Adrian_L

You need equipement group 302A to get power liftgate and rear view camera. Good point about the memory seats. My Audi had 3 settings which was great. I'm 6' tall and find the C-max seats could do with a couple of extra inches of thigh support.

Don't get me started on those seat heaters. Heat setting(1-5) 1. Roasting 2. Maybe if I'm hypothermic or been outside at -40 Celcius for an hour. 3. Pancakes, anyone? 4. Beach sand in Cyprus in June. 5. TV dinner defrosted in 10 minues.

"Go down" to a Ford?! I previously drove a fully-loaded Audi A6, and honesty--I can't say that I miss anything about it OR find my C-max SEL a step down in terms of luxury. The only thing that bugs me is that the C-max passenger seat doesn't have electric adjustments. In terms of driving comfort, smoothness, quietness----it's all first class. Trust me, when you're holding 8 bottles of wine in two shopping bags you will wish you had that foot operated hatch release.

Oh please. You know as well as every one on the forum that "not great" means "mediocre" or "lackluster".---when it pertains to a 58 miles-per-gallon journey then.............yes............weird. It would be the same if my son came home with 9 out of 10 on a test and I said "not great" because he usually gets a 10.

You can't compare two trips unless the conditions are exactly the same--engine was at the exact same temperature when starting. Battery level was the same. Sometimes I make a 35 mpg trip one way and a 47 mpg trip coming back. Same route--same technique. But I agree with SPL---saying 58 mpg is "not great" is wierd. Unless you're getting 75 mpg on a daily basis.

*SIGH* I know-----you have an ENERGI. That is why this would be a great topic for the ENERGI forum ("hey guys, who can use as little gas as possible in a year") But for Hybrid drivers--the only way not to use any gas is not to drive. Period.

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Don't feel bad. I didn't realize the door itself had a button on the inside. I was reaching up and over to close the door. And I figured the dashboard button was faulty because I was always in D when I tried to use it.

I'm sorry guys, but where is the interest in a club of C-max owners who don't use their cars?

You won't pour a milliamp of juice into that dead fridge battery. The isolator ONLY engages when the starting battery is full-ish (13.2 volts if I remember). When I had my old VW bus with twin batteries the solenoid kicked in after driving about 15 min.

Wouldn't the ENERGI forum be the best place for this topic, Jack? We don't drive much but went through at least 13 tanks of gas in 9 months.

Good question. In a car-with-alternater setup you'd want a smart battery isolator for a two battery set-up. No voltage drop. Not sure how that would work with the C-max but since it is just wired between both batteries' positive leads, it should be the same. http://www.colehersee.com/home/smart_battery_isolators/ OR if you only want to charge the auxiliary battery from the solar panel, a solar charge controler between the panel and the battery will keep you happy. I'd recommend going with a Mono solar panel rather than Poly.

The shield? Trust me, those guys at jiffy lube or Mr. Lube or whatever have seen a few engine covers/protector plates in their time. This is a passenger production car, not the space shuttle ;)

All very good points Steve, but there is no "Bambi" amongst car manufacturers. Toyota misrepresented it's gas mileage. Nissan was naughty too. Don't get me started about GM. Sad as it is, I enter a car dealership prepared to be misled and ripped off. That way I'm pleasantly surprised when it doesn't happen. As for supporting the US economy by buying American brands? Forget about it. You'll put more money into Americans pockets by buying Honda. Seriously. I know this is tough news to the rednecks on the forum (you know who you are) and kind of reminds me of the guy who gets upset when a Belgian brewing giant took over Budweiser: "Wild Turkey" for me from now on!!!" Well the punch line was that Ricard/Pernod from France have owned Wild Turkey since 1980. Sorry Billy-Bob. My first car was a 1993 Ford Festiva--good, solid American car. No.....wait a minute---it's actually 100% Korean. A Kia Pride with a Ford badge on the hood. Nevertheless, it was a fun little car while it lasted.

I'd go with Honda or Toyota. The last three mechanics I had told me they'd never buy an Audi or VW. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/9815860/German-cars-lose-out-in-reliability-survey.html

I'm curious as the what happens when you jump-start a dead C-max. Does the ICE turn over immediately or does the green "ready to drive" light come on and the car is running on electric? If it is the latter, I don't think amperage would be an issue with the booster pack.

I wouldn't call it idiot proofing, more like a sleep mode on a computer--it's idle for 30 min and it turns off to save power.

Here's a novel idea----how about a battery-saving setting where if the car is on and idle BUT there is no FOB in the car---after 10 min the ignition automatically turns off. Obviously if the throttle was engaged this would cancel itself. This auto-turn off could be disabled in the settngs menu if desired. A couple of times in our first month or two we were in the house and realized we forgot to turn off the car after unloading groceries. I wonder how many C-max owners have left their car running in the mall parking lot for hours?

Wow. I always thought "moot" meant "besides the point". As in "Until we have kids, where we put the crib is a moot point." I have always admired Ford engineers, who described the Prius's "power modes" as gimmicky. That's why you don't see them on the C-max. But inexplicably we have EV+ that comes on 4 blocks from my house and probably saves me a quarter a year in gas. Like I said, it is so innocuous that I can't be bothered to turn it off, like that leaf on my porch I should sweep away. Thanks for the lively debate.

Double horn would have happened twice actually---once when leaving car (and shutting door) and then when returning to car and shutting door.

Welcome aboard. My '13 was born in November, '13 as well. We bought on March 1 and have had no issues whatsoever other than seat heaters that nearly set our jeans on fire. How do you get 60 mpg? Move to Death Valley! We've noticed a dramatic loss in fuel efficiency as our weather hovers around 0-5 celcius here in Western Canada. In the summer we'd regularly get city trips of 4-4.5 l/100km (52-58 mpg). Some members will argue with me, but forget about keeping your eyes glued to the empower screen and trying to stay in the blue whenever you can. Keep your eyes on the road and anticipate traffic lights and stoppages. Nice gentle pressure on the gas pedal. No lead footing. Keeping your tires around 45 psi helps too. Adrian

No, I think the problem is you're omitting valuable information: your garage is your pre-conditioning. Hybridbear's points strike me as completely reasonable: use the house AC/DC, rather than the ICE when you can.

I got an email from my (now ex) dealership that they were offering a a free wiper replacement with the first service. New wipers after 5 months?! I probably used them 4 times. I emailed them to ask if I could have the new wipers but keep the old ones on. Never got a reply.

"Maxine"--I like that. "Matilda" is my '85 Vandura camper van (10 mpg on LPG), but as yet our beloved 9-month old hybrid remains un-Christened.

So you need to be more disciplined with your routes and range. Yes, electric cars are not for "wanderlust" drivers who lose track of time.