csavage7

@salsaguy We looked at the Energi for that reason, but Ford's clunky design for the HV battery, which swallows up the cargo space, made it impractical for us (family of four). What is the point of a crossover SUV that can't carry luggage if people are sitting in the back seat?

I am a first time hybrid owner. After about a year we are getting about 37 mpg. I try to do long breaking glides and pulse and glide. I don't think my wife pays much attention. Separately most of our driving is short distances, punctuated by a few very long vacation drives a year. It is hard to get electric mode to kick on while the car is still warming up, so the short drive focus may be a factor.

http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/1401_real_numbers_mpg_101/

I don't dislike my C-Max, but for a brand-new car it has spent a lot of time in the repair shop. Problems include: 1. The interior panel of the driver-side door falling off, which had to be replaced 2. A faulty GPS module that had to be replaced 3. Discovery of a large dead moth floating around inside one of the rear taillights, which had to be replaced 4. The MSFT Sync system freezing up with the radio turned on, etc, several times, requiring fuse-pulls to fix, until the recall upgrade fixed it 5. The hands-free hatch liftgate sensor not working and needing to be replaced 6. The various recalls 7. Plus, of course, the 47 combined mpg lie - a different category to be sure But that adds up to being a pretty unreliable new car. Hopefully it's all tip-top now, but it's hard to quarrel with Consumer Reports' assessment.

So I took it in yesterday. They replaced the GPSM module (thank you GrandadB and Wab for flagging that, as I asked them to order it on Monday, so it was in stock already and they didn't have to keep it overnight). They also did the MPG-improving software upgrade. I did a 100 mile drive today with multiple stops, and the GPS worked perfectly. Yay! On an off topic note, I averaged about 41.5 mpg on the trip, which was about 80 percent highway. Had air conditioning on. That seemed a bit better than before. Certainly it was noticeable that it could now toggle into EV mode at normal highway speeds of 70-75 mph. I have 600 mile trip coming up this weekend, so it was good to get both things done. Wab, sounds like you should do the same. the "scheduled maintenance" screen is just its attempt to reboot itself when it detects that it is having troubles (which it rarely is able to detect) and isn't really fixing anything, as far as I can tell. (how nuts is it to have a car with so much computer stuff going on, but no physical button to force a reboot? any computer OS gets frozen from time to time. especially a Microsoft one.)

Interesting, thanks. They're also going to do that software update for improved mileage. hope the brain surgery goes okay.

Thanks for the info. I'm taking it in tomorrow morning and have told the service dept that it may be a defective GPSM module. Hopefully they have one in stock or can order it today just in case because of the heads up. Taking a long car trip next weekend and it would be nice to have this fixed before then.

Update: As it was going haywire again today, I messed with settings at a red light and discovered that I have Nav version 3.34.4. Yet I have the 3.5.1 update - for example, I have the screen where you can see the battery/ICE thing. I'm confused. Shouldn't Nav also be 3.5.1 or are they two different programs?

My sync used to get entirely stuck/frozen, requiring a fuse pull to reboot. After the 3.5.1 update, it's generally better. Not having trouble with audio, etc. But recently the GPS Nav system has become extremely laggy, sometimes getting stuck entirely, as if I'm still at that intersection a mile back. Meanwhile the radio station still changes easily. There was a day in which the system twice went black and then came up with the bs performing "scheduled" system maintenance screen. I haven't tried fuse pulling, in part because it didn't help when the Sync rebooted itself anyway. Has anyone experienced this new wrinkle in Sync suck? Mine is a Sept 2012 build 2013 SEL.

I can't find a discussion thread about this announcement yesterday of a coming software update designed to improve the fuel efficiency, including allowing it to go into EV mode up to 85 mph and halving the time it will run the ICE when starting up with a cold engine. http://www.freep.com/article/20130716/BUSINESS0102/307160116/ford-hybrids-c-max-fusion-lincoln-mkz Is there a thread elsewhere and if so where, or let's start this one. It's interesting, the list of what the update will do. I wonder why they didn't do all this in the first place - is there some downside to the various steps they aren't disclosing? Among the calibration changes: ■ The hybrids will automatically remain in electric-only mode to a top speed of 85 m.p.h., up from 62 m.p.h. now. ■ Active grille shutters will close in cold weather or when the air conditioner is running to warm or cool the cabin faster, allowing the batteries to kick in sooner to run in electric mode. ■ Fan speed will be reduced, requiring less fuel to operate. ■ The engine will warm up 50% faster, which allows stop-start technology to work faster, saving fuel when the vehicle turns itself off when idled.

So I brought the C-Max back last Thursday to get the hands-free liftgate fixed. They struggled with it all day, kept it overnight, and then told me Friday afternoon that they were going to have to order a new part. I picked it up, and brought it back this morning. This afternoon, picked it up again, and now at last the feature works. They replaced the "RFA Module" and also had to remove the interior trim to find a short on the wire. $64 in parts and $650 in labor, though all covered by warranty. So, apart from the stuff that was subject to recall like the MyFord Touch system, this brand new car has already had: 1) driver's side door interior fell off and door had to be replaced 2) discovery that a big moth was floating around inside a rear taillight that had to be replaced, and 3) faulty RFA model that made the hands-free liftgate not work and had to be replaced. I am not shocked to see that J.D. Power & Associates ranked it dead last in initial quality http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/259231/2/Ford-C-Max-hybrid-ranked-last-in-car-quality

Picked up the C-Max today. The main thing I wanted done - the upgrade to the MyFord Touch system was done, and seems to work fine - but the hands-free liftgate still didn't work. Sensor is there, software is ready. They said they had had trouble with it in updating the mod but had gotten it to work, were perplexed why it wasn't working again when I came to pick it up. I'll have to bring it in again when I have time. They said a lot of people were having trouble with it. ??

I just dug out the PDF from the dealer for the C-Max and it turns out it *is* listed as having hands-free liftgate. (It is a SEL 303A.) I must have mixed it up with one I didn't buy. So, huh - didn't know that was there. It certainly didn't work when I tried it out the other night after the dealer said it was there. Maybe that is what this recall mod update will fix! Had there been no recall, I would have gone through the life of the car thinking that the feature wasn't there. silver lining to early-adopter problems that need recalls.

My C-Max has a power liftgate, but I am pretty sure it doesn't have a hands-free liftgate. That is, when I was shopping around for it, that was listed on the window labels of some units, but not the one I ended up buying. The dealer service dept, however, says that Ford has told it that I am due for a "REAR GATE TRUNK MODULE REPROGRAM" and they say this means Ford, at least. thinks it built that feature into this unit. Certainly when I wave my foot at/under the bumper, nothing happens. But I see that some hands-free liftgates aren't working for people, which is where this update is coming from. It occurred to me that the car does have 1) a power liftgate and 2) sensors along the back bumper, which cause the beep if you get too close to something while backing up. It's not clear to me why anything more than those two things, plus a computer, would be necessary to have a hands-free liftgate system. Is it possible this car has this, or is the dealer just confused?

I contacted my local Ford dealer service this morning to complain about the continued delay in updating the GPS/Nav system and to see whether he'd heard anything more from Ford since we last talked about it 6 weeks ago, and he said by coincidence just on Saturday Ford had released a revision for my vehicle (a Sept 2012 build) for "SYNC WITH MYFORD TOUCH - APPLICATION PERFORMANCE UPGRADE." So perhaps the long wait is over. Happy to be bearer of glad tidings! There was also a revision released for "REAR GATE TRUNK MODULE REPROGRAM" btw.