slampro

My wife called dibs on the max yesterday, so I ended up driving the Escape for work. Today I am off, and the car is at the dealer getting the windows tinted. While there, they are doing the sync update, he even said they would fill it up with gas. When I told him I had used half a tank, he was kind of surprised. I told him about my day, and the mileage, and he smiled. They gave me an ingot silver se with 1100 miles on it to get home.

The lack of cargo space, and the fact that it does not sit flat with rear seats down is THE only reason we did not get an Energi. When we take the piano action(keys, hammers, etc) out. It is a framed piece. It MUST be on a flat surface. Not kinda flat, not propped up to be flat. A $20,000 action from a $100,000 Steinway concert grand piano can be very finicky. If the Energi would have had a flat area with seats down, we would have one.

I agree with this. IMO having lights on during the day is not that much of a safety issue that all vehicles should be "forced" by government to have them. That being said I have had a couple cars that had them, didn't notice any difference, never bothered me, never really cared. I have seen cars with them on driving at me, it does not affect me one way or the other. My grandma used to turn her headlights on right after starting her car. I do think though, any manufacturer would be wise to just let the customer decide if they want them. I don't understand why a company would not. That part does make me :headscratch: . It is easy enough to do, wouldn't seem to increase manufacturing costs, and could be another option to profit off of.

Thanks. My wife called dibs on the new car for today, so I drove the Escape for work. Not really a lot of negatives about the Cmax. She likes it, but had a bit of a time with all the fanciness. My phone has a nice case with the rubber outer layer, so it doesn't slide around. I had a 12v charger with me, but it was an older one and wasn't working. I thought about the sun hitting it on that ledge. But it really is only up there while in motion. When I am waiting in the car I am usually using it. I don't think it will be an issue for me, it seemed to work well. But the phone is the easy thing to find a spot for, heck I could just put it inside the armrest. Thanks. I too tire from "political correctness", but that's a whole other topic.

Yeah, I shoulda added "Popcorn time!" LOL. You know the car as well as, if not better than anybody. If you say they are effective, I don't doubt it.

Yep, I knew that I forgot that. ;) I read that before. I have such a habit of just turning a car off, and getting out. Maybe next time I will remember to do that.

Oh man. Some people I tell ya. I usually put door edge protectors on my doors. It has saved me a few times of owing somebody a repair. That is a bad spot too. Nothing you can really do to protect it. Perhaps some touch up paint from the dealer can "mask" it. Getting the dent out could be costly.

I drive and help blind piano technicians. There is a little bit more information about that on my profile. I spent from 7:30am to 5:00pm at work with the C-max. I drove 200 miles. Following is my impression. Sorry for no pics, I forgot to charge my phone last night. It won't be technical, I can't keep up with all that stuff( I just drive). I am not now, and probably never will be a hypermiler. I drive with safety as my first priority, always have mostly doing the speed limit +/- 5ish. The way I see it, the guy behind me that sped up to ride my bumper, and wants me to speed up so he can be in front of the person in front of me, is not paying my ticket. Tickets are incremental, and the 5mph bracket is half the cost of 10+, 20+. etc over. I try to avoid other's road rage, and do what I can to not contribute to it. I get in the car in the morning, full tank from dealer. Reset everything, car has 38 miles on the odometer. First thing I notice(yes this might disgust a few)--I can't find a stable spot for an ashtray. I could use the top of dash, but..no, not gonna happen. I could use a cup holder, but I need one(reserved constantly) for my cup(or can). I have learned to never put an ashtray that close to an open drink, besides my passenger needs a cupholder too. The ones in the door are just too deep to be useful to me as a cupholder, and I need it for something else(more on that in a bit). So, I have the little cupholder version that came with the F150 and it has a flip open/close lid. Small enough to fit on the parking brake when parked, and while driving it fits nicely between the a/c controls and the gearshift. Problem solved(temporarily, I need a better way-I'll figure something out) . The F150 had so much room, I almost forgot a couple items in it before trade. The Escape has much more storage around the driver than the C max. I have stuff all over the Escape, but it looks like it might be somewhat of a challenge for the Max. Now where to put the phone? Hmmm door..no good can't really get to it, weird charger routing. Little space by parking brake----occupied. Definatly not on the ledge with the MFT screen. Hmm, oh hey, this little ledge in front of the CD player, yeah I rarely use CD's anymore. Done. Now...This one I got be able to reach in a hurry should the situation call for it. For as long as I can remember, before I even drove a cab, as a courier or pizza driver, I have ALWAYS carried protection in my cars. I leave a few blunt objects handy(big wrench, maglight, small bat, etc.) and some mace in my cars. I also carry a tazer, that fit very nicely in the door, as I have usually kept it in a door pocket(and it is almost always within reach). I like to feel safe, and like to know my wife has these items(and knows where they are) when I am not in the car. Ok....defense set. Now we go. I pull out of the drive and head for the interstate, it's rush hour. Granted it's El Paso rush hour(that means normal traffic compared to most places), but still rush hour. It's about 3ish miles to the interstate, 40mph limit, about 5 lights or so. First on ramp, backed up- not moving. Follow the frontage road to next entrance. Backed up but moving decent. On the hi-way, doing 60-65ish, that was nice and quick..eco cruise powers activate. I drive and watch the car go in and out of EV mode. The Escape can only go about 40 tops in ev mode, and that is not easy to do. Me likey! I drive about 18 miles at 60-65ish. Then I exit and go about 2 miles to pick up my bosses. I get to their house and was at 48.6 mpg. GREAT! I pick up the woman of the couple, and we head to Las Cruces(40ish miles). We get to L.C. and I turn off the car get out, get her tools and .... :doh: . I didn't even look, what the hell is wrong with me? UGH..habit I guess..just doing a job. I leave her at the University(they have to have 9 pianos tuned by the end of tomorrow), and I have to head back to El Paso for another customer. I get back to bosses house, at this point I looked at my phone...dead. MPG after return was around 38ish. I pick up the completely blind man, and we head to customers house. GPS was flawless, once I started to spell it right. Lot's of Spanish street names here, and frankly, I struggle to pronounce a lot of them. Spelling it...NO chance! The auto-fill, as in the Escape, I like. But this is a much, much upgraded system. Even the voice is more pleasant. Car never wandered off the street on the map, I used GPS all day, but this was the only place I needed it for. I, again just instinctively opened the door, didn't even look. I keep forgetting that it automatically keeps track of current trip and shows you when turning off. Never had a car that did that, like this. I get him set on the piano, and head out to the car. I start the car, have a/c on auto 73, and listening to the radio. Knowing he will call in an hour, I dig out the cable from my "put in car bag", and plug into the USB in the armrest. Boom..phone charging. I start cycle through menus and stuff on the dash and on MFT. Let me say this....MFT...0, nada, nothing, nope, not one issue. Worked PERFECTLY!. No problem touching the small center buttons, no severe lag, no _____________! After about 10 mins or so, I turn the phone on. Not much charge but enough for a phone call. I sync my phone, and BAM! First try, easy as could be. Worked perfect, as my wife :wub2: called about 5 minutes later. There I sat idling for about 1 hour and 15 mins. I noticed it didn't kick the engine on much. Not even half as much as the Escape. Now this is really why I like the hybrid. This is what makes the hybrid such a great car for a delivery driver. Which -- really(in one way or another(from pizza to human transplant organs))-- is what I have done for work for half my life(I considered driving a cab as being a delivery driver, just very fragile, irreplaceable, and precious cargo). I like where this is headed. 1 and 1/2 hours later(Car on the whole time) Ring, OK he is done. I go in, and bring him back to the car. Now we head back to the university in L.C. When I got mad at myself for making the same boneheaded mistake a 3rd time, I decided I wasn't even going to try and look at the auto trip data. Because I tried to late too many times...LOL. No MPG report. I take him to her. They were off to do what they do. I head back to the car to wait in the parking lot. Car on. Radio, auto a/c set at 73, outside temp 96(according to car). I'm not hot, so I turn the a/c to 75. After about 1/2 hour I got hot, a/c back at 73. 2 and 1/2 hours later they come out. 6 pianos done, time to go home. I look at the avg mpg on dash sitting at 36.2(since reset in the morning) NICE! Three 40 mile interstate trips and 4 hours idling. Escape would be about 28ish, F150 15-17(when I traded it in it read17.6). Back to El Paso. After making a stop at the grocery store, I take them home. MPG is 38.4(I think, I really need to get better at this). Drop them off, head to my home. Typical interstate traffic, busy, but moving at speed limit. Couple crazies come flying by at what must be close to 80(65 limit). Typical, no biggie. It always bottlenecks around my exit. I see it coming, and exit a couple exits early. Continue on surface streets for about 7 miles. Home. I turn off the car, and since I am now off work, I notice the display. It says 49.6 mpg on the trip home. :happy feet: :rockon: I opened the door, grabbed my phone and said "Dumb__s". No :camera: but phone was fully charged. Initial response is that I could use more reachable storage area around me. Cup holders in the back, besides the armrest ones, would be a +. Opening the roof, great view! While open it got a little hotter, not too bad. When closed, didn't feel the heat hardly at all. I was very comfortable all day. Driving and sitting for a while. It drives great! The man said he thinks it could ride better. He stopped a bit shot of saying the Escape had a better ride. I think the Max rides better, smoother. I kinda don't like not being able to see the front end, but I can get used to it. I used to have an old Chevy van, couldn't see its' front either. The kick gate. OH THE KICK GATE! I :love_shower: I carry their tools. Each bag weighs at least 20-30 pounds. OH the kick gate! Sometimes there is 3 or 4 sets of tools. Pianos require a lot of specialized items and tools. The string bag weighs 50+ pounds. Did I mention the KICK GATE?!?!? When we have to take the keys and action to their shop. It requires two of us. I have to balance a up to $20,000+ piano part, and open the door in the Escape... :worship: KICK GATE!!!! Less cargo area than the Escape, but it holds what we need, and that's what matters. My bosses both really got a kick out of it ;) They both kicked it open. It hit him in the nose(very gently, not hurt at all) I told him to move back. He :lol:. Anyway, when it hit him, it stopped. He liked that. She is a tall woman, 6 foot. She sits in back, as it's easier for him(completely blind) to get in the front. She said she liked the backseats, and was comfortable. She commented that she liked the way it "Is kind of like a bucket seat". This got long, and I'm tired of typing. All in all. I like it a lot! It performed well. There are a few things that I don't like and I find that in every car I have ever had. But they are minor, I will adjust. Oh one thing that is going to annoy me, and in fact already is annoying me. My biggest complaint. Outside of no spare(which I knew). BUT...WTH is up with the wipers???? The passenger side only wipes half the window. I don't like it. :nonono: It does not look like a bigger blade would work. They cross and it would hit each other. I know it's a big windshield, but I really don't like that wiper. HMM, gonna have to get used to that, Good thing it rarely rains here, and I mostly use them with the washer. This car is going to save me money at work, just as the Escape has. Driving the F150, I spent half my pay in gas at times. If you made it this far........Thanks for reading my nonsense!! Maybe too long. Maybe not detailed enough. Maybe a bit incomplete. I'm tired and wanted to get it out while I still remembered. I know there is more to say, but this'll do for now. I have 1/2 tank of gas for tomorrow, and will likely enter my first fuelly report sometime after work.

Picked it up today.

It felt nice driving home. :bliss: We got it for $30,890, sticker was $33,875(invoice was $31,500ish). Happy with the deal. My mpg on the drive home?.......................50!! :headspin: I didn't want to wait for them to do the Sync 6 update. I can take it in anyday this week. They will do the update, and tint my windows. Just gave the wife a quick once through of it. I think we are going for a :shift: soon. Not sure where, but I think we are going for an hour or so.

Just got home from picking it up. Added photos to my gallery.

I decided to call the Ford 800 number. I asked about the $550 payment. My car does not qualify, and the window sticker will be changed at dealer. It is unknown if the price will change. I had her check the status. She said it arrived at dealer at 5:30pm Friday. My sales manager guy is on vacation(he didn't tell me he was going, not obligated to either). She called the dealer for me, and put me in touch with a different sales manager. My car is now being prepped and detailed. Should be just a couple hours now. :happy feet: :rockon: :drool: :yahoo: :woot: :camera: coming soon.

Not yet. Just got off the phone with dealer. He said they are expecting a shipment of cars around 3pm today(it's 1:45pm now). He said he will call if it is in that shipment. :future: I am thinking it almost HAS to be. It's been on the truck since 12:30pm Friday!

These excellent :camera: will be appearing soon on the Cmax facebook page, I am sure. I bet the Mods use them for one of their post. :hat_tip:

OK!! I feel much better now!!! I just got this from the F150 forum guy. :yahoo: Shipped Convoy - Convoy # A115326 (Sierra Mountain Express ) Ramp 4B, Albuquerque, NM Aug-16-2013, 12:30 MT Aug-16-2013 Aug-16-2013 :happy feet: :rockon: Maybe had some stops along the way. Tomorrow is looking pretty good. SO, I figure they know him so well that they knew if they told him tomorrow and it didn't come he would be upset. He is over 70, retired military, and doesn't put up with crap. They just wanted to play it safe so they told him another week. Probably also trying to make themselves look good trying to say "We told you a week, and here it is. Now :wub2: us". It's all good, and I see a Cmax in our very near future.

Really, the only thing that would make me mad is if I find out it has "delivered" as status. If I learn that it is still en route, I really won't be upset, just a bit annoyed.

Well, I have been talking to the sales manager. I suppose I could go over his head, but I shouldn't have to, don't want to...but still might. I have found someone on an F150 forum to help me. He will check daily. I have asked him to check, but don't know if he can today or not. They better hope he doesn't tell me "delivered". I will also be checking with cyberdman on Monday. I hope they are just giving him a "safe date" range. He has been a customer at this dealer for over 20 years. He only buys Fords, and gets them all serviced at this dealer. All the employees know it, most know him by name. We have 3 Fords plus my brother-in-law's Focus. We always use the same SA, and have never felt he was dishonest. He is a good guy, and will notice if we do not come in anymore. He is actually the one I would probably go to first(he has worked there for almost 30 years). If they lie to us, they will lose us. I don't care how long dad has been going there.

Now I might get mad!!!! Car is still not here. I was at work all day. My father-in-law called to check on the car. He was told that it would likely be another whole week before we get it. :swear: They did say we could go do the paperwork. I said NO! I was ready last week to do it, but they said no and so we made the truck payment that came due. It has been less than 500 miles away for a week. Got unloaded from the train on 8/15 at 9:30am in Albuquerque. There is no reason for it to take more than 2 days to get to El Paso(it's only a 3-4 hour drive). If it does not come in tomorrow or Monday, I am seriously considering not buying it. Might consider ordering a 2014 from a different dealer(in a different city, because El Paso sucks and we have already been burned by the two other Ford dealers). I am not happy to be told it will be another week. We have been waiting for over 3 months! :gaah: