Photo: Ford Motor Company
The all-new, fourteenth-generation 2021 Ford F-150 has been making the rounds for months on end. First, when it was introduced by the Blue Oval, then as the automaker faced issues with early production because of the global health crisis, and, finally, when it was flying off the dealer lots like hot cakes.
Naturally, the U.S. automaker has been eager to resolve all issues to make sure customers will get this hot commodity parked on the driveway as quickly as possible. But, according to a recent report from the Detroit Free Press, Dearborn might not have been ironed out all problems ahead of the first deliveries.
Everyone knows very well that early adopters enjoy both the perks of being among the first to get a hold of a popular product and the possibility to encounter infancy issues. As it turns out, some unfortunate owners of the 2021 F-150 are having a first-handed experience of the latter variety, with some brand-new trucks puzzling them with an odd issue, the so-called phantom battery drain.
According to the report, the blight has been noticed not only by customers (resorting to Internet forums to find a solution) but also by dealerships, which allegedly confirmed the existence of the 12-volt dead battery problem.
The Detroit Free Press discussed with an anonymous Texas dealership who encountered the unexpected phantom battery drain on an F-150 example that needed help from an older F-250 just to get to the service area.
It turns out Ford is apparently acknowledging the issue, with a company representative declaring that “a population of vehicles built before we began shipping to dealers require a software update to prevent batteries from losing their charge.”
Although no specific details were provided as to what caused this specific situation, the automaker declared it would take the appropriate steps to remedy the cause, with dealers already notified and customer notification letters ready to go out “as part of a customer satisfaction program for this matter.”
Everyone knows very well that early adopters enjoy both the perks of being among the first to get a hold of a popular product and the possibility to encounter infancy issues. As it turns out, some unfortunate owners of the 2021 F-150 are having a first-handed experience of the latter variety, with some brand-new trucks puzzling them with an odd issue, the so-called phantom battery drain.
According to the report, the blight has been noticed not only by customers (resorting to Internet forums to find a solution) but also by dealerships, which allegedly confirmed the existence of the 12-volt dead battery problem.
The Detroit Free Press discussed with an anonymous Texas dealership who encountered the unexpected phantom battery drain on an F-150 example that needed help from an older F-250 just to get to the service area.
It turns out Ford is apparently acknowledging the issue, with a company representative declaring that “a population of vehicles built before we began shipping to dealers require a software update to prevent batteries from losing their charge.”
Although no specific details were provided as to what caused this specific situation, the automaker declared it would take the appropriate steps to remedy the cause, with dealers already notified and customer notification letters ready to go out “as part of a customer satisfaction program for this matter.”
Google News