So long, it's been fun.

[saurez7777]

Good luck!!! I understand your frustration I am in the same boat.. still waiting... ETA is still showing FEB 28th in the tracker

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[Juan-Marco]

99% of the people will have a better experience. But that doesn't matter. Not one bit. You didn't have a good experience.

Ford needs to change that. Will they change that? Emphatic yes. Is that just some jokers opinion? Maybe. But consider this... in 2021, the executive bonuses will largely depend on making customers like you happy. Not making some customer satisfaction metric better, making customers like your happy with your vehicle purchase and ownership process. Will it be perfect in 2021? Hell no. But it will be better. Much better.

I reserved my First Edition on launch day, November 18th 2019. After some production delays, it was built on December 5, 2020. Since then it has been in transit, recalled, in transit again, missing in transit, held without explanation, and now possibly recalled again, as expected delivery dates have come and gone. During this period I have heard next to nothing from Ford Corporate, and next to nothing from my dealer (who I have felt pretty bitter towards, but they have probably been equally in the dark).

Earlier this week, while my car sat in an unspecified hold 30 miles away as the most recent delivery window disappeared in the rearview mirror and a major road trip loomed ahead, my fiancée and I scheduled an e-tron test drive. We had a frank discussion about the differences and features that might make up for the $15,000 price gap, and determined that our purchase was still Ford's to lose.

Today we drove the e-tron (premium plus trim), and were impressed by the quality, features, and comfort. The dealer was able to offer us fantastic pre-tax incentives for a car that was on the lot and available to drive home on the spot. (One of seven premium plus trims on the lot, with more of other variants.)

Tomorrow, I will be driving home my new 2021 e-tron premium plus for a lower out-of-pocket cost than the MME GT. The only reason I'm waiting that long is because this was a fact-finding mission and I didn't bring a checkbook.

If anyone in the SF Bay Area is looking for a Grabber Blue First Edition, Towne Ford in Redwood City should have one available soon... or if the unexplained week-and-counting delay is any indication, it may be part of the latest recall. If anyone is looking for a fantastic, straightforward, and surprisingly cost-competitive experience exploring the Audi e-tron, definitely talk to Drew Michaels at Audi Palo Alto.

As I said, our purchase was Ford's to lose, and given the ongoing delays, recalls, and general opacity, they lost it. I hope everyone who is sticking with this has a better experience than we did.

I am done waiting as well.
The next person that tells me to be patient is likely to get hurt real bad.
Car was built 11 weeks ago already and seems I’ll be luckily to get it this month
Looking at Polestar this morning and if I order today, ETA is still sooner than my Mach E!
Sure polestar had issues but it’s not like Mach e has been perfect.
I just can’t lose the deposit, will need to confirm that first.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I am done waiting as well.
The next person that tells me to be patient is likely to get hurt real bad.
Car was built 11 weeks ago already and seems I’ll be luckily to get it this month
Looking at Polestar this morning and if I order today, ETA is still sooner than my Mach E!
Sure polestar had issues but it’s not like Mach e has been perfect.
I just can’t lose the deposit, will need to confirm that first.

Everyone has their limits. Good luck.

 

[ARK]

I am done waiting as well.
The next person that tells me to be patient is likely to get hurt real bad.
Car was built 11 weeks ago already and seems I’ll be luckily to get it this month
Looking at Polestar this morning and if I order today, ETA is still sooner than my Mach E!
Sure polestar had issues but it’s not like Mach e has been perfect.
I just can’t lose the deposit, will need to confirm that first.

What if your Mach-E then ends up getting here before the Polestar? You may have already made a final decision, but if not, ask your dealer if they will share their internal visibility view or not sure what they call it exactly. This can give you a better sense than the Ford website ETA, e.g. is it on a train somewhere in Mexico, or being unloaded 50 miles from your dealership for transport via truck for the last leg.

 

[mburtsvt]

So to sum up:

Ford has three main problems with the Mach E roll out-

The dealers
Long wait time with no information to the dealer or customer.
Competition

Any one of those things should keep every Ford person involved with the Mach E up all night, wetting the bed.

I’m still in, but only due to loyalty, but it’s getting harder to tell people how satisfied I have been so far.

 

[trutolife27]

It should be 6 to 8 weeks from the day your mache was produced. that is the normal ETA time from the plant to your dealer. Now there has been an issue that is taking longer it seems.

The dealer can only tell you what they know.

 

[JSOrange97]

It should be 6 to 8 weeks from the day your mache was produced. that is the normal ETA time from the plant to your dealer. Now there has been an issue that is taking longer it seems.

The dealer can only tell you what they know.

Yes, then can, but will they?

 

[GoosePond08]

So to sum up:

Ford has three main problems with the Mach E roll out-

The dealers
Long wait time with no information to the dealer or customer.
Competition

Any one of those things should keep every Ford person involved with the Mach E up all night, wetting the bed.

I’m still in, but only due to loyalty, but it’s getting harder to tell people how satisfied I have been so far.

Well you left out a lot of other things...like locking people out of their vehicles and shutting down within a week after delivery. I'd say those are closer to the top of the list lol.

 

[woody]

My approach to this adventure was based on experience, some of which I will relate to you.

My last new Ford was a 1980 EXP. The dealer was dishonest, unprofessional and more. I was in the restaurant business which consumed most of my time and energy and I needed a car with no time to shop around. I swore I would never go back to that dealership and kept my word.

A few years later I needed a pick 'em up truck for work - now pounding nails. I wanted to give Ford a chance for my business again, obviously a different dealership. This dealership was no different than the previous one. They were not interested in offering any of the available incentives or price negotiating. When I told them the competition was willing to sell me their (much better) truck for $1500 less, the Ford dealer told me to buy it there. I did. One of the best vehicles I ever owned. Twenty years: one set of tires replaced(8ply one tons, 80,000 miles); one muffler; one thermostat: one battery [lucky there]; 120,000 miles.. Toyota 1Ton Light Truck (EFI). 30+mpg entire time. (Last vehicle we ever financed.)

Next up: 2004 Prius. (Toyota does not permit any price negotiations. You pretty much pay the MSRP.) The car had to be ordered. They were almost exclusively sent to the East and West coasts where they were sold. I was in Colorado and the dealer told me about the only way to get one was to have it fully loaded. I changed my order to fully loaded. I got it in 5 months. No nonsense. The only attempt to sell anything was from the paperwork/finance guy. He offered an extended warranty which I declined. They did install a clear bra (aka PPF) at no charge upon request.

Next: 2012 Prius. Shopped around. Put in request. Dealer rang us up saying one was coming in that day. Saw it unloaded. Bought it. Same as above, including free clear bra.

2017: Chevrolet Volt. Bought off the lot. Salesman and staff totally clueless about Volt. They were all stored in the back of the lot, unwashed, etc. Lied to us. Sales manager a total jerk. Refused to discuss incentives. Paperwork guy slipped in a disclaimer for hail damage on a Camaro. I said nothing and initialed it. Charged $200 for clear bra.

2019 Bolt: Different dealership. Same experience as other Chevy dealer. A little better informed. By this time most Chevy dealership had at least one salesman who had attended an EV class. No incentives available. My wife insisted on a light interior and the blue exterior. Tough to find, much less buy. $500 for the clear bra. Two and one half days. Worst job of the four. Had to take to a professional to fix it (the clear bra).
The MME will have the PPF installed by aforementioned professional.

*there were other new vehicles along the way, some with similar experiences as variably described above.

Therefore,

1) I knew the MME wait would be longer than 5 or 6 months. Even so, I hoped for 2020 delivery, then January, now March/early April.

2)The MME is a ground up new vehicle. Some things would surely require tweaks or fixes during first production. Achilles would be software. Ford is not software/technology entity.

3)Ford has placed quality at the top of their list for years. While not up to former European or Japanese standards, it is well beyond any "American" car manufacturer standards. (The Bolt far exceeds anything from GM ever.)

4)The write ups and reviews indicated an excellent automobile.

5)The limited dealer contact was most appealing. My experiences with the dealer have been much as expected.

The sales manager is the MME representative at my dealership. He provides nothing to me unless I ask. The two in person contacts with him while not unpleasant but obviously he was uninterested. I was able to glean some information from him on my most recent visit. He has already set up a few MMEs and seems knowledgeable enough. The big challenge will be FOB #2 (I ordered two, one coming Monday and the other from Ford?)

I was perhaps better prepared than most of us. The MME Forum is a great asset and offsets some of Ford's lack of customer service and communication. And the MME Forum makes the experience more fun.

I must admit to becoming complacent as to the loss of the customer. Being a sucker or victim is still abhorred. It would never occur to me under any circumstance to treat anyone this way. I still treat everyone with respect (I continue to wear a tie in public), but we somehow lost that battle (look around you, anywhere and everywhere).
I know, I come from a different place and time, am still sometimes somewhat naive, still crazy after all these years, but I am not giving up.

Should you be unable to wait any longer, by all means purchase another EV. The philosophy remains in so doing.

As always,
Be of good cheer
And have fun

 

[wareagle1440]

What if your Mach-E then ends up getting here before the Polestar? You may have already made a final decision, but if not, ask your dealer if they will share their internal visibility view or not sure what they call it exactly. This can give you a better sense than the Ford website ETA, e.g. is it on a train somewhere in Mexico, or being unloaded 50 miles from your dealership for transport via truck for the last leg.

I asked the same question from polestar. They told me after I finalize the order I lose my $500 deposit if I don’t take delivery or cancel after delivery. I’m fine with that. I’ll finalize my order when I can and then see who arrives first. Unlike Ford I’ve been honest with my Ford dealer and told them my plan. I’ve made it clear, in writing, I am not canceling my Mach e order but that it’s basically a race now. There’s a small chance Ford can win because if my P2 is not already built and in inventory it will be coming from China and could take 6-8 weeks.

 

[JSOrange97]

We are still in the game! Was able to finally have a discussion with our dealer about VV report, and the car is on an eastbound train towards Delaware (currently in Eastern PA.) So, in theory the car still has a chance to be at the dealer next week. Though we still need to figure out if we are subject to the stop-ship.

Also, they had a demo Premium AWD ER model that we finally were able to drive. Both me and my wife were able to get behind the wheel and the car is very cool. Plenty fast enough and the 1 pedal driving is easy to get used to (at least for me.) We did hear some wind noise, but we heard the same amount of wind noise in my F150 on the way home. We are also trying to beat the 3/15 deadline to apply for the NJ rebate. It is going to be close!

 

[theblueone]

What a sad story for Ford - a true enthusiast, day 1 FE reservation, lost in limbo for 3 months plus, and not only a lost sale but likely a lost advocate for the car and company.

With that said, the MME represents so many firsts for Ford that the excruciatingly slow and hiccup-filled rollout is actually somewhat understandable. From the online ordering to the underlying battery and electric motor tech to a mass-market product with massive early demand. That’s a lot of eyeballs scrutinizing every millimeter for flaws.

What is hard to grasp is the ham-handed communications strategy. Little to no updates from corporate, and mealy-mouthed emails speaking vaguely of delivery delays due to quality issues when they do say anything.

The Model Y, Polestar 2, and E-Tron are all appealing competitors. I’ve driven the Tesla and Audi and despite my love of the MME, it wasn’t easy to pick a car that “might” arrive in a few months over a beautiful, powerful, real actual car I could drive home right now. Luckily the pandemic has allowed my family to be a one-car household for a few months while we wait out our MME’s mysterious teething, production and delivery delays.

Your decision makes total sense and I imagine anyone else in your shoes would’ve been hard-pressed to do any different. I think the E-Tron is a gorgeous vehicle with great tech and a mouth watering cabin. You’re going to enjoy it.

And one day, hopefully, I’ll get my space while MME.

This is how I feel exactly. I still hope the MME is an amazing platform that does well, and matures to bring EVs to a new segment of the population. We were ready to be early adopters, and we trusted Ford to be able to avoid Tesla levels of growing pains. More transparency would have gone a long ways towards giving us the confidence to wait this out, but I have gotten vastly more insight on the status of my that car through this forum than I have through Ford or its dealers.

I'm sure I would have sung the praises of an MME to my EV-curious friends. Many of them were surprised to hear that we were buying an Audi instead. My sale and my free advertising were there for Ford to claim, and a good experience probably would have led to another Ford EV in the future. Instead, I'm thrilled with my e-tron experience so far, and I'm on a trajectory to provide that same evangelism and future business for Audi. I still hope the MME does well, but Ford really shot themselves in the foot with some of their most fervent fans.

 

[theblueone]

We are still in the game! Was able to finally have a discussion with our dealer about VV report, and the car is on an eastbound train towards Delaware (currently in Eastern PA.) So, in theory the car still has a chance to be at the dealer next week. Though we still need to figure out if we are subject to the stop-ship.

Also, they had a demo Premium AWD ER model that we finally were able to drive. Both me and my wife were able to get behind the wheel and the car is very cool. Plenty fast enough and the 1 pedal driving is easy to get used to (at least for me.) We did hear some wind noise, but we heard the same amount of wind noise in my F150 on the way home. We are also trying to beat the 3/15 deadline to apply for the NJ rebate. It is going to be close!

I hope it works out for you! Ours was put on a train (post-recall) on 2/12, and it still hasn't reached the dealer.

 

[JSOrange97]

I hope it works out for you! Ours was put on a train (post-recall) on 2/12, and it still hasn't reached the dealer.

Thanks. I’m not going to hold my breath but I hope it keeps moving. Not going to count on anything until it actually shows up.

 

[Rocky29670]

What means did you use to contact ford? Twitter, FB .... or email ? Is there an email somewhere to the division that is responsible for customer care ?

Re-read the first paragraph, I emailed the people listed in @Kamuelaflyer post

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