Adrian_L

A minivan. Seriously?? What happened to spoilers and powder coated wheels?? Resist the minivan and everything that it represents! ----namely that life-dulling word "SENSIBLE". High heels......not sensible shoes. But that's just me.

60 MPG?? No way. I researched hybrids for a year before I bought. I never came across the claim of 60 from Ford or anyone else for that matter. Not even from Jennifer, the hapless car saleswoman at my dealership, who thought the panoramic roof would open if you found the right button on the dash.

35 cars in 33 years. Holy cow....that's some auto-promiscuity. I have to stretch myself to find bad things about "Maxine" (ahem---cars and boats are girls). Sure the seats could be longer in the thigh. The lack of memory settings for the driver's seat is annoying. But these are trivial things compared to my ulcer-producing experiences with VW and Audi. I haven't heard any squeaks or rattles but if I did, I would take the car to the dealership. And if they couldn't fix it, I'd go to another one.

You can easily add a backup camera. When you buy the car, you choose one with a backup camera. I'm not trying to be glib, but the options on the car are very reasonable (compared to Prius especially) where you can get leather, NAV, backup camera, A/C etc. for not alot extra. Yes, it's difficult to add a backup camera if you choose a model without it. Just as it is difficult to add keyless start or heated seats.

There wouldn't be a 5-position dial for the seat heaters on the SE dash, no? I installed an Infiniti electric seat in a GMC van, but it did take a load of research and re-wiring to get the seats and the seat heaters to work.

Just be careful when ordering LED equivalents for incandescents. Often the lumens will not be listed which is what you should be looking for--many, many times the LED equivalents will have half the light outpout of an incandescent. Reputable vendors will state the lumens (light strength) or know it when asked.

Leave the gas tank alone, please. One of the perks of this vehicle is infrequent fill-ups.

Old timers------there's an identical thread in "General Discussion" with (at present 45 replies) Suggest we kill this thread, Jus....??? (And we're in "Batteries" category for some reason)

I would have walked away from the C-max if I had to endure difficult-to-clean, poorly-wearing, car-aging cloth seats.

Yes--height. It is great at curbs and car bumpers but won't pick up raised objects such as loading bay ramps or (sadly in your case) raised bumpers.

I'm glad you mentioned the sparkplugs. $100 would be outrageous. $200 would be laughable. But $431 is an abomination.

There was a news story several years ago where they (journalists) took a well running Honda and stuck a piece of carbon in one of the plugs. They took the car to 7 or 8 different garages. Estimates ranged from "we fixed it---no charge" to "we recommend a full tune up including replacement of all the spark plug wires, plugs, filters, etc. ($600-700 if I remember) It usually boils down to junior mechanics who don't know how to fix a car but merely replace parts serendipitously. I'd gently point out that you have no evidence that this was (1) due to your mother-in-law's age or (2) is a common experience at dealerships as opposed to general garages (as the title of your post indicates)

To be frank, the more I see the i3 the more I hate it. The front wheels are about 3 inches thick! What are they playing at? Just one man's subjective opinion.

You're right. "Nav" would show in the upper right hand corner of your home screen if it was there.

For the same reason you can't get a Prius in burnt orange--it's all about marketing. The C-max was never intended to be a young person's performance car---just look at the average age of owners on this forum. I appreciate the creativity at work in modifying from stock to make it your own, even though with this particular canvas it's fairly limited what you can do. But having said that, if I was in my 20's again the C-max would be the last car I'd buy (I take that back--VW then Prius would be the last cars I would buy). Around my neck of the woods, Japanese imports are the way to go if you want to build a toy.

Ahhhhhh. I'm the one not reading carefully enough. My aplogies----- As stated by Steve et al: A diesel would be the "appliance of choice" for those with a 50 mile interstate commute, not a hybrid.

You don't want a diesel if you spend 1.33 hours to drive 17 miles. Read the comment again--L.A. traffic.

Unless you shoe-horned an ecoboost engine in there, it would be a very odd decal to add.

I'm not sure I understand the question. By "listening to music" do you mean CD or AUX? If that is the case then the RADIO would not be engaged. Like Steve says, if the radio is on and you want a temporary mute---(or if you want to scream at your unruly kids in the back seat, like I frequently do)--the power button works great.

They just overtook (Toyota or GM) to be the number one automaker. One of the reasons we bought new was for the warranty because we had so many headaches with our Audi A6 V8. I remember my savvy Danish mechanic telling me my timing chain required a $10,000-15,000 fix. "I'd never buy German" he says with a sad shake of his head. But having said all that, my friend will not buy anything else but a city Golf tDi. He lives for that car. Warranty---yes.

Just a suggestion: ask 3 or 4 mechanics what they think of VW before you slap down your cash.

Flamin' heck. So is that what the OP "intended"? How to disable a highly important safety feature? Unless he has a fetish for running over kid's tricycles, this has to be the time wasting question of the year. (With all due respect.....) By the way, anyone know how to disable the steering wheel?

Wouldn't it be easier to just contact Ford and ask them?

It wouldn't. It dries matt and dry. A google search will reveal a variety of opinions. There are those who think brake fluid it will eat your tires away. Funny it doesn't eat brake lines THAT ARE MADE OF RUBBER!!!! LOL---the internet. Whatever you do, don't use Armor-all on your tires OR dash. The alcohol will dry out rubber and vinyl. I learned the hard way with a cracked Honda dash in the 80's. That stuff is junk but they sure sell a lot of it. Better to use mineral oil on vinyl and plastic. $1 per bottle.

Nice to have a "petrolhead" on the forum. When I was 20 I barely knew how to tune up my Honda 70 passport scooter. Wish I hadn't thrown it away when it got rust in the cylinder from sitting in my dad's garden. It would have made a great electric conversion. Thinking about converting a '66 Volvo to electric. Maybe when batteries get cheaper....