Got Ford Performance Tune finally

[duhtroll]

Howdy all -

>>>>EDIT - MPG on 250 mile road trip today yielded 0.3 MPG INCREASE with tune.<<<<

>>>>EDIT EDIT - 22+MPG on 700 mile road trip 70-80 mph<<<<

Well good news and bad news, such as it seems to be so often. I really want to know how I am an absolute grandmaster at attracting shysters.

Finally got my tune from literally *the* head engineer at Ford Performance. Apparently my truck and only my truck needs its own specific batch code written for it and that is what took so long. OK fine, finally got it to load so I did literally everything except program it, which "T" the engineer tells me is ~10 minutes from the finish line and I should be in and out at the dealer.

You can guess where this is going. I go to the dealer and summarize what Ford techs told me. I have also loaded tunes in the past that didn't require a warranty so I knew mostly what to expect. They told me it could take up to 2.5 hours and their estimate was up to $410. I laughed and said, "no it won't - you'll know in the first 30 seconds after punching the button whether it is going to work or not. Don't wait long. If it goes past a a half hour including doing all the connecting and disconnecting, I'll go back to the drawing board." This had desk guy visibly annoyed.

If they had said, "we'll take $200 for the programming" as a flat fee I would have paid it and just let them be, but no, I'm guessing Ford has everything billed by hours and this is how the fight started. I was told by engineer "T" to expect the truck to go on and offline several times during the tuning, which it did as my android auto notification kept popping up on the screen while I was in the waiting area doomscrolling. Also, my Ford app notifications were going on and offline as well. After about 10 minutes of this, it all stopped. The truck was online, undisturbed for an additional 22 minutes or so (according to the app) and I hadn't heard anything so I went to check at the desk.

"Sure I'll go check on him in a few if I don't hear from him," was the reply.

I go walk about for 10 minutes and go back.

"Oh yeah I just spoke to him - he says your truck is just in the cooldown period to make sure everything is running OK."

"Uh, sorry, what?"

"There needs to be about a half hour resting period for the truck so we know it is working properly."

"There is no cooling down period or rest time for a solid state drive flash," I tell him.

"Well this guy is a FORD MASTER TECH so he knows what he is doing."

"Oh, beg pardon. I'm just telling you what the head engineer at Ford told me. Go get my truck, please."

"OK well you're rushing out of here and I told you it could be up to 2.5 hours."

"And the vehicle has been online uninterrupted now for 38 minutes and I told YOU to not wait this long. You are aware I get notifications at pretty much every step, right?"

They still charged me $200. I paid it, however I am going to leave them a very detailed review.

If they are going to lie to my face they should choose something that isn't blindingly obvious to anyone who has ever used a computer. They are padding hours. It was done about 20 minutes after I got there and I didn't leave until almost an hour later.

I did check the file name before I left and it was the FP file number so it was programmed. Shifting under normal driving was a LOT smoother and I was looking forward to the auto-shutoff not happening---

At the first red light, the truck shuts off. I pull over and check the file again, see that FP tune number and just assume mine is going to be "that one" that doesn't get what others get.

At least it's done and I don't need to deal with them anymore. Oh except for my daughter's vehicle recall next week.

I'm sure they will be delighted to see me again.

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[landiscarrier]

Throw it in the trash and contact Goosetuned. Haha
As I’m sure you’re aware if (and that’s a huge if) there are issues it’s up to Ford to prove that the tune was the issue. Winfield at Goosetuned makes an extremely safe and drivable tune. But I do understand if you want to stay with FP.

Before my RR I had a 19 Lariat with extended Ford warranty. Trans went at 114k and the truck was tunes since about 5k. Ford rebuilt the transmission and zero questions asked about the tune. I only had to pay my $200 deductible.

 

[John B]

And the Ford tune does not turn off the on/off feature.

 

[Maybe]

I just want a tune for my 25 2.3. Ford is dragging ass. Bronco 25+ 2.3 has been done for like 2 months. The 24+ Mustang eco even longer.

 

[bgn]

If I know a dealer service advisor is bullshitting me, I give them a hard time and then walk out. Life is too short to do business with liars and thieves, especially when the "labor" here is pushing a few buttons and issuing a bill.

 

[duhtroll]

If I know a dealer service advisor is bullshitting me, I give them a hard time and then walk out. Life is too short to do business with liars and thieves, especially when the "labor" here is pushing a few buttons and issuing a bill.

If it was before the programming, I would have. They had my truck and it was already done.

 

[Mikein the burg]

Got mine yesterday In n' Out in an hour. Runs great!!

 

[b-smi91]

Howdy all -

>>>>EDIT - MPG on 250 mile road trip today yielded 0.3 MPG INCREASE with tune.<<<<

>>>>EDIT EDIT - 22+MPG on 700 mile road trip 70-80 mph<<<<

Well good news and bad news, such as it seems to be so often. I really want to know how I am an absolute grandmaster at attracting shysters.

Finally got my tune from literally *the* head engineer at Ford Performance. Apparently my truck and only my truck needs its own specific batch code written for it and that is what took so long. OK fine, finally got it to load so I did literally everything except program it, which "T" the engineer tells me is ~10 minutes from the finish line and I should be in and out at the dealer.

You can guess where this is going. I go to the dealer and summarize what Ford techs told me. I have also loaded tunes in the past that didn't require a warranty so I knew mostly what to expect. They told me it could take up to 2.5 hours and their estimate was up to $410. I laughed and said, "no it won't - you'll know in the first 30 seconds after punching the button whether it is going to work or not. Don't wait long. If it goes past a a half hour including doing all the connecting and disconnecting, I'll go back to the drawing board." This had desk guy visibly annoyed.

If they had said, "we'll take $200 for the programming" as a flat fee I would have paid it and just let them be, but no, I'm guessing Ford has everything billed by hours and this is how the fight started. I was told by engineer "T" to expect the truck to go on and offline several times during the tuning, which it did as my android auto notification kept popping up on the screen while I was in the waiting area doomscrolling. Also, my Ford app notifications were going on and offline as well. After about 10 minutes of this, it all stopped. The truck was online, undisturbed for an additional 22 minutes or so (according to the app) and I hadn't heard anything so I went to check at the desk.

"Sure I'll go check on him in a few if I don't hear from him," was the reply.

I go walk about for 10 minutes and go back.

"Oh yeah I just spoke to him - he says your truck is just in the cooldown period to make sure everything is running OK."

"Uh, sorry, what?"

"There needs to be about a half hour resting period for the truck so we know it is working properly."

"There is no cooling down period or rest time for a solid state drive flash," I tell him.

"Well this guy is a FORD MASTER TECH so he knows what he is doing."

"Oh, beg pardon. I'm just telling you what the head engineer at Ford told me. Go get my truck, please."

"OK well you're rushing out of here and I told you it could be up to 2.5 hours."

"And the vehicle has been online uninterrupted now for 38 minutes and I told YOU to not wait this long. You are aware I get notifications at pretty much every step, right?"

They still charged me $200. I paid it, however I am going to leave them a very detailed review.

If they are going to lie to my face they should choose something that isn't blindingly obvious to anyone who has ever used a computer. They are padding hours. It was done about 20 minutes after I got there and I didn't leave until almost an hour later.

I did check the file name before I left and it was the FP file number so it was programmed. Shifting under normal driving was a LOT smoother and I was looking forward to the auto-shutoff not happening---

At the first red light, the truck shuts off. I pull over and check the file again, see that FP tune number and just assume mine is going to be "that one" that doesn't get what others get.

At least it's done and I don't need to deal with them anymore. Oh except for my daughter's vehicle recall next week.

I'm sure they will be delighted to see me again.

Advisors are mostly non technically savvy and relay information third person which gets diluted by them in translation. Different levels of 'master techs' if true. Customer/tech communication is best and preferred by me. Did you request to talk to tech? And by the way this 'T' person definitely not a Ford Engineer. Some know it all customers are irritating, few know what they are talking about. We are paid by the job not by the hour. $200 is actually reasonable.
Tech may have been paid $40 of that.

 

[duhtroll]

Are you defending the dealership's claim that a solid-state ECU flash requires a "30-minute cooldown and rest period" before the truck can be driven, or are you instead insinuating I fabricated the story?

You have the phone number to either verify or debunk my claim. If they aren't Ford Performance engineers then Ford has a massive security breach, considering they answer the phone on the escalation queue.

And you might get paid flat-rate "by the job" hours flagged on your pay stub. But the customer is billed by multiplying those book hours by the shop's hourly rate. They tried to bill me $410 (nearly 2.5 hours of shop labor) for a ProCal flash that takes 15 minutes of actual connectivity (so $40 is not a bad hourly for 15 minutes of work, even adding 5 minutes to get out the battery tender).

As I said in the OP, if they had simply quoted a flat $200 menu price for accessory programming up front, I would have paid it without a word. Instead, they tried to pad the ticket with fictional hours, got caught by FordPass connectivity logs, and made up a "cooldown period" to cover the gap. My time is more valuable than that.

But hey, I can admit if I'm wrong. Show us the book on this procedure and that it takes 2.5 hours. It was the service advisor who made the claim, not the tech and it's the SA's job to deal with the customers, after all. We agree some don't know what they're talking about but in this case, I think he knew exactly what he was doing and just lied about it to protect a padded ticket.

Advisors are mostly non technically savvy and relay information third person which gets diluted by them in translation. Different levels of 'master techs' if true. Customer/tech communication is best and preferred by me. Did you request to talk to tech? And by the way this 'T' person definitely not a Ford Engineer. Some know it all customers are irritating, few know what they are talking about. We are paid by the job not by the hour. $200 is actually reasonable.
Tech may have been paid $40 of that.

 

[b-smi91]

Are you defending the dealership's claim that a solid-state ECU flash requires a "30-minute cooldown and rest period" before the truck can be driven, or are you instead insinuating I fabricated the story?

You have the phone number to either verify or debunk my claim. If they aren't Ford Performance engineers then Ford has a massive security breach, considering they answer the phone on the escalation queue.

And you might get paid flat-rate "by the job" hours flagged on your pay stub. But the customer is billed by multiplying those book hours by the shop's hourly rate. They tried to bill me $410 (nearly 2.5 hours of shop labor) for a ProCal flash that takes 15 minutes of actual connectivity (so $40 is not a bad hourly for 15 minutes of work, even adding 5 minutes to get out the battery tender).

As I said in the OP, if they had simply quoted a flat $200 menu price for accessory programming up front, I would have paid it without a word. Instead, they tried to pad the ticket with fictional hours, got caught by FordPass connectivity logs, and made up a "cooldown period" to cover the gap. My time is more valuable than that.

But hey, I can admit if I'm wrong. Show us the book on this procedure and that it takes 2.5 hours. It was the service advisor who made the claim, not the tech and it's the SA's job to deal with the customers, after all. We agree some don't know what they're talking about but in this case, I think he knew exactly what he was doing and just lied about it to protect a padded ticket.

Never said it takes 2.5 hours. If the market bears it they will charge it. Takes 10 minutes and the 'cool down' period is BS. I didn't even mention the cool down period. 'Engineers' are third party contractors. Enjoy your tune. : )

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