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A dilemma about a Ford Mustang Mach E on Order - What would you do?

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I love my 2018 Tesla P3D. A few months ago, my wife and I decided to buy her an EV. Although I was hoping she would get another Tesla, she test drove and loved the Ford Mustang Mach E . So back in Dec, 2021, we ordered a 2022 Ford MME GTPE. It is scheduled to arrive in mid July.

We were both very excited about her new MME, but we are concerned about the recent safety recall. For those of you who do not know, there is a possibility of the capacitors welding closed. This has occurred in about 290 out of all of the MME's on the road. Ford issued a software update to address the issue. Our Ford dealer said once the software update is installed, we can take delivery of the car.

Part of me wants to complete the purchase, especially since we locked in the Dec 2021 pricing and can get the $7,500 federal tax rebate. But I also want my wife to drive a car that is reliable. We could still get the car and just be sure to get the extended warranty if there is a problem. Or we could pass on the car all together and get either another Tesla or maybe a Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Any thoughts on this situation are welcome. I need some objective advice.

Thank you,
Joe
I would probably take delivery of the Mach-E, however, understanding it is an early model (2nd Model Year?) and it will likely have growing pains. Ford is doing many things right and they need their EVs to succeed. I would have purchased a Mach-E GT Performance if the dealers were not all charging $5k above MSRP. Wound up getting a 2021 Taycan (2nd Model Year); awesome EV and just an amazing car though it's had 2 NHTSA recalls in less than 6 months.

Best of luck!
 
OP: Sorry to hear about the Mach E problems. Your point #4 (post 17) seems like a reasonable approach, but there is more to consider.

The Chevy Bolt battery pack had issues forcing GM to recall all of the Bolt packs and replace them under a recall/extended warranty. GM issued a "Do Not Sell" order for the entire Bolt line, including the newly introduced 2022 Bolt EUV that was just rollling out. The brand took a hit, naturally, and to restore confidence in it GM decided to lower prices by up to $6300 on the 2023 models, as well as providing a rebate to all prior owners and replacing the battery pack.

Needless to say early owners were likely left with a severely depreciated car hard to sell car until GM made these changes. I'm of the opinion that the new pack will solve the problems, and just placed an order for a 2023 EUV that with a few options is priced at $30K before the usual dealer markups/taxes/etc. At that price it's hard to resist, and given GM's investment I expect they didn't restart production without high confidence that the problem was properly identified and resolved.

This may be relevant for the resale value of the Mach-E. If the battery contactor is a severe problem, as Tronguy explains, you may face a situation where resale value on your car is impaired and difficult to unload for a prolonged period of time if there is a nationwide "Do Not Sell" order in place. Granted, with the price of gas someone may be willing to buy it from you, but then the question becomes how do you feel about selling a car to someone that may be dangerous? There may even be potential legal liability in a worst case situation.

It's likely Ford is paying attention to what GM just went through and trying to decide how severe the problem is, can it be corrected for existing owners and at what cost, and what is the best path forward to avoid damaging the brand.

Given everything going on take the time you need to make the best decision in a situation that is still somewhat murky.
 
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I’m in a similar situation. I put an order in for a MME CA Route 1 last November and it’s finally ready for delivery. I came across a 2016.5 Model S 75D with 55k miles for $35k in Feb 2022 and jumped on it. I love this car so much. It’s faster, better styling, free unlimited supercharging and I love the Tesla charging network. I know I can sell my MS for at least $49k and with tax and state credits the overall cost to get the MME is pretty much a wash. Have a week to decide what to do.
 
@SneepeZ You have to decide for yourself if the range difference or remaining warranty situation warrants switching to the Route 1.

In terms of driving experience the only Mach-E I'd pick over your S would be the GTPE. Route 1? I'd rather drive the 75D. :)
 
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to reply to my original post. Your ideas and information are truly appreciated. It is especially helpful to know that the issue is with the contactors, not the capacitors 😄.

If you are curious to know, my wife and I decided to go ahead and purchase the MME GTPE. She just really loves this car and was not interested in any other EV currently on the market. We took delivery yesterday. Our local Ford dealer honored their promise to sell me the car at MSRP at the time of the original order (December 2021), which is a few thousand less than if we ordered one today. Plus, they honored the incentives available back in Dec 2021, which were more favorable than the terms available now. This included a $2,500 cash back incentive if I financed through Ford Options. I plan to pay it off within 3 or 4 months. Plus we are eligible for the federal tax rebate of $7,500.

And just to give us extra peace of mind, we did purchase an extended warranty that basically extends the bumper to bumper warranty to 8 years / 100K miles. We were able to negotiate a very favorable deal on this. This extended warranty is transferable to a new owner if we decide to sell it.

I realize it is a bit of a risk to buy this car, given that the situation with the contactors and the HVBJB is still playing itself out. I hope we will not have any problems. If we do, we are covered by the warranty for 8 years. If the worse case scenario happens and we have endless ongoing problems (which I doubt would happen), we will sell the MME and buy another Tesla.

One last point. One of the main reasons why my wife preferred the MME over a Model Y was the side mirrors and rear visibility. I drove the MME today and the rear visibility is definitely better than in my Model 3. And the side mirrors on the MME are definitely larger. Plus, I like the fact that the blind spot warning light is embedded in the side mirror on the MME. I wish I had that on my Model 3. Now if I could only get Ford to upgrade their iPhone app to match the features of Tesla's app!
 
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to reply to my original post. Your ideas and information are truly appreciated. It is especially helpful to know that the issue is with the contactors, not the capacitors 😄.

If you are curious to know, my wife and I decided to go ahead and purchase the MME GTPE. She just really loves this car and was not interested in any other EV currently on the market. We took delivery yesterday. Our local Ford dealer honored their promise to sell me the car at MSRP at the time of the original order (December 2021), which is a few thousand less than if we ordered one today. Plus, they honored the incentives available back in Dec 2021, which were more favorable than the terms available now. This included a $2,500 cash back incentive if I financed through Ford Options. I plan to pay it off within 3 or 4 months. Plus we are eligible for the federal tax rebate of $7,500.

And just to give us extra peace of mind, we did purchase an extended warranty that basically extends the bumper to bumper warranty to 8 years / 100K miles. We were able to negotiate a very favorable deal on this. This extended warranty is transferable to a new owner if we decide to sell it.

I realize it is a bit of a risk to buy this car, given that the situation with the contactors and the HVBJB is still playing itself out. I hope we will not have any problems. If we do, we are covered by the warranty for 8 years. If the worse case scenario happens and we have endless ongoing problems (which I doubt would happen), we will sell the MME and buy another Tesla.

One last point. One of the main reasons why my wife preferred the MME over a Model Y was the side mirrors and rear visibility. I drove the MME today and the rear visibility is definitely better than in my Model 3. And the side mirrors on the MME are definitely larger. Plus, I like the fact that the blind spot warning light is embedded in the side mirror on the MME. I wish I had that on my Model 3. Now if I could only get Ford to upgrade their iPhone app to match the features of Tesla's app!
Well, you pays your money, you takes your chances. As you might notice, I mention a 2018 M3; not quite R1.0, if you will, but R1.1 for sure. And this car has had its moments, the most spectacular being the day that a short in the Pagoda Wiring Harness blew the Pyro Fuse, necessitating a one week stay at a Service Center for replacement of the harness, the fuse, and the 12 volt battery while they were at it. And there’s been a couple other warranty repairs, too.

But.. as part of my job over the years, I’ve played Reliability Engineer. FIT rate analysis, MBTF calculations, Mean Time To Repair, multiple protection hardware, and all that jazz.

Thing is, over a long enough period of time, a big enough population of parts, and statistics, random failures of every part in a manufactured thing just.. happens. A carving knife one buys at a home goods store snaps in two three years down the pike; an ICE car has a piston rod break and destroy the engine; brand new lightbulb out of the carton flashes and dies on the second use.

Good manufacturers work hard at lowering these kinds of faults and keep warranties around when the inevitable happens to one customer or another. I get it. At a forum like this one, you’ll hear about cockamamie faults all over the place, especially on a new model year. Sometimes they even gain enough coherence to form a pattern. Anybody remember the numerous cracked-T glass on a significant, but not overwhelming number of early M3s?

But otherwise, the complaints are for random parts all over. And they tend to reduce in number over time as manufacturing and design engineers work through the problems.

Thing is, these contactor failures on the Fords sounds a bit different than the usual run of the mill early teething pains. For one thing, Ford hasn’t said that it has a replacement part yet. For another, this seems to be a pretty common problem affecting, or potentially affecting, a lot of MMEs. Since Ford hasn’t said anything official yet, it could be a big double-digit percentage. And there’s been zero mention of a retrofit program. There has, apparently, been mention of a software update. That slows down the car, but probably doesn’t do much for a partly damaged contactor.

Look, any kind of flat out acknowledgment from Ford that a) they know there’s a problem and b) they’re working on it would be really useful to potential buyers like yourself right now. But I’m afraid that any assurances from a dealer sales agent who’s paid to move cars and nothing else doesn’t cut the mustard. Yeah, you may like the creature comforts inside.. but how much is that going to be worth when you get stranded somewhere?

If it were me, I wouldn’t be buying that car unless Ford, not the dealership, had something concrete to say.

Good luck. I’m afraid you’re going to need it.
 
If only the Y had a rear facing camera you can have on all the time.
I’ve tried driving with the rear facing camera on all the time to compensate for the reduced rear visibility in my Model 3. Personally, I find that the camera only helps to a very limited extent and I would much prefer larger side mirrors and a larger field of vision in the rear view mirror. I heard that Elon does not like side view mirrors and Teslas mirrors are only large enough to satisfy minimal government safety requirements.
 
Well, you pays your money, you takes your chances. As you might notice, I mention a 2018 M3; not quite R1.0, if you will, but R1.1 for sure. And this car has had its moments, the most spectacular being the day that a short in the Pagoda Wiring Harness blew the Pyro Fuse, necessitating a one week stay at a Service Center for replacement of the harness, the fuse, and the 12 volt battery while they were at it. And there’s been a couple other warranty repairs, too.

But.. as part of my job over the years, I’ve played Reliability Engineer. FIT rate analysis, MBTF calculations, Mean Time To Repair, multiple protection hardware, and all that jazz.

Thing is, over a long enough period of time, a big enough population of parts, and statistics, random failures of every part in a manufactured thing just.. happens. A carving knife one buys at a home goods store snaps in two three years down the pike; an ICE car has a piston rod break and destroy the engine; brand new lightbulb out of the carton flashes and dies on the second use.

Good manufacturers work hard at lowering these kinds of faults and keep warranties around when the inevitable happens to one customer or another. I get it. At a forum like this one, you’ll hear about cockamamie faults all over the place, especially on a new model year. Sometimes they even gain enough coherence to form a pattern. Anybody remember the numerous cracked-T glass on a significant, but not overwhelming number of early M3s?

But otherwise, the complaints are for random parts all over. And they tend to reduce in number over time as manufacturing and design engineers work through the problems.

Thing is, these contactor failures on the Fords sounds a bit different than the usual run of the mill early teething pains. For one thing, Ford hasn’t said that it has a replacement part yet. For another, this seems to be a pretty common problem affecting, or potentially affecting, a lot of MMEs. Since Ford hasn’t said anything official yet, it could be a big double-digit percentage. And there’s been zero mention of a retrofit program. There has, apparently, been mention of a software update. That slows down the car, but probably doesn’t do much for a partly damaged contactor.

Look, any kind of flat out acknowledgment from Ford that a) they know there’s a problem and b) they’re working on it would be really useful to potential buyers like yourself right now. But I’m afraid that any assurances from a dealer sales agent who’s paid to move cars and nothing else doesn’t cut the mustard. Yeah, you may like the creature comforts inside.. but how much is that going to be worth when you get stranded somewhere?

If it were me, I wouldn’t be buying that car unless Ford, not the dealership, had something concrete to say.

Good luck. I’m afraid you’re going to need it.
I hear and respect your concerns. The way I figure, with the tax rebates, the $2,500 cash back bonus, and the savings from the lower Dec 2021 pricing, we have a cushion if I have to sell the MME. And if we keep it, we have an 8 year warranty.
 
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The Chevy Bolt battery pack had issues forcing GM to recall all of the Bolt packs and replace them under a recall/extended warranty. GM issued a "Do Not Sell" order for the entire Bolt line, including the newly introduced 2022 Bolt EUV that was just rollling out. The brand took a hit, naturally, and to restore confidence in it GM decided to lower prices by up to $6300 on the 2023 models, as well as providing a rebate to all prior owners and replacing the battery pack.

Needless to say early owners were likely left with a severely depreciated car hard to sell car until GM made these changes. I'm of the opinion that the new pack will solve the problems, and just placed an order for a 2023 EUV that with a few options is priced at $30K before the usual dealer markups/taxes/etc. At that price it's hard to resist, and given GM's investment I expect they didn't restart production without high confidence that the problem was properly identified and resolved.
FWIW, I owned a '19 Bolt that I bought new. Mine had a US-made pack so it wasn't part of the original Korean-pack only Nov 2020 recall. They expanded it to cover all Bolts in Aug 2021. A month after that, I began a buyback request. I finally received an offer with numbers in early Jan 2022. I surrendered the car in exchange for a VERY nice check at end of Jan 2022 when my CA tags expired.

Basically, even after the deduction for usage (by miles out of 120K miles), due to the $7500 Federal tax credit (which they didn't and probably couldn't deduct due to CA lemon law verbiage) and the pro-rated refund I got for an extended warranty, I got to drive it for free for 3 years and ~21K miles.

Some folks live in states where the automaker isn't allowed to deduct for usage (e.g. by mileage) so those folks got a FULL refund.

So, for many folks, a buyback was a much better choice than trying to sell it. The ones who wouldn't be in that boat were the ones who got denied buyback for some reason or where the usage deduction was super high. A whole bunch of us on chevybolt.org and Bolt FB groups at least requested a buyback and plenty of us had our cars bought back or swapped for another Bolt.

Due to the used car shortage and whacky market, used Bolt prices actually went up during the whole fiasco and stop sale.
 
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to reply to my original post. Your ideas and information are truly appreciated. It is especially helpful to know that the issue is with the contactors, not the capacitors 😄.

If you are curious to know, my wife and I decided to go ahead and purchase the MME GTPE. She just really loves this car and was not interested in any other EV currently on the market. We took delivery yesterday. Our local Ford dealer honored their promise to sell me the car at MSRP at the time of the original order (December 2021), which is a few thousand less than if we ordered one today. Plus, they honored the incentives available back in Dec 2021, which were more favorable than the terms available now. This included a $2,500 cash back incentive if I financed through Ford Options. I plan to pay it off within 3 or 4 months. Plus we are eligible for the federal tax rebate of $7,500.

And just to give us extra peace of mind, we did purchase an extended warranty that basically extends the bumper to bumper warranty to 8 years / 100K miles. We were able to negotiate a very favorable deal on this. This extended warranty is transferable to a new owner if we decide to sell it.

I realize it is a bit of a risk to buy this car, given that the situation with the contactors and the HVBJB is still playing itself out. I hope we will not have any problems. If we do, we are covered by the warranty for 8 years. If the worse case scenario happens and we have endless ongoing problems (which I doubt would happen), we will sell the MME and buy another Tesla.

One last point. One of the main reasons why my wife preferred the MME over a Model Y was the side mirrors and rear visibility. I drove the MME today and the rear visibility is definitely better than in my Model 3. And the side mirrors on the MME are definitely larger. Plus, I like the fact that the blind spot warning light is embedded in the side mirror on the MME. I wish I had that on my Model 3. Now if I could only get Ford to upgrade their iPhone app to match the features of Tesla's app!
I think you had your mind set on it no matter what, but you seemed to have gotten a good deal (financially), and you have a plan in case things go south. My advice would be to take it easy on the throttle till Ford actually has a fix that's proven, else it's a trip to the dealer for who knows how long. Did they mention anything about the recall?

Last I read was the software update was no longer in circulation. No one knows why.
 
I think you had your mind set on it no matter what, but you seemed to have gotten a good deal (financially), and you have a plan in case things go south. My advice would be to take it easy on the throttle till Ford actually has a fix that's proven, else it's a trip to the dealer for who knows how long. Did they mention anything about the recall?

Last I read was the software update was no longer in circulation. No one knows why.

Thanks for your post. Honestly, my mind was definitely not set on it. I was actually hoping my wife would go for a Tesla or a Kia EV6. But since this is my wife's car, her happiness with the MME was the biggest factor in our decision. I am comfortable taking the risks as long as she is aware of them as well.

Yep, we are temporarily going easy on the throttle until this plays itself out. And yes, I saw something similar on the MME owners forum. I am guessing more will be revealed in the coming days and weeks.

To be continued, as they say....
 
If you want reliable you choose a Tesla which has a rock solid Toyota like reliable EV drivetrain. So few glitches when I owned a 3 and Y.

If you want something fun and different and don’t care about reliability like me… you buy a Mach-E. I’m not keeping Orange Julie (that’s her name) for more than year. It’s quirky and different. People know MINIs are not reliable and yet they keep buying them. Same with VWs. You have to love what you drive.


298A729C-B33A-46CF-96AE-D1632CE83717.jpeg
 
I love my 2018 Tesla P3D. A few months ago, my wife and I decided to buy her an EV. Although I was hoping she would get another Tesla, she test drove and loved the Ford Mustang Mach E . So back in Dec, 2021, we ordered a 2022 Ford MME GTPE. It is scheduled to arrive in mid July.

We were both very excited about her new MME, but we are concerned about the recent safety recall. For those of you who do not know, there is a possibility of the capacitors welding closed. This has occurred in about 290 out of all of the MME's on the road. Ford issued a software update to address the issue. Our Ford dealer said once the software update is installed, we can take delivery of the car.

Part of me wants to complete the purchase, especially since we locked in the Dec 2021 pricing and can get the $7,500 federal tax rebate. But I also want my wife to drive a car that is reliable. We could still get the car and just be sure to get the extended warranty if there is a problem. Or we could pass on the car all together and get either another Tesla or maybe a Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Any thoughts on this situation are welcome. I need some objective advice.

Thank you,
Joe
Buy another Tesla. I see quite a few Hyundai Ioniq 5's in my neighborhood (92131). They seem to be a bit noisy?
 
I love my 2018 Tesla P3D. A few months ago, my wife and I decided to buy her an EV. Although I was hoping she would get another Tesla, she test drove and loved the Ford Mustang Mach E . So back in Dec, 2021, we ordered a 2022 Ford MME GTPE. It is scheduled to arrive in mid July.

We were both very excited about her new MME, but we are concerned about the recent safety recall. For those of you who do not know, there is a possibility of the capacitors welding closed. This has occurred in about 290 out of all of the MME's on the road. Ford issued a software update to address the issue. Our Ford dealer said once the software update is installed, we can take delivery of the car.

Part of me wants to complete the purchase, especially since we locked in the Dec 2021 pricing and can get the $7,500 federal tax rebate. But I also want my wife to drive a car that is reliable. We could still get the car and just be sure to get the extended warranty if there is a problem. Or we could pass on the car all together and get either another Tesla or maybe a Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Any thoughts on this situation are welcome. I need some objective advice.

Thank you,
Joe
Ultimately, buy whatever your wife wants.
 
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I love my 2018 Tesla P3D. A few months ago, my wife and I decided to buy her an EV. Although I was hoping she would get another Tesla, she test drove and loved the Ford Mustang Mach E . So back in Dec, 2021, we ordered a 2022 Ford MME GTPE. It is scheduled to arrive in mid July.

We were both very excited about her new MME, but we are concerned about the recent safety recall. For those of you who do not know, there is a possibility of the capacitors welding closed. This has occurred in about 290 out of all of the MME's on the road. Ford issued a software update to address the issue. Our Ford dealer said once the software update is installed, we can take delivery of the car.

Part of me wants to complete the purchase, especially since we locked in the Dec 2021 pricing and can get the $7,500 federal tax rebate. But I also want my wife to drive a car that is reliable. We could still get the car and just be sure to get the extended warranty if there is a problem. Or we could pass on the car all together and get either another Tesla or maybe a Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Any thoughts on this situation are welcome. I need some objective advice.

Thank you,
Joe
I bought my premium Mach E in May 2021. I have 11k miles on it so far. Absolutely no issues to speak of. Love the car. I chose it after such a crappy experience having my solar roof installed. Bad customer service seemed endemic with Tesla, so I opted for the Ford. Plus, the car is really nice looking. No regrets so far, over 14 months in.
 
Interesting how all of a sudden the Tesla forum has been a place for Ford owners and proponents have gravitated to. Just sayin....
The OP has a Tesla. @voxel has owned a Tesla or two I believe, and has one on order. It seems pretty clear @83girl is a Tesla solar / powerwall customer.

I once helped spot and report an influx of spam accounts propping up another automaker on TMC, but I'm not sensing that this time. Everyone here seems to be a legit past, present, or possible future Tesla customer with reason to be here beyond talking about Mach-E's. Sharing a Mach-E ownership experience seems highly on topic in this thread!