Electronic Programming- Turn on EVERYTHING!

[Mav 72]

Has anyone ever asked Ford to flip the switch? I mean program EVERYTHING, every button, every accessory to ON?
I recently had the most frustrating experience ever with a very simple add on accessory. I needed to add a trailer hitch to my 24’ Everglades Bronco. I bought the part on Ford.com for $289 (now $400-$500?) at checkout it asked me if i wanted to add installation for $95… I thought for a second and said ok I’ll let Ford install it for that.
the next week I got a call from the local Ford dealership saying the part was in so I went to pick it up from Parts dept and immediately took it to the service dept and said, it’s already paid for. They replied, ahhh… no, it doesn’t work like that, these things are $1200 to install. After double checking with the techs, they came back and said we can install it for $900???? WTF? … REALLY???
I said no thanks and took it to my local auto repair guy. He said it would be $130 max.
Keep in mind, this thing attaches with 4 included bolts and the entire wire assembly is already there… it is zipp tied behind the bumper with the 4 prong plug already attached.
an hour later, my guy calls and says, well the entire bumper has to be removed to get this thing on??? (This is because the nuts that the bolts go into are welded to the hitch so they will only go in from one side??? (#stupid #bad-design) So I ask him to knock them off and push the bolts through the other way… he responds “Brilliant!”
an hour later, he calls… Well, it’s installed, however you only have running lights, brake lights and turn signals do not work… it has to be programmed… #%$&/@! Seriously????
He responds that he has an after market programmer who will come in a couple days and program it for $185… … ok fine do it…
A few days later… he calls, … it’s too new, he can’t do it… … but he’s getting an update in a week and it might work then.
Long story short, we got it to work eventually and the total cost was almost $900

This experience has me extremely hesitant to purchase ANY additional accessories that require electronic hookup. I see all those great buttons that are pre-installed however the fact is, I’m assuming, that NONE of them are “programmed” and Ford will basically force me to have everything installed by them.
Can we not pay a one time fee that will program EVERY damn wire that is already installed at the factory? It’s all there, but none of it works. Please tell me I’m wrong.

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[Brian_B]

So I can't really follow your post from the title... but with respect to buying something from Ford Performance and seeing their "Install" option - yeah, I had a dealer try to do the same thing.

Paid for the install via FP Online. Show up at the dealership when they told me the part was in. And they told me I hadn't actually paid for installation - and the dealer quote was ... 4x higher than the Ford Performance number.

I was able to haggle with the dealer to do it for the FP number, but it was explained that FP Online just uses a list rate, and dealers ~optionally~ can use that if they want. I haven't found any that would in my area though, as it's usually considerably less than their shop rates are.

Ford Performance should refund your installation if the dealer won't honor it - but they can't make the dealer do the actual install for that number if they don't want to.

 

[RoverDude]

The pricing for what needs to be done does not make sense,
It's truly not that hard of a thing.

Removing the bumper I'm putting on the receiver is not hard, it could be done solo in 35 minutes. (That's what it took me with little preparation)

 

[indio22]

So I can't really follow your post from the title... but with respect to buying something from Ford Performance and seeing their "Install" option - yeah, I had a dealer try to do the same thing.

Paid for the install via FP Online. Show up at the dealership when they told me the part was in. And they told me I hadn't actually paid for installation - and the dealer quote was ... 4x higher than the Ford Performance number.

I was able to haggle with the dealer to do it for the FP number, but it was explained that FP Online just uses a list rate, and dealers ~optionally~ can use that if they want. I haven't found any that would in my area though, as it's usually considerably less than their shop rates are.

Ford Performance should refund your installation if the dealer won't honor it - but they can't make the dealer do the actual install for that number if they don't want to.

That's what's kept me from ordering the door unlock keypad, because I have doubts the dealerships in my area will abide the prepaid install cost.

 

[HertiageMerica]

No your service department is full of it.

All hitches are installed at the dealership for 24 and up and they don’t need to do any bumper removal or wiring. They told me the same thing (I ordered it with the purchase) on how long it would take etc and I told them it was a 30 minutes job.
Had a convo with sales guy and they were like sorry got a free set of wheel locks out of them ….

 

[Brian_B]

All hitches are installed at the dealership for 24 and up

Oh yeah you are right about this - trailer package is a special case. Dealer 100% is on the hook to install that and it's baked into the price when you order it with a new vehicle purchase.

Doing it after the sale - I don't know. That may be different.

It's a bit more than plug and play - not much more, but a bit more.

 

[Brian_B]

That's what's kept me from ordering the door unlock keypad, because I have doubts the dealerships in my area will abide the prepaid install cost.

Yeah that was one of my items exactly. It takes all of 15 minutes to program with FDRS... that includes getting the laptop out and waiting on it to boot up. The quoted online install price was like $50 or something?

My dealer wanted 1.5 hrs regular shop rate ($215/hr).

You can by a VX Nano and a 2-day FDRS license for much less than that. I was able to haggle them into doing this when they did an oil change or something for the online rate.

The other was the trailer package, but on a non-prewired MY23, it had an install quote of like $200 online. They wanted 6 hours, at that rate. Newp. I did that one myself, although I wish I had waited until the 4/7pin kits were more common - mine is 4 pin only w/o brake controller.

 

[helifino16]

You mention the switches? They're all set - just connect the wire under the hood to whatever your adding and the switch will turn it on. I’ve added lights and an air horn and it really wasn’t a challenge.

 

[cbrenthus]

That ain't nothing on the '23 Jeep Grand Cherokees with the trailer tow prep kit. You couldn't get the full package on a limited or less, just the prep kit which gave you the upgraded cooling, automatic leveling headlights and suspension, and anything else needed for the 6200lb tow rating. All you needed was the hitch and wiring...

So $800 later in parts, I had to remove the entire rear fascia to replace the frame cross member with the one with the receiver...

Then I had to tear apart the interior to install the wiring, and run it through a grommet to the outside. So far, I was not happy but I understood...

But, what really pissed me off, is that I had to re-pin several wiring harnesses to add the wiring?!?! Seriously, they couldn't put a pigtail on it?!?! And the really fun one was the harness on the main fuse block. First it was nearly impossible to remove, then getting it apart was a pain, then when I got it all together the blind spot monitors and other safety stuff wouldn't work. I was told it had to be programmed, but when I took it to the dealer they said everything was fine but the safety module was dead. Ironically, everything else including the 7 pin plug worked, so off I went to take delivery of my travel trailer...

Towed a 5000lb travel trailer pretty well home and to storage. Put the family and cargo in it, and a 45 minute trip to the first campground resulted in a screaming engine and screaming kids every time I'd go up a hill and try to maintain at least 50mph and was sitting at 5000 rpm. There's no way that 3.6 PUG should be rated at 6200 lbs. Literally towed it once with the family, and the next day on our first camping trip told my wife we need a truck if we're going to start camping with this trailer and she, who is very cost conscience and concerned, yet supportive of my toys, agreed and said she had the same thought. So now there's a Rebel 2500 next to my Badsquatch in the garage. And as much as I'm pissed at Stellentis for the JGC towing debacle, it was the only HD truck I liked.

 

[mpeugeot]

Yeah that was one of my items exactly. It takes all of 15 minutes to program with FDRS... that includes getting the laptop out and waiting on it to boot up. The quoted online install price was like $50 or something?

My dealer wanted 1.5 hrs regular shop rate ($215/hr).

You can by a VX Nano and a 2-day FDRS license for much less than that. I was able to haggle them into doing this when they did an oil change or something for the online rate.

The other was the trailer package, but on a non-prewired MY23, it had an install quote of like $200 online. They wanted 6 hours, at that rate. Newp. I did that one myself, although I wish I had waited until the 4/7pin kits were more common - mine is 4 pin only w/o brake controller.

But the VX Nano is junk . Everyone says to get the Mongoose for 4x the price... LOL

Like many others here, I use the VX Diag Nano, FDRS, and FORSCAN because I hate relying on the dealership that many times lacks the expertise that a 1980's graduate from an esteemed alternative high school with a 2.0 GPA (me).

 

[B22-2023]

So I can't really follow your post from the title... but with respect to buying something from Ford Performance and seeing their "Install" option - yeah, I had a dealer try to do the same thing.

Paid for the install via FP Online. Show up at the dealership when they told me the part was in. And they told me I hadn't actually paid for installation - and the dealer quote was ... 4x higher than the Ford Performance number.

I was able to haggle with the dealer to do it for the FP number, but it was explained that FP Online just uses a list rate, and dealers ~optionally~ can use that if they want. I haven't found any that would in my area though, as it's usually considerably less than their shop rates are.

Ford Performance should refund your installation if the dealer won't honor it - but they can't make the dealer do the actual install for that number if they don't want to.

When my dealer ignored the already-paid FP install cost to do the trailer wiring when they quoted the job as I handed them the new harness, I walked out and got the refund from FP. However, that was after I called FP, asked them about this runaround, and they said that the dealers have to do it for the price, and if anyone told me No again, have the dealer call this regional division service guy (name, title, phone number since forgotten), and that would be the last word to prevent them from charging me $1000 extra or whatever it was. Did not want to get in the middle of it so I installed without the dealer.

 

[DriveAllNight]

None of this makes any sense.

If you prepaid for installation - it's paid for.

If you didn't - taking off the bumper is the way to do it, it comes off fairly easy and I did it myself in the driveway with very few tools.

Connecting the module in the cargo area actually takes a lot longer, but still easy to do, but you have to take a lot of stuff apart to get to the mounting area.

For reference, I brought in the directions to the dealer to show them the 3 or 4 steps to have the computer recognize the tow package and they charged me something like 30 bucks.

Here's a link to my post which has an attachment of the directions - as you can see, not much to it: https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/the-expensive-journey-continues.90522/post-2204773

 

[Figmo]

That's what's kept me from ordering the door unlock keypad, because I have doubts the dealerships in my area will abide the prepaid install cost.

Added the keypad to mine (installed it on the gas door). Found a dealer about an hour away from where I live in a small town who only charged me $85 to activate it. So maybe shop around with different dealerships? I think a lot depends on how busy they are. If they’re backed up for 3 weeks and making bank…they’re not hungry enough to cut you a break on the price, I’m guessing.

 

[DriveAllNight]

That's what's kept me from ordering the door unlock keypad, because I have doubts the dealerships in my area will abide the prepaid install cost.

Added the keypad to mine (installed it on the gas door). Found a dealer about an hour away from where I live in a small town who only charged me $85 to activate it. So maybe shop around with different dealerships? I think a lot depends on how busy they are. If they’re backed up for 3 weeks and making bank…they’re not hungry enough to cut you a break on the price, I’m guessing.

I bought the keypad on sale, prepaid for the dealer to activate it. Not only did they do it, they came to my house and did it in my driveway no extra charge. I told him I wanted to mount it myself inside the gas door, he said no problem.

 

[klill001]

I ordered mine from Ford Performance as well with installation. My dealership installed it, for the price I paid Ford Performance price no questions asked. The worst thing was, I had to go back and cut the zip tie extensions (long end of zip tie after tied) off for a cleaner look.

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