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It seems like the Energi hasn't been subjected to failures the way the normal hybrid has been, so I think you'll be fine! I was driving with a friend this weekend who knows all the issues I was having, and his comment was that he still really likes the car, as do I. Overall, the head room, the low noise, and zippy nature of the C-Max are worth the few MPG's over a Prius to me. I'm still concerned the issue to could re-manifest its self on my replacement, so I want Ford to figure it out! Ford told me they are also comparing my current model (via the VIN) to the one they bought back to see what the differences are in software since I'm not experiencing the issue (yet! knock on wood!) on my replacement. So It seems they are focusing on software at the moment.

Andrew, I know your disappointment, best of luck to you and if you have questions about how my Lemon case was handled don't hesitate to ask! and So... I guess the question is what was the average daily miles people with failures are logging? That was one of the questions I was asked, and my answer was about 25 miles a day. When I got my new C-Max I had moved. So now my commute is closer to 38 miles a day. Each way my commute went from about 12 miles to 19 so I only added 7 miles ea way, and yet I have not experienced any issues with the new one. so how many miles is low?

The commute distance was one of the things discussed. I did have about a 12 mile commute to work with my first one, but since have moved and now have an 18 mile commute. For the radio, Ford asked if I had ever sat and listened to it for a prolonged length of time, (like 15 min or so) while in parked or after turning it off, which I had done 3 or 4 times.

Some news to share. Dearborn got my original vehicle and has an engineer trying to find the root cause. They called and asked to get detailed data on how I was driving it, which I was pleased to share. He commented that they are focusing on the radio to see if it could have issues with it failing to sleep or turn off properly and may be causing many of the drains. I also shared that my replacement is the same model, and that I leave an iPod plugged in and have not had any issues thus far. I take this as a good sign that Ford really wants to solve the problem, and hopefully, it helps, I told them I'd be more than happy to talk to them anytime.

I did notice that Ford roadside assistance says that they will bring you a couple gal of gas free if needed... so you can roll on to see how far it goes... but you'll have to wait for them to come and gas you up!

Thanks. updated my vote!

The eventual outcome of mine was they replaced the entire vehicle, but i never found out the actual issue with the previous one. So I selected the the don't know option.

Temperature and road conditions can absolutely make a difference. The temperature dropped down to 22 early this week and mine worked overtime on the heat on the morning drive into work and reported a disappointing 27 MPG. Drive home the temp had warmed up to the 50's and it was right back to 40 MPG! Yesterday it reported 45 MPG, so temperature matters. I have to agree with others that it seems something isn't quite right with yours. Pretty quickly my average MPG rose to report 38, and now it slowly ticks up a notch or two every 3 to 4 days. As it breaks in I expect it will do better and settle out somewhere in the low to mid 40's.

Its likely that there are multiple things going on. Frayed wires or a bad wiring harness is sure to fix some some people s issues, but a software glitch causing the system not to sleep makes allot of sense too. I'm in to my 3rd week and nearing the same mileage where my issue manifested on my 1st C-Max, so it will be interesting to see if it re-occurs on my 2nd. (I'm hoping it doesn't!)

Typically, when the battery runs down to the point that the on board computer can no longer function, the clock will quit updating at that point. Modern computers utilize a form of non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) to keep basic info, so when it reboots those values can be restored. This sounds like good information. JPD, your details sound very much like mine, in so much as my first failure was around 800 miles and the second about a week later around 1500.

erwhitham, I think it might be good to have some data from people who haven't had the problem. Sort of a control group if you will... I would like to hear from people that have owned their C-Max for several months and have broken them in w/o issue! I know they are out there, and it might help to determine that if you don't see the issue after X months and Y many miles, your probably not going to see it. With mine, it seemed to surface with-in 3-4 weeks, and about 800-1600 miles. Just about the break-in period. I'm sure there were other things that I just didn't notice because I wasn't looking for them. For example, I have a propensity to use accessories such as an iPad plugged into the USB port. One thing I noticed was that the C-Max USB port (on my previous C-MAX) did not have enough power to actually charge the iPad. This isn't unusual for an iPad as it requires more power than most USB devices and many USB ports simply don't supply enough. However, in retrospect, it makes me wonder if it could be a contributing factor to a cascade of failures. Another thing I recall happening with my C-Max, prior to the failure, was at least two times, I went to start it, I put it in reverse, step on the peddle and it wouldn't go. I had to turn it off and then turn it back on and then it worked. Up until recently, I just didn't think anything of it, but in retrospect, its yet one more thing that may have been an indicator something wasn't quite right.

"A total of 10,935 C-Max Hybrids were sold during 2012" So 20,000 is probably an aggressive estimate. Also, the number of Ford dealers in the US, dealers that would sell the C-Max looks to be closer to 1500 . The total number of dealers for all Ford owned bands is about 3000. So, while your point is taken, if 1000 people have had issues, with 1500 dealers, 2 in 3 dealers should have come across the problem, so I would think there might start to be some chatter...

Thanks Laurel! I'm still poking my head in to see / share info with people having problems, as I would like to see Ford figure it out. I think they really do have a winner with the C-Max, if they can maintain the quality.

Mike51, Exactly. If you read the warranty they even say they can't get it perfect all the time. The purpose of the warranty is allow a mechanism to fix issues. Andrew, one thing to consider, is that the Lemon laws typically allow the manufacturer to charge you for any milage driven, even for an exchange, so the more miles you have on it, the better off you'll be if they can just fix the problem. Make sure to read up on the law and get everything ready, and use it (if you can) to entice the dealer / Ford to fix your problem quickly. I've been in my replacement a week now, and so far its behaving flawless, and in fact the MPG the replacement has been reporting is much better than I ever got from my 1st one. Drive home from work reported 42 MPG, and short trip to the store and back reported 56 MPG. I'm still gun shy though, and bought one of those emergency jumper starters, which I hope I only have to ever use for legitimate reasons!

I was trying to understand how big a drop I should expect. Driving home today, it was drizzling, so the road was wet and sure enough, my MPG dropped from about 43 to 40, which is very believable. In regular vehicles, you just don't get the type of data the hybrids report out, so most people don't really think about it.

My 1st C-Max I didn't see very good milage on, it seemed it continuously reported around 32/35... of course, Ford ended up buying that one back. I've been in my replacement almost a week now, and right off its leveled the overall average at > 37, and I regularly see 42/43 MPG on my 20 mile trip to work. Today I had a short 20 miler and it reported 45 MPG at 55 MHR. Its still breaking in so I expect those numbers to rise, but I wasn't seeing those on my previous one after 1600 miles. This leads to think the electrical issues that were draining my battery and ultimately led to a buyback were also effecting the EV system in some manner. Or it could be that upon getting the new one I just knew how to drive it properly ;)

So, today no rain and right back to higher MPG. 38 MPG into work and 43 MPG coming back. There's also a bit of wind with rain, so I'm betting the combo of wind and drag on tires due to rain was it.

Its probably the fact that its still in the break-in period then.

First, off, I have to note my C-max is still well with-in the break-in period, so this could be due to that, but typically, It had been reporting about 40 mpg ea way to/from work, approx 20 miles ea way, but coming home today it was raining pretty good, and the MPG dropped to 33. Seems like a pretty big drop for rain. Is that seem normal?

Yeah, the dealer said when Ford closes the ticket they would mail it to me, but it seems odd.

I'm in my new vehicle, and here's hoping I don't see a recurrence of these issues. I have to add though that I can't help but think something else funny is up with Ford and my original C-Max. When I picked up my new one today I asked if I could have a copy of the paper work with everything they did on the old one and I was told that they couldn't give me a copy as Ford had not closed out the repair ticket. I said, thats ok, give me what you have, and they just said no. I have to wonder if I'll ever see what it is they did... and it makes me wonder if they found something they don't want to disclose. Ah well I guess I need a good conspiracy theory for 2013. I'm feeling gun shy though... I think I'll get a jump box just in case... hopefully if I plan for the worst it won't turn out that way.

NC law has a formula: ( (Num Mile Driven) * (Purchase Price) ) / 120,000. In my case it might come to be < 400, but yes, I think its a bit tacky, but those are the rules of the game.

As Salman has said, make sure you know the law in your state. In NC, you have to give a "Final Notice to Repair" in which you state the defects and tell Ford that you want them to fix, replace or refund. Here they get 15 days after that. So it wouldn't matter if they exceeded the requirements, you still have to make those last hurdles, and in fact they required me to do that even after they agreed to replace it. I was actually talking with my dealer about the replacement today and things are moving now. I was pleased that when I got there to sign some paper work they said they had already located an exact match to my current C-Max (color trim ect.) and said they had en-route and I should be able to have it by Saturday. The disappointing bit may be that Ford (not the dealer) may charge me for the millage on the old one. To the dealers credit he called and told them they shouldn't, but I expect they probably will, and per the NC lemon law they can. Bottom line is they didn't really act until I said enough, and filled out the right papers, and even then they asked to ship it to dearborn to fix. Oddly, had they asked to do that back in Dec, I would have let them, but I was ready to be done with the current mess. The dealer said they haven't had any other reported issues, but they could just be giving me the sales pitch. I'll know once I get the new car, and I'm hopeful all will good.

I thought someone posted that Ford found a bad relay and it seemed to fix there issue...

Yes, I would say that is the difference. No offense taken Laurel, but I always assume in public forums like this that even Ford reps can be reading and lurking, and so I would always want to be represented the way I have treated them, just as I know they would want to be represented fairly, and, for the record, thus far, I think they have been fair and equitable on handling and resolving the issue. Only once was there a hint that Ford might think some of these are related, and from reading some other accounts, I'm sure there are a few categories of issues. If it were me I'd be trying to sort them into buckets this way, 1. Its something the owner did, e.g. leaving the door ajar or a light left on. These are easy to do, but doesn't warrant anything wrong with the car. 2. There is a just a defect part. e.g. a bad battery or some part needing replacement... this is manufacturing issue, but a certain number of bad parts will hit the supply chain, and they just have to be fixed. 3. There is something else going on, a subtle design flaw, and Ford needs to identify it and figure it out. For the moment, based on the feedback, I'm assuming mine falls into the #2 bucket, and since Ford has been unable to repair I'll be happy with a replacement. IF I get another and it does the same thing... well, then I'll probably be right back here going through this process again... and next time I'll just get a refund and have to go elsewhere, but I'll worry about that if and when it comes around. For the moment I'm still giving Ford products my support as I do actually like the car, I just want one that works!