Maverick Hybrid Died on Freeway this Morning - Completely Unanticipated

[TarpDogg]

Mine happened before any software updates for the most recent recalls (I'm very hesitant to even let them install these updates). This is a flaw in the hybrid design for sure. Could be the result of subpar chips that were sourced during the shortage and they just don't want to pay for higher quality parts on their "cheap" truck. I had my whole family in the truck merging onto 670 in Columbus when it happened to me. Pulled off the nearest exit running on electric only, shut it off, waited and it ran fine a few minutes later. Drove it straight to the dealership I bought it from. They couldn't find anything wrong. Took it to my local dealer where it say for a couple days, again nothing wrong. Reported to NHTSA. Has been running fine ever since. Needless to say, I haven't taken the family on any long highway rides since.

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[Dad]

This is a very frightening situation to experience and it has me seriously doubting Ford's commitment to customer service. My suggestion is to write a letter to the CEO of Ford . . . go right to the top. Any corporation is only as good as its head.
Here's a link to Ford's leadership personnel. I don't know Farley's email, but perhaps someone here can dig it up
https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/people.html

 

[Optimus]

Thank you Curtis. Three hours of sitting there praying no one goes by texting and no trucks come off the road.

Has your 2022 Hybrid have any/all of the recalls completed to it, particularly any recalls released since February 2024?

 

[The Real Maverick]

I was driving at highway speed on I 75 through Cincinnati this morning and without warning my 2022 Hybrid Maverick stalled while I was in the middle lane. Fortunately I was able to quickly get over to the shoulder but had absolutely no power. When I realized the engine was dead an warning message came up on the dash, saying the vehicle won't operate in that gear. I looked down and the shift wheel was in the drive position, but the orange light was not lit on the shifter. I then got error messages, Service Engine Soon Warning, Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power Warning, Pre-Collision Assist Not Available Warning. This was really rattling, to have a modern vehicle, with only 18,000 miles stop operating in heavy traffic at 65 MPH. Recently, the radio has been getting really loud momentarily, but no other issues

Ford Roadside Assistance was terrible. I was stopped in a dangerous spot and was relegated to fill out an online form to request service while I prayed no one going by would go off the road and hit me. The form didn't auto fill my VIN Number and I had to type it from my insurance card (not realizing it was in the Ford app). The GPS had me miles away from where I was actually broken down and wouldn't save the changes I made to my real location. Although I was In a hazardous area and in some danger, I had to call and say agent over and over again to speak to a person who informed me that no tow truck would be dispatched because the dealership I chose is too far away. For $60 I could get a wrecker to take my dead vehicle to my chosen dealership but no one was coming until I give my credit card number. At this point I had been there for almost an hour not knowing they hadn't dispatched a tow truck yet and had no idea where I actually was. I reluctantly paid, but ended up waiting 3 hours total for a tow, just waiting to get creamed by a semi. By the time the wrecker arrived, the battery was completely dead by just running the hazard flashers. Nothing else was turned on, the key was out of the ignition.

This whole experience has me uneasy about trusting my Maverick going forward and will pay for AAA to avoid dealing with the overseas third party company Ford has hired to manage roadside assistance.

Has anyone had a similar breakdown experience? If so, what was the cause and fix? Again, almost two years old and only 18,000 miles. Thanks in advance for the feedback and insight.

This is a computer with wheels.

First step should always be a reboot.

1) turn off. Remove key. Open driver's door. Get out. Lock truck. Key fob 2x is best. Unlock. Get in. Try to restart.
That will "fix" the issue 95% of the time.

2) If that did not work, remove the NEGATIVE battery cable from battery under passenger rear seat. Wait a couple minutes. Reattach. Start truck. Drive away. Works 4% of the time.

1% of the time you have a real problem you can't fix on the side of the road.

Correct, you SHOULDN'T have to do this. I fully agree. But doesn't 5-10 minutes of self troubleshooting beat what you went through?

 

[jerrisn]

This is a computer with wheels.

First step should always be a reboot.

1) turn off. Remove key. Open driver's door. Get out. Lock truck. Key fob 2x is best. Unlock. Get in. Try to restart.
That will "fix" the issue 95% of the time.

2) If that did not work, remove the NEGATIVE battery cable from battery under passenger rear seat. Wait a couple minutes. Reattach. Start truck. Drive away. Works 4% of the time.

1% of the time you have a real problem you can't fix on the side of the road.

Correct, you SHOULDN'T have to do this. I fully agree. But doesn't 5-10 minutes of self troubleshooting beat what you went through?

Completely agree. Nonetheless, @Ford Motor Company ought to be investigating this matter and at least acknowledging that they are actively looking into it. In today's automobiles, advanced technology is prevalent, making them susceptible to malfunctions caused by faulty hardware or software. If manufacturers continue to market these vehicles, they must ensure their reliability. While a computer crashing or encountering errors is one thing, a vehicle traveling at high speeds on a busy highway is an entirely different matter and could endanger lives.

 

[Jman79]

This is a computer with wheels.

I am a software developer of 20 years. That statement is a real problem. Not just Ford but most modern cars. I don't understand why people, engineers, the company's are deciding to build all these nany features into vehicles.

In a very short 10 year span we've gone from building cars with very few fault points tied to critical systems and drive systems with wide tolerances.

To

Vehicles with tons of optional features creating extra fault points that are tied to critical systems and smaller tolerances.

I'm an Ecoboost customer, but we are equally as vulnerable. My collision safety alerted me the other day about an oncoming car when driving on a tight road. Might have caused me to be rear ended if it decided to brake. What happens the day that auto-magical system thinks there is a ghost car in front of me and stops dead in traffic?

I'm not a fan of the increased points of failure in the name of safety and convenience. At some point all of these items tied to drive systems make it near impossible to test / account for all failure scenarios. Bad path we're on.

 

[SVTRIDE]

I was driving at highway speed on I 75 through Cincinnati this morning and without warning my 2022 Hybrid Maverick stalled while I was in the middle lane. Fortunately I was able to quickly get over to the shoulder but had absolutely no power. When I realized the engine was dead an warning message came up on the dash, saying the vehicle won't operate in that gear. I looked down and the shift wheel was in the drive position, but the orange light was not lit on the shifter. I then got error messages, Service Engine Soon Warning, Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power Warning, Pre-Collision Assist Not Available Warning. This was really rattling, to have a modern vehicle, with only 18,000 miles stop operating in heavy traffic at 65 MPH. Recently, the radio has been getting really loud momentarily, but no other issues

Ford Roadside Assistance was terrible. I was stopped in a dangerous spot and was relegated to fill out an online form to request service while I prayed no one going by would go off the road and hit me. The form didn't auto fill my VIN Number and I had to type it from my insurance card (not realizing it was in the Ford app). The GPS had me miles away from where I was actually broken down and wouldn't save the changes I made to my real location. Although I was In a hazardous area and in some danger, I had to call and say agent over and over again to speak to a person who informed me that no tow truck would be dispatched because the dealership I chose is too far away. For $60 I could get a wrecker to take my dead vehicle to my chosen dealership but no one was coming until I give my credit card number. At this point I had been there for almost an hour not knowing they hadn't dispatched a tow truck yet and had no idea where I actually was. I reluctantly paid, but ended up waiting 3 hours total for a tow, just waiting to get creamed by a semi. By the time the wrecker arrived, the battery was completely dead by just running the hazard flashers. Nothing else was turned on, the key was out of the ignition.

This whole experience has me uneasy about trusting my Maverick going forward and will pay for AAA to avoid dealing with the overseas third party company Ford has hired to manage roadside assistance.

Has anyone had a similar breakdown experience? If so, what was the cause and fix? Again, almost two years old and only 18,000 miles. Thanks in advance for the feedback and insight.

File an online report to NHTSA...https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#vehicle

 

[Red Ryder]

I am a software developer of 20 years. That statement is a real problem. Not just Ford but most modern cars. I don't understand why people, engineers, the company's are deciding to build all these nany features into vehicles.

In a very short 10 year span we've gone from building cars with very few fault points tied to critical systems and drive systems with wide tolerances.

To

Vehicles with tons of optional features creating extra fault points that are tied to critical systems and smaller tolerances.

I'm an Ecoboost customer, but we are equally as vulnerable. My collision safety alerted me the other day when driving on a tight road. What happens the day that auto-magical system thinks there is a ghost car in front of me and stops dead in traffic?

I'm not a fan of the increased points of failure in the name of safety and convenience. At some point all of these items tied to drive systems make it near impossible to test / account for all failure scenarios. Bad path we're on.

Agree 100%

Worked in similar capacity (HMI and ladder logic). Several years ago I was with a senior controls systems engineer (now with Rockwell), peering into a Tesla, noting the screen area and lack of physical buttons for anything.
He said, "Hell no!, I want something that will get me home reliably!"
This wasn't someone challenged with technology, he had designed and supported many control rooms for nuclear facilities and the oil & gas industry that looked reminiscent of mission control.
Moving technology from convenience items to essential systems is problematic. And the mindset that lazy and/or less-rigorous design can be "fixed with a patch/update" is problematic too. Think Boeing's MCAS for example...

 

[Grim_Skunk]

I am a software developer of 20 years. That statement is a real problem. Not just Ford but most modern cars. I don't understand why people, engineers, the company's are deciding to build all these nany features into vehicles.

In a very short 10 year span we've gone from building cars with very few fault points tied to critical systems and drive systems with wide tolerances.

To

Vehicles with tons of optional features creating extra fault points that are tied to critical systems and smaller tolerances.

I'm an Ecoboost customer, but we are equally as vulnerable. My collision safety alerted me the other day when driving on a tight road. What happens the day that auto-magical system thinks there is a ghost car in front of me and stops dead in traffic?

I'm not a fan of the increased points of failure in the name of safety and convenience. At some point all of these items tied to drive systems make it near impossible to test / account for all failure scenarios. Bad path we're on.

I'm confused as to how a large car manufacture, where any changes or updates are extremely critical, do not test software updates properly. The testing phase is the most important step before rolling out the updates and patches. Clearly Ford needs to focus more on the testing phase.

 

[Bigbill27]

When my 23 maverick died on I-71 headed to Cinci., I only had 780 miles on the clock. It was on a curve at an overpass with high speed traffic. I called Ford roadside service and they came in about 1 1/2 hours. I could only get it towed to the nearest dealer so I had to rent a dolly and take it home from there (about 140 miles).

The dealership in Louisville could not get to it for a month but mine could get to it right away. It turned out to be a bad DC/DC converter. After the replacement the truck worked great. I did have some of the weak battery problems people report but it was taken care of and the truck has been great ever since.

I now have 14,500 miles and it is working great. I've gone through these things with new models before. Once I've gotten past the warantee issues, The vehicles have given me good service for years.

As cars get more complicated we are going to be living with this no matter what you buy.

 

[Jim D]

This also happened to my hybrid. I think this could occur again. Perhaps Ford should cover the expense of “reprogramming” if this occurrence should happen again after the warranty.

 

[Old Fart]

Welcome to the club son, mine crapped out on interstate 95 April 5 as all of the canooks were heading home, service adviser said the SOB module isn't talking to the PCM module. Dangerous is definitely what I'd call it, I'm driving a Deplorable truck. Turd should refund our money for being F'ing test pilots on their untested POS hybrid trucks.

 

[wb5oxq]

Glad I don't have a hybrid!

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