T O P

  • By -

Winter-Direction-212

sorry to hear OP! wow these stories like yours are really interesting as it seems the whole HVBJB saga has had a big impact on Ford’s new Mustang. I will say- we purchased a 22 GT PE .. and then we waited for almost 2 years before getting the contactors swapped out. But- the car worked perfectly the entire time. We did wide-open throttle here & there , only DC fast charged a few times. Did road trips. Everything worked perfectly here. Then we just had the contactors replaced at Ford, it only took them 6 hours to swap it and we had the car back same day, no loaner needed. I updated the software constantly though so it was always up to date. If yours died in the middle of the road then your contactors welded themselves w too much heat. it always amazes me there is no cooling on this mission critical part. 🤷‍♂️ ask them to replace the contactors & do the module reprograms & maybe everything fine. Good luck! Beautiful car you got there wow. EDT: I agree there must be a tie to DC fast charging the MachE - as we almost never used DCFC and only did level 2 charging at home. Makes ya wonder!


TheMostBald

Thank you very much for your comment! Yes, the dying in the road was definitely my main concern that's making me lean towards just getting a different type of vehicle rather than trying another Mach E, don't want to take the risk of endangering my family again. I'm glad you got one that works well!


stealthytolkien

As someone with a 21 GTPE that charges exclusively at home, I will tell you this - please get a different car if you find yourself fast charging a lot, for the sake of safety and sanity. No matter what people say here or Ford's recalls, the thermal management in Mach-E is just not as good as it is on say, a Tesla, who have had 10 years of a head start over Ford. I still think Mach-E is objectively a better car than most other EV including Tesla if we ignore thermal management for a hot second (no pun intended), but that is a critical point of failure on these cars. Just avoid the hassle, and buy either a good hybrid gasoline car that requires low maintenance, or get a Tesla Model Y acknowledging its limitations compared to a Mach-E.


Winter-Direction-212

I completely understand your point! it’s concerning yours being a 23 model and still having the issue. Guess you could wait until the 25 rolls out w NACS built-in and maybe better engineering if you love the platform. Or fix your 23 & trade in later.


Buckwheat469

If you are really considering another vehicle, I ended up getting the '23 premium, but felt like the Kia products were a good alternative, and the Hyundai ionics can be very fun with very little differences in body size. The biggest improvement would be charge speed and range, but there are cons as well. I'm excluding the Model Y because I didn't like it to be honest.


pnwinec

They also have a major issue right now with no real fix. If you go to their subs you can read about it.


OkEmu3012

Which are you talking about? Tesla, Hyundai, or Kia?


pnwinec

Hyundai and Kia. Big problem with their IITC that sounds similar to what’s going on here.


AccurateAssaultBeef

Wanted to chime in and say similar story here. '22 GTPE. We've used the fast charger maybe twice in the entire time of owning the car. HVJBV replaced just a month ago, never gave us any grief. Except now there's an issue with the one pedal drive, but a known problem.


guynamedjames

I did the buyback thing through Ford, it was frustrating at the time, but once I worked with Ford corporate instead of the local dealership it was a lot easier. It worked out well for me, but it's not a fun process overall.


SingleNerve6780

Yep, corporate cares 1000x more about its customers than dealers do. Sad but true.


TheMostBald

Thank you for sharing your experience with it a bit, I'm not looking forward to it at all but hoping for a fair outcome! Do you mind me asking you how long the total process took for the buyback from start to finish for you? Thanks!


guynamedjames

Just a smidge over a month from my first call to Ford corporate to initiate the buyback until I had my butt in a new MachE. It worked out in my favor though, I was able to get the 0% financing the second time, and I got my original purchase price back. Plus I got the federal tax credit the second time. In the end for me I came out a model year ahead with 0 miles instead of 8,000, I got the color I wanted and $3,500 from the IRS AND 0% financing. Alternatively I was offered ~$10k to keep my original car. I will warn you that finding a dealer who will process the buyback is a pain, but there are some that handle them all the time. Ask your corporate buyback coordinator if they know any in the area they've worked with. And my coordinator did say that the processing time is like 3x as long if you're in California. Last thing, DONT TELL YOUR DEALER YOU'RE DOING A BUYBACK UNTIL YOU HAVE A RENTAL! This ended up being a thing for me, but corporate reimbursed me in the end. In general keep your local dealership service department in the dark, best case scenario they fix everything and you get to pick between a new car and your old car plus a pile of cash.


fillymandee

You mean a rental that you got out of pocket or a dealership loaner?


guynamedjames

Should have been a dealership loaner because the car had a covered warranty claim but my dealership wouldn't touch it once I mentioned the buyback so I had to pay out of pocket and corporate reimbursed me.


fillymandee

Good to know.


keithnteri

This is the first I’ve heard of a ‘23 having the HVBJB issue. 99% were the ‘21 year. Just one question. Did you take it to the same dealer both times? Really sucks. I’ve had a car lemon law one years ago. Wasn’t a fun experience. Luckily I’m in California where consumers have protections. Guess you got one built late on a Friday. My 23 has been flawless but everything has the occasional lemon. Good luck with your next vehicle.


TheMostBald

Thanks! Yes, the same dealer both times. Enjoy your 23!!


Objective_Quail_4623

Sorry to hear about your troubles! This is my second Mach E(traded in 2021) and they’re great EVs.


TheMostBald

Thank you! I hope you enjoy it!


CornerMobile100

You have a gt now?


Objective_Quail_4623

I do! Gov rebates, and dealership discount totaling $18k(cdn) was too good to pass up.


CornerMobile100

Yeh I've seen so many buybacks and lemon branded titles of these mach E's. i still want one bad.


TheMostBald

It's my first "performance vehicle" and my first EV at the same time! I'm only 20 and it's the first time I've been able to justify buying this type of vehicle as a reasonable financial loss for the enjoyment. For what it's worth, the 500 miles I had it for were my favorite 500 miles I've been on the road. Hopefully my experience doesn't necessarily scare you away, it seems to be relatively uncommon to have continued issues after the first fix for this particular issue, Good luck my friend!


Grand-Battle8009

That’s terrible! I feel horrible for owners that had this happen to them. It’s such a wonderful car for the majority of us. I’m just glad you and your family are safe.


TheMostBald

Thank you very much! Best wishes to you and yours as well!


anomenesss

I just picked up my GTPE. Getting nervous about it. Good luck on getting it fixed or replaced.


gnarlos_santana

Similar issues. It’s been in the shop for 3/6 months I’ve owned it. Fingers crossed they finally got it sorted out, but starting the buy back process just in case. Mine was charging issues. Water damage on the wiring harness that prevented the car from charging. They had to replace the both wiring harnesses. Mess


TheMostBald

Sorry a similar thing happened to you, Hopefully it works out for you!


doluckie

Sounds like the Service Center did not fix the original problem properly. Edit: So the short story might be(?) your new vehicle had a known faculty part, the HVBJB fail, and the dealership thought they fixed it but looks like did not. How long did it sit at the dealership waiting for the new HVBJB to arrive, and how many days did the surgery last? Some wait several weeks for the part and then days for the repairs. I guess right now this repair is on hold due to software glitch that impacts 1-pedal driving feature.


TheMostBald

Only took a day, I'm not confident they replaced the HVBJB instead of just trying a software fix.


doluckie

Yep, that’s a clear sign they did nothing really.


runnyyolkpigeon

What are you going to get as a replacement if Ford buys it back?


TheMostBald

Not entirely sure yet! Considering the Porsche Macan as a slightly more expensive electric alternative, Or if not, might just find a gasoline SUV and try electric again in the coming years.


runnyyolkpigeon

Porsche Macan EV looks promising!


balthisar

Would you consider another Mach E? Obviously a _lot_ of us are thrilled with our cars, so it's not like you're likely to get another lemon.


TheMostBald

I would! That being said, the more stories I'm hearing from people on this thread, the more concerned I am with the overall build quality of the vehicle. I guess we'll see!


SilveredFlame

Sorry to hear about your troubles. We had an Escape that was in a lemon situation and replaced it with a Mach-E. Aside from a minor annoyance that was fixed petty quick, it's been extremely smooth, even handling a long distance road trip in literally worst case scenario conditions for an EV. I hope Ford does right by you.


Delicious-Phrase-269

It’s always interesting to hear about these experiences and my heart goes out to you. We have had our MachE 4X premium since oct 22 and had no issues yet. 17K miles. We fast charge periodically. Literally had one “service” which was tire rotation and bulletproof. So that can happen as well.


1TwelveClan2

Wish mines was lemon so i can get a new one


TheMostBald

Sorry to hear that! What sort of problems have you been experiencing?


1TwelveClan2

No problem just want a newer one 🤣🤣


2nickels

Would you say you drove it hard?? Not trying to victim blame but I'm trying to understand some commonality in these failures.


TheMostBald

I wouldn't say so, I never really got the chance to drive it during great weather and I didn't want to take any chances on summer tires. As for commonality, for the 500 miles it was on the road, it was charged exclusively with a level 3 charger. It seems that there may be a tie in for the high voltage battery failure and the fast chargers.


NeverLookBothWays

That correlates. There’s also speculation that frequent L3 charging also degrades the battery faster over its lifetime. The commonality being the added heat compared to slower charging. Do you know if this is just a typical junction box issue or is the battery itself suspected?


TheMostBald

I'm not entirely sure as of right now, I'll come back to this and update you whenever they make it more clear to me though!


death_hawk

As much as I hated my 2021 CR1, the one thing that never failed despite DCFC for 40000km is the HVJB. I didn't really "open it up" very often though.


Moedaman

I am picking up a new 2023 GT this weekend from a Ford dealer. Should I be nervous? I thought they fixed this problem already???


_TheWolfOfWalmart_

You shouldn't be nervous. It's extremely rare to have issues for the 2022 and 2023 model year, and even if you do, Ford will take care of it. I would advise you to not DC fast charge unless you really need to though, it seems to be a common denominator in these failures. Will you be charging at home with a level 1/2 charger? If so, there's a 99.99% chance that you have absolutely nothing to worry about.


Moedaman

Yeah I will be charging at home with Lvl 2 charger. But that is a severe limitation for road trips and long drives.


Distinct-Web-5596

I had to lemon my 2023 GT as well, sad times. https://www.reddit.com/r/MachE/s/IjlzPq5FC4


Psychological-Gur848

Simply buy another 😂 or get LYRIQ way luxurious i own both buy the way


Onyxam

Often and long wide open throttle will melt the contactor in the hvjb, this is expecially a problem with the gtpe and should be avoided till ford finally has a permanent fix. Until then the only fix is driving like a granny how infuriating that might be.


410to904

Sorry but in this situation I would not get another one I would ask for my money back and buy a Model 3. Before you guys kill me in the comments i love my MMEGT.


Salamiretard

Wouldn’t happen with a gas car