Good thread. Thanks to all for the insight and personal experiances with the C-Max. I have been researching a fair bit over the last month on what would be a good economical car for our 60 mile each way commute to work each day. With the comfort, features, price and the advertised MPG's the C-Max fell perfectly into my cross hairs as the car for us to buy. Then .... we went down to the dealership to test drive and the salesperson came back with the key and the car was DEAD !! Yes dead.. on the new car lot !!. Brand New !! The alarms in my head went off and I could hardly get into my extremely reliable gas guzzling chevy pick up fast enought. I patted it on the dash, and drove off. When I got home I started googling and researching even more into the C-Max, investigating battery problems, and other issues. After reading that so many owners have incurred this problem and also the questionable mileage rating. Now I am not as convinced as I was that the C-Max is the right car for us. There is so many forums and complaint threads where people have incurred 12V battery problems. I can't imagine approaching my car and finding it dead !! What if it was my wife that got stuck !! here in Houston in some areas you really just need to get in your car and get going, not stand around a brand new inoperable car !! What about the inconvenience(s) suffered when we are always rushing around trying to meet our daily commitments and you find yourself stuck for three hours waiting for a jump start from road side assistance. I could not find similar problems with the Prius V, so I am unfortunately going to have to take a look at it. I understand it may not be as comfortable, nor have all the bells and whistles as the C-Max. The big killer for me is it a foriegn car .... ughhh !! Just don't know of a comparible alternative to the C-Max other than the Prius V? We want the MPG's of hybrid, don't want a Plug In, and want more space than the sub compact car market offers. Anyone have any suggestions ??
