MaxwellHammer

Thanks, Rebecca, for the back up! Adair, hope you have a great summer too :-)

Hi Salsaguy ... I confess to reading this forum more than posting and it has been very helpful to me. I am not a car expert (just your typical end-user) and have had a pretty crazy year so I will use that as my excuse :-) What has changed from Jeep to C-Max??? As I am recently widowed, I drive alone a lot more than I used to. To ease the boredom, I actually pay attention to how often I use gas or EV. I make trips to our camp and always am amazed at how the terrain effects my mileage. Going up the Adirondacks mpg is always less ... coming down, well, that's another story. I coast and see how far I can go on EV. Kind of a game to pass the time :-) In my jeep, how I drove was not a factor. I had no control and got the same mileage no matter what. Think I like the fact that I have some say in the matter. Also think that some of those who complain about mileage are not fully aware of how you need to change your driving/braking habits. Hybrids are a breed apart, in my opinion. As to the Sirius issue ... all I know is that it kept saying it was updating for a period of time. I have figured out that even though I had returned home and turned off the car, the updating was still occurring somewhere in the tech land that is MFT and completely drained my battery. One jump took care of both the updating and, perhaps, reset of Sirius. Fortunately, it has never happened again. Agree this could be an issue with some of the other battery drain problems .... Hope you are enjoying your C-Max as much as I am ... really don't think they deserve all of the bad press they are getting.

Hi all! I purchased my C-Max Hybrid SEL about a year ago. Here is my experience ... I live in upstate NY so I am not one who can brag about consistently high mileage. However, given that, I am very pleased with this car's performance. As background, I traded in a Jeep Patriot. I was used to a car that was good in all road conditions and could haul stuff, if needed. The C-Max has filled that bill for me. I do not travel a lot as I am retired so I only have a little over 4,200 miles on the car. I just took it in for inspection and oil change .... cost only $22 (and they threw in a free car wash). Handling ... I love the way it drives. I have acceleration when I need it and get a kick out of playing with the brakes and acceleration to maximize my EV mode. I drive a lot of short hops, rural, curvy roads and this car is very stable given the terrain. Handled well on snow and I had no problem this winter. I do not miss my 4 wheel drive. Mileage ... as of now I am back at 36.4 lifetime. This winter killed the 44+ I had attained. I hope to work back to it. I am constantly amazed at trip mpg. Now that weather is warmer I often get over 40 to up to 55 mpg's on my short hops. Reliability ... have had a few issued with MFT. Local dealer is very good about upgrades. I have had two and they have provided a loaner each time. My only real problem was one incident last fall when Sirius was trying to update. Apparently it was stuck in some mode and my battery died. Called Ford Roadside ... came very quickly. Charged the battery and I haven't had a problem since. It was a Sunday and I didn't take it to the dealer so I don't know what that was all about ... Hauling stuff ... so far I can get everything I need into the C-Max and just love the kick thing. The little things, when you arms are filled with groceries ... Overall, after one year's experience, I am very pleased with my C-Max. I forget to get gas because it is no longer a weekly or bi-weekly thing. I call this an "average" driver's review because that is what I am ... just someone who bought a car, wanted better mileage with the latest technology (just love my texts read to me!), ability to haul stuff and can say I have gotten all that I expected.

Hi all, my Sirius is barking at me to renew (expires Dec. 1). From what I have researched, it seems you get the best deal if you let your subscription expire and wait for letters in the mail with offers. Has anyone done this? I really can't afford the advertised rate at this point to renew what I have. Is it possible to "get you back" that you will get some fantastic deal cheaper than the "renew now" rate? Just wondering because I imagine a lot of us are coming up (or already have) to our 6 month free renewal time. Thanks for any thoughts ...

Thanks for the feedback. So far car has been working OK since jump on Sunday. If this continues, will take my car in as planned on Oct. 28th for updates. Will let you know what my dealer has to say. ScooterS ... sounds like you and I had the exact same problem. Fotomoto .. your theory sounds right as I am down 2 full mpg's on my lifetime average so it does appear that car wasn't complete shut down from Friday until it died at some point between Sat. night and Sun. morning.

I have a 2013 SEL (with all the perks except park assist) that I took delivery of in late May. Have just loved the car and had no complaints. I recently moved (2 weeks ago) so between selling a house, buying a house in my new location and moving, I postponed having the updates done. Last Friday I started my car as usual but noticed I had no radio ... looked at screen and it said Sirius Updating 0%. Figured it would update and that would be it. This message lasted all morning and I realized I had no audio, no voice commands, no sound when reading my texts. Drove to Ford dealer ... they could not figure out what was going on. Service person told me I should delete all facebook, google, icons etc. in contacts on my phone as this tends to overwhelm the Ford Sync system. I made an appointment for Oct. 28th for updates ... this was first day they would have a loaner available and they would need my car for the whole day. Figured I could live without audio until then as car was driving fine. Went home and deleted contacts as directed to no effect. Well, this morning (Sunday) I get up, go to car and it is stone dead ... I mean dead ... no lit screens and nothing happened when I pushed start. Called Ford Roadside Assistance. Someone came in a half hour, put jumper cables on and car came immediately to life ... sound and all. I had my audio back with Sirius and voice commands working fine! I know there have been a lot of battery problems with the C-Max's but am wondering if this Sirius updating thing and dead battery are related somehow in my case. Don't know whether I should take car over to Ford tomorrow or just wait until the 28th and hope dead battery issue doesn't reoccur. Guess if it doesn't start tomorrow decision will be made for me .... input and/or advice greatly appreciated :-)

Thanks, everyone for the feedback. I did have the environmental package (exterior and interior) added so maybe the streaking is due to some residue from that. It only happened during a torrential downpour and I don't notice it when wipers are on low. Will also think about the Rain-X. Love the wipers keeping time to the music with John Travolta, no less:-) Can just picture it!

Has anyone had a problem with their wipers? Two weeks into my C-Max. Driving home in a torrential downpour and driver side windshield wiper was leaving wicked streaks ... luckily it was daytime so I could deal with it but am worried if I had the same happen at night, it would be difficult seeing with oncoming headlights. Do I have a bad wiper or was it something on the window???? The higher the speed of wipers, the worse the streak was ... Is it worth a trip to dealer to complain???? Small problem, but thanks for any advice offered .... BTW totally love this car and sometimes get in the 50+mpg range which totally thrills me :-)

Thanks, zhackwyatt .. I obviously didn't know that at the time although I wish the salesman had explained that it was an after the fact add-on as he knew I had it on my current car and would want that on any future car. He did tell me when I picked it up that I could "now" have it added for around $300+. Needless to say, my salesman was the least helpful person during this buying process. However, sales manager, service and tech people were great. On a more positive note ... Maxwell did just fine on his first big trip to the camp (180 miles RT). Trip mileage, brand new, was 47.7 mpg. That was a combination of highway, city and mountainous rural roads. Was amazed I got such good mileage given that it had just 30 miles on it when I started the trip. Thanks to all the info you on this forum have provided me during my 7 week wait, I guess I was able to pick up right away on the correct way to drive this hybrid. It was an easy transition and a really enjoyable drive! This car truly is a computer on wheels and I'm loving every minute of it :happy feet:

Maxwell Silver Hammer arrived at my home (with me in it) at approximately 8 PM this evening. My head is spinning! Am loving it so far ... thankfully the woman who gave me a brief tech tutorial said, look ... here's Bluetooth ... talk ... forget about all the steering wheel, dashboard controls, etc. for now. I am leaving for the Adirondacks early tomorrow so I needed a quick start. This seems to work for me. Have navigation set up and am ready to go! My only disappointment is that I learned (per salesman ... not the best I've known) that the SEL 302A does not have remote start or, at least, what I thought was remote start ... I have keyless, push button start but cannot actually start the car without getting in and hitting the brake. Guess I was pretty stupid thinking that remote keyless entry meant remote start. Oh well, live and learn, I have my rear camera, glass roof and everything else so I will get over it :-) Grew a lot of leaves driving home ... think I'm catching on! Thanks to all of you and the info/advice you provide. Have download the manual and will begin my learning process .... I would post a picture but am, honestly, teched-out ...

Just want to say that this forum did play a part in my decision making re the C-Max. Per the commercial, the info you provide collectively is priceless. You are so helpful and courteous, and I hope that I can be that way too. I felt a kinship in that I know that I have a decent place to go if I have some silly, crazy question re my new car (which I hope to get this week) and not get laughed off the board!

Great picture and beautiful dog! Hope to get my silver one this week ... wish I could get my two cats to pose with me but doubt it ..... Happy for you and hope you enjoy your new car :-)

Thanks, Armoredsaint ... from what I'm seeing I paid close to great price. Makes me feel better (especially since they were so good on the trade) ... was nervous about that as this was the first time buying a car on my own. I will remember this site in case I ever buy a car again but am hoping I don't have to go through all that anytime soon! You guys are just full of info - love it :-)

Thanks, everyone! Am happy to be part of the group :-) Especially appreciate the link for the owner's manual. I'm sure I will be studying it religiously. pnwAl ... not sure I got the best deal but tried. My SEL 302A with glass roof ended up being $32,370 ... the only rebate I am getting off that is $750 (they will give an extra $1,000 if you are trading in a leased car). Could be bs but was told there is very little mark-up right now with the C-Max as they want to get it out there, so they wouldn't negotiate with me. Very high demand and low in-stock inventory. Good marketing strategy, I guess. I know they told me I would pay more for a ruby red as that is one of the premium colors. My current car is red so I passed on that ... where they did negotiate is on my trade and I think I got good value for it since it is a 2008 Jeep Patriot with low mileage but only 2WD, pretty stripped but for the moon roof. Think I did OK ... who knows, but I got the Maxwell Silver Hammer exactly as I wanted it. First time in my life I've gotten a car with all the bells and whistles, so I'm happy. Really liked the ruby red energi that I test drove - great looking color! Ruby Tuesday ... love it! Am a Stones fan too :-) Oh, I did get the environmental protection package which was extra but only because we have a camp in the Adirondacks and that pine tar (which is covered lifetime) can be nasty .... good luck with your wheeling and dealing!

Laurel, thanks for the tips! I have watched the video on line of the person driving the C-Max and realize I will have to re-learn my driving patterns. I am pretty tech savvy and actually enjoy all the new stuff but have never used voice commands. I believe the dealership said that they have a person who will walk me through all the technology which I plan to take advantage of and look forward to using. I so appreciate all your knowledgeable posters and will visit here often. I hope, at some point, that I will be able to offer some insight to new owners as you have!