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First Two Months Of Ownership Have Been A Nightmare

lcsmall

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I'm looking for some advice. I've owned probably 10 Ford vehicles and this has easily been the worst experience.

I bought from a dealership 4 hours away because they had a new 2023 still on their lot with the trim and package I wanted (XLT with 312A). I traded in my 2023 Tesla Modal Y so I'm familiar with the quirks that come with owning an EV.

Buying process is fine until trying to set up FordPass app. For some reason I can't connect my vehicle. Salesperson tries to call support, but they are closed at 7pm on Saturday. No big deal, the salesperson lets me borrow his login so I can locate EA chargers and get home 4 hours away,

Try setting up FordPass app next day and no luck. Spend several hours with support on phone. Tried everything from resetting modem, uninstalling app, deleting and re-adding vehicle, but nothing works. Selling dealership sets me up with appointment at my local dealership (2 weeks out) so they can diagnose problem and fix it. I was told they should be able to plug the truck into their computer and diagnose and fix the problem. Two days later I go to pick it up and still not working. Dealership tells me there is nothing else they can do.

So 6 weeks after buying truck I'm heading back to the dealership 4 hours away where they assure me they will fix the issue that weekend. Drop the vehicle off early on a Friday figuring I'll pick it up late the following day and head home. The TCU is diagnosed as bad, but the dealership can't get in touch with Ford to authorize replacement under warranty. I was told the part was in stock and as soon as authorization is given, the part will be replaced. I'm not sure why my local dealership couldn't tell me that, but I'm guessing it's because I didn't buy the vehicle from them.

I'm given a loaner vehicle and make the 4 hour drive back home without the truck. That was last Sunday. I figured I would make the trip back up this weekend and finally have a fully working Lightning. Three days go by and still no authorization from Ford. Finally on Thursday the dealership gets the okay to replace part. Well, the part I was told was in stock isn't really in stock and has to be ordered. Here it is a full week after I left truck and it's still sitting at the dealership waiting to be fixed.

In the meantime, I've spent money on a hotel, gas for the loaner vehicle, charging costs to get back to dealership, and I missed out on the NACS adapter deadline since I can't access my FordPass. At this point I'm not even sure I want the truck anymore. I can't just take a day off work to make the 8 hour round trip whenever it may be ready. I'm on-call this upcoming weekend and don't know when I might be able to make the trip. I really don't know what to do at this point.

Any advice? I believe there is someone on this forum who is part of Ford Customer Service? I'm beyond frustrated at this point. If youve gotten this far, thanks for reading. @Ford Motor Company
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RickLightning

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Unfortunately, that experience is reality with EVs, and not just Ford.

Ford has tightened up replacement of modules like the TCU, requiring an approval. And it takes days.

Had my Lightning in. APIM wouldn't update. That was a Thursday. Took it home, back Tuesday (still not approved). Tech got it to update Thursday.

Ford saved the cost of a new APIM. Me, the customer, was without my truck for 4 days...
 
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pullinggs

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Ugh. Other people on this forum have had some issues, but yours sounds particularly frustrating.

If you hold out until it is all fixed, I do honestly believe that you'll love the truck. The question is, can you hold out that long... :-\
 

FloridaMan655321

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If your local dealer told you that they can't do anything more, wouldn't this then fall under a lemon? I don't understand that just because they didn't sell you the truck, they wouldn't work with Ford and take responsibility for it.
 
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lcsmall

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If your local dealer told you that they can't do anything more, wouldn't this then fall under a lemon? I don't understand that just because they didn't sell you the truck, they wouldn't work with Ford and take responsibility for it.
I guess the right word is they weren't "willing" to do anymore. It seems all they did was reset the modem and call it a day. Seeing as how the selling dealership was eventually able to diagnose the bad TCU just by hooking it up to their computer, it sure doesn't seem like the local dealership was willing to do much of any troubleshooting. Very frustrating.
 

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Firn

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Do you have any other dealers?

I have a few around, none of which are the dealer I purchased from. I didn't go to a few because they didn't impress me when looking at trucks but the one I did go to was great.

Shout out to Bea Townsend as my warranty work was top notch even though I wasn't buying anything and didn't purchase the truck from them. They pre-ordered the lvb bms so it would be on hand for my appointment, and called in a Ford guy for a seal/windows noise issue.
 

B177y

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Get familiar with your state's lemon law and make sure you have an accurate count of days out of service and how many times the truck has had to go in for repair of the same issue. Most states base their remedies on those two metrics. The manufacturers also know those state laws forward and back.
 

JRT

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Is this just because of the Ford Pass app? You do understand is basically garbage and has almost no real value like you are use to with a Tesla. You can't do much of anything with it and the built in navigation doesn't route like a Tesla. I'd use Google maps and the Tesla app for using compatible SC.

You actually need to setup a Ford account online and then you could have placed the adaptor order. However as most know already waiting for this adaptor is now beyond ridiculous, so save the headache and buy and A2Z.
 
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lcsmall

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Is this just because of the Ford Pass app? You do understand is basically garbage and has almost no real value like you are use to with a Tesla. You can't do much of anything with it and the built in navigation doesn't route like a Tesla. I'd use Google maps and the Tesla app for using compatible SC.

You actually need to setup a Ford account online and then you could have placed the adaptor order. However as most know already waiting for this adaptor is now beyond ridiculous, so save the headache and buy and A2Z.
The remote start and ability to monitor charging is worthwhile to me. I have an account. You can not order the adapter without adding vehicle to FordPass. I tried.

Straight from the Ford website: "Your vehicle needs an active FordPass Connect embedded modem"
 

shelnian

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You shouldn't have go to the dealer you bought the Lightning from, your local dealer should be able to fix whatever. I bought my XLT 2 hours away, but go to my local dealer for any issues. My local dealer did the CSP fixes that the selling dealer should have done before selling it.
 

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designthis

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Sorry to hear about your experience. I hope your technical problems get resolved. I'm 11 months into ownership and am about to flip 20,000 miles with absolutely zero problems. I've rotated the tires. That's it. I've never had a vehicle as remotely trouble-free as my Lightning. I hope Ford is listening because negative experiences like this amplify and contribute to EV hesitancy.
 

MountainAlive

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Hang in there I had a very similar experience with a bad modem/TCU that took about 3 months after purchase to finally get it replaced. You can see my posts in this forum about it. Your dealer being 4 hours away definitely made this especially painful. I ended up missing the deadline for getting the free EA charging as a result and it was too hard to get recourse from Ford at that point. Once your truck is connected to the app you’ll be able to put this bad experience behind you and like the truck again. At least that’s how it went for me.
 

KevinTisdale1

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Small Claims Court will get your reimbursement (for everything but your time), will get the issue resolved quickly and professionally.
 

ryun

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Man that's terrible you had to go through all of that and still no resolution. FYI: Most Ford dealers are kind of clueless on EVs. Even the decent ones that met Ford's EV requirements. You most likely know more about your vehicle than they do.

Question on the sales person letting you use his account: Did he ever unlink your truck from his fordpass account? I thought things got funky when you've got two accounts for one truck.
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