The day has finally come.... Service Vehicle Soon

[Mach-Lee]

I literally gave my dealer all the info they needed to open a claim and order the part, and they still didn't get it right initially. Ford really needs to do more to educate dealers on these issues instead of just posting a TSB on PTS and hoping they notice it, or take the few minutes to read it.

I wish Ford would keep track of the number of “corporate interventions” at each dealer and share this during owner’s meetings. If a dealer gets more than three “strikes” in a quarter their service managers should be required to attend additional training. The training should be focused on how to best resolve customer issues, how to search for and use TSBs, how to read codes remotely, how to “triage” vehicles to decrease total wait time, and how to book rental vehicles same-day for breakdown customers. Right now there are no consequences for being rude and ignorant, that needs to change.

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[KissOD]

I was just recently hit with same issue last week. Dealer finally got to look at it today and confirmed HVBJB. Dealer also told me his system is showing this part on backorder. Said he is working with parts team to get a reasonable estimate on when it might get in

That sucks! If the vehicle still has the ability to drive you should keep it and turn it in once the parts show up. I wish I took that advice.

 

[Neil4Real]

I wish Ford would keep track of the number of “corporate interventions” at each dealer and share this during owner’s meetings. If a dealer gets more than three “strikes” in a quarter their service managers should be required to attend additional training. The training should be focused on how to best resolve customer issues, how to search for and use TSBs, how to read codes remotely, how to “triage” vehicles to decrease total wait time, and how to book rental vehicles same-day for breakdown customers. Right now there are no consequences for being rude and ignorant, that needs to change.

The way my service manager explained it, this was before the TSB was officially out for SVS, they're unwilling to do what customer's want for fear of denial by Ford of the warranty work. Even when I told him this means to do this and he knew I had help from Ford, he just said until they give them that direct direction from the hotline or elsewhere, they wouldn't want to get stuck footing the $2k bill for the HVBJB replacement.

This makes sense, I guess, in my case, but now that there is a direct TSB that explicitly spells out what to do, I agree with your idea. Just a bunch of bupkis.

 

[KissOD]

I wish Ford would keep track of the number of “corporate interventions” at each dealer and share this during owner’s meetings. If a dealer gets more than three “strikes” in a quarter their service managers should be required to attend additional training. The training should be focused on how to best resolve customer issues, how to search for and use TSBs, how to read codes remotely, how to “triage” vehicles to decrease total wait time, and how to book rental vehicles same-day for breakdown customers. Right now there are no consequences for being rude and ignorant, that needs to change.

I dislike taking my vehicle to my closest dealership. No smiles, bad attitudes, and even worst vehicle treatment. I turned Bolt in today for the power train warning. No loaners available and I requested service more than a month ago. Additionally, the first full sentence I got out of my service rep was, "software update? That will be a diagnostic fee, you ok with that?"
Noooo....I am not cool with that at all.

 

[benk016]

The way my service manager explained it, this was before the TSB was officially out for SVS, they're unwilling to do what customer's want for fear of denial by Ford of the warranty work. Even when I told him this means to do this and he knew I had help from Ford, he just said until they give them that direct direction from the hotline or elsewhere, they wouldn't want to get stuck footing the $2k bill for the HVBJB replacement.

This makes sense, I guess, in my case, but now that there is a direct TSB that explicitly spells out what to do, I agree with your idea. Just a bunch of bupkis.

Before there is a TSB out is one thing, But most of these dealers are still doing that even with the TSB. The issue is that they can literally diagnose it remotely in a few minutes for this issue and start the claim right then. They just don't want to do that because its not the way they've been doing it. The dealer I'm using for this repair looked at the TSB that says to replace the HVBJB 3 times the day I brought it in, and still didn't follow it.

I also think a lot of dealers completely ignore anything a customer says to them anyway, because most of the time customers don't know what they are talking about. This particular issue though is just very visible for anyone that follows the Mach E closely at all so a lot of us know exactly what needs done.


While dealers suck, I think Ford also has really dropped the ball on preparing dealers for this. This should have been more than just a TSB to them or something. They should have a mailing list that they can send info like this to any tech who is EV Certified, so that the actual tech doing the work stays up to date on this type of thing.

 

[Jack]

Not driving Mache from Phoenix to San Deigo this weekend . Taking the ICE car.

 

[DevSecOps]

That sucks! If the vehicle still has the ability to drive you should keep it and turn it in once the parts show up. I wish I took that advice.

Yeah no... It has the ability to drive but that warning basically means "I will brick at any time".

In my case that happened 3 hours later. You're playing with fire if you decide to continue to drive the car after being notified that you have immanent failure.

I would suggest that you get your car to the dealer at the earliest convenience if you have SVS due to HVBJB issues.

 

[Mach-Lee]

The way my service manager explained it, this was before the TSB was officially out for SVS, they're unwilling to do what customer's want for fear of denial by Ford of the warranty work. Even when I told him this means to do this and he knew I had help from Ford, he just said until they give them that direct direction from the hotline or elsewhere, they wouldn't want to get stuck footing the $2k bill for the HVBJB replacement.

Yeah, a lot of dealers just have this ridiculous irrational fear of their warranty work not getting paid. It drives me nuts. It's a huge impediment to proper service because they are reluctant to actually fix cars. If you are a nincompoop and have clueless technicians replace parts on a whim then you might have unpaid claims. But if you follow the exact steps in the service manual or TSB Ford will pay the claim. They don't get that though!

The TSB states if you have X code replace the junction box. So if you have that code Ford is virtually guaranteed to pay the claim, there shouldn't be any doubts about that after reading it. A normal person would read that and understand the criteria are met so it's covered, but someone with irrational fear or a personality disorder that makes them unable to accept blame won't want to do anything until they get an OK from the hotline (CYA syndrome). You can have the case manager from Ford calling the dealer telling them to replace something and the service manager still doesn't think the claim will be paid. That's absurd and needs to change.

A lot of the challenge improving service is trying to overcome mental blocks like these. It will take a lot of work to train the irrational fear out of them. I'm sure corporate thinks it's nuts too, the fear of not being paid does more harm than good to the brand.

I almost want to start writing warranty claims for dealers when I visit so they can use that as a template. When they see how it's written up for a claim they might feel better about doing the work specified.

 

[Alan Minnesota]

Update:

Dealer called me Tuesday afternoon saying all parts are in and they would work on it Wednesday first thing and hope to have it done by Wednesday evening.

It is now 2:30pm and they still haven't moved the car from the parking lot into the shop yet. I don't see it getting done today. But at least the parts all showed up quick.

This is going to be me tomorrow. Checking the widget constantly for whether Milton has come out of his 5 days of deep sleep…extrapolating to whether or not I’ll have my car back by the evening…questioning what sort of error signals will come flying to my phone when he’s on the operating table…Hmmm. Maybe I need to set a time limit on the app to save me from my obsession with how soon I’ll get my car back

 

[Alan Minnesota]

Milton the MachE returned home today with a new HVJB, 2 weeks after dropping him off. My 4.5 year old hugged it when he saw it, and I did too.

 

[Shaggyrn]

So did you get your car back yet?

 

[benk016]

So did you get your car back yet?

So far from what I can see, They pulled the car into the shop on 9/6 and it has sat there un-touched since. They haven't dropped the battery pack yet. No idea what is going on.

 

[benk016]

Well, After a few un-returned calls to the dealer trying to get an update, Finally had my case manager reach out which triggered the dealer to finally call me. Turns out they only have 1 EV Tech, not 3 like they said when I dropped the car off. And the one EV tech "Hadn't gotten around to it yet"

The last I spoke with them, it would be done on 9/7 at the very latest. They still haven't even started on it. There is no excuse for a dealer to give you a time, and then not update you as to why its taking longer, or return your phone calls.

When they finally called me to tell me what was going on, I was not happy about it and let them know. 10 minutes later they called me back and sounds like management got involved at the dealership and they now say they are going to try and have it done by the end of day tomorrow, or Thursday at the latest if something else comes up that needs fixed. So we'll see if they follow through this time.

 

[EELinneman]

So is the BEV team not helping people prioritize repairs with dealers now?

Not a chance!

 

[benk016]

Dealer called yesterday to confirm they completed the repair.

Earlier in the day I got a random voicemail from them saying they needed to grind down their vehicle lift to work with the car which kind of scared me that they didn't have the proper equipment. But I guess they got it figured out because the repair was completed a few hours later.

They called to let me know it was done, but they had completely forgotten about doing the 10K mile service that I asked them to do since it was just sitting for so long. So they did that yesterday evening and I picked it up today!

I'm glad to have it home and hopefully it doesn't have to go back for anything like that again!

Special thanks to everyone on this forum that helps out behind the scenes, and to those Ford employees that also helped this go much more smoothly than it could have went!

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