raymond963

I finally got around to putting my fill-ups into fuelly.com the other day and I’m not at all surprised by the results; 31mpg lifetime average, 35.9mpg best. However, I don’t feel any urge to sue Ford over these results because I realize why they are what they are… Cold temperatures require the engine to warm up for emissions and passenger comfort before battery power becomes more useful. Because my daily work commute is only 1.5 miles each way, and I bought the car at the end of October, most days the car had just reached operating temperature by the time I had reached my destination unless I had warmed it up to clear the windows. Fuel economy jumped quite a bit from February to March because my round-trip work commute went from 3 miles to 96 miles from March 2 through March 28 even though it was still pretty cold outside and I still did some city driving. FE increased a little less drastically from March to April because temperatures have improved, but I’m back to the 3 mile round-trip work commute until June. The only highway miles this car has seen are for the period that my work commute increased, and during a trip to Chicago of just over 200 miles. The remainder is all city miles, which were mostly 1.5 mile trips with at least 8 hours between them, and some around-town trips for shopping, dining, etc. Wind speed and direction seem to have a strong effect on FE during highway driving and I, for the obvious reasons, obtained better FE at 60mph than at 65mph. I was in the middle of experimenting with speed and cruise-control settings for highway driving when my commute abruptly changed back. I will experiment and learn more about hybrid driving techniques when my commute increases again. The impending commute increase was the reason I purchased a hybrid car. Passenger space and comfort, handling, noise level, and ride were the reasons I purchased a C-Max instead of a Prius. Well, I’ll admit that acceleration and the UAW ‘built in the U.S.’ sticker also helped. In every area, it beats my 1999 Jeep Wrangler (modified for off-road use) but I’ll keep the Jeep for when winter weather threatens. I don’t believe that the Prius would have delivered any better FE than my C-Max with my personal driving conditions and experience, and the ride wouldn’t have been as enjoyable.

Everything from AC-DC to Fleetwood Mac to ZZ Top! (I'm another 60's child...) Too many on my USB drive to list here. My wife is always nagging me to get hearing aids but I have no problem hearing the radio in my C-Max without having it loud enough to annoy her, unlike the TV. LOL It's so quiet inside the car that I can listen to the radio and understand her at the same time!

I have a Yaesu FT-7800R in my C-Max. The radio is in the storage compartment in the rear and the head is on a Ram vehicle mount that is attached to the passenger seat bolt. The bolt is in an awkward spot, inside a plastic housing, but wasn't too much trouble. I tucked the control and speaker cables under the console edge, then under the passenger seat, inside the rear floorboard storage, and then inside the passenger-side trim all the way to behind the rear seat, being careful that it can't get caught when the seats are moved. I also have a dock for my phone on the same Ram mount with the radio head directly below it. To protect the console edge, and keep the mount's vertical rod from moving around, I found some dark gray pipe insulation to put around the rod. That should also keep passengers from banging their knees on the mount's aluminum rod. For radio power, right now I'm simply using the 12V Accessory outlet in the rear compartment. I seldom go above 5W output on the radio, mostly repeater use, and figure the outlet can handle that amount of current. I may move it to the 12V battery if I go on a long trip. I've read of people using HF in a Prius with no problems, even at 100W, but they say that the Prius doesn't like VHF at 50W. I've been too chicken to try higher power output in my C-Max but I'm wanting to also install my Icom 706MkIIG...once I figure out an appropriate antenna setup. Right now I'm using a dual-band magnet-mount. The tailpipe hanger looks like a possible spot to bolt some sort of bracket for an antenna mount, if I were to decide on a screwdriver antenna. I'm also considering a trunk lip mounting bracket, possibly motorized, for a multi-band antenna but would hate to damage the car's finish. CQ DE AC9H

Here's a picture of my broken seatbelt. You can see the housing below the mechanism. It's at the dealer now, for the dead battery TSB, but I don't expect they'll have the part to fix the seatbelt.

It's going in to the dealer today so they can check out why I had a dead battery on Friday and also look at the seatbelt. That's when it happened, while I was retrieving my jump starter from the rear. I had to lower the seat because you can't get in through the hatch when the battery is dead. Will take a pic before I go and post it after I return.

My rear-center buckle (the part attached to the seat) broke. It appears that the rear belt buckles fold down even with the seat when the seat is lowered, and this one failed to raise enough to clear the edge of the seat as it was raised. The edge of the seat caught the buckle, pushed the cover down off the buckle and snapped the red plastic button mechanism into several pieces. I can tell where it caught on the seat because there's a small fuzzy piece where the fabric was pulled. Has anybody else had a problem with this?

Just made our first road trip on Tuesday, though it was a relatively short one; about 135 miles from home. We went to the Field Museum in Chicago with our daughter and 5-year-old grandson (it was his birthday and he wanted to see the dinosaurs), and we stopped in Romeoville for meals each way. The average MPG for the entire round trip was 38.1 and temps were in the 50s and 60s. We have about 5600 miles on the car. MPG from home to Romeoville, about 100 miles, was 35.7 at 65 MPH highway speeds. From just after Romeoville into Chicago, about 35 miles, the speed limit drops to 55 MPH and MPG was 48.3! That was running cruise (non-Eco) all the way with no traffic backups. On the trip home, I turned on Eco-Cruise to see what it would do but traffic was heavy and there was a lot of stop-and-go for about 20 miles. From Chicago to Romeoville, MPG was slightly lower at 46.5. Romeoville to home was nearly the same as the other way at 35.6 MPG. I'll be commuting 48 miles each way soon and will be happy to trade a little time to save a lot of gas. This car will beat the heck out of my Jeep Wrangler that gets about 15 MPG. But I did keep the Jeep in case winter road conditions warrant a lifted 4X4 with big tires and lots of ground clearance.

Thanks for the great ideas. I like the pool noodle but wonder if they make them in black or gray. LOL

So where exactly can I hitch a horse up to my CMax? Then I would only have to run the ICE to stay warm inside...

Has anybody found something to place across the rear of the cargo area that keeps items from rolling/sliding out the back when the hatch is opened? I haven’t had any luck yet and it’s really annoying when that happens. The “envelope” net on Ford’s accessories page doesn’t look like it covers the entire rear area and it looks like it would be difficult to get things past it.

Unfortunately, no. I realize you get what you pay for, SE vs SEL and no added options, but with Sync with MyFord, the right side display and controls are virtually worthless. All I can ever see on the right is the "efficiency leaves" or the compass that only indicates 8 compass points, N NE E SE etc. It's not an accurate or fluid display, but the compass is more useful than the leaves.

Add me to the list of people who would like more options for the right-side display, especially for the SE without MyFord Touch. Switching from leaves to compass was one of the first things I did after I got the car in October and even the compass is annoying. Things that would be nice to see on the right-side display, even in a non-touch car: 1. Same options as left-side so more ICE/EV info can be displayed 2. Actual tire pressure 3. Entertainment (station/song/album/etc) 4. Climate Control 5. Navigation (When using Services or Apps) It would also be nice to be able to use the steering wheel arrow/ok controls for more than just the screen menus. Voice-control for climate settings would be nice on the non-touch as well. The manual controls are so far down that you have to take your eyes pretty far off the road to adjust anything. Lack of a spare tire is also an issue for me. I have a long commute starting next week and would hate to have to wait for a tow if I had a flat that couldn't be fixed with the can of fix-a-flat and compressor. An option for a spare and a way to secure it, along with a jack and wrench, would be appreciated. Other than these relatively minor issues, I really like this car!

Oxford White was my first choice but they couldn't find one nearby. Glad now that they found me a Ruby Red because I like it better; more than I thought I liked the white.

Basic SE with no options. 2117 Miles. Purchased near end of October. Went out this morning to take my daughter to breakfast. Doors wouldn't unlock with key fob and when I turned the ignition on...nothing...completely dead. I called the dealer's service department for advice on jump starting it myself and was told to call roadside assistance. This annoyed me enough, along with the fact that I hadn't yet figured out how to jump start it myself, that I determined to make them pay to get me a jump. The tow company showed up within 20 minutes and jump started it. I drove the car straight to the dealer where they checked the car in and advised me that they were very busy today and might not get to it until tomorrow. When I asked about a loaner, was told that one might be available. Went ahead on to breakfast in daughter's car. Called the dealer later and was told they were just then looking at it but it had been starting fine and I'd likely be able to pick it up in a half hour. Showed up to get my car and was told the tech still had it on a charger. They gave me a loaner, told me they'd check it again in the morning, and sent me on my way. I figure they think I left the lights on or something but that is not the case. I'm always careful that the doors are shut and everything is off when I leave the car and informed them of that. I did notice that EV seemed to be working strange last night on my drive home, like it was randomly starting the engine on level ground at a place where it's usually in EV-Plus. Also yesterday, I started the car to go to work and noticed that the radio was playing but the display was completely blank. Powered the radio off and on and that cleared up. Last Wednesday the driver door window would auto-down but not auto-up. All other windows worked fine and driver window started working normally later that day. At the time I thought the window issue was due to icy and cold conditions and that maybe some water had frozen inside the door somewhere that interfered with the window's operation. Will repost if I learn anything new. (By the way, the 2011 Fusion loaner seems to have a lot less head room than the C-Max.)