What happens when Ford stops supporting our connected services?

[matwlev]

I suppose this is an issue for pretty much any modern car, but what happens when Ford decides that it no longer wants to put resources towards updating and maintaining the connected services that are available on the Mach E? I get that the infotainment screens that don't require services would continue to function as they do today, but my car constantly has the little icon at the top showing that it's communicating with some services and I'm one of those weirdos who prefers the built-in nav. I'm sure the day will also come when Apple or Google decides that they want to update the requirements for CarPlay and Android Auto and our Mach E's will no longer support it. Just the world we live in now, but it makes me sad to think that people could be getting rid of vehicles that are good for hundreds of thousands more miles just because they can't use a lot of the infotainment features. A phone is one thing, but a car?! Maybe there third-parties will step up and provide upgrades?

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[jgcom]

This answer will probably not make most of us happy, but if Ford charges for services by the month or year, perhaps that will make them more likely to keep supplying them, even as the tech gets old. My hunch is 4G networking (unlike 3G) won't be shut off any time soon. Most of my daily drive covers vast area that is still on 4G.

Regarding Carplay and the Android equivalent, I'm not aware of any cars that aged out of compatibility. Anyone seen this?

 

[AtomicInternet]

Ford officially supports my 2017 Focus up to Sync 3.0 with 2018 map data.
There is a group of people (Cyan Labs) who found a way to force an upgrade to 3.4 with 2024 map data.
It looks and runs noticeably better than my official version, but there aren't really any connected features like the MachE for comparison.

I'm hoping as support falls off from Ford, someone figures out a similar way to change the software or upgrade it past the planned obsolescence date.

 

[music_cities]

I suppose this is an issue for pretty much any modern car, but what happens when Ford decides that it no longer wants to put resources towards updating and maintaining the connected services that are available on the Mach E? I get that the infotainment screens that don't require services would continue to function as they do today, but my car constantly has the little icon at the top showing that it's communicating with some services and I'm one of those weirdos who prefers the built-in nav. I'm sure the day will also come when Apple or Google decides that they want to update the requirements for CarPlay and Android Auto and our Mach E's will no longer support it. Just the world we live in now, but it makes me sad to think that people could be getting rid of vehicles that are good for hundreds of thousands more miles just because they can't use a lot of the infotainment features. A phone is one thing, but a car?! Maybe there third-parties will step up and provide upgrades?

I got more life out of 2005 4Runner by dropping in a new head unit that has CarPlay. Can’t do that in modern cars.

 

[stoopid]

The USB port will always work and third party adapters for whatever latest AndrAutoPlay that comes along a decade from now will provide future functionality (I was using a usb adapter for wireless Android Auto with my last car, for example).

At worse you'll need to load up a USB thumbdrive with MP3s for music, use a keyfob for locks & ignition, and a smartphone mount to use navigation on the phone's screen.

The cars are appliances (I know I post this a lot), and there's clear intent of planned obsolescence behind most modern electronics. 10 years seems to be the sweet spot where tech and the battery pack in the car will go to the grave together. Some will replace the battery pack, but with any car once you get to a certain point in time/mileage any number of failures can happen and sometimes it's better to cut your future loses and move on to something else.

I would be more worried about Ford being a thing in 5 years than what happens to the car's tech in 10.

 

[matwlev]

I wonder how much Ford makes off of all of the different subscription services they offer. I pay $80/year for nav and $10/month for connected services. When I need it, I'll pay the $50 for a month of BC. Wouldn't it only help them to keep supporting these subscriptions and making them something owners want to pay for? Otherwise they make nothing until I go buy a new car from them, which I probably won't because I typically buy used.

 

[MetalCord]

I don't pay for anything other than my car payment and insurance. I don't need to pay for nav since I use android auto. And the hardware (unless it fails completely) isn't likely to age out anytime soon as all the heavy lifting is done by the phone. The car just needs projection to show what's on the phone. Once Android Auto is built into the car... then incompatible upgrades may become a concern.

I am way more concerned about how bold automakers are getting when it comes to what are now basic features being locked behind a paywall. For example, Toyota requiring subscription fees to remotely start your car. Hopefully, I will have the option to simply live without the features because the cars are already too expensive.

 

[Mach1E]

With CarPlay you don’t need connected services.

 

[New2EV]

I don't pay for anything other than my car payment and insurance. I don't need to pay for nav since I use android auto. And the hardware (unless it fails completely) isn't likely to age out anytime soon as all the heavy lifting is done by the phone. The car just needs projection to show what's on the phone. Once Android Auto is built into the car... then incompatible upgrades may become a concern.

I am way more concerned about how bold automakers are getting when it comes to what are now basic features being locked behind a paywall. For example, Toyota requiring subscription fees to remotely start your car. Hopefully, I will have the option to simply live without the features because the cars are already too expensive.

Ford is already locking out the ability to adjust charge level and set departure times in the app unless you share all of your driving data with them and their "partners" (seat belt usage, acceleration, braking, etc ..). Seems pretty simple next step to make it a pay feature.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...the-“ford-app”-version-6-0.49859/post-1032625

 

[RickMachE]

I wonder how much Ford makes off of all of the different subscription services they offer. I pay $80/year for nav and $10/month for connected services. When I need it, I'll pay the $50 for a month of BC. Wouldn't it only help them to keep supporting these subscriptions and making them something owners want to pay for? Otherwise they make nothing until I go buy a new car from them, which I probably won't because I typically buy used.

On the Fleet side, $1 BILLION...

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Stellantis stopped supporting their UConnect services for my wife's 2017 Fiat 500e before we bought it used. Another company created their own parallel system when connects to the ODB2 port, has its own cellular modem, etc. The previous owner had had that installed and it works great. Honestly given how niche the 500e is, I kinda surprised that they went through the trouble. That said, I presume the same Stallantis service discontinuation applied to the rest of the Fiat 500 family, and that family is much more popular in Europe than in the US. (The new provider is based in Switzerland.) Anyway, it works well and costs $100/annually for everything. I don't think it includes nav updates, but we just use our phones for that anyway, so we don't care.

The point of all of this is that if there is a market, enterprising companies will create products. Hopefully if/when Ford ends our services, we'll have other options...

 

[AliRafiee]

I will continue to use CarPlay as I have in the last 3 years.

 

[TechWhisperer]

If 4G goes away at some point, it can connect via WiFi. In fact I've done that in areas it could not get a good ATT signal, and connected to the hotspot on my phone which is on Verizon.

This was when I used the connected navigation to find chargers.

Now that I can do this through Google maps in Android auto, I no longer pay for the connected navigation.

 

[Mache_Nor]

With CarPlay you don’t need connected services.

Living in a cold country, I need precondition feature that Ford tied to the services, if those stops - no precondition, which makes cold charging very much longer (extreme cases it takes almost double the time to charge).

 

[rugedraw]

Companies already do this. My girl's 2023 Bronco Sport is on Sync 3 as Ford did not add Sync 4 to that platform until 2025. I just got an APIM shipped to me from Infotainment to beta-test the Sync 4 upgrade they are working on for these vehicles. Also got a test-build from FORScan offering Sync 4 support for the Bronco Sport from them last night.

I can also tell you that Infotainment also has successfully added a 5G modem to vehicles on Sync 4 that came with a 4G modem.

Even with this TRON crap Ford is using now, there are clever people that have installed TRON enabled modules in non-TRON vehicles and have gotten it to work.

Where there's a will (and deep enough pockets), there is a way. The question is, at what point does it get so expensive to keep up with the times where it just isn't worth it anymore? When you really think about it, if you drive an older vehicle before the touchscreen era, you can easily and relativelty cheaply upgrade the analog system with a screen that includes all the modern tech available today. For $150, you can add tech to a 2012 Ford Focus that some 2025 vehicles don't have.

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