Weird issue with Ford dealership and Mach E battery

[4sallypat]

They clearly sold you a vehicle that did not work as advertised (although I agree they did something to screw things up between purchase and delivery if your test drive went OK.)

I would request your money back, then escalate to Ford and a lawyer if necessary.

At the moment, they stole your money.

Since the vehicle was not fully consummated (driven off nor given title), isn't there a cancellation policy on non deliverable?

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[4sallypat]

Maybe the salesperson wrecked it while test driving it ??

Yes, when the dealership quoted 3 weeks - that's how long a body shop will take.

When I had a Land Rover Discovery at the service dept, the service porter backed into an overhang and crushed the rear spoiler, glass, and roof. They kept the car for 4 weeks to fix the damages. Did get to roll in a new Range Rover for that time so not a bad trade off...

 

[KevinS]

Since the vehicle was not fully consummated (driven off nor given title), isn't there a cancellation policy on non deliverable?

I remember there was some sort of cancellation policy when I purchased my car (new) but don't remember it being for very long. Maybe 48 hours or something?

 

[HuntingPudel]

I remember there was some sort of cancellation policy when I purchased my car (new) but don't remember it being for very long. Maybe 48 hours or something?

I’m guessing that since @jmach41 hasn’t taken delivery the dealer is in breach of contract and that’d supersede a 48 hour cancellation clause. But I am not a lawyer. Just a curly dog with a keyboard.

 

[lindseybp]

I agree with all the others on here. I would cancel this transaction forthwith. Would be interesting if you actually went to the dealer and tried to look at the car....wonder if you would find crash damage as other have mentioned. Regardless I would cancel this transaction immediately. As others have said there are now a lot of mach-e's, both used and new, available. Would hate to see you stuck with a car that has ongoing issues. Sorry this happened to you mate.

 

[LinkRS]

Have you signed anything? I mean have you already paid for the vehicle and started the paperwork for registration? Based on your description, it doesn't sound like it, so all you out at this point is time. Assuming this is true, and you haven't signed anything yet, I would suggest to start checking other dealerships for Mach-Es that you like, and start the process for one of those. If that deal closes, you can then call the original dealer and cancel it. If you can't find one, at least you will still have the option for the original one, once they get it fixed. I would also recommend that if you get the original one, that you tell the dealership to throw-in an extended warranty, just in case there are other "problems" that pop-up after delivery. Good luck!

 

[OcSteve39]

Hi all- (hopefully) first-time owner of a Mach E here. I'm in a weird situation with a local Ford dealership that I was hoping to get some advice/feedback on:

It's a 2021 Mach E GT with 20k miles on it. Clean CarFax, no outstanding recalls and the test drive went fine. I purchased the car on Thursday, 7/27. I arranged with the dealership to pick it up the following Tuesday. The night before I was supposed to pick it up, I called the dealership to confirm it was ready and they told me that they uncovered a problem with the battery, making the car undrivable. They said they would need to replace the battery, and the car would be ready in three weeks. I told him that I thought it was odd that they didn't check the health of the battery before putting up the car for sale, but he said that's their protocol- to only check those things after a sale has been made

I've been calling every few days to get an update, and the conversations (when I'm able to have one; the salesperson is clearly screening my calls) have been vague "we're working on it" type responses. I didn't get any sort of real update from him until last week when he said the car had "passed phase 1 and 2 of reinspection which means we can now order the battery for you." I asked him what specifically happened in phases 1 and 2 and why they hadn't happened sooner. He said he didn't know. I asked him if he thought the car would still be ready within the initial three week time frame and he said maybe but he didn't know for sure.

I was hoping to get some thoughts/advice on the following:

1. Is it weird that they didn't check the health of the battery of the car before putting it up for sale? Or is that standard practice like the salesperson said?

2. What could have happened to the battery that would have caused it to break to the point of making the car undrivable? And what might be going on with the dealership and Ford behind the scenes now? Presuming they need to ship a new battery in, what's a realistic timeline for me to expect the car to be ready? I'm assuming it won't be ready by next Tuesday which would be three weeks.

3. Is there any recourse I should consider taking with the dealership? They have me in a rental so am not sure if there's something else I should request from them, or if it's possible/in my interest to find a way out of the deal all together. Or am I just out of luck and have to be patient?

Thanks all- was really excited to have this car. I've been looking forward to getting a Mach E since they were first announced back in 2019 and hope to have one as soon as I can.

As a new owner of a 23 GT Performance, of course it's then I decided to look into recalls lol.
As yet, (knock wood) there are no recalls on the 23 model.
I believe the early models up to the 22's had the HVBJB issues which sounded pretty nasty.
On the one hand, if this was a particularly sweet deal, I may be inclined to let them do this fix, on the other, or if you were like me, you posess no such thing approaching patience, I would at this point seek out a 23.
Some supply chains remain on the mend and your dealer would be hard pressed to be able to give you any reliable timeline.
Best of luck and may you be thrown back into your seat very soon!
Safely of course

 

[WikiMart]

I think they found a problem with the HVJB and that's the reason for the repair. I don't think the dealer is shady. A shady dealer would let you drive a defective car away, knowing that miles down the road it would fail. I think you are within your rights to cancel the sale, but if I got one with a new HVJB I would be happy. Mine is of the pre-2022 kind and one day it will fail.

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