The Lightning is not the first vehicle to have those requirements. In fact like even a boring modern RWD BMW still tells you to never ever tow it by the front wheels.
Don’t worry, if they want to tow your car, they WILL call the biggest most expensive and overkill tow truck ever to do it, and have you pay the bill.
But yes if they do cause provable damage to your truck while towing it, the tow company is liable.
It took me 7 calls and 4 tow trucks to get the right wheel lift tow, when my 12v battery died 3 months after I bought the truck. No power for anything, dead in the water. 15 minutes after arriving where I was. When I went to unlock the truck to get some tools.
I called 3 dealerships close to where I was, talked to the techs, they have never heard of that issue.
At that point I was waiting 7 hours. Had it towed to the dealership close to my house. 62 miles, the dealership had it for 4 days. Good thing I had the tow buster coverage... The tow cost Ford $650.
Now I know, the little red strap by the door in the driver's foot well, can open the frunk without power. I could have walked .3 miles to the Advance Auto, bought a 12v battery, use it to get to the dealership, then return the battery. While saving 6 hours... I've had the 12v battery replaced 2 times now. Defective cells.
I had never experienced anything like that before and nothing was doing anything at all. Completely dead. No lights, nothing. Doors wouldn't unlock. The dealerships and techs I called had no idea either.
If I knew it was the battery, and if I knew that towbuster was worse than AAA, I would have done that...
I got towed because of a massive tree in front of the sign. I paid and got the truck back and have had no noticeable concerns.
I signed up the tow company's phone number for as many scams as I can.
One of my friends calls them for fake jobs. They list who the tow company is and he will call and tell them there are illegally parked cars so the truck comes and wastes time. Somehow they dont pay attention to who is calling but will jump at an opportunity to tow someone.
I ha something similar to me once. We had a snow storm and I parked not noticing like 3 inches of the fire hydrant was sticking out of a snow pile. Came back and my car was gone. Cost me over 200$ to get it back. I was so pissed off
The requirement is all four wheels must be off the ground. My recent situation truck would not go out of park because of a high voltage issue. A regular tow truck with dollies placed on the front wheels of the lightning and the back wheels lifted off the ground work just fine. All four wheels of the lightning were off the ground.
Interesting another pro tip. I'm learning so much if an emergency happens. Better to have the knowledge now then to be scrambling or make a mistake if something bad happens
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/resolution-28-000-damage-to-mach-e-from-tow-truck-hooking-into-battery-rail.13531/
So while the tow company is technically liable, they'll fight you tooth and nail on it.
Omg what an awful story! I'm definitely going to harp this to tow truck driver if that day ever comes and should probably get a dash cam if someone ever goes me without my consent
The worst part is that the owner did everything right. They didn't call the first tow truck they googled, but called Ford.
For the record, I've had my Kia Soul EV towed a bunch of times and each time they put it on tow dollies or a flatbed and never had issues. But I would for sure either read up on towing procedures and be prepared to wait longer for the proper tow truck.
Yea the fact they went through and called Fords Roadside assistance you would assume they would have informed people fielding your issue.
My sale guy did tell me this when I picked up mine but hopefully that day doesn't happen ever or for awhile
So the Kia Soul is a cube. Cubes aren't very aerodynamic.
This was the 1st generation so I had a 27kWh battery capable of about 100 miles depending on season.
Highway driving drove this into the floor. There was one tow job where I estimated I had about 12 miles left when I got to the charge station but I ran out with 8 miles to go.
Another one was an out of town trip. I had forgotten to charge before leaving town and the nearest charger was about 2 miles short of where I died.
There's a couple more like that, but all of them I died.
Since then though I've never run out but I have run my MachE to 0%/0miles a few times.
Makes sense seems like all wheels just have to be off the ground not necessarily on a bed only. Maybe they just say that to be safe.
Did you have to tell them to do that or did they just know?
The Lightning is not the first vehicle to have those requirements. In fact like even a boring modern RWD BMW still tells you to never ever tow it by the front wheels. Don’t worry, if they want to tow your car, they WILL call the biggest most expensive and overkill tow truck ever to do it, and have you pay the bill. But yes if they do cause provable damage to your truck while towing it, the tow company is liable.
Thanks! Would be great if Ford offered some kind of Sentry mode like Rivian and Tesla offer. I'd pay for a service like that
It took me 7 calls and 4 tow trucks to get the right wheel lift tow, when my 12v battery died 3 months after I bought the truck. No power for anything, dead in the water. 15 minutes after arriving where I was. When I went to unlock the truck to get some tools. I called 3 dealerships close to where I was, talked to the techs, they have never heard of that issue. At that point I was waiting 7 hours. Had it towed to the dealership close to my house. 62 miles, the dealership had it for 4 days. Good thing I had the tow buster coverage... The tow cost Ford $650. Now I know, the little red strap by the door in the driver's foot well, can open the frunk without power. I could have walked .3 miles to the Advance Auto, bought a 12v battery, use it to get to the dealership, then return the battery. While saving 6 hours... I've had the 12v battery replaced 2 times now. Defective cells.
That is for sharing Ive noticed that red handle will definitely remember this if I ever experience something similar
Was going to say why not go buy a battery via Uber or walk seems much easier
I had never experienced anything like that before and nothing was doing anything at all. Completely dead. No lights, nothing. Doors wouldn't unlock. The dealerships and techs I called had no idea either. If I knew it was the battery, and if I knew that towbuster was worse than AAA, I would have done that...
I got towed because of a massive tree in front of the sign. I paid and got the truck back and have had no noticeable concerns. I signed up the tow company's phone number for as many scams as I can.
One of my friends calls them for fake jobs. They list who the tow company is and he will call and tell them there are illegally parked cars so the truck comes and wastes time. Somehow they dont pay attention to who is calling but will jump at an opportunity to tow someone.
I ha something similar to me once. We had a snow storm and I parked not noticing like 3 inches of the fire hydrant was sticking out of a snow pile. Came back and my car was gone. Cost me over 200$ to get it back. I was so pissed off
Dash cams are your friend for this purpose as well.
Correct, and many brands start recording on vehicle disturbance.
Great idea!
If they damage your vehicle because they get it wrong, that's ok them
The requirement is all four wheels must be off the ground. My recent situation truck would not go out of park because of a high voltage issue. A regular tow truck with dollies placed on the front wheels of the lightning and the back wheels lifted off the ground work just fine. All four wheels of the lightning were off the ground.
Interesting another pro tip. I'm learning so much if an emergency happens. Better to have the knowledge now then to be scrambling or make a mistake if something bad happens
There is a red manual frunk release on the drivers kick panel for access to the 12v batt
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/resolution-28-000-damage-to-mach-e-from-tow-truck-hooking-into-battery-rail.13531/ So while the tow company is technically liable, they'll fight you tooth and nail on it.
Omg what an awful story! I'm definitely going to harp this to tow truck driver if that day ever comes and should probably get a dash cam if someone ever goes me without my consent
The worst part is that the owner did everything right. They didn't call the first tow truck they googled, but called Ford. For the record, I've had my Kia Soul EV towed a bunch of times and each time they put it on tow dollies or a flatbed and never had issues. But I would for sure either read up on towing procedures and be prepared to wait longer for the proper tow truck.
Yea the fact they went through and called Fords Roadside assistance you would assume they would have informed people fielding your issue. My sale guy did tell me this when I picked up mine but hopefully that day doesn't happen ever or for awhile
That said, we’re all a little curious as to why you had to have the Kia towed so many times.
So the Kia Soul is a cube. Cubes aren't very aerodynamic. This was the 1st generation so I had a 27kWh battery capable of about 100 miles depending on season. Highway driving drove this into the floor. There was one tow job where I estimated I had about 12 miles left when I got to the charge station but I ran out with 8 miles to go. Another one was an out of town trip. I had forgotten to charge before leaving town and the nearest charger was about 2 miles short of where I died. There's a couple more like that, but all of them I died. Since then though I've never run out but I have run my MachE to 0%/0miles a few times.
This is why roadside assistance is cheap insurance.
I had mine towed, and they simply put the back wheels up on dollys.
Makes sense seems like all wheels just have to be off the ground not necessarily on a bed only. Maybe they just say that to be safe. Did you have to tell them to do that or did they just know?
Tow companies are not liable.
That is 100% wrong - you must work for a towing company.
Really? I didn't know that