Jus-A-CMax

I washed mine the 2nd day I got it, then I clayed down the whole car and applied Klasse acrylic paint sealant followed by the Meguire wax - super, super smooth.

It sounds kinda stupid to clay down a brand new car as part of the detailing but I believe the paint is filled with crap from the rails and transportation and plus, it gave me a really close look at the finish of the car. I have to say Ford did a great job on my Platinum White - bar the very, very top roof where there was a paint flaw. So I took some time to clean that up but since it's the roof, I ain't too worried after sealing the whole car with Klasse. It's really, really good stuff - use it sparingly otherwise its a big elbow job.

Originally I wanted the black or silver CMax. Having come from a lovely black Jaguar Vanden Plas, it was my color of choice, till the wife stepped in and suggested the white instead. We live in LA so it gets hot here and she said the white is cooler but neglected the dark leather interior, lol.

So Platinum White it was. The only thing that aggravated me was the extra $495 surcharge for the metallic white paint, given that the gray and the other colors had no such premium cost on it. But we got a really nice sweet deal with the 303A package so I cannot complain.

So now I drive a Platinum White CMax, like her white Jaguar Vanden Plas. Well, not quite true, she drives my black Jaguar now since her's was TBONED.

Oh, whoever said the get the tinting - SPOT ON, I love the tinting in mine, best thing since slice cheese.

Ha...I was talking with my dealer, and he also came across another Vegan who opposed the leather steering wheel but this time, he wanted a Mustang. Interesting.

I just had a thought - I am just sick of the finger prints and as I use the Zagg protector on my smartphones, I thought it might be a good idea to put one on the Touch screen.

Has anyone else considered or done this already?

I hadn't given it much thought but now that I recall, the spandex sides seem to be pretty common. How often do you condition your seats, Jus-A-CMax?

Every 6 months. As the seats are tan color and my wife drives it to the stable, the dirt shows up more on her Vanden Plas (we have 2). The stuff I use is Connolly leather cleaner and then I use the Connolly Hide Care to finish it off. 

^yeah, I just found that out. I reset the Lifetime this morning on my first gas up. I should have done it when I picked it up but I did not know about it then. My car from the dealer had 87 "test" miles including some very inefficient gas guzzling runs. I know cause I was one of them. So now my CMax has to re-learn. 

I've been keeping an eye on my own MPG per trip and I had some stellar and not so stellar runs and I do about 70% Freeway and also do alot of suburban shooting comps as an real estate appraiser and right now, as my odo sits a tad under 500, I am liking what I am seeing, about 50% above 47MPG in the low 50s and as high as 61 and the reast in the high 30s. Lowest was 32MPG when I was fanging home and not bothered. 

I've driven the 2010 Prius, considered it and personally my real world experiences with that car for my job, it was not that stellar. One occasion I recall having a little under 1/4 tank which I thought was enough for my 100 mile round trip (given how much the Prius driver rave about their 50+MPGs) but I darn nearly went out of gas that early evening, coasting it to the nearest Costco at the end. I learnt it had a 10 gallon tank, not so great. So in some ways as my Camry puked, it was the right time for Ford to come out with the CMax...and to tell you, I didn't even want to consider the CMax because it looked too much like the Prius and I thought would drive like a rolling lump of clay....boy was I wrong, it drove better than the Fusion Hybrid and it had more room and perfect, perfect all around vision - crucial for my business needs. 

On top of that, I am really loving the extra large My Ford Touch voice commands and navigation screen - perfect to see where I am at a glance and where I need to turn to find the houses, and going EV all the way. I can call without touching anything, change songs, radio, usb and get traffic alerts on these wonderful (cough...cough...cough) Los Angeles roads.

So as an overall package, the CMax is KING is all aspects, a very nice surprise when once I thought the CMax was crap cause it looked like a Prius. I was wrong - GREAT JOB Ford.

Oh I saw an Energi at the dealer today, it was a training vehicle - man, oh man, does that battery take up space in the boot. I estimate its about double the size of the current battery in our CMaxs but its sweet though. That would be one sweet car to get.

+ terrain. I had 61MPG going one way and coming back thru the same route was about 42.The 12 mile route looks mostly flat but obviously not. I think I'll just enjoy the drive and have fun getting most of my CMax than to worry about the EPA mileage. 

Perhaps if one of the dealer has a custom shop ala Galpin Ford has a Galpin Auto Sports, they can do anything to the trim - usually add or enhance so I don't see why they cannot custom swap out with some other material, or make it wood like the Jaguars. Try that route and see if one the dealers near you have the same setup. Probably cost you money but if the car is what you want, it's middle of the line.

My dealer tells me that he's not expecting the Energis until end of Feb, they are doing a run now in Dec. If anyone has them, they would be sold at a premium I guess...

I think understanding the options package is the key and, personallly, Ford didn't make that too clear or easily understandable. I guess it suppose to be like McDonalds, you want Combo 1, 2 or 3 and supersize it. However, at the end of the day, the dealers order their cars with the various option mixes and you just go and pick up what you like can and whats affordable, and hopefully in the color that you want. I was lucky to find my CMax loaded up without the sunroof and in the Platinum White that I like a lot. 

One thing I would have loved is a short gear shift, not like the silly Prius short but lob off a couple of inches and it would have been perfect. My wish list.

It's a control issue. Freakishly weird and I look forward to using it one here in LA. One day.  ;)

Congratz Laurel, nice ride! Yeah, I agree that it's weird not having a gear indicator next to the shift. Initially, I had to look twice to see if it was lighted or not. I know my old Camry had this and I rather look at the gear shift than the console, but thats me. TIme to adjust.

I'll bite. Ford TV/Cable ads....plus great looking car.

As an owner of 3 Jaguars, the CMax was not even a twinkle in my eye until my wife's Jaguar got TBONED recently and my job as an appraiser demanded a 400+ mile week which my backup Camry could not handle. So, naturally, my wife commandered my black Vanden Plas and I was left looking for a new car.

The Fusion 2013 Hybrid was it and totally, totally set on it - after all, that was a mean looking car with that Aston Martin front end but it was not available at this time. So I got bored and thought I would test drive the CMax to see what the engine combo was like and then also test drive a regular non-eco boost 2013 Fusion to test the handling. Previous to this, my great neighbors owned 2 2010 Prius and a couple of times they bailed me out with a temporary loaner so I got to know how the Prius drove and a hybrid was it. Gas was $4.30 at that time here in good-ole LA.

Big mistake. Not. I was totally impressed with the CMax drive position, high, great views which is totally necessary for my job shooting comparable houses. The drive and handling just blew me away - this was a HYBRID? Man, it killed the Prius for handling. The transition from EV to ICE was baby smooth, seemless and refined. No lag and the brakes were great. I for one, like brakes that grip and give good feel ala Jaguar, and I hate a spongy brakes with passion (ala ole Camry).

The Fusion was next, more enclosed cockpit like a traditional sedan and it drove like a normal sedan. The CMax felt like a Harrier compared to the Fusion which felt like a pedestrian 727 jet. I was sold and the sweetner was that I could get it fully loaded for the base price of the Fusion hyrbid.

Nice.

So far I am luving it. 

Yeah, I miss the plush interior of a Vanden Plas with all that wood but the CMax is costing me far less to run and my business is priority at this time.

Count me as one of those CMax deals. I wonder if all those buyers for the Energi are buying them "sight-unseen" - my dealer said the energi is not available here in Los Angeles till Feb, they only have the regular CMaxs.

Wait, if you coast, doesn't that charge the battery anyway as it has an up arrow above the battery? I am finding that my CMax is rarely sustaining the speed at around 58-62 in EV mode as my battery is usually 1/3 to 1/2 to start with. Mind you, my odo is only 312 miles. So I've been using the coast rather than sustain the EV power cause it runs out like in 30 secods. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever seen a full battery charge in my CMax...am I missing something?

+1 on that. Coming from a Jaguar Vanden Plas, this is a nice option for my new C-Max, glad I got this instead of the cloth. Now I get to maintain the leather using the Jag leather cleaner and conditioner, super nice stuff.

Excellent post! I concur with the thoughts here.