A couple of months ago I had a High Voltage Battery issue. Warned to stop soon, but as soon as I did it would not allow it to shift into drive. Had it towed to the dealership. Dealership replaced the low voltage battery, based on the error codes thrown and I was able to pick it up within 48 hours as they thought the issue was resolved. Within 15 miles of leaving the dealership I got the same high voltage warning. Knowing it would not restart after I stopped it, I drove it back to the dealership.
It was at the dealership for a month. Fortunately, great customer service and communication from the dealership - they provided me a loaner and gave me regular updates. They worked with Ford Motor Company to diagnose the issue, removed the bed and inspected all the battery cells. Could not find anything wrong and tested the vehicle thoroughly. They returned the vehicle to me in mid-May and it has been running smoothly since then.
Then last week I got a call from an electrification specialist at Ford Motor Company advising me to take my vehicle to the dealership for service. I asked what the issue was. It seemed coincidental that I got this call the exact same day that I had emailed FMC to ask if they had found a fix for my physical front trunk bottom. This button had not been working for several months and the dealership had not been able to resolve this despite requesting help from FMC (they worked on it while it was in for the High Voltage issue).
I asked what the issue with the truck was. The electrification specialist emailed me that he was "advised they can't share that information with me. The best course of action would be to get with the dealer to see if they can take you in and get you into a loaner for your trip." I really didn't want to take my truck in if this was just a frunk button issue as I needed my truck to transport 3 kayaks and two bikes for a vacation that was starting this morning. With FMC knowing there was an issue but not willing to share what the issue was, I figured that it cannot be that serious. I have been driving the vehicle for the past few days since the call with no issues (about 250 miles)
So this morning I set out with three kayaks, two bikes, wife, two kids, and a frunk full of suitcases ( a great use of the Lightning, I thought) on our vacation trip. Unfortunately, 10 miles into the trip I get the warning to stop the vehicle soon . Having experienced this before, I drove home before stopping the vehicle. Now unable to shift out of park we had to transfer belongings to the SUV. Unfortunately, the kayaks and bikes could not come - kids are as frustrated and unhappy as I am.
Ford has a great product in the Lighting but really needs to work on service. The dealerships seem to rely on FMCs expertise, but it feels like FMC don't know how to fix issues - from as simple as a frunk button to more complex issues with high voltage batteries.
It was at the dealership for a month. Fortunately, great customer service and communication from the dealership - they provided me a loaner and gave me regular updates. They worked with Ford Motor Company to diagnose the issue, removed the bed and inspected all the battery cells. Could not find anything wrong and tested the vehicle thoroughly. They returned the vehicle to me in mid-May and it has been running smoothly since then.
Then last week I got a call from an electrification specialist at Ford Motor Company advising me to take my vehicle to the dealership for service. I asked what the issue was. It seemed coincidental that I got this call the exact same day that I had emailed FMC to ask if they had found a fix for my physical front trunk bottom. This button had not been working for several months and the dealership had not been able to resolve this despite requesting help from FMC (they worked on it while it was in for the High Voltage issue).
I asked what the issue with the truck was. The electrification specialist emailed me that he was "advised they can't share that information with me. The best course of action would be to get with the dealer to see if they can take you in and get you into a loaner for your trip." I really didn't want to take my truck in if this was just a frunk button issue as I needed my truck to transport 3 kayaks and two bikes for a vacation that was starting this morning. With FMC knowing there was an issue but not willing to share what the issue was, I figured that it cannot be that serious. I have been driving the vehicle for the past few days since the call with no issues (about 250 miles)
So this morning I set out with three kayaks, two bikes, wife, two kids, and a frunk full of suitcases ( a great use of the Lightning, I thought) on our vacation trip. Unfortunately, 10 miles into the trip I get the warning to stop the vehicle soon . Having experienced this before, I drove home before stopping the vehicle. Now unable to shift out of park we had to transfer belongings to the SUV. Unfortunately, the kayaks and bikes could not come - kids are as frustrated and unhappy as I am.
Ford has a great product in the Lighting but really needs to work on service. The dealerships seem to rely on FMCs expertise, but it feels like FMC don't know how to fix issues - from as simple as a frunk button to more complex issues with high voltage batteries.
