So... kinda mad at Ford right now!

[SubieRubyRoo]

So anyways, I was looking for some info on Ford.com, and I logged into my owner area. I clicked on the vehicle health report, and I see this:


WHAT THE EFF, Ford? Why are you permanently canceling my "complimentary" access to what may be a valuable feature for some owners?? Not only that, but you are eliminating my report history! Considering it's a software function that uses Bluetooth to send the report to my phone, there is actually ZERO involvement needed from Ford directly... so why kill it? Are you now going to remove the VHR from my Sync software so I don't click on it and get stupid error messages? Ugh!

Sure, I may be overreacting slightly, but I paid for this feature 7 years ago and now you're killing it?? This is one reason why my next car won't be another Ford, even if it has provided 100k of nearly trouble-free service. But that won't be the story to influence my friends and family: it will be the gas tank vent failure that I had to pay for, and then a month later received a recall notice for it, and never not get reimbursed because my part failed early; the STUPID two-piece lug nuts that saved your company a nickel at the cost of another recall; and now this, disabling a built-in feature that likely saved pennies but cost you a customer. Your pick. /end rant

 

[SZR48207]

Every penny counts.

Sincerely,

The accountants who aren't really "car people" and probably drive Lexuses to work at Ford HQ

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Ford tries to suck you in by slowly failing but mostly still working well. My truck had faulty paint, leaking rear window, leaking oil from engine block, cracked exhaust manifold not to mention “wear parts”.

 

[PimTac]

Did you call Ford?

I am definitely not a Ford fan. My one ownership experience was full of dealership visits and self replacement of headlights that burned out so often I kept spares in the garage.

Found On Road Dead is the truth.

 

[dishdude]

You actually use that? It's pretty much spam. I don't need an email telling me my check engine light isn't on.

 

[Stevie]

Every Ford I owned had transmissions fail prematurely. Very expensive. The only Ford I would own would be a GT40

 

[Wolf359]

At one point I was looking at getting a Taurus SHO, but they had a feature where you could punch in the VIN number and pull up the window sticker, but then they disabled that so that only cars listed at Ford dealerships had the window sticker. I gave up. At least Mercedes has a vin lookup feature that tells you what all the options are on the car. Lots of car dealers never post the real options, and post stupid stuff like power windows and locks when pretty much all cars let alone that specific model has it. At least Ford has Forscan which is a free code scanner software.

 

[Dyusik]

Originally Posted By: Reddy45
Every penny counts.

Sincerely,

The accountants who aren't really "car people" and probably drive Lexuses to work at Ford HQ


Erm, "working hands to the bone" type people drive them too. And I'm a car people too

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
You actually use that? It's pretty much spam. I don't need an email telling me my check engine light isn't on.


Nope, I don't use it. But that's not the point. It was there when the car was bought and paid for, and now they are "stealing" a feature that may have been useful to someone. Considering it likely requires ZERO of anything from Ford considering it's been in use for 7 years now, WhTF?

Where does it stop? How long until they come for your electronic niceties that can disappear with the stroke of a keyboard?

 

[daves87rs]

Is this really worth getting upset over?

I've seen GM and Honda do a few shady things over the years, but overall I wouldn't let it be a reason not to get a car from them.

Things change...and you can't always control it...


As long as my cars run well and a long time, the rest is just details....

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
You actually use that? It's pretty much spam. I don't need an email telling me my check engine light isn't on.



Maybe they saw how useful GM's version of it was....

 

[double vanos]

I got the same message emailed to me concerning my ‘11 F150. Yawn, couldn’t care less.

 

[PW01]

I have it on my Fusion and always thought it was gimmicky at best, they can have it. If you want something to get upset over call them about the rattles in my car!

 

[Cujet]

You paid for the feature.

 

[racin4ds]

o you get all upset and say you won't buy another Ford because of a gimmick feature that you don't even use??? Yea ok, that's a perfectly logical reason to shun a great car company!!

At least ford didn't take any bail outs from Obummer and still build a quality car with LESS recalls than GM!!

I'll stick with my fords over a GM or Dodge any day! I've owned MANY fords over the years and none of them have ever let me down.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
You actually use that? It's pretty much spam. I don't need an email telling me my check engine light isn't on.


Most people can't see when the check engine light is on. Nor that the blinker is on, one tire is flat, another bald, and so on.

But by jove, if they could just a text saying their car had an issue... text, email, Facebook posting, twitter, whatever is used these days.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: racin4ds
o you get all upset and say you won't buy another Ford because of a gimmick feature that you don't even use??? Yea ok, that's a perfectly logical reason to shun a great car company!!


It's definitely a gimmicky feature. Requires you to register on a website and then it doesn't communicate directly with your phone. It has to send a text message (through your phone) , to your phone.

 

[HemiHawk]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
You actually use that? It's pretty much spam. I don't need an email telling me my check engine light isn't on.


I actually thought this post was in jest at first. My parents Edge has this "feature". It tells you basically nothing.

Ford health report 4/24/2018
"All is going ok, but the SUV could lose a few pounds to maintain proper weight. Its oil viscosity is a bit high, recommend adjusting oil diet."

Now that I've had my fun laughing at the feature... Sony recently had a class action lawsuit regarding their PS3. The original PS3 came with a function to allow for another operating system to be installed, and some other features. Well they removed it, and were sued. The result is that everyone that had one will get a $60 check. Glad I kept it around as a spare blue-ray player.

 

[Danh]

The Vehicle Health Report is useless. It told me nothing I wouldn’t know looking at the dashboard: was I due for an oil change? Was there an illuminated check engine or brake system light? My Ford didn’t display a “% oil life remaining”. Did the Vehicle Health Report do this? Nope.

Maybe Ford intended to develop this further, but the bottom line is likely very few people used it because it did nothing for them. Good riddance.

 

[Kira]

Did the OP actually pay for this "Vehicle Health Report" option or was it merely a development exercise by Ford of OBD III ? OBD III transmits so a test bed for transmitting could be wise.

Ford can't say, "The sparse data provided by the Vehicle Health Report system was just filler and you can live without it. Our experiment with the transmitting technology is over and you shouldn't care because only 0.015% of owners ever used it."

Old man Henry would say, "Get over it you child". Remember that's not me saying this. It's old man Ford. BTW, who could name a son 'Edsel' anyway?

Plenty enough reasons to hate and avoid any car maker. I particularly hate Ford for making broken transmissions an art form.....but I always admired them for having just Mercury and Lincoln as other nameplates.