ScooterMaxiJim

Plus 3 hit the nail on the head! Nice mallet on the tire sidewall with a piece of 2x4 would have been best, but lowering the jack put enough stress on it to get an unfreeze pop. Wheel is on its way to the shop for tire replacement.

I have a flat in passenger front due to a tire sidewall gash - so sealant isn't an option. Used a jack to raise the car, now with lug nuts off see that the wheel and brake system is integrated such that it doesn't just pop off. Is there a secret lever somewhere, or am I going to have to get a tow?

Recalls are federal notices regarding safety. Ignore them at your peril, but they have no impact on warranties. The notices in this thread regarding fuel efficiency rebate checks, dead battery problems, and SYNC issues are voluntary. Depending on the particular notice, the service action might expire. In any event, they also do not in any way impact the original warranty. Ford could do a better job of explaining their notices. Even ETIS does not name the 2013 Cmax Hybrid SE properly - referencing it as a 2014 Energi. Someone should file an action claiming that their 2014 Energi (according to ETIS) is a year older, and gets less than half of the promised mileage. That incorrect description finally would be corrected post-haste.

Glad no one torched me regarding the two safety issues (no physical traction control switch and the In Privacy problem with Bluetooth). Truly, I do believe that the Ford engineers haven't figured out what's causing the dead battery problem (while firmware updates seem to have lessened the number of reports, but no one seems to know why). Knowing full well that the miniscule 12-volt battery really only has to have enough juice to power up the relays at which point the big HV battery literally charges into action - and acts like an instant alternator - why not just fall back to the old failsafe mechanism we used to see with 12v batteries that had a small extra reserve battery that could put a charge into the main 12v battery? It would be just a matter of a flip of a switch (allowing the isolated baby bear battery to charge the big bear battery that can flip the switch to activate the big bad wolf HV battery. Yes, a lot of redundancy there, but that seems like a good solution when the experts can't figure out the real problem.

I'm a C-MAX owner who is very happy with the way the car handles, but amazed at the numerous poor design elements and the very poor, uninformed dealership service (several different dealers) and overall lack of customer service. And, yes, at least two poor safety features are almost certainly going to kill people - and both should force mandatory recalls. First, the rather poor traction control (at least compared to the Hyundai design) should be convenient to turn off with a physical switch, but instead it is buried deep in the menu settings - and that's an issue if you are suddenly sliding on ice going up or down a hill; not only will you not get control in a panic situation, if the engine kills the car defaults immediately back to traction control - on. This is beyond crazy-bad design, and unlike the GM issue (at least partially related to the users putting too much weight on the key chain), this is entirely on the beancounters at Ford who are too cheap to put a proper switch on the dash. Second, the MyFord Sync system causes severe driver distraction problems by occasional Bluetooth failures causing "In Privacy" notifications. No doubt with so many different protocols it's a challenge for a system to work with every possible phone. However, it is unethical to allow the system to place or receive calls that require the vehicle operator to fumble for a phone that has made a connection and the caller cannot hear you. The system should not receive or place a call that does not allow for two-way communication. The current system is going to cause many serious accidents, and could be easily remedied by simply not allowing any form of partial connection. As it stands, my current firmware can't even perform a Vehicle Health Report. We had the dead battery problem, but I do believe it's fixed with one of the updates. You never know, as dealers always seem to be guessing. In any event, the simple solution (and recommended on any car) is to have a portable battery charger on board - the BD 500 amp version fits snugly in the side net in back. You just have to remember to charge it up on occasion.