Lack of Hybrid Technicians

[DrumReaper]

So, I posted about my battery and parking brake issues a few weeks ago… I was told by my local Ford dealer that I’d have to wait 3 weeks to get in…

Now, the same dealer is telling me they don’t have a tech trained on Maverick hybrids, and told me to reach out to a dealer who is 45 minutes away.

I reached out to another “local” dealer - 30 minutes away - have called multiple times and service never answers the phone.

As soon as I can get this vehicle fixed, it will be sold, and I’ll never buy another Ford again.

I have a 2025 hybrid on order through a dealer in Fayetteville, NC if anyone is interested in taking that order, but I wouldn’t recommend Ford’s crappy service network to anyone.

Bye Ford…

Sponsored

 

[mr mojo risen]

So Sorry for your trouble..... I'm an EcoBoost owner and certainly not wanting to pile on..... but when I was initially shopping for a Maverick back in 2022 to replace my Ranger, my research on this forum and elsewhere indicated that there long delivery times for Hybrid Mavs compared to the EB Mavs.

Also, reports started coming out about the various issues with Hybrid Mavs (wiring harness issues, etc.) My intuition guided me towards the EcoBoost, and so far it's been a great ownership experience. The EB recalls have been fairly minor and inconsequential IMO.

You do raise a good point about the availability of Auto Techs have solid experience working on the Hybrid Mavs. I'm willing to consider a Hybrid when I trade in my current truck in 5 or 6 years, but I will definitely do my homework on dealership service with hybrids before I pull the trigger.

 

[AutobahnSHO]

A hybrid is a hybrid, the Mav is very similar to the Escape which has been sold for a long time.

That's crazy the dealer won't do what's needed to get techs who know what they're doing.

 

[GmanGM]

2005 Hybrid Escape: that 20 yrs that ford has had hybrids so no excuse for not having techs- also, ALL cars are going hybrid/phev or EV so either get w the program or go home and let someone else do it ! Next up, 'I dont have any 'self driving techs', wtf

 

[DrumReaper]

Funny thing… I went by the next nearest dealer who would never answer the phone, and apparently, even though I have never bought a car or had one serviced by them, I was on their “DO NOT CALL” list.

To make matters worse, Ford refused to acknowledge my military status and didn’t honor the military discount on the 2 mavericks and 1 Lightning F150 I purchased since 2022. Pathetic…

They had 6 service advisors… two ladies scheduling appointments, and yet could never answer the phone.

If I ran my medical service as Ford ran their service, I would’ve been sued a long time ago.

We’ve purchased over 40 Fords… I have a 2020 GT350R Heritage sitting in my garage. I grew up in nothing but ‘63-67 T Birds and a ‘71 Mach 1 429CJ, which I now have from my departed dad.

I have given Ford a lotta dough, and they have let me down dearly lately. I’ll be gladly moving on to another brand.

 

[BeachFerret]

Bummer on the difficulty.

Are you near North Carolina or Georgia by chance? Looks like Ford has some tech schools in these areas so dealerships near these schools might be better staffed.

https://media.ford.com/content/ford...chnician-training-programs-new-locations.html

 

[rallyshark]

Ford needs to dump those dealers. I've seen it so many times where crap dealers give manufacturers a bad name. You have a dealer problem, not a Ford problem. However, Ford desperately needs to get control of these horrible dealerships...

 

[TNFurb]

As a Mav hybrid owner that is definitely disturbing to hear. Thankfully I’ve had zero issues with my 2024 Lariat Hybrid. Only two recalls (that also affected the eco boost mavericks) and a routine service so far in my nearly year of ownership. My local dealer I purchased from had no issues in doing the recalls and service so here’s hoping they keep trained techs on staff. Sorry about your troubles. It’s a shame a couple of bad dealer service departments are making you give up on the brand you’ve had a long time relationship with.

 

[Msradke]

Being a retire Ford dealer tech , finding quality and trained techs is not easy task today. Less and less people are becoming techs. Takes years of training to be certified to do the repairs. If the Tech is not certified in that area Ford will not pay the dealer. The techs buy there own tools and will spend $100,000.00 or more to have all the tools and equipment to do the job.
The techs spends 8 hours repairing a concern and Ford will pay him 3 hours because thats all they want to pay. How do you think they feel at the end of the day.
Having spent about 50 years repair vehicles and about $200000.00,, I had enough of beating my head on the wall to diagnose and repair what Ford could not. I still get asked to come back to work when I stop in.
I understand your not happy and I get it. Just thought you needed to see the other side. Good luck There is a dealer there that does care, the one I worked still does.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Few young folks want to go into the trades. All the trades are hurting.
Auto mechanics is not as fun and rewarding as it was in the old days.

 

[TNFurb]

Being a retire Ford dealer tech , finding quality and trained techs is not easy task today. Less and less people are becoming techs. Takes years of training to be certified to do the repairs. If the Tech is not certified in that area Ford will not pay the dealer. The techs buy there own tools and will spend $100,000.00 or more to have all the tools and equipment to do the job.
The techs spends 8 hours repairing a concern and Ford will pay him 3 hours because thats all they want to pay. How do you think they feel at the end of the day.
Having spent about 50 years repair vehicles and about $200000.00,, I had enough of beating my head on the wall to diagnose and repair what Ford could not. I still get asked to come back to work when I stop in.
I understand your not happy and I get it. Just thought you needed to see the other side. Good luck There is a dealer there that does care, the one I worked still does.

That is so crazy that they have to buy their own tools!!!

 

[topgun/goose]

Being a retire Ford dealer tech , finding quality and trained techs is not easy task today. Less and less people are becoming techs. Takes years of training to be certified to do the repairs. If the Tech is not certified in that area Ford will not pay the dealer. The techs buy there own tools and will spend $100,000.00 or more to have all the tools and equipment to do the job.
The techs spends 8 hours repairing a concern and Ford will pay him 3 hours because thats all they want to pay. How do you think they feel at the end of the day.
Having spent about 50 years repair vehicles and about $200000.00,, I had enough of beating my head on the wall to diagnose and repair what Ford could not. I still get asked to come back to work when I stop in.
I understand your not happy and I get it. Just thought you needed to see the other side. Good luck There is a dealer there that does care, the one I worked still does.

I am also retired senior master Ford tech. One of the problems is that Ford has just certain types of mandated training that a tech must have. As a senior master I was fully certified in all aspects that Ford requires and therefore I was able to attend specific training that I chose myself to maintain my certs and I chose Hybrid school as one of my options. I was in central Oklahoma at the time and had to go to San Antonio, Texas for that school. Great training by the way and really glad I had the chance to go.

As stated above it requires a great expense on the techs part in order to work on all the different vehicles on the market. My toolbox alone cost more than a house in my area, then add in the cost of all the tools that were in it plus the computer and software that is used to work on them. As I got closer to retirement I kept asking myself who is going to be working on my stuff later in life since young people just don't have the drive it takes to do this job with the same pride in workmanship as us older techs do. A part of that is the fact that neither Ford nor the dealers want to pay the techs the rates they deserve based on how technical todays products are.

Another problem is the fact that the kinds of experience and knowledge required to work on modern vehicles is no longer taught in schools. A person has to go to trade schools or get lucky enough to have a foot in the door at a dealership that is willing to send them to school for the training they will need to work for them in the future, not many are willing to do that. And then there are lots of people who just don't want the training or just can't understand what is being taught to them.

Sadly when I retired my dealership was unable to find a tech to replace me and they ended up closing the doors. Luckily we had finished the closing process with Ford prior to Covid and with all the issues that occurred during that we were lucy to have already been closed.

Sadly to issues with having trained techs is not just a Ford problem though. The industry needs to rethink things or there won't be any trained techs to work on anything soon.

Happy Holidays.

Still looking forward to receiving my Maverick!!

 

[KEMeyer]

HOLY CRAP!!!

 

[Phimosis]

So, I posted about my battery and parking brake issues a few weeks ago… I was told by my local Ford dealer that I’d have to wait 3 weeks to get in…

Now, the same dealer is telling me they don’t have a tech trained on Maverick hybrids, and told me to reach out to a dealer who is 45 minutes away.

I reached out to another “local” dealer - 30 minutes away - have called multiple times and service never answers the phone.

As soon as I can get this vehicle fixed, it will be sold, and I’ll never buy another Ford again.

I have a 2025 hybrid on order through a dealer in Fayetteville, NC if anyone is interested in taking that order, but I wouldn’t recommend Ford’s crappy service network to anyone.

Bye Ford…

Hmm. There’s a lot to unpack here. First, this is not Ford’s fault. They make the cars and the independently owned dealership network takes care of the service.

If this was a Tesla, then yes it would be reasonable to blame them because Tesla doesn’t have franchised dealerships and they own all of their service centers.

And it’s not like Ford can control the franchised dealer’s business decisions. For example, if the franchise owner leans hard right politically and doesn’t believe in global warming, they may decide internally that they won’t service Ford EV’s or hybrids and that they aren’t willing to even hire any mechanics that have been certified to work on EV’s and hybrids, to disincentivize EV and hybrid owners to even come to them requesting service. That’s not a Ford issue, it is a local dealer issue.

And one last thought, if your local dealers are 30 and 45 minutes away, that implies that you probably live in low population area. And if you live in a low population area, it is typically hard to find skilled laborers with specialty skills that require additional training over what their peers are required to have.

Over the years, I have owned Ford, Chevy, Jeep, Nissan, Toyota, Porsche, Land Rover and Audi. If I had to rank the service, I would give Porsche top marks, but they are super expensive. But, out of all of the more affordable brands, I would give Ford top marks. Definitely better than my experiences with GM, Jeep and Toyota.

 

[DrumReaper]

Spin it how you wish… I get the franchiser/franchisee issues, but as the consumer purchasing a $30k paperweight, as it sits dead as a dorrnail, the product sucks when it can’t be serviced by local technicians.

As far as low-population….. Charleston SC is not a low pop area man.

Sponsored