Loved my Mach E - Might be done with it :(

[pr0t0c0l_dr01d]

I got the dreaded Stop Safely Now. 2021 Select. Car would not permit me to shift out of Park. Restarted several times. Had to have my car towed from an underground garage in downtown Boston. Fun experience.

Called Ford Roadside Assistance via the app, specified a low clearance environment. Waited two hours for a tow, and instead of arriving at scheduled ETA, I get a phone call 30 mins afterward from the tow guy, telling me he doesn't have the truck he needs to get into a low clearance area, and can I come back to meet him at 8 AM the following morning.

We exchanged words. Thankfully he called me back after I wasn't particularly nice to him and hung up on him, and said he'd be there in 30 minutes. 12V battery was nearly gone by the time he arrived. I scrambled to learn how to put the Mach E in emergency tow mode so it can be towed out of the garage and then put on the flatbed. He towed me out, took me to the dealer (after hours obviously). Left a note for the dealer saying the car was a brick and had my daughter pick me up.

Dealer has had my car for 36 hours and I still don't have a diagnosis yet, nor do I have a loaner car. I opened a case with Ford's BEV team as well. They are not much help. My local Ford dealer is tired of hearing from me. I had so many problems with this car in the first year but for the last two years it's been solid.

I loved this car, and I have been a booster of @Ford Motor Company EVs. But this experience has really put me in a mood. If it turns out to be my HVBJB and they replace it, should I trust the new part or dump this car asap? Shrug.

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[Vulnox]

Sorry to hear all that happened to you, the towing situations can be frustrating for sure.

I think if it is the HVBJB and it's replaced, I would actually feel relieved at this point. Ford is on their third or fourth, I admit I lost track, revision of the part and it sounds like the one you would get now is pretty solid. At least I have so far only seen better results from those that received it.

If this had happened to you in 2022 or parts of 2023, you may have had an earlier revision which was better, but still sometimes causing issues.

Stuff happens on any vehicle. You could have had a starter die in an ICE vehicle or a squirrel chew through the wiring harness or whatever else. Life happens which is why we have warranties and insurance, so hopefully they get it set right and you can get back to enjoying the vehicle. But understand if you have a hard time of it.

 

[jksu]

loved my 21 premium rwd, but had similar experience as you about a year ago... same stop safely now. same parked in underground parking. same early adopter/fan of ford.

but that's the price of being the cool kid with a job1/2021 mach-e... we got the v1 HVJB (along with other silly recalls, like the windshield, etc).

between ford roadside and my own car insurance AAA tow services and after 2 different tow companies showing up without the right short/small truck that could fit in my work's height restricted underground parking lot, I just said f@# it and took an uber home that night. it had been a long day and I had already spent a couple hours trying to get the car out. the next day was a repeat of the same, a 3rd tow company failing. this one at least gave me the card of someone he knew who had the right small F250 size tow truck and dollies that could fit and we finally got it out the next day and to the dealer.

ultimately it was bad luck that my work had this low height underground parking, and not really ford's fault. so not fair for me to blame ford or the car for that 3 day ordeal. in fact, they were actually quite good on the phone and offered to reimburse me with whatever tow service I could find to get the car out. it's the whole tow dispatching service that's really not great at listening when customers have a non-standard tow. but it made a frustrating experience worse for sure.

once it was at the dealer, like most of them, there's only 1 or 2 EV techs, so depending on their backlog of work, since I obviously didn't have an appointment, i needed to wait a few days or even week, until my car could be looked at. doesn't feel good to be on that end of the stick, but when you have that perspective, it's understandable. again, we're at this relatively early stage in the EV era. in a few years, most dealerships will have more EV techs.

I definitely was provided a free rental though. if the car's still under warranty I'm pretty sure being provided a car rental is included for BEV issues. once diagnosed, my dealer got the replacement HVJB within a day and took another day to get it swapped out.

I was swearing and upset at ford a lot those couple of weeks, regretting my decision and wondering if I should've gotten a tesla, etc ... my poor wife had to listen to all my griping...

but once I got the car back I fell back in love with it.... so much so, that even though I got rear-ended recently, I replaced it with another mach-e (GT this time).

so, hang in there.

ultimately life will throw us wrenches, and how we respond to them is up to us.

have friends who've lost their homes in the last 24hrs from the fires here in LA ... can't even imagine the level of stress and sorrow they are going through right now... so just feeling quite grateful

I got the dreaded Stop Safely Now. 2021 Select. Car would not permit me to shift out of Park. Restarted several times. Had to have my car towed from an underground garage in downtown Boston. Fun experience.

Called Ford Roadside Assistance via the app, specified a low clearance environment. Waited two hours for a tow, and instead of arriving at scheduled ETA, I get a phone call 30 mins afterward from the tow guy, telling me he doesn't have the truck he needs to get into a low clearance area, and can I come back to meet him at 8 AM the following morning.

We exchanged words. Thankfully he called me back after I wasn't particularly nice to him and hung up on him, and said he'd be there in 30 minutes. 12V battery was nearly gone by the time he arrived. I scrambled to learn how to put the Mach E in emergency tow mode so it can be towed out of the garage and then put on the flatbed. He towed me out, took me to the dealer (after hours obviously). Left a note for the dealer saying the car was a brick and had my daughter pick me up.

Dealer has had my car for 36 hours and I still don't have a diagnosis yet, nor do I have a loaner car. I opened a case with Ford's BEV team as well. They are not much help. My local Ford dealer is tired of hearing from me. I had so many problems with this car in the first year but for the last two years it's been solid.

I loved this car, and I have been a booster of @Ford Motor Company EVs. But this experience has really put me in a mood. If it turns out to be my HVBJB and they replace it, should I trust the new part or dump this car asap? Shrug.

 

[GoldNekNinja]

should I trust the new part or dump this car asap? Shrug.

I think the Mach-E is a great and solid EV. It has all the fundamentals, and like any other car, it will encounter issues. However, when compared to other EV offerings on the market, it is now starting to lag behind. Hopefully the refresh can sort out a majority of the issues.

 

[pr0t0c0l_dr01d]

Sorry to hear all that happened to you, the towing situations can be frustrating for sure.

I think if it is the HVBJB and it's replaced, I would actually feel relieved at this point. Ford is on their third or fourth, I admit I lost track, revision of the part and it sounds like the one you would get now is pretty solid. At least I have so far only seen better results from those that received it.

If this had happened to you in 2022 or parts of 2023, you may have had an earlier revision which was better, but still sometimes causing issues.

Stuff happens on any vehicle. You could have had a starter die in an ICE vehicle or a squirrel chew through the wiring harness or whatever else. Life happens which is why we have warranties and insurance, so hopefully they get it set right and you can get back to enjoying the vehicle. But understand if you have a hard time of it.

It's just frustrating - I've had only a few cars in my lifetime. I've had a Jeep, a Honda, and couple of Subarus. Kept each one of them for close to 7 years. Nothing has ever stranded me before.

loved my 21 premium rwd, but had similar experience as you about a year ago... same stop safely now. same parked in underground parking. same early adopter/fan of ford.

but that's the price of being the cool kid with a job1/2021 mach-e... we got the v1 HVJB (along with other silly recalls, like the windshield, etc).

between ford roadside and my own car insurance AAA tow services and after 2 different tow companies showing up without the right short/small truck that could fit in my work's height restricted underground parking lot, I just said f@# it and took an uber home that night. it had been a long day and I had already spent a couple hours trying to get the car out. the next day was a repeat of the same, a 3rd tow company failing. this one at least gave me the card of someone he knew who had the right small F250 size tow truck and dollies that could fit and we finally got it out the next day and to the dealer.

ultimately it was bad luck that my work had this low height underground parking, and not really ford's fault. so not fair for me to blame ford or the car for that 3 day ordeal. in fact, they were actually quite good on the phone and offered to reimburse me with whatever tow service I could find to get the car out. it's the whole tow dispatching service that's really not great at listening when customers have a non-standard tow. but it made a frustrating experience worse for sure.

once it was at the dealer, like most of them, there's only 1 or 2 EV techs, so depending on their backlog of work, since I obviously didn't have an appointment, i needed to wait a few days or even week, until my car could be looked at. doesn't feel good to be on that end of the stick, but when you have that perspective, it's understandable. again, we're at this relatively early stage in the EV era. in a few years, most dealerships will have more EV techs.

I definitely was provided a free rental though. if the car's still under warranty I'm pretty sure being provided a car rental is included for BEV issues. once diagnosed, my dealer got the replacement HVJB within a day and took another day to get it swapped out.

I was swearing and upset at ford a lot those couple of weeks, regretting my decision and wondering if I should've gotten a tesla, etc ... my poor wife had to listen to all my griping...

but once I got the car back I fell back in love with it.... so much so, that even though I got rear-ended recently, I replaced it with another mach-e (GT this time).

so, hang in there.

ultimately life will throw us wrenches, and how we respond to them is up to us.

have friends who've lost their homes in the last 24hrs from the fires here in LA ... can't even imagine the level of stress and sorrow they are going through right now... so just feeling quite grateful

Ooof sounds way worse than my situation!

 

[jksu]

I hear ya...

my previous cars were a volvo and subaru. and the rest of the cars in the family are honda (odyssey, fit, accord, crv). and other than the occasional dead 12V battery, a random EGR valve issue on the odyssey, and turbo hose coming loose on the volvo that stranded us, they were mostly reliable.

I thought an EV should be maintenance and worry free, so definitely was annoyed when I couldn't get a quick jump to get the car to the dealer. will be replacing the 12V battery in my 23 GT just prior to 3 years just in case...

ps. the dealer replaced my 12V during the HVJB replacement, all under warranty.

It's just frustrating - I've had only a few cars in my lifetime. I've had a Jeep, a Honda, and couple of Subarus. Kept each one of them for close to 7 years. Nothing has ever stranded me before.

Ooof sounds way worse than my situation!

 

[67 Stang Convertible]

From a Financial Slant, It make no sense to get rid of her (the car, the wife??, well that's your call)!! She has so decreased in value that you'd essentailly have to pony up for 90% or a new ride or go after a used EV. I find the MME a Very Sold Vehicle (that I might add just got 1.3 last night [2021 Job 1]) that I still enjoy driving after 3.5 years!!! Keep her!!!

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

loved my 21 premium rwd, but had similar experience as you about a year ago... same stop safely now. same parked in underground parking. same early adopter/fan of ford.

but that's the price of being the cool kid with a job1/2021 mach-e... we got the v1 HVJB (along with other silly recalls, like the windshield, etc).

between ford roadside and my own car insurance AAA tow services and after 2 different tow companies showing up without the right short/small truck that could fit in my work's height restricted underground parking lot, I just said f@# it and took an uber home that night. it had been a long day and I had already spent a couple hours trying to get the car out. the next day was a repeat of the same, a 3rd tow company failing. this one at least gave me the card of someone he knew who had the right small F250 size tow truck and dollies that could fit and we finally got it out the next day and to the dealer.

ultimately it was bad luck that my work had this low height underground parking, and not really ford's fault. so not fair for me to blame ford or the car for that 3 day ordeal. in fact, they were actually quite good on the phone and offered to reimburse me with whatever tow service I could find to get the car out. it's the whole tow dispatching service that's really not great at listening when customers have a non-standard tow. but it made a frustrating experience worse for sure.

once it was at the dealer, like most of them, there's only 1 or 2 EV techs, so depending on their backlog of work, since I obviously didn't have an appointment, i needed to wait a few days or even week, until my car could be looked at. doesn't feel good to be on that end of the stick, but when you have that perspective, it's understandable. again, we're at this relatively early stage in the EV era. in a few years, most dealerships will have more EV techs.

I definitely was provided a free rental though. if the car's still under warranty I'm pretty sure being provided a car rental is included for BEV issues. once diagnosed, my dealer got the replacement HVJB within a day and took another day to get it swapped out.

I was swearing and upset at ford a lot those couple of weeks, regretting my decision and wondering if I should've gotten a tesla, etc ... my poor wife had to listen to all my griping...

but once I got the car back I fell back in love with it.... so much so, that even though I got rear-ended recently, I replaced it with another mach-e (GT this time).

so, hang in there.

ultimately life will throw us wrenches, and how we respond to them is up to us.

have friends who've lost their homes in the last 24hrs from the fires here in LA ... can't even imagine the level of stress and sorrow they are going through right now... so just feeling quite grateful

This is a great (and honest) perspective. Kudos to you all around.

@pr0t0c0l_dr01d, I'm so sorry you're experiencing this frustrating experience. Hopefully your car gets fixed within a reasonable amount of time. As others have said, we're in the early days of EVs in general, and at Ford especially. While I can't say for certain that I would replace my MME with another MME, it would certainly be on the list. Especially so since the car does such an amazing job of protecting its occupants in crashes.

 

[McSquashy]

Sorry to hear about your experience. If I were in your shoes, I may be tempted to say "F it" and go back to an ICE vehicle. I've had great luck with Subarus in the past and would happily buy another. Not saying that ICE vehicles don't experience problems too, but you can go to just about any Joe Schmo with a garage to get your ICE vehicle worked on.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Mach-E, but what gets me is the stories about the lack of communication and cooperation from Ford and it's dealers. It's almost like Ford EVs are the red-headed stepchild of the brand. I feels to me that dealers are ill equiped and/or parts are not readily available to deal with issues that arise with this vehicle.

The other thing that grinds my gears is the rapid depreciation. Even after putting down a 12k deposit and paying extra on my payment every month for a year, I'm still 5k-7k underwater. If things were to change in my life and the Mach-E no longer worked for me as a DD, I'd be up the Creek.

Anyway, sorry for getting a bit off topic there. That's enough about me and my problems lol. /endrant

Op, I hope you get this all sorted out quickly and you go back to driving and enjoying your Mach-E or whatever vehicle that ends up in your driveway.

 

[rcechinel]

I think the Mach-E is a great and solid EV. It has all the fundamentals, and like any other car, it will encounter issues. However, when compared to other EV offerings on the market, it is now starting to lag behind. Hopefully the refresh can sort out a majority of the issues.

I can't wait for an entire new set of issues! I'm tired of HVBJB, dead 12V batteries, temperamental PAAK, laggy infotainment screens. Give me NEW ISSUES, damnit! ?

 

[pr0t0c0l_dr01d]

Sorry to hear about your experience. If I were in your shoes, I may be tempted to say "F it" and go back to an ICE vehicle. I've had great luck with Subarus in the past and would happily buy another. Not saying that ICE vehicles don't experience problems too, but you can go to just about any Joe Schmo with a garage to get your ICE vehicle worked on.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Mach-E, but what gets me is the stories about the lack of communication and cooperation from Ford and it's dealers. It's almost like Ford EVs are the red-headed stepchild of the brand. I feels to me that dealers are ill equiped and/or parts are not readily available to deal with issues that arise with this vehicle.

The other thing that grinds my gears is the rapid depreciation. Even after putting down a 12k deposit and paying extra on my payment every month for a year, I'm still 5k-7k underwater. If things were to change in my life and the Mach-E no longer worked for me as a DD, I'd be up the Creek.

Anyway, sorry for getting a bit off topic there. That's enough about me and my problems lol. /endrant

Op, I hope you get this all sorted out quickly and you go back to driving and enjoying your Mach-E or whatever vehicle that ends up in your driveway.

Bingo, the customer services is the main issue for sure. The way Ford is handling all of this leaves a lot to be desired. Here's the situation with Ford and my dealer right now.

>Dealer only has so many loaner cars and could only get me one after two days - this could have been longer. I have to pick it up this morning.

>Dealer says Ford won't authorize a rental car for me until the Dealer can diagnose the car.

>Dealer also says diagnosis of the car might take a while, and might even be MONTHS.

Called Ford and opened a case - Ford offers very little help to get me out of this situation. They will not do a buyback unless they are compelled by the State's lemon law - and we are way beyond all the limitations there. Meanwhile I am still paying a car payment on a car I might not have for months.

I'd upgrade but Ford is offering no incentives to me to do so. Why not offer a nice 0% loan and some dealer cash to people whose cars are bricked - I'd take a chance on a 2025 Mach E for sure.

I definitely feel like the dealer network is sabotaging Ford's Model E program by not having enough skilled techs, not installing chargers, etc. But Ford could also help more and they really are not doing much except liasing with the dealer and probably providing diagnostic help in the background.

 

[GrayWolf]

They actually are offering 0% on 2024 models, currently (not a big boost, but it's the current "new" model and is available):

I only mention this for your awareness, in case you didn't already know, @pr0t0c0l_dr01d -- I do wish you all the best with this otherwise painful situation that you're in.

Edit: Source link is here: https://www.ford.com/suvs/mach-e/pricing-and-incentives/?intcmp=vhp-seconNav-io

 

[rcechinel]

They actually are offering 0% on 2024 models, currently (not a big boost, but it's the current "new" model and is available):

I only mention this for your awareness, in case you didn't already know, @pr0t0c0l_dr01d -- I do wish you all the best with this otherwise painful situation that you're in.

Edit: Source link is here: https://www.ford.com/suvs/mach-e/pricing-and-incentives/?intcmp=vhp-seconNav-io

I just spec'ed this. A GT with ALL add-ons, including BC for 3 years. It's insane! My Premium 2022 cost $62K, for which I pay $943 per month with Ford Options. If I didn't have a $15K negative equity, I would upgrade today!

 

[ChasingCoral]

I loved this car, and I have been a booster of @Ford Motor Company EVs. But this experience has really put me in a mood. If it turns out to be my HVBJB and they replace it, should I trust the new part or dump this car asap? Shrug.

I had my HVBJB replaced a year and a half ago and have had no issues since.

 

[jksu]

that's a solid deal.
yeah, it sounds like, unfortunately, you got your car during a pricing peak...

EVs are heavily discounted right now, before the federal rebates potentially go away...

I just spec'ed this. A GT with ALL add-ons, including BC for 3 years. It's insane! My Premium 2022 cost $62K, for which I pay $943 per month with Ford Options. If I didn't have a $15K negative equity, I would upgrade today!

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