph and it posted instead. But this is the third HVBJB to malfunction since I bought the car at the end of July and the car barely has 8,000 miles on it. I haven't even made it to my first 10,000 mile service appointment.

Have you asked the BEV team for a buyback? That would be my starting point.

 

[Ruben Anthony]

I had someone from Ford assigned to me for this issue just last month. I sent him an email last night to see if he can initiate a Lemon Law claim because I do not think I should tolerate this many repairs for the exact same defect on a brand new car.

I seriously regret buying a Mach-E and would not recommend it to anyone. I'm considering going with the Hyundai Ioniq or perhaps a Tesla. Too bad. I have had three Mustangs over 20 years before the Mach-E. And ALL OF THEM had major issues that would get fixed, but be annoyingly present. I put up with it because I liked the Mustang, but never again will I drive a Ford.

 

[Auto Motive]

I had someone from Ford assigned to me for this issue just last month. I sent him an email last night to see if he can initiate a Lemon Law claim because I do not think I should tolerate this many repairs for the exact same defect on a brand new car.

I seriously regret buying a Mach-E and would not recommend it to anyone. I'm considering going with the Hyundai Ioniq or perhaps a Tesla. Too bad. I have had three Mustangs over 20 years before the Mach-E. And ALL OF THEM had major issues that would get fixed, but be annoyingly present. I put up with it because I liked the Mustang, but never again will I drive a Ford.

Sorry to hear your nightmare. We have a GTPE and only problem in 18k was susp and 12v fault. OTA fixed it. We also bought a model y AWD long range in Apr. Great ev like the GTPE and afted 5k miles no problems. Good luck with Ford.

 

[Ruben Anthony]

It's a 2023 Mach-E Select. Had to look up what NMC and LFP stand for. I am assuming it is the lithium iron phosphate battery since the battery capacity is listed at 72kwh instead of 70kwh that was listed for the models with nickel manganese cobalt batteries.

While it might be cynical to say, I think it is possible Ford may be getting rid of their stockpile of the NMC batteries but annotating the newer LFP. I also wonder if they are doing the same thing with the HVBJB parts and just installing the older ones to save on costs of parts and using software updates to hopefully fix most HVBJB problems.

 

[thekat03]

I wonder if the problem isn't actually the HVBJB, since it is a standard range select, so shouldn't be failing to begin with, much less 3 times in 4 months of ownership. There may be something wrong that is predisposing the HVBJB to fail. Regardless, this seems like a reasonable case to push Ford to do a buy back. The lemon law process in Maine is slow, and I assume comparably slow in California. I am sorry the one you got appears to be a dud.

 

[AKgrampy]

It's a 2023 Mach-E Select. Had to look up what NMC and LFP stand for. I am assuming it is the lithium iron phosphate battery since the battery capacity is listed at 72kwh instead of 70kwh that was listed for the models with nickel manganese cobalt batteries.

While it might be cynical to say, I think it is possible Ford may be getting rid of their stockpile of the NMC batteries but annotating the newer LFP. I also wonder if they are doing the same thing with the HVBJB parts and just installing the older ones to save on costs of parts and using software updates to hopefully fix most HVBJB problems.

I am no expert and I do not blame you for your feelings about the car. My GT is 20 months old with zero issues. In your case, if you are interested, an issue brought up somewhere here on the forum is the service department sometimes needs to be sure and clear out the previous HVBJB error codes out of one of the modules. If not reset they will be flagged again. I am not sure exactly but there is a thread on it somewhere. I am guessing, but I could be wrong, that that is what has happened in your case. Best of luck in either path you may take as life is too short to be stuck with something that causes too much frustration.

Found it: https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...not-be-cleared-after-hvbjb-replacement.30918/

 

[RickMachE]

It's a 2023 Mach-E Select. Had to look up what NMC and LFP stand for. I am assuming it is the lithium iron phosphate battery since the battery capacity is listed at 72kwh instead of 70kwh that was listed for the models with nickel manganese cobalt batteries.

While it might be cynical to say, I think it is possible Ford may be getting rid of their stockpile of the NMC batteries but annotating the newer LFP. I also wonder if they are doing the same thing with the HVBJB parts and just installing the older ones to save on costs of parts and using software updates to hopefully fix most HVBJB problems.

I think your claims of what Ford might be doing are simply ridiculous. They can't put in a different battery, or used parts in a new vehicle, that's illegal. Your HVBJB shouldn't have failed once, much less 3 times. I wonder if it's a bad diagnosis.

Sorry you went through this, but I understand your frustration.

 

[voxel]

Anyone know how long they have been taking? I just want my money back for this horrible car so I can get a different EV, possibly a Tesla.

After 3 HVBJB replacements - I would also pursue a buyback. If Ford says no... push for lemon law in your state.

As for another EV... there are many options these days. Ioniq 5, BMW i4, Lyriq, GV60, etc. I would not just default to a Tesla.

 

[Ruben Anthony]

I think your claims of what Ford might be doing are simply ridiculous. They can't put in a different battery, or used parts in a new vehicle, that's illegal. Your HVBJB shouldn't have failed once, much less 3 times. I wonder if it's a bad diagnosis.

Sorry you went through this, but I understand your frustration.

I'm not saying they put "used" parts in my vehicle. But I do wonder if they decided to use up their stock of HVBJBs when manufacturing the 2023 thinking most of them didn't fail. Or perhaps they are shipping out leftover HVBJBs when they are ordered for replacements.

 

[Ruben Anthony]

After 3 HVBJB replacements - I would also pursue a buyback. If Ford says no... push for lemon law in your state.

As for another EV... there are many options these days. Ioniq 5, BMW i4, Lyriq, GV60, etc. I would not just default to a Tesla.

I'm more looking for something in the same price range. With Teslas there are so many more Tesla chargers out here in California than there are others. And the ones I do find don't work about half the time or there is a line of cars waiting, especially during holiday travel.

 

[voxel]

I'm more looking for something in the same price range. With Teslas there are so many more Tesla chargers out here in California than there are others. And the ones I do find don't work about half the time or there is a line of cars waiting, especially during holiday travel.

If this is your only car and you road trip with it... the Model Y is probably a top choice.

At that point... I'd consider a PHEV also.

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