Joe Sofia Sr.

Received my fuel economy rebate check today....yippee! Interesting thing is, two of my neighbors, who drove 2013 Fusion Hybrids also received theirs indicating perhaps these are being clustered by zip code/market? My vehicle is a 2014 with a 11/13 buid date but both my neighbors own 2013's so no commonality on model year. With the issues I've experienced I pretty much plan to push this and the goodwill payment Ford gave me in consideration for the agony I experienced trying to get the active guidelines to appear, into an extended warranty from Flood. Nothing really tangible but for the peace of mind with no real out of pocket.

Ugh...sorry to hear this HybridBear! Ultimately it turned out to be a short in the wiring: I am no mechanic but in trying to decifer the service notes, I believe the defect occured in the LIN Network Wire. and the lack of voltage at the VT/WT wire. They reference overlaying the LIN Wire straight from the rear camera to the Body Control Module (BCM) (Loom Overlay??) and splicing the AC/DC converter. But it took a field engineer to come to the dealership to decifer the problem and ultimately correct it.. Turns out they had to remove the rear seats, interior trim, console and kick panels to get to these parts. Hope it is a simpler fix in your case! Do you want to share this with the C-Max owner that you referenced above?

After 14.5 days of my car being out of service undergoing troubleshooting, part ordering, field engineering and trim damage repair, my "baby" was returned to me yesterday afternoon. The active white active guidelines now appear when in reverse. The problem with the absence of these guidelines was identified in the wiring itself with no issues with the either the back-up camera or body control module. I will say Ford did step up with Kim's assistance (thank you Kim!) in ensuring the problem was resolved and my particular issue being given some priority attention by Ford Motor Company.. Customer Service has also stepped up with a gracious offer in the form of some goodwill consideration for my ordeal. I do have one residual question I'd like to poll you all on. I could of sworn that when the car was placed in reverse and the camera activated, the radio muted or at least the volume was "dimmed" so you could hear the warning sounds of the camera and or minimize any distraction. Mine as repaired doesn't do that now. When I picked up the vehicle, I mentioned it to the service advisor and we went and tested a brand new car. That car also didn't mute the sound. Do your cars fo this? I ask as I remember mine doing so and I have a close friend that has a 2013 and his does. Dazed and confused....please enlighten me folks! Thanks!

Thanks Kim.

Thanks HB!

The theme of this update: it just keeps getting better....and I say this in a facetious manner. After I insisted that the car be re-assembled the day before the July 4 weekend and much to the service managers chagrin, I was waiting on yet a new body control module (#3) and for a Ford field service engineer to arrive, the car was rescheduled to be evaluated yet again this past Thursday. (So glad I insisted on the getting my car back on the 3rd!) The problem was finally isolated presumably to some faulty wiring, the location of which wasn't disclosed. Late Thursday afternoon I'm told to come by today (Friday) to retrieve the car as it was still disassembled. My plans to return today to retrieve it late this afternoon was preempted by a phone call stating that a trim piece was damaged and had to be ordered to complete the re-assembly. Best case scenario, they would get that part in next Monday for install and reassembly. One of my biggest concerns in this whole episode was the car was being dissected to evaluate the problem and that the reassembly wouldn't meet the factory standard. And now with the sloppiness of having the trim piece damaged, I am to have a high comfort level that the car was reassembled to this standard? I am about ready to leave the vehicle there permanently and seek any remedies available to me. Just as an aside, It also came to light in his repair that the keyless entry panel was also malfunctioning. That too had to be replaced. Two huge issues on a two month old car.. Not feeling warm and fuzzy about this particular car and my whole purchase experience has soured. Kim: CSM Melissa notified of the same. 16.5 days this car has been out of service with my original visit to the dealers service dept. June 7th. Thoughts?

So much for crossed fingers and toes. New Control Module installed - Unfortunately. the new module couldn't be programmed. Service tells me they need to retain the car - work with Ford Engineering to continue to diagnose the issue. Oh and I can't take the car back because the dash is torn apart for an evaluation of all the wiring. Any suggestions guys? I am getting very uncomfortable knowing I got a new car being torn apart with a waning degree of confidence this car isn't sound. Is this issue potentially the harbinger of many problems to occur in the future,

Body Control Module delivered and to be installed and programmed today. Keeping my fingers crossed this solves the issue. Ford Regional Customer Service now engaged.(thank you Kim) Hate being on the front end of a problem solving learning curve (6 plus days of trying to ferret out the issue) Stay tuned.

There are probably a bunch of financial machinations you can go through to make your decision. My typical rule of thumb is if a car isn't problamatic early in it's life, it's probably not worth it. But having said that, my two month old fully loaded electronic oriented Titanium Hybrid has had it new car issues (faulty control module and keyless entry keypad) already so to me it is making more and more sense, if but to get some peace of mind. I probably will just redirect the $750 Ford Hybrid MPG miscalculation rebate into an extended warranty if but to give me the peace of mind that I won't be out a significant sum of money in the cars later years as I typically drive cars to their grave.

A little off topic but I will share it anyway if but to highlight the differences between states: In California, you drive off the dealer's lot with a temporary registration that is affixed in the front windshield. This serves as the "plate" until the actual plates arrive in the mail 3 - 4 weeks after purchase/registration. I took delivery of a new car, had the temp registration affixed and drove off. The next week I took the car on a road trip to the neighboring state of Arizona to attend my nephew's wedding in a small town called Florence AZ. As luck would have it, I drove by two local cops at a junction on my way to the wedding only to be stopped for not having any plates. When I explained to him it was a new car and my registration was in the window, the officer proceeded to give me "what was required" in Arizona was some temp plate to be displayed in the rear Of course he asked for my other credentials such as DL and Proof of Insurance. When he determined I wasn't a bad guy (mind you I was in a tux) and that my credentials were in order, he let me off with a warning that the AZ HP could still stop me and offered me directions to the wedding venue. Funny thing was....the local oakel didn't even notice that I handed him an expired Drivers License lol!! I actually had the newly issued license on hand but seeing as I had just received it in the mail on the day of my road trip, I hadn't swapped the expired one out of my wallet yet and just threw the envelope containing the reissued one in my luggage! So much for being thorough! lol

Wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't deliberately "keyed" as mine was within a month of taking ownership. And my car was also vandalized at a mall. The lack of plates screams new car and some deranged fools take great delight in marring a new car and raining on a new owners parade. Sorry!

I am presuming they did acdii. No mechanic here but I'm with you, I believe it to be more of a software issue than a hardware malfunction. Per the Dealership Service Department. the next step is to replace a control module and program that. That is on order and supposed to be delivered to the dealer mid-day Friday. Rather than leave the car there rotting at the dealership, I elected to retrieve it yesterday (Wednesday) and bring it back for the module install next week. Very frustrated that they didn't seem to have any sense of urgency in trying to get the part overnighted via FedEx or similar given that the car had been there 5 days. I wasn't about to leave it there another two days waiting on them to procur the part. What a nightmare. Hopefully this new control module is the answer.

Do the white active guidelines appear on the rear view camera display indicating the direction of the car?

Thanks! Now into Day 5. Per the dealer, Ford Engineering now being consulted.

Thanks HybridBear! That would make sense why she hasn't responded. What doesn't make any sense is why my message hasn't been read despite her saying in her vacation notification that her co workers were monitoring her IM's. Do you have Ashley's IM link? Hoping the dealer service folks can resolve it today...fingers crossed.

I sent a private IM to Kim with the information she requested over the weekend but no response yet. Will keep u posted! Thanks!

Make that 4 Full Days under repair with still no resolution by Ford Service. Ugh!

Kim: DM Sent. Update: Car is now in it's third day at the Service Department of the Ford Dealership where it was purchased. So far, the car has been in the service dept 2.5 days with this being the third. The presumption was that the rear camera was faulty and a new one was ordered and installed. The problem of the guidelines not appearing was not remedied by the installation of the new camera. To add insult to injury, after picking up the car on Friday so I had it to use over the weekend, I noticed that the dimming or reduction of the radio volume when the car was shifted into reverse now does not happen. Clearly when the techician was attempting to configure the rear camera to get the guidelines to appear somehow messed up the radio volume reduction setting. I believe the next step is that the local service folks will be working with the engineering dept at Ford HQ to ferret out the issue(s). To Ford's credit, I have been given a loaner car at no expense to me. But driving a Ford Fiesta instead of a fully loaded Fusion isn't going to cut it for long! Stay tuned......

Worth every penny! I did the CR 40 on every window but the windshield. Looks very classy and significantly reduces the inside temps on my charcoal grey interior (and thus having your AC work harder). Despite the 40 not being in compliance with CA law, it is light enough that I have no concerns about being stopped. (I am not a big fan of having two shades of tint on a car despite the degree of tinting being close). My main consideration was visability at night and again, the 3M product at this level of tint is just right. Just be sure to have a qualified 3M installer do the work. The dot matrix and slope of the rear window makes it more difficult to install than it would appear. Most good tint shops have OEM software programs to cut the tint to size. Also a reputable installer will keep the 3M watermark on the tint for you to inspect prior to the final cleaning of the windows. That way, you can be sure that the installed tint is in fact the 3M product that you purchased (stranger things have happened ;)! Good luck! JS

Kim: I actually tried to reset the active guidelines but that too didn't work. I stumped the Ford salespeople who went the settings route and the dealership service department to get this to work. Niether were successful and this after the car being in the service area over 3 hours. That is why I am here hoping that someone else besides me has experienced the same issue and to hopefully garner some intelligence from a Ford Social Media representative (you). (The only thing the owners manual states is that the steering wheel needs to be in a postion other than straight for the white active guidelines to appear (and obviously the gear shift top be in reverse). Help!!! Joe Sofia Sr.

I hope your right acdii as I know they also painted the left fender where they had to repair the keying damage. My concern would be whether they just shot both the bumper and the fender with the same paint mix (with the additive).

+2

Great info acdii. I looked at the materials list and indeed they used a flex additive, presumably on just the plastic front bumper? In any event, I will give it a month to harden before applying anything to the newly repaired/repainted section of the car. Thanks

My question has to do with the reverse camera. While it shows the fixed guidelines (green/yellow/red) and a fixed black dotted alignment center line, it doesn't appear to be giving me the white active guidelines (the lines that move with the steering wheel).When I first received the car six weeks ago, those lines did in fact exist. I took it to the dealership where I purchased the car, and after a few hours they returned the car, presumably fixed. However when I tested it upon receiving it back, the white guidelines again were missing. They took the car back into the shop and could now not get these guidelines to re-appear. I also had them check to see if there were any current TSB's for them to help solve the problem and there wasn't any on file. Their suggestion was to leave the car so they could check all the wiring as well as the back-up camera. As I had already invested an entire Saturday morning to get this fixed, I elected to return it at a later date to have it investigated. r i recall this being discussed in another forum with suggestions to change the settings (done) as well as to allow the Sync system to re-boot prior to backing up. None of these suggestions worked nor could Ford Service at the dealership figure it out. Thought this might be a good spot to start a thread specific to this issue for others experiencing the problem. This issue isn't just specific to the Fusion but rather a few other Ford models as well. Thoughts? Is there not a Ford Social Media person reviewing these threads? Perhaps that person can respond. Thanks

Thanks mwr. I had the same concern. I did find out the manufacturer of the paint was PPG and that The body shop did bake the paint. But I still wanted to be sure so I emailed Sal Zaino, the inventor of the Zaino product line and he was gracious enough to reply. What follows is Mr. Zaino's response: "There's alot of misinformation about waiting three months for the paint to cure. I am a custom painter by trade. I am very familar with Dupont, PPG and all the other paint manufacturers. The most I personally would wait on fresh "aftermarket body shop" paint before polishing with Zaino Show Car Polish is 1 week. That's more than sufficient curing time. Zaino contains no wax, silicones or abrasives..... The new paints are catalyzed. A chemical reaction cures the paint. The older lacquers and enamels needed time for the solvents to release. This is not the case anymore. Believe me if that paint need 3 months to dry than it will never dry.... Just the facts " .