plus 3 golfer

Chain, see the sprockets and the guides. Actually, I investigated this before I bought as I didn't want another vehicle with a timing belt. Just go to fordparts.com and pull up the diagram and see that 6268 is the engine timing chain.

Unfortunately, your expectations aren't the norm in the auto world. This is not the medical field where technical expertise is a must. Quite the contrary, a good sales manager does not want his sales force to delve into technical issues with customers about the products they are selling.

You got the point. So, 5% of 10,000 is 500 which is still 1in 3 dealers that sell the hybrid. This issue is certainly annoying but it doesn't appear to be epidemic at least as of now.

Don't know about Canada but there are about 3000 US Ford only dealerships and likely less than 20,000 C-Max hybrids sold so far in the US. Now how many have had battery issues - 1%, 2% or even 5%. So, let's make an assumption that 1000 C-Max owners (5%) have had battery issues. So, it very likely that less than 1 in 3 dealers have had a customer with a battery failure. So, I wouldn't expect the salesman (and likely most service departments) to know anything about these battery failures. I also assume Ford like other companies reviews warranty data and is aware of the rate of battery failures. I would not expect Ford to issue a technical bulletin or other memos to the dealers until they have a "fix" or the number of failures becomes significant. I would also suggest that if one has had the "stop safely now" message, battery failures, or any other issues where they feel their safety was in jeopardy to file a complaint with the NHTSA.

I checked and there is a data point called Fuel Level Input and it it in % to one decimal point. My tank is currently just under 1/2 on the gauge and the data point shows 48.2%. So, I assume it's the current fuel level but I will check it by recording data. I hope it is a calculated value based on fuel injection quantities and not the input from the sending unit in the tank. I would also assume that the nominal tank capacity of 13.5 gallons would be 100%. If that is the case then every 0.1 % change would correspond to 0.0135 gallons. That would be very good resolution to do some FE testing vs coolant temp. There likely will be issues since you cannot control a lot of the variables (ICE recharging, coolant temperature change, motor use and so forth).

I agree Paul as when I listened to the Ford engineer's statement I thought he misspoke especially calling them "dumb" and operating on speed. How can the shutters be closed going 75 - 80 mph for XX miles up a 7% grade in 100*F+ ambient temperature with a/c on. You need airflow through the grills in those conditions to remove heat from the condenser and the radiator. Also, here's the coolant temps I got when testing the grill covers at 70 mph at 27*F ambient when I measured the 2.1 mpg gain with the grill covers on. If the shutters were fully closed as the Ford engineer says at 60 mph, why would there be a temperature difference between the uphill tests with / without covers of 7.5*F. Based on your shutter opening temperatures, my shutters were open to some extent in the no cover test thereby increasing aerodynamic drag.

I think you will find most states do not have a buyer's remorse law for vehicles. A quick search shows NY does not have such for cars. Once you sign the contract the car is yours whether it's delivered or not. But most reputable car dealers will likely let you cancel if you haven't taken delivery.

You probably didn't make out too bad then because the dealer likely rolled in the remaining payments plus penalties for early termination plus the service contract. Enjoy your C-Max.

What are the terms of the lease (money down, length, payment, residual value, miles allowed and so forth)? What options are on your SE? What does the $30 k include? There are a lot of factors to consider in determining whether the lease makes sense.

From CR (Jan. 2013) with respect to premium bulbs: "We found that the premium bulbs, as a group, deliver a whiter light and up to 19 percent more output than the standard or OE bulbs, and that can be more pleasing for drivers. But none of the premium bulbs allowed us to see farther on our headlight test course than the standard or OE bulbs." "Bottom line. Premium bulbs might be a good choice if you prefer a more intense or whiter light, but don’t expect big changes in the distance you can see compared with standard or new OE bulbs. For the premium bulbs we tested, shop by price."

Oil pump is chain driven.

You can't keep the engine rpm steady only your ground speed. On the C-MAX, It appears to take very little HV battery discharge from a target level to trigger a change in RPM to maintain the charge level. Here's a graph of data I logged while testing grill covers at 70 mph (GPS set) and cruise, 27 F ambient, no HVAC, no radio, just head lights on. From about the time stamp 710 - 1213, it appears the CUs are trying to keep the charge level within a narrow band and increase engine rpm rather significantly to maintain the charge level while speed is virtually constant. The A/C (with the flip of a switch) is going to be a sensed by CUs and I see no reason to believe that the CUs won't increase rpm to maintain charge level as the compressor ramps up. I'll be able to test / monitor / log the effect of A/C when it gets hot it Phoenix. :)

I recall seeing calculations of a snapshot of the amount of water in a 1 m^3 of air during a downpour of 1 inch of rain per hour. It's actually quite small like about 1cm^3 of water in a volume of 1m^3 of air. I don't believe this small amount of water will affect the density of the air very much and thus have little effect on FE. Also, remember that the more water vapor in the air, the air density decreases. So, it's not the rain in the air that reduces FE during rainstorms but the tires pushing rain off the roadway. We all know how driving through puddles of water on the road slows the car down.

It's my understanding that hybrids basically follow the tests in the link. The issue with plug-ins is that if the HV battery has too much charge, operation from the HV batteries will affect the results. So the charge on the HV batteries has to be reduced so the results on plug-in are comparable after EV operation is used up to non-plugin hybrids. I can't find a link now but that's what I recall. Hence, the Energi is rated 44 highway and 41 city vs. 47/47 for the C-Max hybrid. Edit: here's the link. http://www.smidgeindustriesltd.com/leaf/EPA/EPA_test_procedure_for_EVs-PHEVs-1-13-2011.pdf

I believe EPA does a test with A/C at 95 F and sun load:

His test is not meant to be precise but does represent that use of A/C on high mpg vehicles has a noticeable (larger number) effect on FE. If you assume cooling load is identical in two vehicles (requires same amount of energy to cool car) but one gets 25 mpg without A/C and the other gets 50 mpg without A/C, then running the A/C would reduce FE more on the higher mpg vehicle. So, a 5% hit on the 25 mpg vehicle would be about 1.25 mpg (small number) but about a 10% hit or 5 mpg (larger number) on a 50 mpg vehicle. This is because the cooling energy (same on both cars) is a larger % of the total energy requirements of the 50 mpg vehicle than of the 25 mpg vehicle. So, if one sees a 1-2 mpg hit on average FE using A/C on their less fuel efficient vehicle, you may be disappointed when seeing the effect of using A/C on the C-Max. I have checked my A/C drain on FE many times in my 2009 Jetta TDI with cruise on (no rpm variation) and very flat ground while cycling the A/C. The instantaneous mpg would change as much as 20% depending on speed (about a 10 mpg drop at 50 mpg). I estimated my average FE drop in July / August in Phoenix to be about 8% over shoulder months like Oct, Nov, Mar, and Apr where A/C is not used very often but temps are still fairly warm. I would expect the C-Max to be similar.

Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. A few years back I did shoot 4 under but I have a high single digit cap.

One other point on Top Tier vs other stations. I'll use Speedway as an example which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon. Are the pumps at Speedway labeled "Marathon" or not? Marathon says their branded gas has more than 2X the detergent requirements of the EPA. If the Speedway pumps are not branded "Marathon", I'd say that the detergent package in the Speedway gas is likely not as good as the Marathon branded gas. IIRC, I read somewhere that Top Tier gas generally has at least 2X -3X the EPA detergent requirements. So, if I used Speedway gas and it's not branded "Marathon" on the pumps, I'd put one (and maybe two cans) of Techron Concentrate or Pro-Gard in the tank about every 5k miles to ensure the engine is clean. IIRC, Pro-Gard is less concentrated mixture than Techron. Costco has carried both Techron and Pro-Guard and occasionally has them on sale. Of course we don't know the propensity of the C-Max ICE to "foul-up" on lower quality fuel. It may do fine on the minimum EPA detergent requirement. But I always like to reasonably manage such risks. If I'm using gas that I don't how well it stacks up against Top Tier gas, I'll add a few cans of Techron every so often. Also, if one want to learn more about gasoline read this. :)

I use Costco also. Costco claims to have 5x the EPA detergent requirements in there fuel. I have no reason not to believe them. But when on the road I try to find Top Tier stations. My issues with deposits was with Sam's Club fuel about 8 or so years ago. There are likely many marketers that can meet the Top Tier requirements but for whatever reason choose not to get certified.

Exactly, because Top Tier members agree to meet a higher spec for detergents (octane or gas grade has nothing to do with Top Tier). Problem is we don't know which stations sell "lower quality gas" than Top Tier stations. To most, premium implies "higher quality" gas but it simply relates to higher octane and not better detergent packages. You know what you are getting with Top Tier gas (regardless of grade). From experience with a VW Passat, I had deposit issues using non-branded / non Top Tier suppliers' gas. Paying a few extra cents / gallon for Top Tier gas rather than finding the cheapest station which is usually not a Top Tier station solved my issues. Deposits can affect combustion and lower your fuel economy. Also, didn't I read here that someone did have issues with deposits and had a CEL?

I find a lot of misunderstanding of the benefits of using premium fuel on virtually all forums when regular is all that is needed . In fact, cars that "require" premium gas generally run fine on regular with virtually the same FE. Modern engines have knock sensors to detect detonation and adjust the timing accordingly should it ever occur. The largest fuel-related factor affecting FE is the energy content of the fuel being used. Ethanol blends have less energy content than pure gasoline. The energy content of regular and premium gas is virtually the same. Unless the premium gas has additional additives above the minimum requirements (especially like Techron to keep deposits from forming and to remove deposits) there will be virtually no performance benefit in using premium fuel. Of course, people can spend $ on whatever they desire and believe whatever they want to believe. Many also believe performance will be enhance significantly if they use premium when only regular is required. Here's a C&D test.

Ford acknowledges an "empty reserve" which is included in the advertised capacity = indicated capacity + empty reserve capacity. So, there is a reserve when the fuel gauge and miles to empty shows zero. Ford says don't depend on the empty reserve because It can vary. I don't understand the obsession with squeezing the last drop of fuel from the tank. That's likely why the MTE is conservative. Why have irate customers when they run out of fuel with 1 MTE.

With the intelligent access keys on the sel, it's virtually impossible to lock the remote in the car. When locking the doors, the system searches for the key inside the car and will not lock the car. The initial battery charge is not material to your mpg on your first tank.

Tdefny, good points. Since you brought up PV, I did look at putting in a PV system on my new home, buying an Energi, and recharging with some of the excess off-peak energy that the utility would buy back at wholesale rates. I had a PV system on my previous home (moved in Aug. last year) and after utility purchase of RECs at 50% of installed cost, Fed. tax credit of 30%, and state credit of $1000, my simple payback was 3.5 years. I had plenty of actual hourly data from my previous system to do detailed studies on the benefits of PV for my new home. Unfortunately, the simple PV payback for my new home was about 11 years (without the Energi load) primarily because utility incentives now are almost non-existent and the new utility's rate structures aren't as favorable to PV as my old utility. But maybe the Energy load would help in justifying a PV system and the purchase of the Energi. My analysis showed I could effectively reduce my recharge costs with the PV (from 8.5 cents / kWh to 5.3 cents / kWh). So, by adding the Energi off-peak load to my normal home use I could save an additional $65 per year off my electric bill with a PV system assuming about 2000 kWh of charging per year. Applying this savings to the Energi made the payback acceptable but applying this to a $12,000 leased solar system had little effect on the PV system payback. So hence, as of now, no solar on my new home. So, again the Energi range was a limiting factor in the savings I could achieve.

Yes, and as I pointed out in AZ the out the door price for the energi is higher than the hybrid. The title of the article is very misleading and might apply in some states that offer state tax credits and no sales tax and a fixed registration fee. But in AZ and likely many other states the energi over the hybrid will not be cheaper out the door and then the enegi only makes sense if its TCO is lower than the hybrid.