jamouton

This year I looked at the Jetta TDI wagon and the Prius and the Volt and the C-Max and it was C-Max for me by a good bit. The mileage at 37 is really just fine with me; the interior quality and the quiet interior and more rear seat room were the deciding factors, notably the leather seats of the SEL. Downside is the wider turning radius, and we'll just have to live with it. Looking forward to delivery in February. TDI was second choice. Volt would have been in contention with a roomier interior. We didn't care for the Prius much. Motor Trend Prius V vs C-Max review (NOT a comparison test!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8RYVjrb80o Jerry

I just got news that our C-Max will start building on January 21st, probably delivery in early February. We drove a C-Max Energi to see whether we wanted to jump up. Seemed just as nice as the Hybrid, the idea of a plug-in is very attractive, and the extra cost is covered to some extent by tax breaks/rebates. However, the bigger battery greatly reduced the cargo space, and we decided that what is left is not enough to pick up traveling friends at the airport so it's staying onto the Hybrid that we will be doing. So far. Jerry

Rachel, I was born in Lafayette! Jerry

Right, I played with the iPhone connection at the dealer -- cool! I really like that you can bring up NPR app on the MyFord, and the MLB -- baseball -- app too, so it's All Things Considered or Giants anywhere we go!

I am a member of Porsche Club of America, so I am part of the anal car care brigade. But once reading the Porsche owners manual I saw that they recommend using a wash and wax combo to wash. So I tried Meguiars wash and wax, and I was floored by how nice the cars look. Not quite as good as a good manual polish and wax with carnauba, but plenty good especially since it takes very little time, very little work. For the leather, I recommend Gliptone conditioner. This stuff does a great job keeping the leather supple but best of all it restores the great leather smell, unlike any other conditioner I have used. Jerry

Reading the owners' manual, I see that they expect that if a C-MAX is left sitting for more than a month, the low-voltage battery may be discharged. Well, I often go away for more than that, and I have used float chargers -- just maintain the battery at full voltage, don't actively charge it up -- on my other cars. Is it going to be OK to use a float charger on the C-MAX? Jerry

Reading the owner's manual, I see that snow chains are not supposed to be used on the C-MAX. Living in California and interested in going skiing, I don't think that will work. Chains are required whenever there is snow in the mountains. Anybody heard anything different? Jerry

Thanks! I'm looking forward to the new car. As for leather, I never have suffered -10F days, but I've travelled extensively in the summer desert with leather, and it's really just fine even wearing shorts. I have a house in Austin TX and 100F days are not uncommon -- the leather is just fine compared to vinyl. But as they say on the Internet, YMMV! Laurel, I'm reading the owners manual that's linked from the forum to try and figure out all the electronics before we have to actually use it. Glad to hear it's not too bad. I'm kind of "don't care" about the color though I think it's nice as you say. My wife Kate wouldn't have the car in any other color! Jerry

Hi, fellow C-MAX owners! Yesterday I put in my order for an Ice Storm SEL with Charcoal interior and 302A goodies. Ice Storm (nice color name!) must be pretty popular as after much looking we had to order one to get what we wanted in that color. This is only the second US car I have owned, and it's very encouraging to see such a nice car produced nationally again. Sad to see that Ford has been rated second from the bottom of the reliability list by Consumer Reports, but happy to see that the SYNC and MyFord interface is one of the big reasons for that. As an aged software architect I don't think I'll have any problem with it, and it's nice to note that Ford has continually updated it for existing owners: next update Dec 10 and next year for some of us. Interesting to see how variable the MPG achieved is. Some reviews said that the longer-life batteries that can participate up to over 62 MPG did a lot to bump up the EPA rating in their tests and 47 MPG would be pretty hard to get in real life. But some others got pretty respectable MPG in their tests. I'm not going to be working to get 47; I'll just drive and expect that the car will take care of being pretty frugal. I have driven a VW Jetta TDI wagon for a while, and measured an actual 47 MPG highway average on a trip from Connecticut to California, and a normal around town rate of 36 MPG (I record mileage and MPG at every fillup and have done so for about 40 years!). I guess if the C-MAX comes close to that I'll be happy. Sorry to lose a bit of cargo space compared to the VW, glad to get more and nicer rear seat room. A big reason for choosing the C-MAX was the very nice interior and comfortable seating; leather is unavailable in the VW Sportwagen and not optional in our view. The active noise cancellation is brilliant and makes a noticeable difference on the road. BTW, some comments here about leather are wrong in my experience. Hot in the sun, harder to keep nice? We got leather because we had to back in 1982 but were surprised that leather heats up much less than vinyl or plastic in the sun, and it resists scratching, tears, and stains a lot better too, as our two rambunctious boys demonstrated. We would have paid to install leather at an upholstery shop if we had bought the VW. No comparison, in my view. To cloth, the big difference is staining and sweat absorption (with smell coming later). You do have to maintain leather, but you are talking once or twice a year. The 0-60 time for the C-MAX is given as about 8.8 seconds, much quicker than my first sports car, a Triumph TR3. Times have changed! The car feels very capable on the road too though I won't be seeking out twisty mountain roads! I'm looking forward to delivery in what? February? Jerry Mouton