STONE DEAD NOW COSTING OVER 1k to fix

[Ford Motor Company]

2021 mache purchased mid march of 2025. Back on sunday feb 8th went out to start car and it turned on, but unable to turn to ready mode. All power accessory mode on and all kinds of faults, the charger is now faulting, car ends up going into low battery saving mode and shuts off completely. Monday ford roadside gets it towed to my ford dealership. Dealership says car is stone dead in parking lot. They had to jump the frunk to get in, wont move. They removed 12v in parking lot did a ford battery test and passed. Let sit over night redid a battery test and it passed again. Reinstalled and same thing is happening. 2 days later they finally got it into their garage, but same thing is happening. Faults every where cant turn to ready with a red triangle that says STOP safely now, and wont move. They did a draw test and no draw now running TSB, no new information. My car has been immobile since sunday 2/8/26, and at shop since monday 2/9. Car is still in shop (2/20) just spoke with my service guy. He said they ordered a part for the hvbjb the red triangle stop now is gone, however my 12v is still showing low. No draw before but now showing draws after replacing the hvbjb they are doing a draw test and updating modules which apparently now it isnt covered under warranty for this, and my estimate sits at 1034.00. This just doesnt make sense to me. they said they are looking at reaching back out to me tuesday with a ready date of wednesday 2/25/26 if everything comes back good. What if these module updates dont work? ANYONE KNOWS IF THIS IS ALL STANDARD? id hate to be getting a fast one pulled on me. Im also not super knowledgeable on this aspect of things when it comes to tsb and hvbjb. Ill attach the revised invoices on here so you can actually see what the service department is documenting. ALSO pointing out recall 25s65 was supposedly done on my vehicle back on dec 20th 2025 when the vehicle was in for its inspection. It is still showing it was never done. I brought that up to my service dept just now as to why its showing it wasnt done when it was done. He didnt say much just that the one im seeing that hasnt been done is probably the comp. buckle replacement ford put out… I wasnt referring to that one m. I was referring to the 25s65 with the 12v and rear occupants becoming trapped after last lock out. Now i just checked my updated invoice and the recall update for 25s65 is on here? Under warranty and covered per recall BUT THIS WAS SUPPOSEDLY DONE IN DECEMEBER? This is all crazy upsetting tbh. Is this something im always going to have to worry about? HATE to say it. But after said and done is it worth trading in? I cant always have this issue and have to be paying over 1k out of pocket if its a common thing that will keep happening..?

Hey Jehnna,

If you can send me a private message with your VIN, the dealership you're working with, and your contact info, I'll get this escalated right away.

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[Derail_90]

2021 mache purchased mid march of 2025. Back on sunday feb 8th went out to start car and it turned on, but unable to turn to ready mode. All power accessory mode on and all kinds of faults, the charger is now faulting, car ends up going into low battery saving mode and shuts off completely. Monday ford roadside gets it towed to my ford dealership. Dealership says car is stone dead in parking lot. They had to jump the frunk to get in, wont move. They removed 12v in parking lot did a ford battery test and passed. Let sit over night redid a battery test and it passed again. Reinstalled and same thing is happening. 2 days later they finally got it into their garage, but same thing is happening. Faults every where cant turn to ready with a red triangle that says STOP safely now, and wont move. They did a draw test and no draw now running TSB, no new information. My car has been immobile since sunday 2/8/26, and at shop since monday 2/9. Car is still in shop (2/20) just spoke with my service guy. He said they ordered a part for the hvbjb the red triangle stop now is gone, however my 12v is still showing low. No draw before but now showing draws after replacing the hvbjb they are doing a draw test and updating modules which apparently now it isnt covered under warranty for this, and my estimate sits at 1034.00. This just doesnt make sense to me. they said they are looking at reaching back out to me tuesday with a ready date of wednesday 2/25/26 if everything comes back good. What if these module updates dont work? ANYONE KNOWS IF THIS IS ALL STANDARD? id hate to be getting a fast one pulled on me. Im also not super knowledgeable on this aspect of things when it comes to tsb and hvbjb. Ill attach the revised invoices on here so you can actually see what the service department is documenting. ALSO pointing out recall 25s65 was supposedly done on my vehicle back on dec 20th 2025 when the vehicle was in for its inspection. It is still showing it was never done. I brought that up to my service dept just now as to why its showing it wasnt done when it was done. He didnt say much just that the one im seeing that hasnt been done is probably the comp. buckle replacement ford put out… I wasnt referring to that one m. I was referring to the 25s65 with the 12v and rear occupants becoming trapped after last lock out. Now i just checked my updated invoice and the recall update for 25s65 is on here? Under warranty and covered per recall BUT THIS WAS SUPPOSEDLY DONE IN DECEMEBER? This is all crazy upsetting tbh. Is this something im always going to have to worry about? HATE to say it. But after said and done is it worth trading in? I cant always have this issue and have to be paying over 1k out of pocket if its a common thing that will keep happening..?

Man this sucks. I too was taking my car in for an ongoing issue for over a year and 9total visits to dealership. They were trying to charge me to update softwares of close to $1500 each time. I switched dealerships and my new rep told me the software updates should have been covered by Ford. Ever since I been at the new dealership my car has been working properly. I also know when it’s not working the dealership will take care of me. Where are you located? Software updates seem to be a huge money pit for a lot of ford dealerships when it comes to the EV’s. A lot of time the software update doesn’t even fix the problem.

 

[AZBill]

I agree. If Ford pushes an update and it breaks something, they should fix it.

I recently got the OTA fix for recall 25S65, and within two weeks started getting many of the same issues as the OP, but mine were intermittent. My 12V was 7 months old and passed load tests.

Dealer had to install TSB 21-2244 software to fix it, and they reinstalled the 25S26 recall software also. I think when Ford pushed this recall OTA, it had bugs in it.

 

[Maquis]

I recently got the OTA fix for recall 25S65, and within two weeks started getting many of the same issues as the OP, but mine were intermittent. My 12V was 7 months old and passed load tests.

Dealer had to install TSB 21-2244 software to fix it, and they reinstalled the 25S26 recall software also. I think when Ford pushed this recall OTA, it had bugs in it.

Did you have to pay for the fix?

 

[AZBill]

Did you have to pay for the fix?

No, I did not.

 

[phil]

well, I hope you are never transporting or loaning your MachE to someone traveling with a young child or elderly person with mobility issues that could be stuck in your car in a 12V battery failure situation.

I never do. And if I did, I would authorize them to simply bust a window if needed. And of course any sane parent would not even need my authorization.

Remember that for years, thousands of Mach-E owners drove young and elderly passengers daily -- before this recall/software was ever available. And yet somehow, the world did not come to an end, despite the horrific threat to human safety. Every minute you drive your car, you are incurring a far greater risk than is addressed by this trifling recall. Or every time you take a shower, for that matter. There are serious risks, and there are infinitesimal risks in every day life. It is useful to keep these risks in proper perspective.

 

[jmw1996]

Hey Jehnna,

If you can send me a private message with your VIN, the dealership you're working with, and your contact info, I'll get this escalated right away.

Hi i greatly appreciate it. We picked my car up already paid $1030.34

 

[jmw1996]

UPDATE ON THE MACHE!
have her back ITS SO GOOD TO HAVE HER BACK!
Almost 3 weeks in shop. Paid 1030.34 no new update on the diagnostics then what was posted. They DID NOT replace the 12v he said “you can trickle it” if youre worried about it dying again. It passed our test. If you absolutely want it replaced we can schedule that for a different time… all in all i think this dealership is mid but i am happy to have my car back again. THANK YOU ALL FOR THE HELP AND ADVICE ALONG THE Wy. 🫶 also i did ask him about the updating thing which was discussed on here TO SEE if he could see that, and tell me if that was the case was that the contribution to excessive problems… . He didnt have an answer for me and couldnt tell me….

 

[mkhuffman]

UPDATE ON THE MACHE!
have her back ITS SO GOOD TO HAVE HER BACK!
Almost 3 weeks in shop. Paid 1030.34 no new update on the diagnostics then what was posted. They DID NOT replace the 12v he said “you can trickle it” if youre worried about it dying again. It passed our test. If you absolutely want it replaced we can schedule that for a different time… all in all i think this dealership is mid but i am happy to have my car back again. THANK YOU ALL FOR THE HELP AND ADVICE ALONG THE Wy. 🫶 also i did ask him about the updating thing which was discussed on here TO SEE if he could see that, and tell me if that was the case was that the contribution to excessive problems… . He didnt have an answer for me and couldnt tell me….

If you don't replace the 12V battery, then at least do @Mach-Lee's LVB conditioning procedure. I printed out his procedure and do it annually on my vehicles, ICE Grand Cherokee included, since it also uses an AGM battery.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/how-to-recondition-service-your-12v-battery.11069/

 

[jmw1996]

Man this sucks. I too was taking my car in for an ongoing issue for over a year and 9total visits to dealership. They were trying to charge me to update softwares of close to $1500 each time. I switched dealerships and my new rep told me the software updates should have been covered by Ford. Ever since I been at the new dealership my car has been working properly. I also know when it’s not working the dealership will take care of me. Where are you located? Software updates seem to be a huge money pit for a lot of ford dealerships when it comes to the EV’s. A lot of time the software update doesn’t even fix the problem.

I had a ticket in with ford basically the entire time i had my car in the shop. Last friday
i was told what needed to be done with the modules and the cost was going to be 1030.34 friday morning from my actual dealership rep. So i reached back out to the ford rep i was working with earlier in the week that same evening concerned with the price bc like wtf. she got back to me this past monday very sorry and willing to help. She contacted my dealers they told her my total bill due was 3351.69 she called me back left me a vm and said she ran it though her system and they would help me with financial assistance covering 1,658.60z inwould still owe a little over 1300$ (which was STRANGE bc 3 days ago the rep at my dealership said 1030.34… i reached back out to the ford rep and never heard back monday evening explaining im getting all these amounts from all these people and nothing MAKES SENSE! I followed up with an email too. YES i want any assistance you can provide send the confirmation code so they can apply it i get my car wednesday. Never got a call returned an email returned no code was sent to my dealership. So we had to pay the amount they were saying was due. The dealership didnt wanna talk about it. I assume my dealership rep gave ford the total which included the warranty covered things on it not what i was actually paying. I shouldnt of had to pay anything due to ford reps offer, if the calculations were right. So much back and forth. Also i am a girl and my dealership rep talked to me like i was stupid and was so condescending anytime he had to tell me something. He wouldnt make eye contact with me when we pick my car up until after it was paid. I took my stepdad with me so i had someone elses ear in all the information. I did my research and had help on here from everybody which was so so awesome and i appreciated it all. But its always go to have another take because i can do all the research i want but at the end of the day i still dont exactly know! He only talked to him and looked at him until he wanted a five star rating from me…. I also had an extended warranty i purchased with my dealership but seems the module updates were not powertrain which is what i only had.My car actually did the same thing a week prior when i went to start it on my lunch break at work. It didnt go into lockout mode, and we did get it running by troubleshooting. I reached out to this same rep at my dealer then and he talked to me like i was a kindergartener and told me its because its cold nothing else, so i didnt end of making an appointment one week later this all happened and this time it spiraled. i shouldve just made the appointment the first time, but he made me feel dumb and like an idiot for even calling. We were a bother to his friday afternoon, and it was back up and running so let it go. Bit us in the ass and them too in the long run im glad its done and over with. I will look for another ford dealership to take it to. I trusted them i had my car less then a year from them and they were amazing, until they werent…

 

[jmw1996]

If you don't replace the 12V battery, then at least do @Mach-Lee's LVB conditioning procedure. I printed out his procedure and do it annually on my vehicles, ICE Grand Cherokee included, since it also uses an AGM battery.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/how-to-recondition-service-your-12v-battery.11069/

Thank you for all your help! I appreciate it! I saved the link. I plan on definitely replacing the 12v before next winter probably early fall. Finger crossed i dont need to do it before hand.

 

[Derail_90]

Where are you located?

 

[jmw1996]

Where are you located?

PA

 

[jmw1996]

ANOTHER UPDATE!!!!!
The ford rep i was working with contacted me today and i was right... My dealership rep gave them the wrong amounts.... She got to the bottom of it and we are being reimbursed partially for our payment that was made. Ford is covering 60% of the remaining 1030.34. This is why i love ford. MOST of the time they do what is right without hassle. This rep was named Alice and she is amazing. My dealership rep.... not so much. I say trust your gut. I knew the math wasnt mathing.... AND IT WASNT. lol

 

[VegStang]

Well, after almost 7 weeks at the dealership and their contracted body shop I got my car back, but will probably have to return with it as the plastic panels on the inside of the tailgate are loose. Not sure if they broke some clips or they just aren't seated properly, but pretty frustrated at this point. Even after opening a case with Ford I received no followup from them weeks later.

They replaced both front axels, and the entire rear tailgate. This is the second Mach E I have had go to a body shop without being involved any accident, and as you might expect, the usual paint job quality results- will see more once I give it thorough cleaning, but initially I noticed more orange peel than there should be and some dirt particles in the applied paint. The color seems to be a better match to the rest of the car however than the original factory.

Maybe I should have gotten a different color with the GT, could be a red curse.

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