NHTSA Complaint #11373044 — 2018 FORD MUSTANG

THE INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM (SYNC 3 W/ CARPLAY) THAT CAME STOCK WITH MY 2018 MUSTANG ECOBOOST RECENTLY STOPPED WORKING. THE CAR HAS 42K MILES ON IT AND IS JUST OVER 2 YEARS OLD. SYNC 3 STARTED TO RANDOMLY LAG (20-60 SEC LAG PER BUTTON PRESS), BUTTONS BECAME UNRESPONSIVE (PRESS NOT RECOGNIZED AT ALL), SHOWED INCORRECT GPS LOCATIONS WHILE USING CARPLAY (PLUGGED IN) WITH MULTIPLE MAP SERVICES, BACKUP CAM ISSUES, AND WOULD CAUSE BLUETOOTH TO DISCONNECT RANDOMLY. I LOGGED A COMPLAINT WITH MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP AND BROUGHT IT IN FOR A DIAGNOSTIC TEST. THE DEALERSHIP STATED THAT THE APIM COMPONENT NEEDED REPLACEMENT. THE DEALERSHIP NOTED THIS IS COMMON AND PLAGUES OTHER MODELS WITH THE SAME APIM. A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH VERIFIED THIS. MY MAIN CONCERN IS THIS: WHILE USING THIS SYSTEM IT CAN CREATE MANY DISTRACTIONS WHILE DRIVING IF THE SYSTEM IS NOT RESPONDING AS EXPECTED. EVEN THE STEERING WHEEL BUTTONS HAVE A LAG TO THEM. ONE SUCH SCENARIO THAT CAUSED GREAT ISSUE WAS ADJUSTING THE CLIMATE CONTROL DURING COLDER MONTHS WHEN THE WINDOWS/WINDSHIELD FOG UP. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, YOU CAN'T SEE WHILE DRIVING. TYPICALLY, I CAN REACT QUICKLY TO GET RID OF THE FOG, BUT SINCE THIS COMPONENT IS DEFECTIVE, THE SYSTEM DID NOT RESPOND AND THE FOG HAD TO BE MANUALLY REMOVED. ADDITIONALLY, THIS COMPONENT SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE REPLACED WITHIN 2YR OF PURCHASE OF THE CAR, SINCE IT IS A COMPUTER. FORD OFFERED TO REPLACE THE APIM COMPONENT, FOR $1000 (WARRANTY EXPIRED AT TIME OF DIAGNOSTIC TEST). WHAT IS EVEN MORE RIDICULOUS IS THAT THEY WANT TO REPLACE IT WITH THE EXACT SAME MODEL NUMBER, WHICH TELLS ME IN ANOTHER 2YR I MAY HAVE THE SAME ISSUE. THIS ISSUE STARTED UP WHILE I WAS IN WARRANTY (~30K MI), BUT SEEMINGLY WENT AWAY UNTIL RECENTLY WHEN THE SYSTEM HAS BECOME PRACTICALLY UNUSABLE. FORD (CORPORATE) ALSO CANNOT PROVIDE ANY RATIONALE AS TO WHY THIS IS HAPPENING, PER THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE REP.