Tow Company Warning... Getting a new HV battery

imstriker

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I had posted an earlier thread about my 12 volt dying and using Ford Roadside to have my Mach-E towed to the dealer. That was an experience by itself, but I wanted to start a new one as a warning...

The service provider that Ford contracted out hooked up their tow chains to the battery frame. So now I have large tears down both side of my battery. My dealership has been great, but I'm now without a car for who knows how long. They are waiting to get official approval from the tow company insurance and see what the wait time will be on a new battery.

Tow companies do not understand this car, even the ones Ford hires. In fairness to them there are two large holes in the battery frame that look just like the ones they usually connect to. Beware if you get your car towed unless you just want a new battery. Ford is going to need to put some thought into this or I would bet it will become a very large problem.
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RickMachE

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I had posted an earlier thread about my 12 volt dying and using Ford Roadside to have my Mach-E towed to the dealer. That was an experience by itself, but I wanted to start a new one as a warning...

The service provider that Ford contracted out hooked up their tow chains to the battery frame. So now I have large tears down both side of my battery. My dealership has been great, but I'm now without a car for who knows how long. They are waiting to get official approval from the tow company insurance and see what the wait time will be on a new battery.

Tow companies do not understand this car, even the ones Ford hires. In fairness to them there are two large holes in the battery frame that look just like the ones they usually connect to. Beware if you get your car towed unless you just want a new battery. Ford is going to need to put some thought into this or I would bet it will become a very large problem.
I would think that @Ford Motor Company would want to get this understood ASAP.
 

zvez

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I had posted an earlier thread about my 12 volt dying and using Ford Roadside to have my Mach-E towed to the dealer. That was an experience by itself, but I wanted to start a new one as a warning...

The service provider that Ford contracted out hooked up their tow chains to the battery frame. So now I have large tears down both side of my battery. My dealership has been great, but I'm now without a car for who knows how long. They are waiting to get official approval from the tow company insurance and see what the wait time will be on a new battery.

Tow companies do not understand this car, even the ones Ford hires. In fairness to them there are two large holes in the battery frame that look just like the ones they usually connect to. Beware if you get your car towed unless you just want a new battery. Ford is going to need to put some thought into this or I would bet it will become a very large problem.
I remember reading some months ago about a similar situation happening. So I guess the only way to transport is wheel tie downs?
 

RickMachE

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I would think the issue is pulling it up on the flatbed, not tying it down.
 

breeves002

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I had posted an earlier thread about my 12 volt dying and using Ford Roadside to have my Mach-E towed to the dealer. That was an experience by itself, but I wanted to start a new one as a warning...

The service provider that Ford contracted out hooked up their tow chains to the battery frame. So now I have large tears down both side of my battery. My dealership has been great, but I'm now without a car for who knows how long. They are waiting to get official approval from the tow company insurance and see what the wait time will be on a new battery.

Tow companies do not understand this car, even the ones Ford hires. In fairness to them there are two large holes in the battery frame that look just like the ones they usually connect to. Beware if you get your car towed unless you just want a new battery. Ford is going to need to put some thought into this or I would bet it will become a very large problem.
There’s a literal entire wreckers guide for every Ford vehicle. They tow truck drivers should have access to this info and it tells them how to hook up or tow each individual vehicle. There’s also an emergency guide for first responders when there’s a damaged vehicle.

https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/2932510/2021-Wrecker-Towing-Guide-MCS-5717.pdf
 


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imstriker

imstriker

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There’s a literal entire wreckers guide for every Ford vehicle. They tow truck drivers should have access to this info and it tells them how to hook up or tow each individual vehicle. There’s also an emergency guide for first responders when there’s a damaged vehicle.

https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/2932510/2021-Wrecker-Towing-Guide-MCS-5717.pdf
Great find, have not seen that one. Guess they need to figure out how to ensure their providers read it huh.
 

harrysiii

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Except they've been MIA in these threads, unfortunately. :'(
Probably because everyone tries to involve them for every little problem - like asking for free key fobs or a frunk button - so real problems get overlooked and lost in the mix. I thought there were tow instructions in this forum somewhere... That's where I would have started if my car was being towed.
 
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imstriker

imstriker

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Probably because everyone tries to involve them for every little problem - like asking for free key fobs or a frunk button - so real problems get overlooked and lost in the mix. I thought there were tow instructions in this forum somewhere... That's where I would have started if my car was being towed.
As the starter of this, I'm not looking for their involvement at the moment. As I said, my dealer has been great. They offered to go above and beyond and already have Ford Engineering involved. Now, in terms of the towing, I don't think it is on the customer to give tow instructions to the wrecker that Ford Roadside hires. The dealer recommended having it towed since it was dead, that's the end of my involvement in my mind. If I had the time and wanted to, I'm sure I could have just gone through the jump-start process and avoided all of this in my case. I just went by the dealer and Ford to have it towed there.
 

Mach-Tony

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As the starter of this, I'm not looking for their involvement at the moment. As I said, my dealer has been great. They offered to go above and beyond and already have Ford Engineering involved. Now, in terms of the towing, I don't think it is on the customer to give tow instructions to the wrecker that Ford Roadside hires. The dealer recommended having it towed since it was dead, that's the end of my involvement in my mind. If I had the time and wanted to, I'm sure I could have just gone through the jump-start process and avoided all of this in my case. I just went by the dealer and Ford to have it towed there.
It should always be in your interest to make sure your car is transported correctly and not damaged. Otherwise, you'll be without a car for weeks/months until it's fixed. This took me 2 minutes to find and would have saved you a lot of trouble.
Ford Mustang Mach-E Tow Company Warning... Getting a new HV battery 1632494243427
 

Gimme_my_MME

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It should always be in your interest to make sure your car is transported correctly and not damaged. Otherwise, you'll be without a car for weeks/months until it's fixed. This took me 2 minutes to find and would have saved you a lot of trouble.
Ford Mustang Mach-E Tow Company Warning... Getting a new HV battery 1632494243427
But on the other hand when you get a tow through Ford Roadside Assistance you would expect that they are acting at the behest of Ford and thus know what they are doing, rather than just some random person with a tow strap. You don't check up on the mechanic at the Ford dealership when you take your car in because you expect Ford to have set some guidelines that the independent dealerships are following on how work gets done to the standard Ford expects.

I'm not saying you're wrong that it's not in someone's best interest to check and be aware, but it's not something that the end user should be expected to be doing
 

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But on the other hand when you get a tow through Ford Roadside Assistance you would expect that they are acting at the behest of Ford and thus know what they are doing, rather than just some random person with a tow strap. You don't check up on the mechanic at the Ford dealership when you take your car in because you expect Ford to have set some guidelines that the independent dealerships are following on how work gets done to the standard Ford expects.

I'm not saying you're wrong that it's not in someone's best interest to check and be aware, but it's not something that the end user should be expected to be doing
Actually, I check my oil level after oil changes (as well as others) and you would be surprised at how many times it's actually lower than it should be. I just tend to take care of my cars and make sure nothing gets damaged. It's best practice to do so, rather than not do anything and complain when things go wrong.
 

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