New BlueCruise e-mail from Ford

[PrimeRisk]

I know the new pricing structure for BlueCruise has been covered extensively on the forum, but it appears the push is on to get subscriptions up. The trial on my '24 Lariat is coming to an end in a little over a week and I received this e-mail last night:

I'm sure it's just an automated marketing message, but the e-mail address it is from appears to be a CSR e-mail ([email protected]), not some generic marketing address. The e-mail cites "As we discussed on the phone", but I haven't gotten any calls.

I'm interested if anyone else has been receiving e-mails or calls from Ford about subscribing to BlueCruise. Moreover if anyone has been contacted by Ford seeking feedback on why you may or may not be subscribing to BlueCruise. I do have constructive feedback on why I think it's still very over priced and will not subscribe. Clearly Ford is struggling with getting subscribers and collecting feedback is a good way to figure out why the numbers aren't where they want them to be.

Tesla, famous for having no marketing department, seems to be very interested about why one of their customers stops subscribing to their FSD product. My wife and I own 2 Teslas. We purchased the permanent FSD on one and didn't on the other. Earlier this year Tesla offered all owners a 30 day free trial of FSD. We used it for that month, but did not subscribe as that's my wife's car and we take mine for travel. We got a survey asking us about our experience and feedback on why we didn't subscribe following the trial.

We did, however, subscribe for a single month as we decided to take her Tesla for a road trip in late June and felt that 10 day trip was well worth the expense as we traveled over 2500 miles. After cancelling, we got a personal contact from Tesla again asking us why we didn't continue the subscription especially considering we had purchased FSD outright on our other Tesla. We again provided feedback.

So Ford, are you asking questions on why subscriptions are so low?

Sponsored

 

[TaxmanHog]

So Ford, are you asking questions on why subscriptions are so low?

I haven't had any contacts, but then I have several more months to go on my subscription.

If Ford would get the updates out timely, they might encourage more participation, as it stands I'm not sold on the conveniences in my particular use case, which comes to low monthly miles and rare long road trips.

 

[RickLightning]

Ford announced the new pricing on 10/1...

https://media.ford.com/content/ford...-bluecruise-annual--monthly-plan-pricing.html

 

[PrimeRisk]

I haven't had any contacts, but then I have several more months to go on my subscription.

If Ford would get the updates out timely, they might encourage more participation, as it stands I'm not sold on the conveniences in my particular use case, which comes to low monthly miles and rare long road trips.

Yeah, it's likely because of my impending expiration of the feature. Of note, there is no mention in the e-mail or if you follow the link in the e-mail to your Ford.com account of being able to purchase a lifetime subscription. I know this was announced with the price drop on 10/1 that the lifetime was only available to select 2025 models at order time, but thought Ford may come to its senses and offer this to all owners. I think it is a huge missed opportunity to gain momentum and it alienates existing owners, especially those that paid $2,100 for 3 years.

I agree with you, I may be more amenable if I was getting updates and improvements, but as it stands, I don't even know what version I'm on and what I have is virtually worthless over Adaptive Cruise Control + Lane Assist. Maybe I'd think differently if I knew I was on an older version and I had some clue as to when I'd be updated with the latest.

Here's my daily experience with BlueCruise:

I'm in Denver-Metro and my daily commute is ~30 miles each way, but two different routes due to traffic flows in the morning vs the evening.

Mornings are ~12 miles State Highway, ~12 miles Interstate (I-25), and ~6 miles surface streets. BlueCruise only works on the Interstate, but drops out in two different interchanges for roughly a mile where it is the worst possible place when another major feeder joins the Interstate.

Evenings are ~15 miles Interstate (I-70), ~13 miles State Highway, and 2 miles surface streets. Again, it only engages on the Interstate and drops out at 2 different interchanges with other major roads, again for roughly a mile.

I have taken it on longer, out of city, Interstate trips where I haven't really noticed the dropouts, but what exactly is the utility when you are on a long, straight, desolate stretch of Interstate over ACC/TACC and Lane Keeping Assist other than having to hang my left hand on the wheel?

Hopefully after BlueCruise sees some significant advancements Ford will offer a 30-day trial for us to check it out and reconsider. Tesla just announced that they are offering another 30-day trial for legacy owners, even if they've had a trial before. I think that is super smart as FSD is updated at least monthly and every time there are noticeable improvements. I would have never paid for FSD if I hadn't had the opportunity to put it through its paces beforehand, so I believe any trial given on a wide basis will result in additional subscriptions.

Are you listening @Ford Motor Company?

 

[Scorpio3d]

Are you listening @Ford Motor Company?

No

 

[Whammy Bar]

I'll buy a Ford with a carburetor, but nothing newer from this point out.

Seeing how they've approached technology and updates since 2020 is my signal to steer clear for years to come - I just don't believe it anymore, and will need to see a long history of implemented change before they become an option again.

Sponsored