Jus-A-CMax

Per the Exterior Engineers at the Irvine CA CMax pow-wow on 02/23, there is a software issue that will address this 1 or 2 kick opening issue. Apparently the software to detect the kick is "asleep" and needs to be woken up so a software patch is due in March to address this issue. Also, the proper way to kick it from back to front, right in the middle. The sensor is located behind and underneath the bumper. When asked if I needed to clean and spray the underneath - he said no need for that, no cleaning/maintenance required unlike the backup camera. Hope this helps.

You're welcome, I just hope I spoke enough to them to get the message out that YES we luv this car, its great but its got some issues and that we are all NOT detracted from this great vehicle. So, so many positives. I forgot to mention the Chasis team - man, straight up this was the best decision they ever made to build this car with such a great handling chasis, tight and great handling bar the turning circle. Ford is definitely not leaving us owners in the lurch, they are trying behind the scenes, they are aware of the main issues that is plaguing some vehicles and all we can do is give the company back some support. As I echoed to their many teams - if this is the kinda thing that Ford just does and if they listen - I just think how good the Gen 2 is going to be - a totally killer car. You also echo my sentiments about this lil car. I hate the word "wagon" (as you can prolly tell in some other thread) but lets jus say - it is a very utilitarian vehicle that does everything :rockon:

Both are heaters, one specifically for the wind screen wipers and the other for the rear window. As a side note, the engineers said the opening rear window liftgate was one of the most requested changes.

Ford was gracious enough to hold an event in Irvine late February about the CMax. This event was a gathering of information for Ford and also a great chance for the owner/drivers to learn about their new CMax from Ford engineers directly. It was apparent in my discussions with the engineers, that many people are unaware of the great features and sometimes, basic features of the your new CMax. In my discussion with the Ford training and video production group, they passed onto me some great websites owned by Ford with short, easy to digest videos. Here is a cut down list of the CMax specific features: Youtube.com-CMax only features Ford Owners: 2013 Ford CMax How-to and Info Videos (thanks Laurel) General Videos (including CMax): Youtube.com/Fordowners for all sorts of helpful videos about the common features of your CMax/Ford cars. Syncmyride.com Here is a PDF(Depositfile.com - make sure you click on the REGULAR download and follow the instructions) "Talking With Confidence About Fuel Economy" that Ford has provided to the CMax owner/drivers that discuss briefly (a 4 Page Brochure) about the mileage issues and how you can improve the mileage of your new CMax. Please note, and I am speaking from my personal experience, there is a engine "breakin" period. Some have said this is 3,000 and 4,000, 5,000. IMO, the engine starts breaking in around 2,500 miles and will gradually improve and stabilize post 7,500 miles on the odometer. As such, don't worry too much about your 47MPGs and just enjoy and drive the car and learn a totally cool, hip and dollar saving way to drive your CMax. Enjoy the posts here, lots and lots of useful information specifically for your CMax (we are all owner/drivers here) and welcome and congratulation on your new CMax :rockon: :) ONLINE C-Max Manual: Click here

That would be totally cool...see if they had this for the CMax, Marketing would not have been so p*ssed with the 8 I gave them in the survey, they would have gotten a 9... ;)

That was what I was afraid of...

I didn't have to - when I was talking to the main Engineers who knew more about the active shutters than the other 79, part of the conversation, he was talking about the MPG and temps that he had - so Ford has definitely done research here. They are well aware of the effect of the colder temps from the engineering stand point except, in my opinion, the timing of the release of this car - Marketing definitely was not expecting such a comment from my end. I mentioned your grills more than a few times stating that you saved 2-4MPGs and judging from their response, I don't think they have heard about this. I did state I did not use this as my conditions here did not warrant it I think less than a handful of drivers from this forum made it there and frankly, if you post here, you know about the improvements in the MPG with the grill covers. I left the address of this website with them and more than a few teams also deliberately penned down this website address. If Ford was smart, they will snoop and gather data. There were 2 things that were not followed up - this was one of them and the other was the google maps downloading to the car. I gather than within the teams there are "specialists" and these specialists are pulled from here to there. What happens is that team after team would come and talk with you and although the 4 hrs seemed long, it was short and the guy showed up twice but right in the middle of the other team interview. My throat was getting parched just yabbing away - thank goodness for the gatorade and bars. With the MFT team, I did talk about the lack of integration with the Contact Addresses at this time, which all she could say was you could use voice command to speak out the full address. Really, ok...but next time. The 600 mile is a big thing, it got their attention. Their faces were priceless and afaik, no one else came close. I also brought up the ptjones got 625 which is a maximum I have ever seen. Then reading the curious brochure (you can get it via the depositfle link below)...where the early adopters getting more mileage...what are they saying here...think about it...are they saying that those who bought early had their engines peak in time before the cold, or are they saying something "dark - in a good way' about the early production vehicles. Its so curious to make a statement like that. Every driver who was there got that brochure with their goody bag. Defrost for the rear window wiper is per below, see that squiggly line?

Welcome to the forum, lot and lots of info and some very fun posters and posts here and congratulations on your cars :) Don't underestimate the CMax load capacity, as someone who loaded a ton of stuff for the snow, I can atest it really does carry more than the eye gives it credit for. I have the black interior so mine looks small as well but once I load in the skis and snowboards and bag and bag and big bag and big big bag and esky and wines and glasses and bags and bags...and more bags, you get my drift. PS The CMax drives much, much, much nicer than any Toyota because it is a rock, solid and tight car.

Very pretty and cool :rockon:

Try this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/93484805@N07/

Yep, I'll back up Ron here, asked them the same Q and they said the same thing, next month is IT!

Ask and you shall received Ford CMax Irvine Pow-Wow I was there as well, I think Ford did great and education was a key part of this meeting for the owners and not just writing in the owners feedback. I only wished the food was better, I was starving and that Taco Bell sign was a tease and I could not leave... SIde note: While I waiting for Maxine's tires to be rotated, a couple of other drivers and one of the owners approached me about the CMax. Luckily I had my package that I was going to give to Ford and I showed them the stats - just blew them away. Neither of them liked the Prius so the CMax looked pretty good.

That's my Maxine there in the foreground with a row of other stunning beauties :rockon: A pow-wow (also powwow or pow wow) is a gathering of North America's Native people. The word derives from the Narragansett wordpowwaw, meaning "spiritual leader". A modern pow-wow is a specific type of event where both Native American and non-Native American people meet to dance, sing, socialize, and honor American Indian culture. As such, it is in the spirit of the Pow-Wow that Ford was gracious to host a large number of CMax Hybrid owner drivers in Irvine, California. Although no dancing or singing was visually sighted, there was a lot of socializing between actual Ford Engineers of various specialities and the CMax drivers - all in the honor of Ford's new CMax hybrid. Background: Back in mid January, various members were posting of an Ford CMax event to be held in Irvine if you completed a survey, you got a call from the RDA Group (working on behalf of Ford) inviting you to the meeting with the Ford Engineers with a $200 check incentive at the end of the day. I and a few other posters here accept the invitation. My meeting time was scheduled at 2PM. Cool. I'll go down there early since the traffic is horrific on Saturdays, especially down the 5 Freeway (read GOOD for hybrid drivers) and I'll "chill and ill" at Taco Bell and may be eat some lunch. I arrived at 1PM after having my Maxine's tires rotated and tanked up (chalk another 550+ miles on 1 tank). Good ole MFT Nav delivered me to the meeting site which turned out to be a huge multi level car parking lot and commercial building. No Taco Bell - well, just a sign - screwed, no lunch :cry: I later consoled myself with some gatorade and the granola bars...healthy food, just like healtht hybrids vs gas guzzlers. As I stealthy approach the venue, I turned down my blaring music. Not cool to rock up with dance music at full blast. Cruising in.....CHECK OUT all the CMaxs! Man, it was like going into Victoria Secrets - all the birds were cute and young, some even proudly having the dealer plates. I have never seen so many CMaxs at the one spot except in a dealer yard - you name all the colors, they were there. Couple of Energis peaked my eye...hmmh...what are they doing here? I saw lots of people with clip boards standing around, so I quietly pulled into one of the bays and was greeted by one of the 80 Ford engineers that were all brought here from Detroit, Michigan - bar the marketing group, which were the only locals here. Parked in the ground floor (Bay 20 if anyone wants to know)...checked out my TRIP...nice 53.8MPG (52 miles with 24EV) and 0.96 gallons at 64F. Something to show to the Engineers :) Some pictures of the venue: So this was the way it worked: 1. You checked in, sign away your life aka waivers. 2. The check in desk will call one of the group of engineers and hand them a yellow packet which has your name, VIN and customer number on it. 3. There are 8 section (groups) listed on the yellow packet: Chasis, Electrical, Exterior /Sheet Metal / Paint, Interior & Climate, Powertrain, SYNC/MFT, Vehicle Engineering, Marketing. 4. Each group would then come and interview you, they ask you some questions and vice versa. 5. There is a test drive and an exit interview on camera. As well, there are 3 desks which Ford is showing some new videos coming out. 6. They also took the tire pressure readings (mine was 45psi) and downloaded the computer codes (yeah, the scary black box stuff that show where you were ;) ). That's the packet: To prepare for this event, I worked on a 15 page handout last night to give to Ford that included my 2 main issues: good ole MFT GPS and crashes including photos, some nice mileage photos and reports (as posted on this site already), my 2 x 600 mile tank runs, and some thoughts of improving the CMax and a last page to highlight this website. Eventhough this whole event was suppose to be 2 to 3 hrs, mine actually took 4 hours and I was yabbing away with all the groups, time just flew. I showed the MFT group my concerns with the GPS including the appalling GPS screen shots which are to hard to refute. All they can say is that an update is coming in March. They also showed me some cool stuff like Sync Services and instead of inputting the Street Address via keyboard, it was a lot quicker entering via the Voice Command (eventhough my sample address was 90% correct only...hmmh). Also, finally found out where the micro phone was - for those who don't know - it's that web thing next to the sunglass holder so speak in that direction :salute: Exterior Group was the most fun. They showed me all kinds of stuff. Some I knew already and some I didn't including, there is a special liftgate window cleaner has its own little heater - next time take a look at that squiggly line under it. Some other cool tips with the door handle: With the keys near by, to lock the door - just slide you fingers across the black rubber part. To open, curl your finger around to the back of the black part to unlock. This is the proximity manual lock and unlock. I asked them for a proximity auto lock, which they have noted down with a smile. Now those who are posting on the liftgate thread - to open with 1 kick or 2, the Exterior engineers have acknowledge there is a software patch coming next month. Whats happening is that the sensor is asleep and needs one kick to unlock and another to open. For those who kick left/right, apparently the right way to do it is back/front at the center point. We also discussed the rear airflow situation where the car had a lot of dust and I pointed out to them that my car was washed yesterday and there is already a layer of dust sitting on the bumper. The other groups focussed on their speciality. Thanks to the many posters here, I was able to fire off a number of numbers & concerns to them which they all noted down - from the battery issue that the engineers knew about and literally they grimaced at this and it was a serious, serious issue for them just judging by their body language. We also covered other non-serious stuff such as the ergonomics of the interior, including the gear light indicator, door drink holders, pen holders, bezel around the MFT etc. Some of the suggestions they have already heard and some raised a "oooh..thats a great one" from the Engineers. Like I said, I spent 4 hrs with the engineers and we weren't talking football. I think I got the most "Oooooh" was just showing them what ptjones and I have done with the 600 miles on a single tank. "You did what?" ... and pretty soon I had other people coming to look at the screen shots in my package that I handed to them. They did not believe it. I showed them my fuelly.com stats as well. In regards to the mileage, I was able to gather that other than me, there was only 1 other person there was able to get 47+ MPGs. That guy had 10,000 miles on his car and I had 7,100. I was able to prove to them that as the engine "matured", you can see the mileage improve - again, something that I posted here on this website including my Mammoth trip data. They were most impressed with the screen shots to backup my case, including the map of the route and not just "yeah, I could not that..." comment. I said to them, based on my driving experience and evidence in real world driving (not test in dyno or some unknown test driver), IMO, Ford was spot on that this is a 47MPG car. I think I managed to convince them that the engine break-in is more like 5,000+ and not 3,000. They asked if I thought my MPG increase had levelled out and I think I am about there as it is now....been getting 550+ miles on each tank and Maxine is at 7,100 on the odo. Pretty much steady-eddy at around the 47MPG mark. Ford knows the mileage is a BIG issue. In the little goodies bag, there is a 4 page pamphlet that talks about this issue predominantly, which I will scan later but I am too busy typing this thread for you keen Maxers ala Rachel & Adair ;) My most interesting conversation was with the marketing group. I actually met the guy who came up that Focus ad featuring the cute girl to Vegas. I let him know the current blue sketch ad has run its days and I just thought a real ad with real drivers would serve Ford more better than to poke fun at Prius with a cartoon sketch. Same goes for the Hybrid Games ads which were Internet only - just a waste of time and makes Ford look gimmicky, IMO. He was not happy with an 8 out of 10 that I gave with regard to the technology...I sense he thought it derserved a 10....I just pointed out to him that since I saw what the Tesla S did with the iPad like technology, this should have been in the CMax. He pointed out the new Lincoln MKZ has this and with a push button gear shift. Cool, now put that in the CMax and I'll give you a 10...well, I didn't say that, I just thought about it. It was a great exchange and I am there to speak what I thought and he took that in...so who knows, may be we might get to see some real person CMax ad soon....and if you do....guess who posted it first :rockon: One of the funniest comment was that A LOT of CMax owners didn't know there is a rifling/telescopic steering wheel. Wow, I was stunned. So were the engineers - and not too surprising, I thought I saw a post or 2 asking for this feature so it's clear, some drivers do not know. I did bring up the issue of the CMax in the cold and the loss of MPG. They do recognize this and for the marketing person, I said it was poor timing to release the CMax for winter and then have the 47MPG blow up. I also mention the ptjones grill covers and they said that it made sense as it traps the heat. The active shutters - none really knew the true technical parameters of it. The best answer I had was that it was tied into the coolant temp as well as speed and also the AC - a mix of three factors that would control it. So for that video that said it was "dumb", I was hearing from the engineering group, no...its not that dumb. He did say the CMax had 2 active shutter groups in there...and those who opened their front grill and confirm or deny this, I don't know but I am curious. I left the venue at about 5:10PM, it was 65F when I got there and it was freezing when I left. Great for the Detroit engineers bar me. I did not do the test drive, talk too much and nor did I do the exit on camera interview...enough of my mug face. I was tired, cold...and theres only so much granola bars one can eat. All up, great event. Very informative for the drivers and Ford - at least for me. I suspected Ford's intention was to 1) Educate the owners about the features of the car such as EV+ 2) Show the owners some of the cool CMax features and even I did pick some up like the door lock/unlock. It was a WIN, WIN, WIN event for Ford and I was very surprised at A) Ford even doing this B) that I was lucky enough to be invited C) Not waste my invitation so I worked hard to get Ford some real world documented evidence of what this car can really do. In talking to the engineers there, Ford will be holding these meetings for the Fusion Hybrid. They did one last month for the Escape and they hold these meets in their biggest markets and those who are selected must be within 100 miles of the event venue). I asked them if they will hold one in the north east but she did not know. If you get a chance...GO! Ok, I am going to get a beer now, I am warmed up enough - at least my fingers are, after all the typing. I am sure Ronin will his part and so will some other lucky posters who made it there. Cheers, Jus-A-CMax PS Drove back, all up the MPG for the 100+ mile trip was 50.5MPG...who said this was not a 47MPG car.... ;) USEFUL LINKS Some useful links (from brochure) that a Ford staffer asked me to pass on to our community here: Youtube.com/Fordowners for all sorts of helpful videos about the common features of your CMax/Ford cars. Fordowner.com Syncmyride.com Here is a cut down list of the CMax specific features: Youtube.com-CMax only features Here is a PDF(Depositfile.com - make sure you click on the FREE download) "Talking With Confidence About Fuel Economy", a 4 Page Brochure that discuss the MPG issue from the Ford company view point and how to improve your mileage. Basic stuff when compared to what we have here in the forum but what I like about it is that it's in a compact PDF and geared for the basic driver. After all, aren't we all hypermilers here?!?! ;) Here is a sample tid bit from the 4 pager... NOTE: Is Ford having a shot at CR and fuelly.com here? Also, the comment about the early adopters getting higher mileage being reported. Interesting, no?

...thats why I :wub2: these forums, I am on the fence and I can get great advice :rockon:

Nice! Congratulations Rachel :rockon:

I'll bring this up at the Irvine meeting as well...thanks for the version heads up.

Woohoo....pretty soon you're be seeing a doctor about that MPG bug!!!! Congratzs! :)

Yeah, I was sitting on the fence there, but you're right Wing & Valk, last thing I need are these 2 chips to become worse. I swear I did not even hear the hits.

Wash the baby this afternoon and found 2 pencil tip chips about 1/4 apart, right there slightingly above the eye line of the glass. One is slightly bigger than the other...so question...should I fix this or not? Its not cracking at the moment...

SEL here as well, and no break in period needed....just butt time ;)

Ha...thats my man...White Platinum, just like my Maxine! Welcome to the forum and enjoy your Energi :rockon:

That is extremely disappointing to hear, hope its not true but as I am meeting the Ford Engineers tomorrow, I am going to ask about this. They are certainly going to hear abou these MFT issues. I know GPS can be bad but this is absurd.

SEL 303A Build Oct 2012. Pickit up on Dec 6. 7060 miles and still rawking :)

C'mon Rachel, post up some pics of your lovely new babies :rockon:

Rachel is a SKILLED driver...plus...aren't all women always touting how multi-tasking y'all are at us males...huh....huh...huh.... :runaway: