MI C-max

I saw a blue C-max in Monroe on Thursday ... that's now 4 different colored C-max vehicles (my red, white, grey and blue) that I've seen running around Monroe MI. Not bad for a county that only has 135,000 people in it!

Mine showed up via FedEx.

Adair - the mornings in SE MI have been killing me lately! The drive to take my daughter to school (about 17 miles from the house) was netting fuel economies in the 50 MPG range until this week, now hitting low 40's! I'm chalking up the decreases to the defroster and lights needing to be on! I do tend to cycle the HVAC though - just turn it on to clear the windshield, then turn it off until needed again. And once the kid is out of the car, the HVAC is OFF and the windows are cracked open to keep the view clear. The ride back still needs lights though, so the return trips are hitting mid-40's. I'm still wondering why Ford didn't put LEDs in the headlights? I see them on the new Escapes, not sure why they didn't think low energy lights would be a good idea on a hybrid ...

I stumbled on to this thread looking for a solution to a true "vent" for my C-max hybrid ... I read this post and started laughing! My first car was a 1974 Plymouth Duster, at the firewall beneath the dash on both sides of the vehicle, were black boxes with doors and little lever locks on them. When you opened the door, that was the fresh air vent. The geniuses at Chrysler / Plymouth made it literally a vent too - no filters, no screens - bugs would find their way into the vehicle through those little trap doors! Oh how I wish for a modern version of those vents now ...

I was up in Troy MI today, the GPS said if I took the Interstates home it would be a 1hr 15 min drive. For kicks I decided to see if I could get from Troy to Monroe without ever touching one of the Interstates (in other words, staying at 55MPH or below the whole way). Using roads like 16 Mile Rd., Coolidge Highway, 8 Mile Rd, Southfield Freeway and Telegraph Rd. I made it home in 1hr 25 mins (10 mins longer than the GPS estimate) and averaged 58MPG for the ride, versus the usual 44MPG or lower using I-75. And the lack of stress by avoiding I-75 this afternoon was pretty refreshing!

I think I've finally figure out the distribution strategy - By State, Alphabetically. We've seen checks in Arizona, Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan But no checks in North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Washington I'm starting to see a trend ...

$550 check just arrived (the benefits of living in the same state that it was FedExed from - 1 day service instead of 2). Accompanying letter was dated 9/9/13. For those tracking the distribution of checks ... I purchased my C-max on August 16, 2013 Last name starts with "O" I live in Monroe MI

I'm going to be up in the Novi / Farmington Hills area today, then Troy tomorrow ... I wish Ford would have just told me where the check was and I would have stopped to pick it up. I could have saved them the FedEx shipping for at least 1 check! AND, I could have shown them it was possible to get close to the original tagged 47MPG in the process!!

FedEx just sent me an email saying FORD MOTOR COMPANY has shipped a package via FedEx 2 Day from Farmington Hills MI. Package was picked up today, scheduled for delivery Thursday by 8pm.

It really seems like it's Geographic or Zip Code based - it looks like people on the West Coast, East Coast, Southeast and Southwest have received theirs. Not seeing anyone in the Midwest saying they've gotten their's yet. You, I and Adair are all in Michigan, and none of us have seen our checks yet. I have an Account with FedEx and they send me an email that a shipment is inbound to me as soon as the billing info hits their system. As soon as I see an email from them, I'll post something. Of course with our luck, since we're so close to Dearborn, Ford will probably just mail ours out, and not ship via FedEx. It would help when everyone posts that they got their check, if they let us know where they're located. Some people don't have their location specified under their avatar.

I've been keeping my eyes peeled for other C-max vehicles near where I live in Monroe MI (a rural community about an hour south of Detroit MI, and just north of Toledo OH). I've had mine for about 6 weeks now, and I see a lot of people in store parking lots checking it out. A few have asked what kind of mileage I get and the obvious "Do you like it?" questions. I keep getting fooled thinking that new Escapes are C-maxes, but realize as they get close that they are not. Yesterday, while driving around town I spotted a white C-max heading in the opposite direction from me! I flashed my lights and gave the driver a thumbs up out of my window. She beeped and returned the thumbs up. Not 5 minutes later, on a different road ... a grey C-max heading the other way. Again I flashed the lights and gave a thumbs up out of the window - but only got a look like I was insane from the other driver. When I used to have my VW New Beetle, there was a "community greeting" among the drivers - we would flash our lights at each other. We need to develop a C-max community greeting - I'm hoping the thumbs up will catch on!

It's starting to sound like they're being distributed geographically ...

Anyone that has received their check - have you checked Ford ETIS to see if the 13B10 code had been removed from your vehicle?

"Cover Mods" ... I'm intrigued! Do you have a thread going for this??

They must be going out in VIN order. I'm in SE Michigan - very close to Dearborn - and nothing yet for me.

I'm starting to seriously question the accuracy of the "smart" gauges ... The previous fill up I did, I know for sure I filled the tank to the top - didn't over fill, but I couldn't put another drop of gas in the tank for sure. I just put a little less than 650 miles in, and the "smart" gauge said it had consumed 12.39 gallons of gas, and was showing that the tank was empty, with ZERO miles left to empty. So I stopped to put gas in the car, even though in the back of my mind I was saying "13.4 gallon capacity, 12.39 gallons used - I've still got a gallon left in the tank". BUT the red colored gas pump and constant reminders saying ZERO miles to empty had me kind of spooked. Here's why I'm now questioning the accuracy of the gauges ... any guesses how many gallons of gas went into the tank when I stopped?? That's right ... 13.4 GALLONS! I'm feeling awfully lucky that I did stop for gas, instead of figuring I'd make it home - with no gas stations between where I stopped and home! Worse case - I could have been 15 miles from a gas station in one point of that drive. Is anyone else noticing significant differences between what's reported on the Trip computers and what you're putting into the tank?

They're now limiting how close you can get to the Rim - some of the roads that use to go out to the points are now only accessible by busses they run around the park. You can still drive up to the South Rim Village, where you can park then hike out to almost anywhere. And if you're going to hike in to the Canyon from a distant point, then you can catch one of the busses to the trail head. The South Rim Village is like the transportation depot now. The road that runs East/West along the Canyon is still open. I usually drive up from Sedona or Flagstaff to the South Rim Village, hike for the day, then drive east along that road to the eastern gate and follow that back to Flagstaff. Along the road once you get out of the park are some amazing Canyons - sheer walls, unlike the Grand Canyon which are kind of sloped down to the river. There's also a view of the painted desert at one point that's stunning! Every time I have driven that way, it's been partly cloudy, and the sun throws the red color of the desert back up into the clouds. I sat on the edge of that desert one time watching dirt devils dance across the desert for hours. One of the best trips I've ever taken!

Lots of hiking - locally on paved paths around the area, and wooded trails in local parks, I usually average 8 - 10 miles per day. A couple of times a year I head out to AZ to hike Camelback Mountain, the Sonoran desert, Carefree, Sedona or the Grand Canyon. I recently joined a group that helps clean up the local rivers - I spent most of the day yesterday working on a stretch of the Upper Rouge River. It's amazing what people will throw in a river! I've also got a 13 yr old daughter and 2 Goldendoodles that keep me busy. And I LOVE Technology - iMacs, iPhones, iPads, AppleTVs, Airport Routers, HDTVs, TiVos, surround sound systems, etc. I love it so much, I took a Vacation day for Friday (9/20) as I'm probably going to end up spending the night out in front of an Apple Store waiting for a new iPhone 5S!

Last Thursday (9/5) - I left Cleveland OH with the "smart" gauge saying I had "180 miles to E". I pulled into the gas station nearest my neighborhood in Monroe MI (150 miles later) as the "smart" gauge flipped to "0 miles to E". I know the gauges for the gas tanks don't read to "bone dry" for "0 miles to E", there's always a little reserve there to get you to a gas station once it does hit 0. My 2010 Mercury Milan (that I traded in for the C-max) would consistently go 30 - 50 miles past "0 miles to E", and I never ran out of gas even pushing it 50 miles past 0. I just don't know what the threshold is on the C-max yet. In my mind the higher tech of the C-max makes me think the gauges should be more accurate than the Milan. I guess I should put the gas can in back the next time I get low and want to push it.

Just barely, but there it is! I needed to fill up for a trip tomorrow, so I had to take what I could get. BTW - the trip for tomorrow is up to Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant to drop off a box of fasteners that will tested for use on holding the exhaust systems on the C-max and Fusion hybrids (tests being conducted on the C-max will qualify the part for Fusions that are currently made in Mexico, and next year in Flat Rock MI). I'll probably be out on the line watching parts being run on the C-max line for a little while tomorrow.

600+ Milers - I've got a question for you ... At my last fill up, I know I put 13.25 gallons of gas in the tank. As of right now, my Trip 1 data says - 559.3 miles 11.53 gallons of gas used Doing the simple math - that should be 48.51 MPG for this tank 13.25 gallons put in the tank - 11.53 gallons used = 1.72 gallons left in the tank 1.72 gallons x 48.51 MPG = 83.44 miles to empty (calculated) The "miles to empty" estimate on the display says ... 65 miles. So here's the question ... how far past 0 miles left in the tank (on the display) have you guys pushed it?

THAT'S AWESOME! I'm hoping to join the club soon ...

Jus - Your driving tips thread helped immensely. I feel like I'm really getting the hang of driving the C-max now. I'm getting to the point of recognizing by hearing what's going with the car, instead of having to watch the gauges like a hawk. I'm pretty good at knowing where 2 bars ICE is just by sound. And getting pretty good at knowing how hard I can accelerate off the line to keep it in EV until I reach 15 - 20 MPH. My avg MPG hit 45MPG (higher than the new EPA mixed driving rating) this morning while out driving from meeting to meeting in Metro Detroit - and that included three stints of highway driving - and a quick trip past the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant where our C-maxes are assembled. (I had a meeting in the Ford assembly plant next door this morning - Ford Wayne Assembly - where they build the Fiestas. The Company I work for is a fastener supplier to Ford, I had to go look at some issues they're having with assembling Fiesta tail lights.)

Left the house yesterday with a 50MPG avg for the latest tank of gas. Got back from Cleveland with a 46.6MPG avg for the tank (damned OH Turnpike!!), and rolled into the local gas station as the "miles to empty" screen rolled to 0 miles left! I hit 574.4 miles, but apparently I didn't top off the tank as I only used 12.33 gallons. I made sure when I filled up last night, that I put 13.25 gallons in the tank. No trip to Cleveland next week, so I should be able to hit 600+ miles on this tank! The best part out of that last tank - I hit two trips (about 10 miles each) with over 75MPG!! That was awesome, and I took photos so I could text them to my Prii loving friends!

Oops - old Test Engineer terminology ("ticks") rearing it's head again! BTW - we tend to avoid "bars" while driving in these parts ...