Complaint 2030508

Complaint Summary

POWER TRAIN

Owner Narrative

In march 2024 my vehicle unexpectedly cutoff on [XXX] heading into wash. Dc. Called a tow to my mechanic and had the alternator and battery replaced. Mechanic noticed that the vehicles battery light remained and investigated further. After amonth in the shop we observed that components were utilizing battery power when the system should be off. We heard mechanical diagnostic sounds, and the battery would not maintain a charge after being driven. Upon getting it home and a day later upon jump starting again and when i began to turn the wheel, a violent jerking response came from the steering column. Cheched the dash and several popup windows had to be closed. AWD, BATTERY, and low fuel. There was also the wrench light on the dash itself. Went on the Ford forum and many others were describing the same issues, mainly battery drain. I thought i had disconnected the cargo area lights only to find out i did disconnect part but not them all only to further discover Ford engineered the vehicle where most of the features that were described in the forum not so accessible such as the fuse panel 'fuse 32' because theres no clear indication of where that is exactly on the diagrams. Ive have pretty much used the vehicle on occasions where im moving my equipment. As of september, i received a letter from fords "Customer Satisfaction Program" in which i responded only to be told from Bannister Ford that the Software Update that would fix High-Torque launches would not be installed because the battery light was on. Now to me, this sounds like a catch-22 because the issue is with their electrical design where if one problem occurs they have a fix but you wont get it until you fix the prom (ideally with them). all the while I'm setting up the appointment im being served ads for add-on services. Its october 2024 and i am just sick of this van. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Owner-submitted narrative on file with NHTSA. Complaint narratives are self-reported and have not been verified.