Recall- 22S41/22V412 Ford Dealer can't (or won't) perform the update

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Ugh. Putnam. That’s a dirty word.

Steve, I know you have had bad experiences there with both sales and service, but my service experience has been excellent.

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[HuntingPudel]

Steve, I know you have had bad experiences there with both sales and service, but my service experience has been excellent.

Let’s go for the trifecta. My worst experience with them was in the Parts Department.

 

[JoeDimwit]

They really need to ditch dealers. I thought the network was a blessing but honestly seems more like a curse now to have people who can just constantly shit on your efforts to make good products. And they can’t be held accountable! What kind of relationship is that???

Then what is the solution to warranty repairs?

It is real easy to say dealerships are the problem, they are, but having a way to fix the problem that removing them causes is not so simple. Go read about Brand T service issues with repair centers. The problem is that there’s no money in service.

 

[MotownMachdoc]

Regarding: "Battery Energy Control Module Software Update"
Campaign/NHTSA#
22S41/22V412

The Dealer I purchased my car from is about 60 miles from where I now am. I know they can do the update because a colleague had his done there.

There is still no OTA available for it (although the recall notice says: "A FORD POWER-UP SOFTWARE UPDATE IS ANTICIPATED TO BEGIN MID-JULY 2022" and we are at Mid July), so I called the Ford dealership that is abo ut 12 miles away. They told me it is a software update, and they can't / don't have the tools to perform the update. I was a bit stunned. They advised to call a different dealership.

Not sure if it is because I told them I did not purchase the car from them...or they don't know how to use FRDS or???

So I contacted Ford (chat) that was not great. They said: "...It is at the discretion of the dealer if they would like to perform the update for you as they are independent franchises. You can either contact a different a different dealer to see if they can assist with it or you can contact the OTA department to see when the update will be sent to the vehicle itself..."
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Has anyone else had an issue taking the car in for getting the recall done at any Ford dealership? (if you purchased it there or not).

If I recall, when the Mach E was introduced, online ordering was limited to EV certified dealers. I would think that was to help manage the unique needs of cars that have extensive computer integration and the need to have technicians trained, and computer systems in place..
ICE cars are a different technology with decades of development. The actual update may take 20 minutes (?) but what happens if the network goes down, the update is corrupted? It may involve a call to Ford tech support to solve the problem, or discover a new solution. Oh, and our car is not the only one at the dealership.
I think we need to take a deep breath and not be the guy at MacDonalds that throws the shake at the person at the window because we think we are priveged and perfectly do our job.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Let’s go for the trifecta. My worst experience with them was in the Parts Department.

Ah, right - I'd forgotten that. Their service manager David has been really excellent to me, but my only usage of their parts department has been through service, so I don't have direct experience.

But to say I'm disappointed with the stories about their sales department, would be a massive understatement.

 

[Logal727]

Then what is the solution to warranty repairs?

It is real easy to say dealerships are the problem, they are, but having a way to fix the problem that removing them causes is not so simple. Go read about Brand T service issues with repair centers. The problem is that there’s no money in service.

Ford owned repair centers with Ford employees. They can do it.

 

[Larry Paul]

If I recall, when the Mach E was introduced, online ordering was limited to EV certified dealers. I would think that was to help manage the unique needs of cars that have extensive computer integration and the need to have technicians trained, and computer systems in place..
ICE cars are a different technology with decades of development. The actual update may take 20 minutes (?) but what happens if the network goes down, the update is corrupted? It may involve a call to Ford tech support to solve the problem, or discover a new solution. Oh, and our car is not the only one at the dealership.
I think we need to take a deep breath and not be the guy at MacDonalds that throws the shake at the person at the window because we think we are priveged and perfectly do our job.

I understand there is a line...and I am ok with that. I know it is supposed to take 20 mins...but something may go wrong. I understand that too.

My issue is a dealer telling me a BS story that they just don't have the ability of performing that service and to call some other dealership. Not, we are busy, come back in 2 weeks (that I have an issue with because it is safety related, but I could understand that a bit more). It is after the advisor looked up what is going on, checked with someone and she came back with I think verbatim: "they don't have the equipment to install a software only update."

I know it is a tool they have. And they have techs that know how to use it. It is FRDS software and a laptop...and that is used to service 100% of the cars Ford sells today. They also know it is not a hardware issue (to install the software, although in the future this could be a hardware recall, but that is not what this action is) so they don't have the excuse that they don't have the parts in stock. She specifically pointed out it was only software...and they CAN'T do it at their dealership. (as I have stated before, they do sell the Mach E.)

Using your analogy: If I were to go into a MacDonalds while on a road trip - and I order just one thing-fries. They respond with: you are not a regular customer here and they just don't have any way to make fries at this MacDonalds...so if I want fries I have to go somewhere else. In my case, I was on the phone so I could not look around and see other customers eating fries... but they did not say our machine is down or we have 3000 orders of fries ahead of you... She said "Can't" do a software only update.

And this is not an optional nice to have feature I would just like to have. This is a safety issue and service said (go to a different dealership) aka "take your business elsewhere." And Ford said...yep, that can happen, we have no control over that as they are all independently owned. Go somewhere else.

I don't think MacDonalds would allow them to continue to be a franchisee. I am not sure how this is acceptable to Ford either.

 

[Jimrpa]

As a first time ford owner, this reason (dealers) is a big contributor to my thinking that this will be my last ford.

First, you do understand that the dealer model has been legally forced upon ford by various state laws, right? If you don’t like it, reach out to your friendly, sympathetic state legislator and tell them that’s yet another thing you don’t need them regulating, thank you very much Elon Musk has thrown enough money at some state legislators to be granted exceptions. Pretty amazing what $223B buys
Second, there actually are good, customer-focused Ford dealers out there

 

[HuntingPudel]

Ah, right - I'd forgotten that. Their service manager David has been really excellent to me, but my only usage of their parts department has been through service, so I don't have direct experience.

But to say I'm disappointed with the stories about their sales department, would be a massive understatement.

I have to say that my dealings with the Putnam group were with other brands, not Ford. I was saddened to hear that Putnam bought out Veracom because Veracom was awesome when my brother bought his Fusion and their service department was great for me.

They probably still have a lot of the same service staff from Veracom, so I might try them for emergency service but the group still rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Larry Paul]

Update: So I called the Ford Customer Relationship Center at 1-866-436-7332. I followed the prompts. Strangely they did not seem to have 22S41 in the system, but I waited on hold for about 5 minutes. I told them everything and they were very sympathetic to my concern. They documented the complaint and the responses that I had had up to this point. I was what I was hoping it would be.

They called the dealership and spoke with the service manager. After a short hold, I was connected to the dealership and now I am scheduled for the update to happen next Wednesday. It will need to be left there for the better part of a day to confirm that the update processed correctly. While less than ideal, it is 100% acceptable.

There was absolutely no acknowledgment of my call from yesterday where I was told they did not have the ability to perform the service update and to go to a different dealership. Today the service advisor (may have been the same person) was super helpful and cooperative and got me scheduled.

If anyone has a hassle from any dealership not willing/able to service the car ...I recommend calling the Ford Customer Relationship Center at 1-866-436-7332.

 

[MustThee?]

First, you do understand that the dealer model has been legally forced upon ford by various state laws, right? If you don’t like it, reach out to your friendly, sympathetic state legislator and tell them that’s yet another thing you don’t need them regulating, thank you very much Elon Musk has thrown enough money at some state legislators to be granted exceptions. Pretty amazing what $223B buys
Second, there actually are good, customer-focused Ford dealers out there

I am sure there are customer-focused dealers out there. That means different things to different people. I am just looking for EV certified dealers that can willingly do their job.

 

[MachEnthusiast]

you can contact the OTA department to see when the update will be sent to the vehicle itself..."

You can DO this? Anyone willing to try to share the info with all of us wondering when it will come OTA?

 

[Larry Paul]

I did not and others have said that it did not work (except one person that said that they knew someone at Ford and they were working on it).

I was just reporting what Ford chat said to me yesterday.

 

[SignMD]

Regarding: "Battery Energy Control Module Software Update"
Campaign/NHTSA#
22S41/22V412

The Dealer I purchased my car from is about 60 miles from where I now am. I know they can do the update because a colleague had his done there.

There is still no OTA available for it (although the recall notice says: "A FORD POWER-UP SOFTWARE UPDATE IS ANTICIPATED TO BEGIN MID-JULY 2022" and we are at Mid July), so I called the Ford dealership that is about 12 miles away. They told me it is a software update, and they can't / don't have the tools to perform the update. I was a bit stunned. They advised to call a different dealership.

Not sure if it is because I told them I did not purchase the car from them...or they don't know how to use FRDS or???

So I contacted Ford (chat) that was not great. They said: "...It is at the discretion of the dealer if they would like to perform the update for you as they are independent franchises. You can either contact a different a different dealer to see if they can assist with it or you can contact the OTA department to see when the update will be sent to the vehicle itself..."

Has anyone else had an issue taking the car in for getting the recall done at any Ford dealership? (if you purchased it there or not).

 

[SignMD]

Regarding: "Battery Energy Control Module Software Update"
Campaign/NHTSA#
22S41/22V412

The Dealer I purchased my car from is about 60 miles from where I now am. I know they can do the update because a colleague had his done there.

There is still no OTA available for it (although the recall notice says: "A FORD POWER-UP SOFTWARE UPDATE IS ANTICIPATED TO BEGIN MID-JULY 2022" and we are at Mid July), so I called the Ford dealership that is about 12 miles away. They told me it is a software update, and they can't / don't have the tools to perform the update. I was a bit stunned. They advised to call a different dealership.

Not sure if it is because I told them I did not purchase the car from them...or they don't know how to use FRDS or???

So I contacted Ford (chat) that was not great. They said: "...It is at the discretion of the dealer if they would like to perform the update for you as they are independent franchises. You can either contact a different a different dealer to see if they can assist with it or you can contact the OTA department to see when the update will be sent to the vehicle itself..."

Has anyone else had an issue taking the car in for getting the recall done at any Ford dealership? (if you purchased it there or not).

I got mine done last week, took 1 hour from checkin to drive-off. The advisor told me Ford pays for 0.6 hours so the dealers get paid, but not a high revenue item.

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