scottwood2

Has anyone done this reset for the 12V battery using Torque app?  I looked and I don't see a battery code.   Just a charge level and I think that is the main battery bank.  

Thx

I have not heard about the Escape hybrid coming back but I have heard that the Fusion is going away and coming back as a crossover or sport utility.  The Fusion had a hybrid option so I wonder if the hybrid option will happen in the new model?   I also hear that hybrids are kind of on the way out or being redesigned as the basic 48 volt version.   So maybe that will not happen. 

Full electric is the big thing now.   I still like the hybrid so I can take a trip and don't have to sit waiting for my car to charge.  I just watched a good show on a gearhead that bought a Tesla model 3.   He is here in Michigan and he talks about his experience with the recharging.  It was a good show.  Here is a link if anyone is interested

Is everyone buying the Ford coolant?   Mine is down a little now to where I need to add some.  60K miles

Thx

I hear a lot of talk about VW and Ford getting together.   VW is going into electrics big time.  Could be Ford's answer to the electrics they need and a price point that works.   

BTW - Hi everyone.  Have not logged in here in a long time.   Car still doing very well.   60K miles now

Hi everyone.  

I have not been on the forum for some time.  I have since retired and just became busy with other stuff.   A big one is the purchase of a ProMaster van.   For a big tall van I am getting up to 22 MPG (avg 18 - 19 mpg).  I am happy with that.   Making my own camper van.   Fun project and it will take some of the load off of the C-Max.   Using the C-Max for more local stuff now and the van for trips.  

My C-Max has over 50K on it now.   Still love to drive it.  Winter has been very cold here in Michigan as many have said.   I still play with keeping the heater off as much as I can but it really hurts the FE.  Also my other half is using the car more now that I am not working.   He is not concerned about FE.  Just drives it and cranks the heat.   Still life time avg FE of about 47 MPG.   

No problems with the C-Max other than it getting hit in a parking lot.  Tailgate was replaced.  

Still think the C-Max is a great car and a great value.   I would buy the SE model again as long as it had the 8" display and winter package.  Hope that Ford come out with a bunch of great hybrid and electric cars in the future.  From what I hear they seem to be behind many other companies for getting these out there.   Not sure when the C-Max replacement is due?   I thought it was soon but I have not heard much about it lately.   

I'm not sure the build date, I'll have to check when I get it back. It was making the growling noise under acceleration when the ice kicked in. If it was under electric only power it wouldn't do it.

Let us know it this is completely gone when you get the new trans.  I think many of us have heard this noise. 

Welcome to the C-Max family!  It is a great fun car! 

Good tips here.  One other one that I learned from this site is fast acceleration if SOC is high.   If I don't need to charge the battery then getting to the max speed I want to go fairly quick work well.   Less time the ICE is running.  Then just a light amount of battery to let the car coast.   This doesn't use much of the battery charge but the drop in speed as you coast is not too bad.  

I have replaced springs to give a softer ride.   That was on my Scion xB.  The aftermarket for the xB was large and there was many choices for springs.   The ones I had dropped the car about an inch but gave it a better ride.   Still way stiffer than the C-Max.  Not much aftermarket for the C-Max though I think.   Not sure if a spring shop could do something for you? 

Ride is a very personal thing.   I think the C-Max is way too soft for my taste.   I miss whipping the xB around corners.   I have many friends though that would very much like the ride you are asking for.  

Let us know what you end up with. 

Thrilled to see those new jobs in Michigan!

 

As to dropping the C-Max, my prediction is that once all the Model E variants are out, precious few of us will want another C-Max (as much as we like them now).  The C-Max was not designed as a hybrid (it was brought over from Europe), and I still think it was a "training car" for Ford to get more experience with electric/battery vehicle technology.  If Ford does it right with the Model E, it can benefit from coming out later and stands to be a great competitor to all the other hybrids, PHEVs and BEVs out there.  Letting a few other folks go first can be a real advantage during the ramp-up of new technology application.  Loosing a few early BEV sales is no big deal since the market is still tiny, especially as compared to what it will be when the ICE Age ends!

I was thinking the same thing for the training car.   Even when I had service done I felt the techs were learning as they went.   They did a good job but it is new technology and a lot of new stuff to learn.   Even driving this car is very different if you are trying to be fuel efficient. 

As you said i think the next model will have many improvements.   My only concern is what the body style is going to be.   The C-Max took a hit in FE because of the body style.   Something like a Prius would be better at FE.   I would not be as happy with that body style.   We will see. 

Seems to be repeatable which is good for the dealer to find the problem.   Any car can have issues.  Hope they fix it quickly and get you back on the road again enjoying your new car.  

Also congrats on the new car.   I still look forward to driving mine everyday after 2 years.   It is a great fun car. 

I think this might be similar to my problem with my 08 Chevy pickup.   Very small emissions leak.  So small that it went away in the winter months. I expect it to come back in the spring.  These are hard to find and my research stated to have a smoke test performed to help find the leak.  They pressurize with smoke and look for the leak in the fuel system.   I did not have this done yet.   Small leaks are hard to find sometimes.  The code can only point you in the direction of what the problem is.  

Maybe this is not the same but it sounds similar. 

MPG dropping like a rock with this cold....

 

Upper and Lower Grills blocked off.

 

Tires dropped from 48 to 42psi for Winter.  

Yes it can.  I did 36 MPG this morning for my 10 mile run to work but it was 0 deg. F.   Overall we don't have that many of those days to make the overall FE go down that much. 

Of course now that I said that we are going to have the coldest winter in history now!  :drop:

Ask the dealer for the Diagnostic Trouble Codes that triggered the check engine light or better yet spend about $30 for an ELM327 and the ForScan App  to check for DTCs yourself.  You can also monitor real time data. :)   IMO, it's worth it just to monitor tire pressure.

They are good to have but you can also take it to some auto parts stores and they will pull the code for you for free.   Just another option. 

I don't understand why the dealer said they can not find anything?   They should have the code generated that turned on the wrench light.   I think I had this on mine some time ago and the code was related to the fuel system.   Some have stated that it was a seal issue with the gas inlet.   I remember just pushing and releasing the flap in gas inlet a bunch of times.  The light never came back on for that.  My car was fairly new then too.  This might not be your problem but the code should help find out what area is the concern. 

I have had a few issues but mine has been a good car.   I too started following the this forum before I bought the car and was concerned about the problems reported.  One day I decided to look at the Prius and Volt forums to see if problems were less frequent there.   Boy was I wrong.  Many many problems reported and they have very good customer satisfaction.     What I took away from that was that all cars have some problems and people generally report problems but generally do not post that they are happy with the car.  I hope they fix your issues and your C-Max gets more reliable.  It is a great fun car.  Good luck

M plate?

Yes as others have said Manufactures plate

I really like the Bolt.  There was one the other night at our local school function with a M plate on it.   Really nice and pretty much what I like for size. 

Most of my driving would work out well with the electric but not trips which is a big thing for me.   Also as others have said when you put all costs in a spreadsheet it is hard to justify the pure electric.   Even with the C-Max I could not justify the extra cost for the plug in model.  

So having one would be fun but probably will not be on my list.

Thx Valkraider for the great detailed review.   Sounds like a nice car. 

I would be interested in hearing a comparison of the new and old.  

Why the new car?   Was it just time for something new? 

Enjoy

I blew out my knee in 1991 and had surgery and that ended my bike riding days. I used to commute by bike winter and summer, 5,000 miles a year. ✌

Sorry to hear that about your knee.   I have been doing a lot of riding this past year but not sure how much riding I will do in the winter months.   I give you a lot of credit for winter bike riding.  If it is dry maybe but I don't think I will try to ride in the snow.  

Thought I posted this yesterday.  Perhaps I did not click "post."

 

Interestingly, Energi sales have surpassed Hybrid sales for the first time.

 

There has been "handwriting on the wall" in the trends indicating that this would happen eventually, but I did not expect it to occur quite this soon.

Interesting,  I wonder if the new Energy SE trim level is helping with that?   Does this new model offer a lower base price? 

I think the new Energy SE is out now, correct? 

Maybe you already stated it but does Ford know you are unhappy with the repair? Maybe talk to the area rep? Maybe a Ford person can help you out on this forum?

Hope they can help you out.

Good to hear.   It is a great car.  

Mine was 2 years in Sept.  I now have 33K miles and have had some issues, mostly minor but not too bad.   I do really like driving this car.  

Actually, the last I think most of us have seen is in October, 2014. Kellytoons posted about it here.

 

The Amazing Race had an episode (season 25, episode 4) where the C-Max Energi was featured. They had a challenge where they had to drive from Copenhagen to Sweden using less than 0.1 gallons of gas, and then the winners of the episode each won their own C-Max Energi. You can see the episodes if you have Amazon Prime (also buy the episode) or Hulu.

Thx for the tip.  I will have to check that out. 

Nice Job Paul

I also try to take secondary roads instead of freeways sometimes.  This can make a big difference in FE.   Many times I am not in a hurry anyway and taking these secondary roads gives you more to see and more time driving the C-Max which I like to do anyway.   

I don't know if I could do it as much as you have here.   OK maybe I could but my other half says also says that I can't.   Hey maybe they should start the "I have to put up with a C-Max owner" forum for our other half's?   I am sure my other half would have a lot of content.   :drop:

I saw a video on a specialized dealer that carried only electric vehicles.  It was in the southwest US, maybe New Mexico?  They were showing some of the low prices they had for electric used cars.   They said sales were good.  Part of the issue is that many don't know about these used electric cars and the low pricing.  

I think I saw this as part of a PBS video special on the future of electric.   Cool show. 

I went into a Kia dealer to see the Niro today. The car is not on sale in the US yet, but a number of US dealers have a Niro on display (list of US dealers that have a Niro on Display). It is actually a car that appears to be built for the Korean market (what I believe is Korean "warnings" on the outside mirrors), so you couldn't drive it. In fact, the car's 12V battery was dead (and it did have an actual 12V battery, which answers a question I had previously). 

 

In size, it reminds me a lot of the C-Max, though I like the look of it better. I think the Kia has a nice looking front end. The Kia seems to sit maybe an inch or two higher than the C-Max; still lower than most SUVs and a height that is very comfortable to get into. The Niro is two inches longer (and about two inch longer wheelbase), and inch narrower, and 3.5 inches shorter. Looking at the interior specs, they all appear to be fairly close; the C-Max has an inch more front headroom (despite being three inches taller) with rear headroom about the same; the Niro has more legroom, over an inch in the front and about an inch in the back; Shoulder room is similar between the two, both front and back, though the C-Max has an extra inch of hip room in the front and over 2 inches in the back. The C-Max has better cargo volume -- at least over the load floor (about 19 to 24.5 sq in), but the Niro has room to put a full size spare tire under the rear load floor. The battery in the Niro is completely under the rear seat.

 

The Niro at the dealership was fully loaded -- adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, blind spot detection/cross traffic alert, heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel, leather seats, and even a wireless charger for you phone in the center console. The one thing I noticed that was missing, that would be nice to have, is memory buttons for the driver's seat and mirror -- while it is a power seat and power mirrors, like the C-Max, there appears to be no memory settings. 

 

The US pricing hasn't been announced yet, or what the EPA fuel economy numbers are; the US models should be available early next year, hopefully January. The rumors at the dealership are that the base Niro will be just above 20K (maybe 22 or 23 thousand), and fully loaded it will be around 30K -- so a bit less than the C-Max, if those numbers turn out to be true. Kia is still hoping for 50 mpg overall on the Niro. Which reminds me, the display had Michelin Primacy tires, which looked nice, but I expect they will have an LRR tire on the US models -- hopefully the Michelin Energy Savers, but I honestly expect they will have Kumho and or Hankooks.

 

I talked to a salesman, for a few minutes, who had driven it (before they realized it may not be street legal in the US) and said that it was quick, having good power of the line or even when accelerating to pass. He also said it drove smoothly and was very quiet, that it was difficult to notice when the engine turned on. 

 

With the C-Max going away in the next couple of years, this looks like it will make a decent replacement; though it will be interesting to actually drive one of the models built for the US.

Thx for the nice write up.   I am hoping that Ford will have a similar replacement for the C-Max but I could also see them aim more at the Prius size.  I like the taller, more SUV size of the C-Max.   Good to see there are other cars coming out that are like this if Ford chooses to do otherwise.