Bueller
Active Member
- First Name
- Bueller
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2021
- Threads
- 3
- Messages
- 38
- Reaction score
- 50
- Location
- NorCal
- Vehicles
- 2021 Mach-E GT
- Occupation
- Public Affairs
- Thread starter
- #1
I have previously owned a Chevy Volt and then a Bolt. I enjoyed them both, but I wanted an upgrade after turning the Bolt back in at the end of the lease in late October. I test drive the Tesla 3 and Tesla Y. While the 3 was crazy fast, I liked the Y better. To me, it just felt more substantial. But I didn’t pull the trigger because I wanted to drive the Mach E.
And that became a problem as there were none anywhere in my neck if the woods. I have a good friend who works in the industry and he put out a few feelers for me. About a month ago, he called me bright and early on a Saturday morning with news that my local Ford dealer had received five. Off we went, and by the time I got there at 9:15 am, three had been sold. They had a GT and a California edition available and I dove both. They were both great, but I much preferred the GT. Not only was the performance superior, but I loved the rims and red calipers. But it was a dark pewter color and that just wasn’t what I wanted. I’m a white car guy. Always have been, always will be.
So, I left it for others. And, as I mentioned in another thread, there was literally a line of people waiting to take a test drive. I later heard all 5 were sold by noon, even with the $2,500 dealer mark up. We drove home fairly set on the GT, disliking the price but loving the car. The dealer recommended letting them order me the car I wanted, so I spent a few hours here and there over a week or so reading reviews and comparing and contrasting the Tesla Model Y, Mach E California and Mach E GT. And I kept coming back to the GT, even though the considerably less range bothered me but the federal rebate made me feel a little better about it. We had one final discussion and decided I would order a GT.
So, I did a little more research and carefully read the multi-page brochure the dealer had given me. As it turned out, there’s really not much to decide. Rims, interior, power train, etc is all set. No options. There was an option I think to order the autonomous driver feature, and that didn’t interest me—I love to drive, too much. And there was some overhead birds eye view parking feature that I could live with or without. I decided I would make the call on that based on cost. So, all that was left was color, what color did I want? And breaking a nearly 40 year habit, I decided to order Space White. Not white, Space White. With all the decisions made, I called my buddy and made an appointment to go in and order in on Monday, November 1.
Late on Friday night, October 29, my buddy called me to say that someone had ordered a GT months ago, and it had arrived on that Friday. And, for whatever reason, they decided they didn’t want it. Only problem he says is it’s not White, it’s Space White. Cutting to the chase, by 10 am on Saturday, the car was mine. Sure, I paid the $2,500 dealer mark up, but I did the Ford Options plan, which has a $2,500 rebate. So, it’s a push. I also got the CA $1,500 clean fuel rebate which dropped to $750 just two days after I bought it. So, all in all, I felt okay about the price.
After two weeks, here are my impressions:
-It’s a blast to drive. It’s really hard to not mash the peddle at every light and everywhere in between. It rides well, and feels solid. None of the bounciness that some are experiencing.
- It turns heads everywhere it goes. Especially Tesla owners. Several people have commented on it at the grocery store, Home Depot, etc., and the most common comment is along the lines of, “Is that the new Mustang?! Wow, beautiful!” So, it’s not the car to drive if you want to blend in.
-I really enjoy the built in phone charger and the heated seats and steering wheel are nice, nice. The seats are comfortable and appropriately firm. The electronics are fairly intuitive and the navigation is the best and easiest I’ve ever experienced.
While I love, love, love the car, it does have a few issues that I’ll need to get looked at:
-The brakes grind like the pads are shot. It’s really noticeable at slow speeds. I can’t imagine what I’m hearing is normal. It’s driving my wife crazy, and that’s not a winning path.
- It’s low. My driveway is a little steep and the road rises as well but I’ve never had a car that rubbed in or out. It took me several initial initial approaches to find a way that cleared. Still, it’s a bit unnerving as the rear warning sensors go off first when backing out followed by the front. It’s the opposite pulling in. There’s nothing that can be done, but it’s a bit of a bummer start and end of each trip.
- The car has a feature similar to Siri, or so it seems. Maybe 4-5 times, out of nowhere, it wakes up and says something like, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t understand that command.” I’m guessing it’s “hearing” something on the radio, but that’s a strange quirk. When it happens, a “cancel” button shows up on the screen and a quick touch and it’s gone.
- Three times I’ve gone to the garage and found the real hatch open. I’m guessing the key fob is somehow binding in my pocket and “pushing” the button, but it’s really concerning that it could happen outside sometime. I stopped carrying the key a few days ago to see if that’s what’s happening. Still…
-I’ve charged it several times, mostly at home on 110. The range it is showing now when full is 245 miles, up from 230 when I first got it. Still short of the advertised 260, so we’ll see if it continues to improve. I know I’m a lead foot, so there’s that, too…
And that’s all I got for the first few weeks. She’ll definitely be returning to the dealer for some of the above, but I think I’ll drive it a bit more to see if anything else shows up. That said, I’m so far pleased.
And that became a problem as there were none anywhere in my neck if the woods. I have a good friend who works in the industry and he put out a few feelers for me. About a month ago, he called me bright and early on a Saturday morning with news that my local Ford dealer had received five. Off we went, and by the time I got there at 9:15 am, three had been sold. They had a GT and a California edition available and I dove both. They were both great, but I much preferred the GT. Not only was the performance superior, but I loved the rims and red calipers. But it was a dark pewter color and that just wasn’t what I wanted. I’m a white car guy. Always have been, always will be.
So, I left it for others. And, as I mentioned in another thread, there was literally a line of people waiting to take a test drive. I later heard all 5 were sold by noon, even with the $2,500 dealer mark up. We drove home fairly set on the GT, disliking the price but loving the car. The dealer recommended letting them order me the car I wanted, so I spent a few hours here and there over a week or so reading reviews and comparing and contrasting the Tesla Model Y, Mach E California and Mach E GT. And I kept coming back to the GT, even though the considerably less range bothered me but the federal rebate made me feel a little better about it. We had one final discussion and decided I would order a GT.
So, I did a little more research and carefully read the multi-page brochure the dealer had given me. As it turned out, there’s really not much to decide. Rims, interior, power train, etc is all set. No options. There was an option I think to order the autonomous driver feature, and that didn’t interest me—I love to drive, too much. And there was some overhead birds eye view parking feature that I could live with or without. I decided I would make the call on that based on cost. So, all that was left was color, what color did I want? And breaking a nearly 40 year habit, I decided to order Space White. Not white, Space White. With all the decisions made, I called my buddy and made an appointment to go in and order in on Monday, November 1.
Late on Friday night, October 29, my buddy called me to say that someone had ordered a GT months ago, and it had arrived on that Friday. And, for whatever reason, they decided they didn’t want it. Only problem he says is it’s not White, it’s Space White. Cutting to the chase, by 10 am on Saturday, the car was mine. Sure, I paid the $2,500 dealer mark up, but I did the Ford Options plan, which has a $2,500 rebate. So, it’s a push. I also got the CA $1,500 clean fuel rebate which dropped to $750 just two days after I bought it. So, all in all, I felt okay about the price.
After two weeks, here are my impressions:
-It’s a blast to drive. It’s really hard to not mash the peddle at every light and everywhere in between. It rides well, and feels solid. None of the bounciness that some are experiencing.
- It turns heads everywhere it goes. Especially Tesla owners. Several people have commented on it at the grocery store, Home Depot, etc., and the most common comment is along the lines of, “Is that the new Mustang?! Wow, beautiful!” So, it’s not the car to drive if you want to blend in.
-I really enjoy the built in phone charger and the heated seats and steering wheel are nice, nice. The seats are comfortable and appropriately firm. The electronics are fairly intuitive and the navigation is the best and easiest I’ve ever experienced.
While I love, love, love the car, it does have a few issues that I’ll need to get looked at:
-The brakes grind like the pads are shot. It’s really noticeable at slow speeds. I can’t imagine what I’m hearing is normal. It’s driving my wife crazy, and that’s not a winning path.
- It’s low. My driveway is a little steep and the road rises as well but I’ve never had a car that rubbed in or out. It took me several initial initial approaches to find a way that cleared. Still, it’s a bit unnerving as the rear warning sensors go off first when backing out followed by the front. It’s the opposite pulling in. There’s nothing that can be done, but it’s a bit of a bummer start and end of each trip.
- The car has a feature similar to Siri, or so it seems. Maybe 4-5 times, out of nowhere, it wakes up and says something like, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t understand that command.” I’m guessing it’s “hearing” something on the radio, but that’s a strange quirk. When it happens, a “cancel” button shows up on the screen and a quick touch and it’s gone.
- Three times I’ve gone to the garage and found the real hatch open. I’m guessing the key fob is somehow binding in my pocket and “pushing” the button, but it’s really concerning that it could happen outside sometime. I stopped carrying the key a few days ago to see if that’s what’s happening. Still…
-I’ve charged it several times, mostly at home on 110. The range it is showing now when full is 245 miles, up from 230 when I first got it. Still short of the advertised 260, so we’ll see if it continues to improve. I know I’m a lead foot, so there’s that, too…
And that’s all I got for the first few weeks. She’ll definitely be returning to the dealer for some of the above, but I think I’ll drive it a bit more to see if anything else shows up. That said, I’m so far pleased.
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