New FFE with problems already - should I buy?

We have entered into a contract to buy a 2014 FFE but have not yet taken delivery. It appears that we are buying just about the last one in Northern California as it was the only one we could find within a couple of hundred miles. The reason it was still unsold is that they had identified that it needed a new wiring harness and were waiting on the replacement part. The part came in, the fix was made and they drove it to their sister dealership that is near my office. Unfortunately, now they say they were unsatisfied with the performance and they want to replace the battery. They have offered to let us out of our contract if we want, which in and of itself freaks me out. Should I be worried that this car is a lemon? It is brand new!

Sorry I do not have more info on why they think it needs new a new battery. I will post when I get more info from the service dept. (I have still been talking to the salesman). Does this set off alarms with you experienced FFE owners? I know the 2013s seem to have had some of these problems but didn't they resolve those for the 2014s? Anyone know how long it will take to get a battery? I was hoping to put a big bow on it for Christmas...

Thanks for any advice/insights you may have.

As someone with a great deal of experience in the auto industry (including "lemon" issues), I can sum up my advice in one word: RUN!

What is likely going on is that they don't know what is wrong with it and can't figure it out. Even with regular cars there can be strange intermittent issues that are very difficult to figure out--and the FFE adds a layer of difficulty due to its unfamiliar systems. Sometimes these things get fixed, sometimes they don't. Ever.

You do have tremendous lemon-law protection in California, but it is likely not worth the headache. Just order a 2015 FFE and wait a bit.

brogult said:

As someone with a great deal of experience in the auto industry (including "lemon" issues), I can sum up my advice in one word: RUN!

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+1

I can understand the anticipation of wanting an FFE *now*, and the disappointment of probably not getting one "for Christmas", but I agree with brogult. Don't take the risk here... and this advice would would go for any car, not just an EV. But, with the newer technology of EVs, I would apply the principle double. Stay far away from trouble.

The only consolation... good things come to those who wait. I highly recommend you keep searching for an older FFE (that does not have issues) or order a new 2015. The chances that you will be very happy with a careful decision, rather than an impulsive buy of something dubious, will be greatly increased.

Update:
Thanks for the advice. I was leaning that way myself. But remember how I said we had only talked to the salesman, not the service folks? Well, we got a chance to talk to the service folks yesterday and they clarified things a lot. Apparently what needed replacing was the 12v battery, not the main big Battery - little b, not capital B! And the deal with the sales folks offering us out of our contract was just them assuming when they heard the word "battery" that they were talking about the big Battery and that was a bad thing. In reality, the car was hanging out on the lot for at least a month with no wiring harness and the 12v battery just ran down.

So we are picking up the car today! We have also talked to the service tech who replaced the 12v and he said the car is doing just fine from his assessment. he will also be the tech likely servicing the car if it needs it in the future so it is nice to have that relationship started. We also reached out to the service team at the original dealership and asked about what was going wrong in the first place that required the wiring harness be replaced and they told us that it was originally taken out of the car to install in another owner's vehicle that had been waiting for the part for a long time. That makes us feel better too. So I am now officially joining the ranks of EV owners. Woo Hoo!

Here is a story that may make you feel a little bit better: At the same time I ordered mine (about 2 years ago now) my coworker ordered his. His FFE ended up sitting at the plant under a tent for 30 days while they waited for a new battery (big B) to be shipped over from Korea. It turned out that his battery failed end of line and needed to be replaced. Fast forward: Just last week he told me he just rolled over 20,000 miles...no issues with big B.

For more details on the story read these blog entries:
http://jamiegeek.myevblog.com/2013/08/22/where-is-my-car/
http://jamiegeek.myevblog.com/2013/08/24/slow-boat-from/

MermaidHair said:

It appears that we are buying just about the last one in Northern California as it was the only one we could find within a couple of hundred miles.

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Where in N. California, if you don't mind sharing that?
The dealer in Petaluma had some on hand when I took mine in for service recently (rotated tires; nothing else needed).
Our car has been a pure pleasure.

JTCalif, we bought our car at a Sacremento Ford dealer. We saw that there was inventory in Petaluma at one point but by the time we were ready to buy they had been sold.

MermaidHair said:

We also reached out to the service team at the original dealership and asked about what was going wrong in the first place that required the wiring harness be replaced and they told us that it was originally taken out of the car to install in another owner's vehicle that had been waiting for the part for a long time. That makes us feel better too. So I am now officially joining the ranks of EV owners. Woo Hoo!

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Didn't someone on this Forum say that their Ford dealer resolved their FFE issue by removing the wiring harness from a car on the lot since it was taking Ford so long to send the part?