mlaurence

I got my check on Thursday. In two weeks my C-Max will be one year old (built in May) and my lifetime mileage is now 43.4 on the odometer. I feel like I should give the money back! But I'm not going to.

I want to thank you guys for the cold weather tips. At the beginning of November I was proud to be getting over 46mpg, but lately Boston has gone into the 30s and 20s. My current running mileage is about 10mpg below where it was a month ago, so I turned here for some tips. Tonight I tried turning the heat off, and what a difference that makes! The engine warms much faster and I saw the blue EV light come on so quickly. It also took so much more time for the engine to cool down when I was coasting on EV or waiting at a traffic light. I never would have thought that blowing warm air into the cabin used so much engine heat. My trip tonight gave me over 42mpg for a short 15 mile round trip in sub-freezing weather. It's not a route I usually take but I'll get a better comparison tomorrow on my way to work. Hopefully this will keep me out of winter depression, watching the lifetime mileage plunge month after month until April. One thing for sure: I'm glad I insisted on a model with heated seats!

Thanks! I don't know why my photo attachments are always so tiny. And these ones are even upside-down! I feel like I'm driving the clown car. :) But at least I'm in da club. Meanwhile, some of you are hitting 800 miles or more-wow! I guess that'll be "wait til next year" from here in New England.

Here's how I joined the club! I had about 525 miles on a tank and my estimated miles-to-empty read about 65. The temperature's been dropping and I can see that I lose 10mpg or more on chilly mornings. Today was a balmy 60º in Boston (for the Red Sox victory parade, of course), so I figured this was my last chance before next spring to get the big 600 mile tank. I went off on an old-fashioned road trip, cruising down a lightly traveled state highway (35-45 mph), watching the miles go up and the miles-to-go drop down. With 40 miles to the goal, I got a Low Fuel Warning and the tank in the gas gauge turned yellow. It claimed I could squeeze 37 miles out of my tank. About 20 miles later it turned red! I never saw that before. I figured I might be walking the last miles as the miles-to-go dropped to 0 with 8 miles left to 600. But I made it, to 601.2 miles, with a gas station in front of me as I stopped to take pictures. Score! As it turns out, there's either a lot of spare gas in the tank, or a lot of room after the gas pump clicks off. My car took 12.878 gallons, so there was well over a half gallon of gas in the tank (or air when I finished filling it up). There was another milestone on this trip: On the 75 mile mileage run, I got the best trip mileage of my car's life, a little over 60 mpg. It was along the coast, so basically the same elevation from start to finish. Those 40 mph roads are really the sweet spot for the C-Max. I'll estimate that my 600 mile tank was about 50% city driving, 20% interstate, and 30% state highway.

Same here, first 3000 miles now problem free and the gas mileage just keeps going up. My most recent tank is over 48mpg. I'm thinking maybe I should send their $550 check back. :)

I received my $550 today. Last name starts with K, I bought my C-Max on August 8. I kinda wish they'd sent it by regular mail and sent me the difference. :) Anyway, as you can see, my mileage is more than the new window sticker says and it continues to get a little better week by week. Thank you Ford for the free gas!

I did a 200 mile trip over the weekend, more than half on interstate highways. At the end, I was over 44 mpg. That's with the update, and I was happy with the results. I actually did quite a bit of driving over 70mph, and didn't pay as close attention as I usually do to the changing mpg guages. So that meant for a more relaxed trip. Going uphills, I let the car slow to 60 or so, but over the hill I let it go as fast as 75, and I was happy to see the EV kick in even at those speeds on the downward slope. It was nice to be passing some cars and using some of the fun-to-drive power that I bought with the C-Max. Overall, I'd say I had faster speeds than before the update, and my overall mileage was at least as good as before.

Hi, as a fellow Bostonian, I'm wondering where you find those "totally flat roads." :) No, I know of a few, and my best tactic there is to get up to and a little above the speed limit and then let the EV coast with a little power to keep it going. The biggest variable that a lot of people don't think about is net difference in altitude. You'll go up and down a lot of hills but a lot of the time you don't realize you've dropped 500 feet in the process of reaching your destination, or climbed that far. That's why I really only believe my mileage when I've finished a round trip. So far I haven't owned my C-Max through a really cold morning, but when it's in the 40's and 50's it might take a mile or so before the EV will kick in. Of course the mpg's drop, but the upside of all that ICE driving is that the battery is building up to the top, so you'll be able to use the EV more during the rest of your trip. I'm enjoying 45.1 lifetime right now (on the car's computer, anyway), but I know it won't last when the New England winter kicks in.

Now I have my first fill-up after 400+ miles with the update. And it barely made a difference in my lifetime mileage. My tank was 0.3mpg under my Fuelly average, which didn't change things from the previous 44.1mpg. The car's own computer didn't change either, still 45.0. The really good news for me is that I did not spend the whole time in the slow lane trying to hit this number. Instead of driving under the speed limit all the time, I was going 65-75 as I let the EV kick in to coast for a little while on the interstate. Probably my average interstate speed was a little over 65, which makes a considerable difference when everyone is going 65-80. I still haven't gotten the rhythm quite right. But I'm encouraged: I didn't lose mileage - well, a tiny bit, but that's just a glitch. My EV+ is back after it disappeared for almost 2 weeks after the update. That little EV boost when I get close to home really makes a difference. Considering that I was really experimenting for the first 1/3 of the tank, I think the mileage will be heading up in the future. The best news: it was only a tiny drop. 45mpg is a lot better than I expected when I bought the C-Max, and I'm still getting it in the city and - almost - on the highway. I'll get that 47mpg yet - although with winter on the way, I might have to wait a few months.

I'd rather not have one that worked from inside the car. As you suggest, it sounds insecure - anybody who knew about it would have a giant added incentive to break into the car. But more important, there are many times that I want to unlock my house door and I'm not getting out of my car at the time. A key fob in the pocket would be a lot better.

Thanks for the comparison. Nice review! I'd say you were fair to the Prius and picked the winner I would have picked. I've driven Prius rentals before and bought a C-Max, so I picked it too. I love the quiet, solid build of the C-Max, the extra touches of the SEL package, comfortable seats, and nice ride. Unlike you, I'm really happy so far with MyFord Touch. The voice commands have made it easy to sort out the many complicated features of the phone/entertainment package...at least for me. But I've also been a little frustrated that I can't quite seem to get the 47mpg or better that some people on this group are reporting. It does seem like Toyota makes it easier to drive the Prius the way you'd want to if you wanted top mileage. But I also want to be able to step on it when necessary, have some fun, and get some performance out of my almost $30,000 car. Ford makes it a lot easier to do that, and that above all is why I prefer the C-Max.

This is exactly what I was experiencing after I got the update. On an interstate, now you pulse to a higher speed with the ICE and let the EV gradually cruise to a slightly slower speed, building up those mpg's as you cruise. It's like a straightaway on a city street or a state highway. I think it's a little more relaxing to drive the car consistently, instead of having to switch styles once you went over 62mph. I'm glad not to have to think about the 62mph threshold.

Wow, that's amazing, on the first tank! Absolutely no learning curve for you driving the C-Max. I've been all impressed with myself on target for my first 600 mile tank after 2000 miles, and you go and do it on tank #1. Have you driven hybrids before? Congratulations.

I like it! It wouldn't work with my Android phone but that's okay, it will still work with a keyfob in my pocket. I'm not sure if it would work with my rather ancient door and lock. Their discussion of lock brand names and systems doesn't mean much to me, but I'm afraid it would add up to "sorry, you need all new everything." :) And there's also the drawback that it doesn't seem to actually exist yet. Otherwise, sounds great!

I don't see much difference between ECO and every other cruise control I've ever used. It slows you down a little bit on hills, but for good mileage I'd slow down by 10mph or more. What you can do is push it a little more when you see a hill coming up, then ease up on the gas (not all the way, but somewhat) and accept that you'll be going quite a bit slower at the top of the hill. But once the gas engine kicks in, feel free to push it when you get close to the top of the hill. Then when you get to the top you'll be back to the speed limit or above it, and you can coast on EV for a while, building the mileage back up, making up as much as you can of the loss from that climb. It's so important to be able to anticipate what's coming up. That's what gives us human drivers better results than the ECO cruise control. At least that's the way it looks to me. But hey, I've had the update for a week, so I'm still learning. Maybe there's a better way - I'm sure I will learn some new tricks as I go.

I just finished my first week with the FE update. Before it was installed, my C-Max lifetime mileage had just hit 45.0 with 1700 miles. It's been steadily going up. After the update, I did a 200 mile week total with 35% interstate, 25% highway, and 40% stop-and-go city driving. The city and highway driving is pretty much the same as before. I think it's a little faster to go into EV when I get going, but that's offset (so far) by the lack of EV+ when I get home. Those settings got erased with this update. The interstate is where I really wanted to see something. I had a 120 mile trip that I've done most weeks I've owned the C-Max. I can get 45mpg but in the slow lane, getting passed by everybody at 62mph - including the Priuses. :( Now, I was hoping to get the same mileage at 65-67mph. I tried ECO at 67, and watched mileage dip into the 30's for the first time since I bought my C-Max! Nice to keep up with traffic, but my post-update mileage was struggling to stay above 40. For the first time my lifetime FE dropped, only by 0.2mpg but I was not happy with this update! On the way home, I decided to drive the car myself. No cruise control, do what feels right. On the 60 mile trip I descend 900 feet overall so FE is bound to be better, but I was happy to bring my overall mileage for the week to over 45. That's more like it! This is what seems to work: drive with much the same strategy as in the city, but faster. Push to 70+ with the ICE, then coast and gently push with the EV until a hill or low battery brings on the ICE. When I see that happen, push a little harder back up to 70 or more and repeat. Oddly enough, the cruising coach doesn't like this at all! I spent most of the trip on the halfway mark, the coach turning yellow with every attempt to go over 65. Even when I'm going downhill and the EV is going positive, Coach was still pissed! It seems he won't calm down until I go below 63 in the slow lane and get passed by everyone. But if I just keep doing what feels right, I'm still getting better mileage on the interstate than I did before the update. I'm happy to see that at least some of the time I can drive 70+ and still keep the FE where I want it.

Seems to me that unlocking with a cellphone is just as cumbersome as touching a code on a keypad. Plus, if I lost my cellphone, well, I'm sure they have a solution for that, at $8.95/month or whatever. At any rate I'm not going to pay a monthly subscription fee to get into my front door! It's such a good system to have a small key transmitter in your pocket. And it can't cost that much if it's included with all the other accessories in the SEL package. It seems like someone should have this technology for people's homes as well as their cars!

I have really gotten to like the keyless entry system on my new C-Max. So I was wondering, is there anything like it for door locks for your home? Could I keep a key fob in my pocket and just open the door any time I'm standing in front of it with the magic key? It would be so handy when my arms were full of mail and groceries. I've looked around online and all I can find is locks that have keypads where you punch in numbers, or wave a key card in front of them. Either way, you still have to put down the groceries and do something. I want it to be as easy as the C-Max! But I don't even know what to call this when I'm searching for it. Can anybody help?

I will have owned my C-Max 4 weeks as of this Thursday. I've gone 1703 miles, about half of that on an 800+ mile road trip. The rest of my driving has been about 1/3 highway, 1/3 interstate, and 1/3 stop-and-go city driving. My mileage has steadily increased and today I crossed 45 mpg lifetime on the car's display. Fuelly is a little lower but I'm not sure exactly how much was in the tank when I bought the car, and with only 4 fillups so far, that could make a significant difference. Now we'll see what happens with the update. I'm getting it in a few hours. I filled the tank tonight and I'm curious, hopeful, and trying to keep my expectations pretty low. I try to follow 3 rules when I'm driving: accelerate slowly to 10-15mph, then push a little harder to the speed limit; brake gently and go for 100% on the brake coach every time; and try not to go over 65mph. Nothing fancy about hypermiling, although maybe I'm doing that anyway. 45mpg is a lot better than I expected when I bought this car, and if I can do just a little better with the update, I will be happy. If I can do that at 65-70mph, I will be ecstatic.

I haven't been able to get any song information on the MFT screen when Pandora is playing on my Android phone through Bluetooth Audio. It has always displayed the last track I played on Google Play Music instead. I read manuals, forums, and nothing I tried worked. Tonight I put Pandora on for the first time in a couple of days, and, look at that! The song title and artist from Pandora was displaying on the screen! Plus, I was able to pause and skip to the next song using the touch buttons on the screen. Just what I wanted! It wasn't quite perfect. At one point in my half-hour drive home, the display reverted to my last Google Play track, but I noticed my phone display was dark. When I activated it, the Pandora track came back, and then it changed titles correctly when the song changed. I noticed that my Pandora app on the phone had upgraded in the past couple of days. My guess is they did something in that upgrade to make it play better with MFT. But I don't really know - maybe it's been working all along for other people. I'm really glad to see it working now. Next up on my wish list - album art on the MFT screen.

I'm pretty sure the Best of XM package does not include the stations the OP was looking for. These are Clear Channel stations that are part of some legal deal with XM that dates back to when Clear Channel was an original investor in XM. They control a small amount of XM bandwidth which they use for several terrestrial stations, Talk Radio, a country station, and a retro-rock music channel. The music channels, unlike other SiriusXM music channels, carry ads. I wish I could get Talk Radio on my C-Max MFT, but it doesn't appear to be possible because it's a Clear Channel product. None of these stations are available on Sirius' satellites because they don't have the same obligation to Clear Channel. The good news is that if you have a smartphone, you can find all of those terrestrial stations, as well as much of the other programming, on Clear Channel's I Heart Radio app.

I had the oddest experience with my new C-Max's wipers. I asked a couple of people at the dealer if they were rain sensitive, and they said no. Also, the stalk didn't have the "A" setting indicating they were rain-sensitive, according to the manual. It wasn't a deal-breaker, but I was surprised on my first trip when it rained that they went on by themselves. This continued to happen, so when I called Ford about something else, I asked if they were rain sensitive. Nobody could find any info, but the woman put me on hold for almost 10 minutes. When she came back she said, "oh yes, they are included in the xxx package" which is part of the base SEL that I bought. So...if you have an SEL, I guess you do have rain sensitive wipers, even if there's nothing on the window sticker about it, and your dealer says you don't.

Today I did a 110 mile round trip ending up at the same spot so elevation isn't a factor. About 60% interstate, 10% city, 20% highway (about 40 mph), and the rest being caught in 20 mph traffic. Total mileage over 51mpg. I'm excited! For the first time I noticed EV+ kicking in as I got close to home. Suddenly my ability to use EV seemed to double, which of course improved mileage. I made an appointment to get the 13B07 update in a couple of weeks, which means I have a limited time on the current firmware and another interesting learning curve ahead. The way things are going, I may not even be able to get a fill-up between now and then. Darn. :)

I don't want to think of Consumer Reports as biased but I think they've been praising foreign cars for so long that they can't help themselves. I've owned 5 foreign cars and 5 domestic cars in my life and I'd say they gave me equal amounts of joy and frustration. I do have to say the reviewers played a role in convincing me that I'd like the C-Max. Motor Trend and CR both gave generally rave reviews, and even though the gas mileage suffered, it was important to see the MT driver got decent acceleration and handling. I didn't want to buy a slug that sacrificed everything to provide good MPGs.

Thanks, Frank! Here in Boston we have a requirement for new taxis to be hybrids, and I'd say the Camry hybrid is the most popular model, but some of the owners have chosen C-Maxes. If I were taking a cab I might want a bit more room in the back seat, but it seems comfortable enough with decent room for suitcases too. Riding around up front it was one of the most comfortable cars I've ever driven on a long trip, and with the high roof it feels like it's huge. Hybrids make so much sense for taxis, I'm surprised that the owners have stuck with the gas guzzling former police cars for so long.