Endless repeated Hybrid failures have finally broken me

[jdiaz]

An update to our saga.....

For the last 8 weeks, I usually called the service writer on Mondays to get a status update. Throughout the month of November,, the answer was either "I need to get with the tech" or "he's been discussing the truck with the Ford Tech line," and in both cases they never called back. Also the dealership never initiated a call......I always had to call them. In the meantime, I am putting 100s of miles on their 2025 service loaner.

Fast forward to last Monday, and the truck was in Deep Sleep, according to the app. The 12v battery is only 10 months old. I called asking what the status was, and was merely told that the tech had been driving it and could not duplicate the problem (the App would beg to differ). The mileage difference between when I originally dropped it off and when I picked it up was all of 26 miles over an 8-week period. The RO was a single page with no detailed repair information on it. Did the Ford Tech line just reprogram the PCM with some sort of patched firmware that they didn't want a record of?

The used car manager offered me a check for $19k on the spot, which is 70% resale value for a 3.5 year old truck with 50k miles. Carvana offered $19800. So apparently it's still popular on the used market. We picked up another car for my wife to drive, so I'll just use it for the rest of the winter and decide what to do when the current registration runs out.

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[pigsareus]

An update to our saga.....

For the last 8 weeks, I usually called the service writer on Mondays to get a status update. Throughout the month of November,, the answer was either "I need to get with the tech" or "he's been discussing the truck with the Ford Tech line," and in both cases they never called back. Also the dealership never initiated a call......I always had to call them. In the meantime, I am putting 100s of miles on their 2025 service loaner.

Fast forward to last Monday, and the truck was in Deep Sleep, according to the app. The 12v battery is only 10 months old. I called asking what the status was, and was merely told that the tech had been driving it and could not duplicate the problem (the App would beg to differ). The mileage difference between when I originally dropped it off and when I picked it up was all of 26 miles over an 8-week period. The RO was a single page with no detailed repair information on it. Did the Ford Tech line just reprogram the PCM with some sort of patched firmware that they didn't want a record of?

The used car manager offered me a check for $19k on the spot, which is 70% resale value for a 3.5 year old truck with 50k miles. Carvana offered $19800. So apparently it's still popular on the used market. We picked up another car for my wife to drive, so I'll just use it for the rest of the winter and decide what to do when the current registration runs out.

they didn't at least put in a new AGM battery? That seems like a simple cost effective at least attempt to eliminate the current - even though only 10 months old - battery. Batteries can start to fail for any number of reasons including some internal breakage. Did you call them out on the limited hours the tech drove it? If it happens again after an AGM battery then I'd sell it and move on. Oh, also never buy a vehicle from your inept dealership again.

 

[Ponyprez]

I can definitely understand your lack of confidence in the dealership service dept. I have been fortunate as my 23 XLT Lariat Hybrid has been nearly trouble free. In the last 6 months I started having the low battery symptoms of various things like interior lights not working and the touch system on the passenger side working only randomly. 3 weeks ago I had it serviced and asked them to check the battery but didn't read the paperwork as the service writer gave me a report at pick up. A few days later, my Mav bricked on me in the middle of the street. I did get it running again, went home, read the report and found DNC (did not check)written in battery section, even though I specifically asked for it to be checked as I was to go on a 1900 mile round trip. I took it back to the dealership and let them know I was displeased at finding the battery test wasn't performed, battery was tested and was bad. It was replaced under warranty and no cost to me with the AGM battery upgrade. All the minor issues are now cleared, and everything is working like new. Good luck to you in the future.

 

[OleFordGuy]

An update to our saga.....

For the last 8 weeks, I usually called the service writer on Mondays to get a status update. Throughout the month of November,, the answer was either "I need to get with the tech" or "he's been discussing the truck with the Ford Tech line," and in both cases they never called back. Also the dealership never initiated a call......I always had to call them. In the meantime, I am putting 100s of miles on their 2025 service loaner.

Fast forward to last Monday, and the truck was in Deep Sleep, according to the app. The 12v battery is only 10 months old. I called asking what the status was, and was merely told that the tech had been driving it and could not duplicate the problem (the App would beg to differ). The mileage difference between when I originally dropped it off and when I picked it up was all of 26 miles over an 8-week period. The RO was a single page with no detailed repair information on it. Did the Ford Tech line just reprogram the PCM with some sort of patched firmware that they didn't want a record of?

The used car manager offered me a check for $19k on the spot, which is 70% resale value for a 3.5 year old truck with 50k miles. Carvana offered $19800. So apparently it's still popular on the used market. We picked up another car for my wife to drive, so I'll just use it for the rest of the winter and decide what to do when the current registration runs out.

I'll just go back to your original post and my original post #2 and just sum it up in short order and say dump it and move on to something else that is reliable and you can have confidence in. Life's too short. That's my 2 cents. Good luck in whatever decision you make.

 

[Cherokee]

It will likely get far worse. The boomers are dying off or heading into nursing homes.

The Gen X’ers are retiring,
That leaves us with the woke sheep, they are about as useful as hen shit on a pump handle.

In ten years you won’t be able to get anything fixed correctly.

 

[pigsareus]

I can definitely understand your lack of confidence in the dealership service dept. I have been fortunate as my 23 XLT Lariat Hybrid has been nearly trouble free. In the last 6 months I started having the low battery symptoms of various things like interior lights not working and the touch system on the passenger side working only randomly. 3 weeks ago I had it serviced and asked them to check the battery but didn't read the paperwork as the service writer gave me a report at pick up. A few days later, my Mav bricked on me in the middle of the street. I did get it running again, went home, read the report and found DNC (did not check)written in battery section, even though I specifically asked for it to be checked as I was to go on a 1900 mile round trip. I took it back to the dealership and let them know I was displeased at finding the battery test wasn't performed, battery was tested and was bad. It was replaced under warranty and no cost to me with the AGM battery upgrade. All the minor issues are now cleared, and everything is working like new. Good luck to you in the future.

similar to me - '23, wouldn't start once, decided to just have the dealer put in a new battery as it was over 3 years old - they replaced with agm after doing some diagnostics and looking at stored history - fully covered with my extended warranty minus the deductible. But, really...I don't know why - it's a maintenance item especially at 3 years but I of course wasn't complaining.

 

[Timothyd]

It will likely get far worse. The boomers are dying off or heading into nursing homes.

The Gen X’ers are retiring,
That leaves us with the woke sheep, they are about as useful as hen shit on a pump handle.

In ten years you won’t be able to get anything fixed correctly.

Wish I could disagree.

 

[Darryl]

It will likely get far worse. The boomers are dying off or heading into nursing homes.

The Gen X’ers are retiring,
That leaves us with the woke sheep, they are about as useful as hen shit on a pump handle.

In ten years you won’t be able to get anything fixed correctly.

I still have hope. Young people who choose this field and stay will likely be ok with fixing vehicles in the future. If there is a problem, it's due to the fact that it's harder to make a living for several reasons that most may not realize. 1. Scheduled Maintenance used to be a good chance to make a dollar. But some maintenance no longer exists (fuel filters) . Other maintenance is much less frequent even if done more than recommended such as coolant, transmission, belts, shocks / struts, hoses, etc. And in spite of what people think, vehicles wear longer and simply break less often. Suspension, oil leaks, water pump, starter, alternator, etc, simply don't give problems nearly as often as before. Not to mention the fact that the Hybrid doesn't even have a starter and alternator. When problems do occur, they tend to be difficult, intermittent problems that make us look incompetent. And we seldom get properly compensated when we do figure it out. Thankfully, my General manager does something very few dealerships do. He pays me by the clock because I end up with the problem child vehicles. But I had to get old , lose a leg in a motorcycle accident, and demonstrate that I'd put up with crap no one else would before that happened. Even then it's a shop secret. Even my service manager doesn't quite know my full payment situation. Anyway, rant over. But the young techs that remain will probably be competent. The key is retention. We've had techs leave for other , better paying trades such as truck driving and welding

 

[OleFordGuy]

I still have hope. Young people who choose this field and stay will likely be ok with fixing vehicles in the future. If there is a problem, it's due to the fact that it's harder to make a living for several reasons that most may not realize. 1. Scheduled Maintenance used to be a good chance to make a dollar. But some maintenance no longer exists (fuel filters) . Other maintenance is much less frequent even if done more than recommended such as coolant, transmission, belts, shocks / struts, hoses, etc. And in spite of what people think, vehicles wear longer and simply break less often. Suspension, oil leaks, water pump, starter, alternator, etc, simply don't give problems nearly as often as before. Not to mention the fact that the Hybrid doesn't even have a starter and alternator. When problems do occur, they tend to be difficult, intermittent problems that make us look incompetent. And we seldom get properly compensated when we do figure it out. Thankfully, my General manager does something very few dealerships do. He pays me by the clock because I end up with the problem child vehicles. But I had to get old , lose a leg in a motorcycle accident, and demonstrate that I'd put up with crap no one else would before that happened. Even then it's a shop secret. Even my service manager doesn't quite know my full payment situation. Anyway, rant over. But the young techs that remain will probably be competent. The key is retention. We've had techs leave for other , better paying trades such as truck driving and welding

excellent post Darryl, folks like you make the world a better place. Many now days don't want to work, get their hands dirty or face a difficult challenge, they want the highest pay for the least amount of effort. It's a shame that the industry has gotten to the point that the tech's can't make a decent living due to the pay parameters set by the manufacturers, dealers, shop owners, etc. Reminds me of the corporate world back in the early 2000's, we became not employees but just a number to be shuttled out the door for the all mighty dollar, the stock price or wall streets assessment. I had put my 45 years in and finally told them to kiss my ass and retired.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I still have hope. Young people who choose this field and stay will likely be ok with fixing vehicles in the future. If there is a problem, it's due to the fact that it's harder to make a living for several reasons that most may not realize. 1. Scheduled Maintenance used to be a good chance to make a dollar. But some maintenance no longer exists (fuel filters) . Other maintenance is much less frequent even if done more than recommended such as coolant, transmission, belts, shocks / struts, hoses, etc. And in spite of what people think, vehicles wear longer and simply break less often. Suspension, oil leaks, water pump, starter, alternator, etc, simply don't give problems nearly as often as before. Not to mention the fact that the Hybrid doesn't even have a starter and alternator. When problems do occur, they tend to be difficult, intermittent problems that make us look incompetent. And we seldom get properly compensated when we do figure it out. Thankfully, my General manager does something very few dealerships do. He pays me by the clock because I end up with the problem child vehicles. But I had to get old , lose a leg in a motorcycle accident, and demonstrate that I'd put up with crap no one else would before that happened. Even then it's a shop secret. Even my service manager doesn't quite know my full payment situation. Anyway, rant over. But the young techs that remain will probably be competent. The key is retention. We've had techs leave for other , better paying trades such as truck driving and welding

But when the hybrids starter goes out you have to get the whole trans changed! =$4-6K?

 

[Ryom]

excellent post Darryl, folks like you make the world a better place. Many now days don't want to work, get their hands dirty or face a difficult challenge, they want the highest pay for the least amount of effort. It's a shame that the industry has gotten to the point that the tech's can't make a decent living due to the pay parameters set by the manufacturers, dealers, shop owners, etc. Reminds me of the corporate world back in the early 2000's, we became not employees but just a number to be shuttled out the door for the all mighty dollar, the stock price or wall streets assessment. I had put my 45 years in and finally told them to kiss my ass and retired.

No, they want pay commensurate with what their parents were getting for similar work. Plenty of young folks out there moved into their parents line of work, same position, same pay... as their parents got 20, 30+ years ago. Even ones that are substantially outearning their parents still have less buying power than their parents had at their age.

 

[Red Eyes - Wide Shut]

It will likely get far worse. The boomers are dying off or heading into nursing homes.

The Gen X’ers are retiring,
That leaves us with the woke sheep, they are about as useful as hen shit on a pump handle.

In ten years you won’t be able to get anything fixed correctly.

I'm surprised your comment was allowed. Moderators typically remove 40% of my comments which are much less suggestive. If I mention anything negative regarding Ford, it is removed. Even comments that are meant to be funny. It all started with 2 threads about Ford's 140 Recalls that 2 members reported because they didn't like me mentioning it.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

No, they want pay commensurate with what their parents were getting for similar work. Plenty of young folks out there moved into their parents line of work, same position, same pay... as their parents got 20, 30+ years ago. Even ones that are substantially outearning their parents still have less buying power than their parents had at their age.

I'm 83. My house payment in the 70's was $340 including property tax. Today would take about 9X the $$$ for same house, I think. My grandfathers retirement check in 1990's was $145. It was daunting to earn $15k/yr in 70's. But it was almost double that my parents were making at the time. Life is not easy then nor now. One of my brothers is almost 80, retired and still working full time (likes his work). Money piles up but he doesn't spend much but still contributes to retirement getting the employee match. Lives in family house grandpa built in 1921 (I think).

 

[OleFordGuy]

No, they want pay commensurate with what their parents were getting for similar work. Plenty of young folks out there moved into their parents line of work, same position, same pay... as their parents got 20, 30+ years ago. Even ones that are substantially outearning their parents still have less buying power than their parents had at their age.

imo, no, they want the same salary level in life their parents made at the end of their career and retirement after working 40 years to get there and think they should start out at the level in life of their parents after a long career and even higher. They don't know nor want to know the work effort, penny saving they went through to get there. I started work in 1970, $1.30 an hour, decent job, there were better and worse paying, the average home was $30K -/+ a little, gas was 30-40 cents a gallon. That first 20 years, we lived pay check to paycheck. So do I have much sympathy for todays winer's, no. Has todays average pay kept up with todays inflation point, no not at all, but I wouldn't call it critically behind. Regardless, imo, a part of the problem is the mindset of wanting to start out living at high end liquor level vs beer level. just my 2 cents, some will disagree, some with agree, and that's all well and good, I have no problem with that.

 

[Ryom]

imo, no, they want the same salary level in life their parents made at the end of their career and retirement after working 40 years to get there and think they should start out at the level in life of their parents after a long career and even higher. They don't know nor want to know the work effort, penny saving they went through to get there. I started work in 1970, $1.30 an hour, decent job, there were better and worse paying, the average home was $30K -/+ a little, gas was 30-40 cents a gallon. That first 20 years, we lived pay check to paycheck. So do I have much sympathy for todays winer's, no. Has todays average pay kept up with todays inflation point, no not at all, but I wouldn't call it critically behind. Regardless, imo, a part of the problem is the mindset of wanting to start out living at high end liquor level vs beer level. just my 2 cents, some will disagree, some with agree, and that's all well and good, I have no problem with that.

Tuition, housing, vehicles, and medical have all vastly outpaced general inflation. It costs more to get training to earn more later. Having a roof over your head eats into more of your earnings now. Even used cars are pricey but you typically see employers require reliable transportation to hire. A single hospital stay can wipe out years of savings or force bankruptcy.

Kids today are playing on hard mode.

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