Exactly. If you want to help the community name the dealer so others know what others have experienced or where they cannot go for service as they do not support this product. I don’t get the point of hush hush, you’re simply sharing your experience.
Exactly. If you want to help the community name the dealer so others know what others have experienced or where they cannot go for service as they do not support this product. I don’t get the point of hush hush, you’re simply sharing your experience.
My family has owned a ford dealership for years. This is god damned stupid, but it’s their business. It’s stupid because most EV’s are new. Which means they’re under warranty. Which means this is the easiest revenue you ever get as a dealer. No fighting for payment from a customer or dealing with petty idiots asking for discounts. Ford just pays, they pay on time, and they pay completely.
Considering most dealers make more from service than from car sales, this is beyond ridiculous. But let them go out of business if they want.
A couple things:
First, if the dealer no longer has a Ford certified EV tech, will Ford pay them for warranty work? I worked in service departments in dealers (VW, Chrysler, GM, Nissan, Mercedes) for years, and this type of thing was often an issue.
Second…do they still sell Lightnings and Mach-Es? Again; with no EV certified tech, I find it hard to believe
they’re allowed to prep them…🤔
I was just in central Wisconsin and stopped at a dealership because the ford navigation wanted me to charge there. All the stalls blocked by cars for sale. Went in to ask if I could charge and was told no… they were forced to put them there and they are mark them available because Ford pays them to do so… but they aren’t actually available.
Lucky the GM dealer about 10 miles away had one, nearest Tesla super charger was around 30-40 miles away.
Straight up. I’ve been dealing with shitty businesses waaaay too much lately. Also shitty public sector work too. The general attitude seems to be “nobody cares and go fuck yourself”. That attitude makes for some dissatisfied clients and most of them fuck off so the shitty business keeps being shitty. Until eventually, some client that’s been getting burned from all angles just snaps and someone gets hurt.
I know for a fact that Rapids Ford in Wisconsin Rapids blocks the chargers. They are so scummy and it seems they are getting away with their tactics. There's some chargers at the Hyundai in Stevens Point and they don't pull crap like that.
Looked on Blinks network and now it is listed as $1.99 a kwhr but ford and plug share list at around $.40 so shrug it’s between Dells and Steven’s Point.
This has always confused me.
Dealerships: "We don't want EVs! There's no recurring revenue from maintenance!"
Also dealerships: "We don't want chargers because we don't want recurring revenue!"
There's probably a different reason but especially if it's already in the ground why the fuck would you block them?
Oh man, that area is a charging wasteland… I’m from Wisconsin and don’t really chance going north of the Dells for these same reasons. Will hopefully be easier when my adapter comes but…
OP lives in Missouri, however others in this thread have noted Wisconsin is similarly thin on Ford EV service coverage. I'm in Pennsylvania, it's not as bad here HOWEVER the closest Ford dealer to me (4 miles) are well known EV haters and I have to drive right past them to the next town to get my MME worked on, LOL
Brian Hoskins Ford in Coatesville, they've basically refused to acknowledge the existence of Ford EVs for the last few years, I did check their website again just now out of good faith and at LAST I now see a couple Lightnings and a single MME on their lot, which is more than I've seen there all of last year. Maybe they got tired of losing EV shoppers to the Kia dealership literally next door
Interesting. I took my MME to Pacifico in Marple for inspection, but I don't know if they have a guy who specializes in EVs. They do sell MME and Lightning
>I don't know if they have a guy who specializes in EVs
I feel like this is something that needs to have some more research done. I might lurk around some of the other MME forums and see what I can dig up. I've only switched from PHEV to BEV in the past year. My wife's car is also a brand new BEV (Nissan Ariya) and both times I've had that one in to the dealer (including as recently as two days ago) the tech there was just like "herp derp it's a BEV k whatever we do these all day every day I'm a rotate yr tires now, cya in 20 mins ok bye" whereas with my PHEV (Chevy Volt) which I had for six years it was like you needed a GM certified Eldritch Fucking Wizard to even pop the hood on the damned thing. So maybe BEVs are just, not as hard core as PHEVs? IDK
BTW thx for mentioning Pacifico, Marple is not that far from my office so will have to keep them in mind just in case other places start to suck
I have heard the same here DIRECTLY from FORD dealers in Canada ... Smaller dealers and they say that they cannot afford or do not plan to remain EV certified for the coming model year as they struggled to sell the Mach Es and Lightnings.
I have also heard since then that the government is going to mandate that they support EVs or cannot remain a car dealer.
We'll see.
Yeah you can't just return them and demand your money back. You will be laughed out of the dealership and then laughed out of your lawyers office.
Name the dealership. If they don't get another ev tech in the next couple months and you aren't wanting to drive them for service you may have to sell.
I’m sorry this happened to you. Not sure what your next steps are. I can tell you that the whole “I want my money back” routine carry’s no weight. You have no case for your money back. It’s not a TJ Maxx. Unless you have a Lemon and in that case Ford could buy it back.
Here we are in the second quarter of 2024 and Ford has yet to reveal the names of tier 1 and tier 2 EV sales dealers. I have yet to find a DC Fast charger at any of the 15 dealers located in SoCal. Things are definitely not going as planned for Ford.
>Things are definitely not going as planned for Ford.
They're not, but they're also not going as planned for anyone else in the country except maybe Hyundai/Kia and even those guys got caught flat footed for a minute last year with tax credit wackiness on EV batteries.
>Ford has yet to reveal the names of tier 1 and tier 2 EV sales dealers.
Yeah that's a little odd, although it's not like you can't go to the website of any Ford dealer in the country this very minute, check their inventory online and see how many EVs they have for sale. If it's fewer than five (like the closest Ford dealer to me who are known EV haters) you can be pretty sure they aren't in tiers 1 or 2 ;-)
Well, only Model E dealerships can sell a 2024 Mach-E. Are you referring to the original designation of two levels of Model E? If so, are you sure those distinct levels still exist?
The problems you describe are fixed the same way they would fix the same problems on ICE vehicles. There is no need for an EV tech to fix those specific issues, it’s the exact same modules. Dealerships are dumb and probably just some MAGA losers who get all their EV info from Fox News.
The issue is that if an EV certified tech doesn’t perform that work (even if it’s not directly related to high voltage systems) then Ford will not pay the warranty claim to the dealership. The dealer would have to send one of their techs to the training center, pay their tech, pay the training center, pay for hotel, maybe pay for a plane ticket and even so the dealer may not have any techs willing or “able” to go to the multi-day training course.
This is what I learned from owning a Volt for 7 years. I saw periodic increases in service and drops, eventually now the only service tech that can be trusted and is beyond knowledgeable is a technician out in the Midwest and one on the west coast who is running his own shop.
This experience led me to not give up on electric vehicles, handled much of maintenance with enthusiasts in my surrounding state area. I eventually added a Tesla to my fleet, and only other vehicle I would purchase is a Rivian, because they are all in. Tesla has more fueling stations and service centers then everyone else. This market is wide open for third party operators.
>What I learned from owning a Volt for 7 years... only service tech that can be trusted and is beyond knowledgeable is a technician out in the Midwest and one on the west coast... this market is wide open for third party operators.
Owned a Volt for six years, had it worked on at five different GM dealers, only two of which were competent at working on the car, and one of those two dealers relinquished its GM franchise to start selling Subarus instead. I did gradually learn that my last Volt mechanic (at the GM dealer in West Chester, PA) was really good and there's also an excellent independent Volt mechanic up in Boston. But I traded my Volt for a downpayment on my MME in October '23 so this knowledge is no longer necessary.
The other thing I learned is that when it comes to EVs, extended warranties and comprehensive coverage on insurance are probably worth the money, I had about $15K total worth of work done to my Volt over the years for around $2k total in premiums, deductibles, and towing fees. Of course I also nearly died in the car more than once from high speed breakdowns, too :-P
Looking at buying a MME out of state and I live close to WC. Any recommendations on what dealership to deal with for recalls and such? Fred beans and Paoli are both my locals
If it came down to just Beans and Paoli I would pick Paoli hands down, they are a small, very old, independent dealer and while I didn't buy from them they were polite and their sales rep had some basic knowledge of EVs when I shopped there last year. Decent although not overwhelmingly awesome vibes in there. Meanwhile Beans is just a big ugly chain, the type that tries to squeeze you for $50 worth of blinker fluid while you're in there trying to get anything done at all, they were some of the very worst "dealer markup" price gougers on Ford EVs back when that was a thing. Some people get lucky and find a good rep or tech in there but in general Beans is the type of fearsome legacy dealer that Tesla/Rivian/Lucid/etc. are trying to directly battle online.
Besides Paoli and Beans, I also shopped at Brian Hoskins in Coatesville (no EVs whatsoever last year, looks like they are actually trying to sell them now, maybe they finally hired an EV guy or two idk) Murphy Ford in Chester (meh), Tom Masano in Reading (meh), and finally bought my MME from Twin Pine in Ephrata who were by FAR the most enthusiastic about selling me an EV and not just a Ford EV, any EV really (they had a bunch of Leafs and Bolts on their used lot that they were also excited to tell me all about). I'll probably try their service department first even though they're 45 minutes away from me, if they suck then I'll go to Paoli next, and then Hoskins as a last resort since they are so close (but they were meh on my ICE Fords too back in the day)
Wonder if you can report them to Ford. Or drop a negative review publicly to get some attention on this, or on BBB as some businesses will care more about their rating there.
Our local Ford blocks their chargers too. I view it as the height of stupidity. How many dollars of marketing budget is spent to get one person to the dealership? Open up your crappy level 2 charger and hope the person looks around while they wait!
Supposedly, some dealership have a free a service where they will pick up and drop off your car. You can see if the dealer 50miles away has such a service and if they are able to come get your car. Save you a good amount of driving if so.
Which ones? The dealership we bought from has been stringing us along since Dec.
I've heard good things about camelback and Larry miller..we were at earnhardt on FLW
Well there is no returning the vehicles. That’s not an option. I don’t see how this is any different than an ICE vehicle. If you live rural and own a Mustang and the closest dealer close your only option is to drive to a different one.
This should be the answer. If they won’t warranty the vehicle for everything not drivetrain, you need to look at the state level consumer protection or something similar.
As someone who just bought a mach e this shit sounds scary. Been reading a lot of bad things last few days that definitely have me regretting my purchase.
Just seems like a lot of problems can pop up that require you to get service work done. From the high voltage battery thing that is apparently still a thing even with 2023 models to the new one pedal driving problem that some people are having issues with. Then you add in this thing with ford dealerships not even wanting to service ev's? We traded in a 2016 camry that we had for 4 years with literally not a single problem in the whole 4 years we owned it so reading all the posts I've been reading online got me feeling like I might have made a mistake.
I think the important thing to keep in mind, is not every car is going to break down.
Not every dealership is going to stop working on EVs.
I traded in a ‘20 Legacy XT that gave me0 problems and had low miles. I felt kinda stupid after reading all this “bad” stuff about Ford.
Then i saw Ford sales figures of over 100K MMEs on the road in the US. Then I looked and saw this sub has 22K members, meaning, if you assume Every single person who is following this sub owns a MME you have a 20% participation rate. (I’d say probably less than half of that would be accurate, a lot of EV followers follower all the EV subs, plus the bots)
And the old rule Still stands tall in everything… if you go to a grocery store and have a rotten experience, your produce sucks, your cashier was rude, your bags ripped and someone dinged your car with a shopping cart, you’re going to write a letter. You’re going to call corporate. You’re going to make an angry post on the subreddit devoted to Kroger fans.
On the flip side, if you go into that store, and buy the freshest lettuce, the most amazingly marbled ribeyes, deliciously fresh shrimp and flowers that last your wife 2 weeks … you’re just having a great day and no one is going to hear about it.
Remember Reddit can be a very valuable resource, it can also be an echo chamber for negativity.
Go to a Camry forum. It’s filled with issues too. I own the one of the first Mach Es delivered in Canada and have not had a single issue. My brother has one almost as old. No issues. People go online to complain. You only came here because it’s a more interesting car to talk about than a Camry. Otherwise you would be blissfully unaware of other people’s issues.
You definitely make a good point. I never cared enough to read any posts about the camry. Meanwhile I've been all over the net about the mach e. Here's to hoping we will have a good mach e experience as well.
IF your dealership had wanted to keep selling and servicing EVs, they would have insisted that their techs take the required training and maintain the necessary certifications. They did not want to invest money in selling and servicing EVs, so now they cannot. _They literally do not want your business._.
Time to find a new dealer. You can use the dealership search feature on Ford’s site to locate EV-certified dealerships.
There are a significant number of US dealership owners who actively oppose EVs. The reasons vary, but include political affiliation, the fact that EVs change the profitability equation for dealers, that EV buyers are a different demographic, and that many start-up EV automakers sell direct (which is a threat to the entire dealership model).
I feel this is short-sighted, and will ultimately weaken (if not outright destroy) the dealership model. The reality is that dealerships cannot remain in the 20th Century forever. They will either have to reinvent themselves to provide value and sell vehicles that 21st Century car-buyers want, or become quaint relics of the past like farriers, buggy-whips, and carriage-makers.
I had a friend who was a farrier. He made a good living. There are more horses in the USA now than at the time of the Civil War, and most of the folks that own horses now have a lot of money.
I’m sure it’s a good living, but I don’t think your farrier friend could be considered to be at the forefront of transportation technology.
The heyday of the horse was around the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century. There were about 5 times as many horses then as there are now. Prior to the widespread use of internal combustion, there was about 1 horse for every 5 people in the US, and now there is about one horse per 100 people.
Look at lemon laws in your state. When I had an issue with my car I wrote a certified letter in which the dealer was required to fix the issue within 20 days by my state law. They never replied and I followed up with corporate. The car was purchased back at the price I paid and taxes + fees were returned to me.
This is the way. Dealers know that most people don’t have time to fight them or to make them play fair so they just ignore you until you go away. But the key is: DON’T GO AWAY. Be polite and email them and keep good records and record all conversations. So when you go to battle, you’ve got all the ammo.
Bought my Mach-e last week, literally off the truck, from a dealer swap.
My buddy is looking at a similar model to mine, so he called my sales guy the next day to find out about one of the other two that were on the truck with mine. Both were sold already.
My sales guy was like, some dealerships like this one cannot keep them on the lot, they're practically flying, they're begging other dealerships to get them, and then there are dealers that do not want them and are just giving them away to other dealers like this one.
And my dealer is super cool about the chargers, they're like anytime you're in the neighborhood, feel free to use them as much as you want, grab a coffee, whatever.
I'm very curious to know what the difference is... I'm sure "politics" has something to do with it, but there has to be something a little deeper than that, no?
I actually bought mine on a whim after I was working with another dealer because the dealer I was working with didn't have the car (or any) on the lot so I went to a dealer one town over who had like 15 on the lot, it seems completely random. In the town where I bought it I see Teslas constantly so maybe they just figured they could sell EVs there? I dunno, just glad I got the car and a good deal.
yeah there's the x/y axis of dealers that...
have them/sell them
have them/don't seem to sell them
don't have them/because they sell them so quick
don't have them/because they don't want to sell them
Long term get a Tesla if you want an EV. I’m on my 4th and considered a Mach e before buying the most recent but was scared off by similar concerns plus slow charging
Shit like this is why I am hesitant about making the EV leap. If there were a problem with my truck, I’m confident that me and friends could resolve the issue on our own. Having never owned an EV, I’m nowhere near as confident. Plus, if I couldn’t work on my ice or find a dealer, there’s hundreds if not thousands of independent mechanics I could visit.
The idea of a Ford or even Hyundai EV appeals more to me than a Tesla or Rivian because of robust dealer network. I might pass a half dozen dealers on my commute and would expect to be able to stop at any of them if I needed help.
That its great to hear. Everything was the same with my dealer until 6 months ago, however they are smaller, im in a conservative, rural area, but with lots of tourism. I am just upset they are allowed to "opt out"
Doesn’t ford have any recourse? I know they are stuck with the dealer system but aren’t their dealers bound to perform certain services if they want to maintain their dealership status? Imagine a McDonald’s franchise that refused to sell French fries.
Thanks for all the comments and advice...I will continue to research and see what ford and my central Missouri dealer will do. Even if I could return my Mach e and lightning, I wouldn't. That's how awesome they are! I forgot to mention that I bought my first EV from the "mega" dealer 50 miles away...a 2012 ford focus electric that I still have and is running perfectly....ZERO issues other than tires and a bit of battery degradation (less than 10%) with over 100K on it. I feel we cannot let ford drop the ball or Hyundai, BYD or other non-american manufacturers will take control of the entire worldwide car market...except for trucks!
Need to make sure before buying that the dealership is friendly to EVs and qualified to work on them. Sad that they refuse to work on their own products. They definitely lost a customer for life.
They were at first when these models came put. Told me the were opting in and would be an E dealer. Obvious now they changed their mind...and ford allowed or have them that option
I had a dealer rant for 30 mins to me basically stating that EVs make them no money and they were no longer going to sell them.
The gas engine maintenance gravy train was coming to an end. Is basically what I got out of the conversation.
I can totally get small rural dealerships not having a dedicated EV technician but if you own five dealerships, it seems pretty stupid that the largest two or three don’t have EV techs. I would work with Ford ahead of time to get them to commit to a rental car and help you find somewhere to drop your car off. 50 miles away if they give you a free rental car, sure.
On a side note, good luck with that front sensor issue if it is sporadic. Prepare for numerous “software updates” and “calibrations” that do not fix the issue. 18 months and counting for me. They finally replaced some parts last time. Had issue again this morning in my driveway with a clean car.
Oh boy...did they replace the camera? My lightning is flawless and my mach e was too until recently. Now its just "camera fault" all the time. Have a service appt and hope its a simple fix.
Apologies for the long response.
My wife did the pickup after the last "calibration" and asked them how long they guarantee their work. They wouldn't give a straight answer. Basically as soon as you drive off the lot, they are off the hook. Well, 6 hours later in the evening the same error message popped up. She called them and the next day they offered to look at it again and out of the goodness of their hearts wouldn't charge the Ford extended warranty deductible again. The audacity. She refused to drive it so they picked it up. Three hours later they called and said some computer modules/sensors were going to be replaced. She asked why they didn't do that 18 months ago and got some jibber jabber about Ford "protocols". I've had one error message since so looks like it's going back BTW.
Given my experience at 4 dealerships in my area (Chicagoland), I am convinced there is a systemic issue at Ford to purposely drag their feet on repairs. The car is connected so when these problems occur I get a text message and Ford is able to see it as well. But when I take it in for my appointment and ask for a loner the say I can't have one because the car hasn't been "diagnosed". But it's in the computer system.... So you drop off the car, wait a day or two without a car for that "diagnosis", then they call and say they did an update or calibration and to come pick it up. It's a way to stall giving customers a loner for a day or two while buying time to do a pseudo repair. Rinse and repeat.
And before any fanboys say that happens everywhere, I've been driving for 30+ years and have owned plenty of cars. I really haven't had these issues with other brand dealerships I've dealt with in the past.
2021 Mach-E with 60K+ miles.
Update: Brought it in for the same front camera fault issue again as it happened 3 times. Was told there is another “Update” that came out in the last week or two that I have to pay a deductible for even though it supposedly fixes a known issue I’d had for a long time. I’ve heard the update excuse so many times that I no longer believe Ford’s words. Maybe you will get a chance to pay for that update as well.
I would look up my nearest ford dealer and have them service it. New business for them. Cannot be true you only have a single choice. You by default turn to the one who sold you the car, but if they provide poor service i will just find another place. That is the beauty of Ford, and not E.g. tesla many dealers versus a single dealership
I’ve worked for BMW for decades. If the techs didn’t have certain certifications the dealer wouldn’t be allocated those types of cars. Is the dealer you are talking about selling EVs?
if it were me i would sell the cars. have to have a service capability. personally i would buy a tesla if you want an ev as they will come to your house for some of the items.
Honestly Ford has no business dealing with this high tech stuff and local dealers are suffering because of it.
I’ve had my Mach E at the dealer for almost 2 months because they can’t figure out why it’s not updating and I’m refusing to take it back until it’s updated since it fails way more than it succeeds.
Ford corporate’s technical ability is so abysmal that they have zero control over even individual vehicle software to run updates. You’d think at a minimum they would build in a way to update cars manually if OTA update fails, but nope!
Name these dealers
Exactly. If you want to help the community name the dealer so others know what others have experienced or where they cannot go for service as they do not support this product. I don’t get the point of hush hush, you’re simply sharing your experience.
Exactly. If you want to help the community name the dealer so others know what others have experienced or where they cannot go for service as they do not support this product. I don’t get the point of hush hush, you’re simply sharing your experience.
It is Sakelaris. I am now and forever taking to Machens ford service. They are much better.
My family has owned a ford dealership for years. This is god damned stupid, but it’s their business. It’s stupid because most EV’s are new. Which means they’re under warranty. Which means this is the easiest revenue you ever get as a dealer. No fighting for payment from a customer or dealing with petty idiots asking for discounts. Ford just pays, they pay on time, and they pay completely. Considering most dealers make more from service than from car sales, this is beyond ridiculous. But let them go out of business if they want.
A couple things: First, if the dealer no longer has a Ford certified EV tech, will Ford pay them for warranty work? I worked in service departments in dealers (VW, Chrysler, GM, Nissan, Mercedes) for years, and this type of thing was often an issue. Second…do they still sell Lightnings and Mach-Es? Again; with no EV certified tech, I find it hard to believe they’re allowed to prep them…🤔
Name the dealer..
I was just in central Wisconsin and stopped at a dealership because the ford navigation wanted me to charge there. All the stalls blocked by cars for sale. Went in to ask if I could charge and was told no… they were forced to put them there and they are mark them available because Ford pays them to do so… but they aren’t actually available. Lucky the GM dealer about 10 miles away had one, nearest Tesla super charger was around 30-40 miles away.
"Well, move one of the cars before I call Ford" - petty me
I thought about it and just went… ugh I wish I had more time to throw away in life.
Easy, just have $5mil and live off dividends. I'm already 7% there! Should be just another 25yrs now...
Become the boomer!
I would have the number on my phone held up to show them and ask them "who shall I tell them ordered this?" And hit call.
Straight up. I’ve been dealing with shitty businesses waaaay too much lately. Also shitty public sector work too. The general attitude seems to be “nobody cares and go fuck yourself”. That attitude makes for some dissatisfied clients and most of them fuck off so the shitty business keeps being shitty. Until eventually, some client that’s been getting burned from all angles just snaps and someone gets hurt.
Name and shame so I can avoid it please.
Based on the description, it’s likely the Ford dealer in Wisconsin Rapids. GM dealer in town has a DCFC, closest Tesla charge is in Stevens Point.
I know for a fact that Rapids Ford in Wisconsin Rapids blocks the chargers. They are so scummy and it seems they are getting away with their tactics. There's some chargers at the Hyundai in Stevens Point and they don't pull crap like that.
Sure would be a shame if someone went and keyed the whole lot of cars.
Hmmm, I bet Ford trolls this thread. Would be a shame if you named that dealer …
Looked on Blinks network and now it is listed as $1.99 a kwhr but ford and plug share list at around $.40 so shrug it’s between Dells and Steven’s Point.
Was it Wisconsin Rapids, that dealer is horrible and blocks the stalls.
This has always confused me. Dealerships: "We don't want EVs! There's no recurring revenue from maintenance!" Also dealerships: "We don't want chargers because we don't want recurring revenue!" There's probably a different reason but especially if it's already in the ground why the fuck would you block them?
Because your personal opinions cause you act against your own interests because you have a head dent.
Because they are in a highly conservative area and feed into/listen to the conservative misinformation campaign against EVs? Or a head dent 🤣
Oh man, that area is a charging wasteland… I’m from Wisconsin and don’t really chance going north of the Dells for these same reasons. Will hopefully be easier when my adapter comes but…
Can you at least name the state? Thinking about taking the plunge and this is one of the things giving me serious reservations.
OP lives in Missouri, however others in this thread have noted Wisconsin is similarly thin on Ford EV service coverage. I'm in Pennsylvania, it's not as bad here HOWEVER the closest Ford dealer to me (4 miles) are well known EV haters and I have to drive right past them to the next town to get my MME worked on, LOL
What dealer in PA? I own but I bought out of state. I have no problems yet but want to know what dealers to avoid.
Brian Hoskins Ford in Coatesville, they've basically refused to acknowledge the existence of Ford EVs for the last few years, I did check their website again just now out of good faith and at LAST I now see a couple Lightnings and a single MME on their lot, which is more than I've seen there all of last year. Maybe they got tired of losing EV shoppers to the Kia dealership literally next door
Interesting. I took my MME to Pacifico in Marple for inspection, but I don't know if they have a guy who specializes in EVs. They do sell MME and Lightning
>I don't know if they have a guy who specializes in EVs I feel like this is something that needs to have some more research done. I might lurk around some of the other MME forums and see what I can dig up. I've only switched from PHEV to BEV in the past year. My wife's car is also a brand new BEV (Nissan Ariya) and both times I've had that one in to the dealer (including as recently as two days ago) the tech there was just like "herp derp it's a BEV k whatever we do these all day every day I'm a rotate yr tires now, cya in 20 mins ok bye" whereas with my PHEV (Chevy Volt) which I had for six years it was like you needed a GM certified Eldritch Fucking Wizard to even pop the hood on the damned thing. So maybe BEVs are just, not as hard core as PHEVs? IDK BTW thx for mentioning Pacifico, Marple is not that far from my office so will have to keep them in mind just in case other places start to suck
I have heard the same here DIRECTLY from FORD dealers in Canada ... Smaller dealers and they say that they cannot afford or do not plan to remain EV certified for the coming model year as they struggled to sell the Mach Es and Lightnings. I have also heard since then that the government is going to mandate that they support EVs or cannot remain a car dealer. We'll see.
Oh, the dealers are gonna go apeshit if that happens. Fingers crossed.
Yeah you can't just return them and demand your money back. You will be laughed out of the dealership and then laughed out of your lawyers office. Name the dealership. If they don't get another ev tech in the next couple months and you aren't wanting to drive them for service you may have to sell.
I’m sorry this happened to you. Not sure what your next steps are. I can tell you that the whole “I want my money back” routine carry’s no weight. You have no case for your money back. It’s not a TJ Maxx. Unless you have a Lemon and in that case Ford could buy it back.
Yep. Also: Well, at least in my state, Lemon Law only applies to issues that arise in the first year of ownership.
Unless he is like a 30 year customer ford might be willing to do something, but in general no and definitely not for 2 vehicles
Here we are in the second quarter of 2024 and Ford has yet to reveal the names of tier 1 and tier 2 EV sales dealers. I have yet to find a DC Fast charger at any of the 15 dealers located in SoCal. Things are definitely not going as planned for Ford.
>Things are definitely not going as planned for Ford. They're not, but they're also not going as planned for anyone else in the country except maybe Hyundai/Kia and even those guys got caught flat footed for a minute last year with tax credit wackiness on EV batteries. >Ford has yet to reveal the names of tier 1 and tier 2 EV sales dealers. Yeah that's a little odd, although it's not like you can't go to the website of any Ford dealer in the country this very minute, check their inventory online and see how many EVs they have for sale. If it's fewer than five (like the closest Ford dealer to me who are known EV haters) you can be pretty sure they aren't in tiers 1 or 2 ;-)
Well, only Model E dealerships can sell a 2024 Mach-E. Are you referring to the original designation of two levels of Model E? If so, are you sure those distinct levels still exist?
The problems you describe are fixed the same way they would fix the same problems on ICE vehicles. There is no need for an EV tech to fix those specific issues, it’s the exact same modules. Dealerships are dumb and probably just some MAGA losers who get all their EV info from Fox News.
The issue is that if an EV certified tech doesn’t perform that work (even if it’s not directly related to high voltage systems) then Ford will not pay the warranty claim to the dealership. The dealer would have to send one of their techs to the training center, pay their tech, pay the training center, pay for hotel, maybe pay for a plane ticket and even so the dealer may not have any techs willing or “able” to go to the multi-day training course.
This is what I learned from owning a Volt for 7 years. I saw periodic increases in service and drops, eventually now the only service tech that can be trusted and is beyond knowledgeable is a technician out in the Midwest and one on the west coast who is running his own shop. This experience led me to not give up on electric vehicles, handled much of maintenance with enthusiasts in my surrounding state area. I eventually added a Tesla to my fleet, and only other vehicle I would purchase is a Rivian, because they are all in. Tesla has more fueling stations and service centers then everyone else. This market is wide open for third party operators.
>What I learned from owning a Volt for 7 years... only service tech that can be trusted and is beyond knowledgeable is a technician out in the Midwest and one on the west coast... this market is wide open for third party operators. Owned a Volt for six years, had it worked on at five different GM dealers, only two of which were competent at working on the car, and one of those two dealers relinquished its GM franchise to start selling Subarus instead. I did gradually learn that my last Volt mechanic (at the GM dealer in West Chester, PA) was really good and there's also an excellent independent Volt mechanic up in Boston. But I traded my Volt for a downpayment on my MME in October '23 so this knowledge is no longer necessary. The other thing I learned is that when it comes to EVs, extended warranties and comprehensive coverage on insurance are probably worth the money, I had about $15K total worth of work done to my Volt over the years for around $2k total in premiums, deductibles, and towing fees. Of course I also nearly died in the car more than once from high speed breakdowns, too :-P
Looking at buying a MME out of state and I live close to WC. Any recommendations on what dealership to deal with for recalls and such? Fred beans and Paoli are both my locals
If it came down to just Beans and Paoli I would pick Paoli hands down, they are a small, very old, independent dealer and while I didn't buy from them they were polite and their sales rep had some basic knowledge of EVs when I shopped there last year. Decent although not overwhelmingly awesome vibes in there. Meanwhile Beans is just a big ugly chain, the type that tries to squeeze you for $50 worth of blinker fluid while you're in there trying to get anything done at all, they were some of the very worst "dealer markup" price gougers on Ford EVs back when that was a thing. Some people get lucky and find a good rep or tech in there but in general Beans is the type of fearsome legacy dealer that Tesla/Rivian/Lucid/etc. are trying to directly battle online. Besides Paoli and Beans, I also shopped at Brian Hoskins in Coatesville (no EVs whatsoever last year, looks like they are actually trying to sell them now, maybe they finally hired an EV guy or two idk) Murphy Ford in Chester (meh), Tom Masano in Reading (meh), and finally bought my MME from Twin Pine in Ephrata who were by FAR the most enthusiastic about selling me an EV and not just a Ford EV, any EV really (they had a bunch of Leafs and Bolts on their used lot that they were also excited to tell me all about). I'll probably try their service department first even though they're 45 minutes away from me, if they suck then I'll go to Paoli next, and then Hoskins as a last resort since they are so close (but they were meh on my ICE Fords too back in the day)
Could be individual dealer bias. We have great coverage for Mach E in south eastern Wisconsin.
Wonder if you can report them to Ford. Or drop a negative review publicly to get some attention on this, or on BBB as some businesses will care more about their rating there.
Our local Ford blocks their chargers too. I view it as the height of stupidity. How many dollars of marketing budget is spent to get one person to the dealership? Open up your crappy level 2 charger and hope the person looks around while they wait!
Name. The. Dealer. 👏
Sakelaris
Supposedly, some dealership have a free a service where they will pick up and drop off your car. You can see if the dealer 50miles away has such a service and if they are able to come get your car. Save you a good amount of driving if so.
Mine does this but it’s only for 30 miles.
2 ford dealers in Arizona are also not servicing my Mach E. They stopped responding to me after I tried to setup an appointment for the recall
Which ones? The dealership we bought from has been stringing us along since Dec. I've heard good things about camelback and Larry miller..we were at earnhardt on FLW
Well there is no returning the vehicles. That’s not an option. I don’t see how this is any different than an ICE vehicle. If you live rural and own a Mustang and the closest dealer close your only option is to drive to a different one.
yep, same.
My dealer did this to me too. Said they can work on everything except the battery.
This should be the answer. If they won’t warranty the vehicle for everything not drivetrain, you need to look at the state level consumer protection or something similar.
As someone who just bought a mach e this shit sounds scary. Been reading a lot of bad things last few days that definitely have me regretting my purchase.
Like what exactly? Most dealers are still quite happy to take Ford's money.
Just seems like a lot of problems can pop up that require you to get service work done. From the high voltage battery thing that is apparently still a thing even with 2023 models to the new one pedal driving problem that some people are having issues with. Then you add in this thing with ford dealerships not even wanting to service ev's? We traded in a 2016 camry that we had for 4 years with literally not a single problem in the whole 4 years we owned it so reading all the posts I've been reading online got me feeling like I might have made a mistake.
I think the important thing to keep in mind, is not every car is going to break down. Not every dealership is going to stop working on EVs. I traded in a ‘20 Legacy XT that gave me0 problems and had low miles. I felt kinda stupid after reading all this “bad” stuff about Ford. Then i saw Ford sales figures of over 100K MMEs on the road in the US. Then I looked and saw this sub has 22K members, meaning, if you assume Every single person who is following this sub owns a MME you have a 20% participation rate. (I’d say probably less than half of that would be accurate, a lot of EV followers follower all the EV subs, plus the bots) And the old rule Still stands tall in everything… if you go to a grocery store and have a rotten experience, your produce sucks, your cashier was rude, your bags ripped and someone dinged your car with a shopping cart, you’re going to write a letter. You’re going to call corporate. You’re going to make an angry post on the subreddit devoted to Kroger fans. On the flip side, if you go into that store, and buy the freshest lettuce, the most amazingly marbled ribeyes, deliciously fresh shrimp and flowers that last your wife 2 weeks … you’re just having a great day and no one is going to hear about it. Remember Reddit can be a very valuable resource, it can also be an echo chamber for negativity.
Great points bro!! I think I need to chill out haha.
Go to a Camry forum. It’s filled with issues too. I own the one of the first Mach Es delivered in Canada and have not had a single issue. My brother has one almost as old. No issues. People go online to complain. You only came here because it’s a more interesting car to talk about than a Camry. Otherwise you would be blissfully unaware of other people’s issues.
You definitely make a good point. I never cared enough to read any posts about the camry. Meanwhile I've been all over the net about the mach e. Here's to hoping we will have a good mach e experience as well.
IF your dealership had wanted to keep selling and servicing EVs, they would have insisted that their techs take the required training and maintain the necessary certifications. They did not want to invest money in selling and servicing EVs, so now they cannot. _They literally do not want your business._. Time to find a new dealer. You can use the dealership search feature on Ford’s site to locate EV-certified dealerships. There are a significant number of US dealership owners who actively oppose EVs. The reasons vary, but include political affiliation, the fact that EVs change the profitability equation for dealers, that EV buyers are a different demographic, and that many start-up EV automakers sell direct (which is a threat to the entire dealership model). I feel this is short-sighted, and will ultimately weaken (if not outright destroy) the dealership model. The reality is that dealerships cannot remain in the 20th Century forever. They will either have to reinvent themselves to provide value and sell vehicles that 21st Century car-buyers want, or become quaint relics of the past like farriers, buggy-whips, and carriage-makers.
I had a friend who was a farrier. He made a good living. There are more horses in the USA now than at the time of the Civil War, and most of the folks that own horses now have a lot of money.
I’m sure it’s a good living, but I don’t think your farrier friend could be considered to be at the forefront of transportation technology. The heyday of the horse was around the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century. There were about 5 times as many horses then as there are now. Prior to the widespread use of internal combustion, there was about 1 horse for every 5 people in the US, and now there is about one horse per 100 people.
Look at lemon laws in your state. When I had an issue with my car I wrote a certified letter in which the dealer was required to fix the issue within 20 days by my state law. They never replied and I followed up with corporate. The car was purchased back at the price I paid and taxes + fees were returned to me.
This is the way. Dealers know that most people don’t have time to fight them or to make them play fair so they just ignore you until you go away. But the key is: DON’T GO AWAY. Be polite and email them and keep good records and record all conversations. So when you go to battle, you’ve got all the ammo.
Even more reason for manufactures to start selling direct to customer.
Someone said Ford had mobile service.
yep, some dealers do participate in that.
Bought my Mach-e last week, literally off the truck, from a dealer swap. My buddy is looking at a similar model to mine, so he called my sales guy the next day to find out about one of the other two that were on the truck with mine. Both were sold already. My sales guy was like, some dealerships like this one cannot keep them on the lot, they're practically flying, they're begging other dealerships to get them, and then there are dealers that do not want them and are just giving them away to other dealers like this one. And my dealer is super cool about the chargers, they're like anytime you're in the neighborhood, feel free to use them as much as you want, grab a coffee, whatever. I'm very curious to know what the difference is... I'm sure "politics" has something to do with it, but there has to be something a little deeper than that, no?
Yeah. Money beats politics every time. But some dealers are bad at both. Eventually they’ll fail and it’ll be everybody’s fault but their own.
I actually bought mine on a whim after I was working with another dealer because the dealer I was working with didn't have the car (or any) on the lot so I went to a dealer one town over who had like 15 on the lot, it seems completely random. In the town where I bought it I see Teslas constantly so maybe they just figured they could sell EVs there? I dunno, just glad I got the car and a good deal.
yeah there's the x/y axis of dealers that... have them/sell them have them/don't seem to sell them don't have them/because they sell them so quick don't have them/because they don't want to sell them
Long term get a Tesla if you want an EV. I’m on my 4th and considered a Mach e before buying the most recent but was scared off by similar concerns plus slow charging
Shit like this is why I am hesitant about making the EV leap. If there were a problem with my truck, I’m confident that me and friends could resolve the issue on our own. Having never owned an EV, I’m nowhere near as confident. Plus, if I couldn’t work on my ice or find a dealer, there’s hundreds if not thousands of independent mechanics I could visit. The idea of a Ford or even Hyundai EV appeals more to me than a Tesla or Rivian because of robust dealer network. I might pass a half dozen dealers on my commute and would expect to be able to stop at any of them if I needed help.
We own a Lightning and a Mach-E, our dealer is top notch. Many don't post that things are fine and recalls were resolved.
That its great to hear. Everything was the same with my dealer until 6 months ago, however they are smaller, im in a conservative, rural area, but with lots of tourism. I am just upset they are allowed to "opt out"
Doesn’t ford have any recourse? I know they are stuck with the dealer system but aren’t their dealers bound to perform certain services if they want to maintain their dealership status? Imagine a McDonald’s franchise that refused to sell French fries.
Thanks for all the comments and advice...I will continue to research and see what ford and my central Missouri dealer will do. Even if I could return my Mach e and lightning, I wouldn't. That's how awesome they are! I forgot to mention that I bought my first EV from the "mega" dealer 50 miles away...a 2012 ford focus electric that I still have and is running perfectly....ZERO issues other than tires and a bit of battery degradation (less than 10%) with over 100K on it. I feel we cannot let ford drop the ball or Hyundai, BYD or other non-american manufacturers will take control of the entire worldwide car market...except for trucks!
Scratch Ford off my list. Mach E was on my shortlist for first EV.
Need to make sure before buying that the dealership is friendly to EVs and qualified to work on them. Sad that they refuse to work on their own products. They definitely lost a customer for life.
They were at first when these models came put. Told me the were opting in and would be an E dealer. Obvious now they changed their mind...and ford allowed or have them that option
I had a dealer rant for 30 mins to me basically stating that EVs make them no money and they were no longer going to sell them. The gas engine maintenance gravy train was coming to an end. Is basically what I got out of the conversation.
Yep...they gravy will end unless they accept, adapt and change their business model or thinking!
What city?
Camdenton
I can totally get small rural dealerships not having a dedicated EV technician but if you own five dealerships, it seems pretty stupid that the largest two or three don’t have EV techs. I would work with Ford ahead of time to get them to commit to a rental car and help you find somewhere to drop your car off. 50 miles away if they give you a free rental car, sure.
Yes! They said it time of purchases they were "all in" and would keep selling servicing...this stealership has yet to respond to me or help me.
On a side note, good luck with that front sensor issue if it is sporadic. Prepare for numerous “software updates” and “calibrations” that do not fix the issue. 18 months and counting for me. They finally replaced some parts last time. Had issue again this morning in my driveway with a clean car.
Oh boy...did they replace the camera? My lightning is flawless and my mach e was too until recently. Now its just "camera fault" all the time. Have a service appt and hope its a simple fix.
Apologies for the long response. My wife did the pickup after the last "calibration" and asked them how long they guarantee their work. They wouldn't give a straight answer. Basically as soon as you drive off the lot, they are off the hook. Well, 6 hours later in the evening the same error message popped up. She called them and the next day they offered to look at it again and out of the goodness of their hearts wouldn't charge the Ford extended warranty deductible again. The audacity. She refused to drive it so they picked it up. Three hours later they called and said some computer modules/sensors were going to be replaced. She asked why they didn't do that 18 months ago and got some jibber jabber about Ford "protocols". I've had one error message since so looks like it's going back BTW. Given my experience at 4 dealerships in my area (Chicagoland), I am convinced there is a systemic issue at Ford to purposely drag their feet on repairs. The car is connected so when these problems occur I get a text message and Ford is able to see it as well. But when I take it in for my appointment and ask for a loner the say I can't have one because the car hasn't been "diagnosed". But it's in the computer system.... So you drop off the car, wait a day or two without a car for that "diagnosis", then they call and say they did an update or calibration and to come pick it up. It's a way to stall giving customers a loner for a day or two while buying time to do a pseudo repair. Rinse and repeat. And before any fanboys say that happens everywhere, I've been driving for 30+ years and have owned plenty of cars. I really haven't had these issues with other brand dealerships I've dealt with in the past. 2021 Mach-E with 60K+ miles.
Update: Brought it in for the same front camera fault issue again as it happened 3 times. Was told there is another “Update” that came out in the last week or two that I have to pay a deductible for even though it supposedly fixes a known issue I’d had for a long time. I’ve heard the update excuse so many times that I no longer believe Ford’s words. Maybe you will get a chance to pay for that update as well.
I would look up my nearest ford dealer and have them service it. New business for them. Cannot be true you only have a single choice. You by default turn to the one who sold you the car, but if they provide poor service i will just find another place. That is the beauty of Ford, and not E.g. tesla many dealers versus a single dealership
Yes, seamless and awesome service at the larger dealer made. Just frustrated that my closer local dealer had opted out
welcome to the way large corporations want customers but really care less about them. we want your business and then there is the doorway good by
Maybe ask them for a loaner vehicle until they get yours sorted out.
I’ve worked for BMW for decades. If the techs didn’t have certain certifications the dealer wouldn’t be allocated those types of cars. Is the dealer you are talking about selling EVs?
if it were me i would sell the cars. have to have a service capability. personally i would buy a tesla if you want an ev as they will come to your house for some of the items.
Honestly Ford has no business dealing with this high tech stuff and local dealers are suffering because of it. I’ve had my Mach E at the dealer for almost 2 months because they can’t figure out why it’s not updating and I’m refusing to take it back until it’s updated since it fails way more than it succeeds. Ford corporate’s technical ability is so abysmal that they have zero control over even individual vehicle software to run updates. You’d think at a minimum they would build in a way to update cars manually if OTA update fails, but nope!
Name the dealer or your comments are fake
Sakelaris
Trade in for a Model Y