NHTSA Complaint #11494177 — 2016 FORD FUSION

The APIM on my 2016 Ford Fusion Energy is, as per the local Ford dealership service department, refusing to take software updates provided by Ford rendering the instrument control cluster inoperative on an intermittent basis. This means that at the least from my personal experience the backup camera (to me, a safety issue), radio (inconvenience), navigation (inconvenience), bluetooth/phone (dialing, hands free - to me, can be a safety issue), and some climate/HVAC functions (inconvenience), do not work. I do not know if the collision avoidance system is also affected. Please see NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V406000 for similar issues for different Ford models. The question here is that Ford is offering a software update for free, but the software as written is not capable of updating the APIM in my car. If Ford agreed to fix an earlier APIM problem with other models with a free software update, and the software update does not install properly on Ford equipment rendering useless safety-related functions, does the consumer then have to pay for the fix? I have asked the service department at the dealership to provide me with the module. I confirmed with national Ford Customer Service that Ford is unwilling to offer any support for parts (about $700) and/or labor (about $600) for a version of the APIM that will take the software update as written (we hope). I did attempt Ford's instructions for updating software and was not successful; the dealer confirmed that their efforts to update the software after several tries were not successful either. I attach a photo of the first error message received when the problem started. Please see other NHTSA complaints that appear to be related, although I do not know if software updates worked in those instances - 11321932, 11300724, and 11052887. Please also see the comments on Ford APIM issues from customers posted on the following website: https://www.vehiclehistory.com/articles/ford-apim-recalls-you-need-to-know-about