Kelleytoons

Ah, okay. I'm in Leesburg (about 40 miles north of Orlando) but have definitely been to Winter Haven a few times. We actually bought our C-Max at Sun City Ford, in Orlando (first Ford dealer we tried, with the idea we'd then hit Clermont and Leesburg dealers, but we never got that far :>).

Eve, Don't go looking for trouble (because Trouble is always trying to find those people :>). While some folks still have battery issues, there's no way of getting a good handle on how many people do, and we know for sure that a whole lot of people have absolutely ZERO problems (with the battery or any other thing). Worry is about the most useless human emotion there is -- as a mom you should know that. Your kids worry about trips to the doctor and dentist, right? And then afterwards they say "That was NOTHING!" Worrying about battery issues in advance won't do one single thing for you, even if you do end up experiencing them. And we know there are at least *some* things you can do if that day ever happens, things that can make it more reliable (in case this is a car you absolutely need, like getting those kids someplace). But, again, cross that bridge when and if you ever come to it. In the meantime you can enjoy a vehicle that absolutely blows the doors off the Prius in every respect except possibly gas mileage -- and while Prissy can get somewhat better mileage it comes at the expense of SO many more things it's hardly worth it. Plus there are folks here on the forum who can show you how to rival and perhaps even surpass your neighbors mpgs (my own is about 47 on an average city/highway, but that's with A/C on high). I drove our friend's Prius for a week and hated every minute of it. Conversely, I can't wait to get back into Maximis (as I write this I think I'm going to shut the computer down and take a drive :>).

It's a great story and the C-Max *might* have saved you far more than gas -- it may have saved your life (and/or the lives of others around you). We like to brag about our gas mileage but driving safely and responsibly is FAR more important. When I was a kid (probably your age) I also drove WAY too fast (made the Vegas/LA run in under 90 minutes and if you want to know how insane that is, just look it up and you'll see. Makes his 140 mph story look conservative. Of course, that was back when Nevada HAD no speed limits on the highways, and my radar detector was early technology that the California cops had no idea how to deal with). I am SO lucky to be alive today and know it. And the C-Max may even be changing my wife's driving habits, and that IS something <g>.

Rick, Not to get too personal, but you guys don't live in Plantation, do you? I've posted here at least two or three times about me borrowing my friend's Prius for a week and I tried to pull out from our development onto 27 and nearly got run over and then it occurs to me you live in central Florida like I do. Now (for those of you not familiar with the area) 27 is very long and extends all the way through and there's no particular reason to assume you are nearby us, but it IS pretty funny that we have nearly identical stories (and I'm still trying to track down the Ice Storm C-Max that "lives" at Plantation).

Actually, I now have to apologize to my wife in public (although she'll never see this -- I already apologized to her in person this morning). I got into the car after her trip to her doctor this morning (I'm guessing it's about a 40 mile trip, 20 miles each way) and the MPG was back up to 43.0. On the nose. She did it, bless her, from the 42.8 which I got it back to after driving it a bit this morning myself. I asked her how and she said "I didn't do anything special -- just drove the way I always did. But I noticed I got 50 something on the trip back, and my brake score was 96." Those kind of stats for her is amazing. After taking it to the vet this afternoon I got it to 43.2 so we're making progress. But I guess I won't be as hard on her anymore and I'm really sorry I brought it up here (but she DOES have a lead foot -- so perhaps Maximis is teaching her good habits after all).

I just hate that grille -- but perhaps if it's "disguised" by the rest of a phony grill on both sides...

Yeah, if I had the money... And sorry, Xym, but I'm afraid at her age there's no hope. LOL. I've been battled Lead Foot Annie on this point for too many decades now. She'll just never learn (and doesn't really care, even when she has to spend $$$ shoveling money into the Durango's gas tank).

...and why I'll never post any images here of my gauges. I had gotten our average MPG up to 43.0 (from the low 30's when it was first driven out 200 miles to us by a Ford employee. Sigh) and yesterday my DW had it ONE DAY to drive to work. The round trip is about 22 miles, but she did do some shopping during her lunch hour. This morning it was at 42.7. Now, granted, we only have 1200 miles on Maximis so far, but how could she do so much damage in so little miles? She had to have been averaging in the mid 30's, on a drive I can typically easily get in the 50's (her drive to work is mostly city with about 2 miles of highway at 55 mph... at least that's the POSTED limit. She's already gotten pulled over in that short stretch for speeding, in our Durango). I'll build it up again, but I can see that letting her drive is always going to bring me down so far I just don't want to share with anyone (someone asked me the other day what kind of mileage I got and I said "Well, *I'm* averaging around 47 mpg with the A/C running high in both city and highway driving, and in the mid 50's in the city" but when he wanted to see the car I didn't have the heart to even turn it on and have it make a liar out of me. I wish we could afford to have two new cars but since we have to share and since she wants to drive it just a little (even though she always says "well, it's YOUR car") I'm always going to feel like it's an uphill battle. Right now I'm thinking of resetting the average MPG after every time she drives (because otherwise it just isn't accurate at all -- heck, I might as well let the CR people be doing the driving <bg>). (I might get a break in a few weeks -- personalized plates are coming for our Durango and they are ones she *really* wanted. At the time she thought they were going on Maximis, but I've already reserved THAT plate for it and it can't very well go on the other vehicle, can it? So perhaps she'll be more tempted to get into it instead :>).

Well, it might get better gas mileage but it looks hideous (just IMHO). Then again, I didn't buy Maximis for her looks (although *I* think she looks great).

Yeah, that quote pretty much sums up all that is wrong with CR's testing of almost ANYTHING (they are truly clowns -- I wonder why they don't die off, though. Surely there can't be any need for them in this day of the interweb). They base everything they do on a sample size of one, which calls into question ANY conclusions they can possibly make. And as I've said in another thread, as soon as I got old enough to get expertise in an area or two, I realized how piss poor CR was -- they didn't have (and still don't) a clue about computers, electronics, stereos, or cameras. SO many times I've read things they write that are wrongheaded, where they make factual errors that would not be made by anyone with any experience in the testing they are doing. I cancelled my subscription to their mag in the 70's but I still check it out from time to time to see if they've ever gotten a clue. Clearly they still don't. It's absolutely amazing they continue to exist.

Yeah, a lot of us are in the same club -- I can see that another Max needs to be in our future. And that commercial... My favorite part is where the wife (and these guys are obviously "real" and very good at being at camera as well) says "To be honest... I never liked the Prius." Ouch. No wonder Rick's Brother-in-law hates it. I wish my own friends could see it, but there's no way I can show it to them (and it wouldn't be nice, anyway).

Ah, you have the GoPro as well? Mine is a POS -- just bought the Sony AS100 because I'm sick and tired of dealing with the Pro's many, many issues. Here's hoping I'm happier. (And thanks for the thought about the dash mount -- not sure if I'm up to doing anything that permanent to my Maxus just yet, but I'll see what I can come up with to take advantage of the beautiful wide windshield).

Well, *I* like reading manuals (yeah, just weird, I guess), particularly when DW has the vehicle and that's all I can do <g>. But the C-Max Manual is *terrible*, at least the printed version. The online one (http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/vdirsnet/OwnerGuide_EU/Default.aspx?bookcode=O23421&market=US&language=EN&VIN=) is MUCH better.

Yeah, I agree, but that's how it works and since I'm not the IT supervisor on that project (nor am I even on the beta -- and I would LIKE to be on that beta) there's not much we can do about it. Actually, the whole way the MFT system works I'm not sure they had a very robust alpha, let alone beta on it (and I've spent 40 years in the industry and know a bad alpha when I see it). There are just very screwy things that just don't make much sense (although the way it looks I *strongly* suspect it was cobbled together with at least five different design teams and that's why there is little consistency and why there is almost no integration among the various systems).

Oh, and I should further mention (although most folks familiar with NAV playing media) that in naming your Favorites (or, indeed, your media) you can't use acronyms. IOW, if you have a favorite KFC spot you can't remember how to drive to, don't name it "KFC" but rather "K F C". (KFC would have to be pronounced... well, I don't even know HOW you'd pronounce it, but it would certainly be hard to say). That's because in building the voice commands it will attempt to read anything as a word (so if your favorite music group is ELO you'd have to say "Play Eeee-low" unless you edit it with spaces in-between. ABBA will work just fine, though :>).

Okay, so there are a couple of things going on here, at least one of which was my (wrong) assumption you can't name Favorites (apparently you have to edit them after it saves them as an address only, but according to the manuals you *can* name them). And let me stipulate one thing: I can't test any of the following because DW has vehicle today (heavy sigh). It looks as if you *can* name favorites AND if you say "Play Nametags" it will give you a list of them (I would assume it would read them to you but it may display them, or do both). Then you can say "Destination [nametag]" and it will set that. You can also say "Destination Play Nametags" which I assume will then give you the option to select one like it does when you browse a playlist. Now (again, according to the manual) you can set as a Favorite any thing you can find as a destination, WITHOUT having to go there first. IOW, if you find an address, or a POI you can then set it as a Favorite before you go there (which makes sense). To do this, first go to Favorites and then Add and then find any destination the way you would normally. If all of these things are true my objections to the way NAV works are moot. It would still be nice if we could access our phone contacts, as the OP first asked for, but these other features at least mitigate the pain. And I'm sorry if I misled anyone with any other post.

Yeah -- that will show eateries close to you (too bad you can't say "I'm sick" and it would do doctors, or "I'm Bored" and it show movies <bg>) But I think I'm making a major wrong assumption in my above post so I'll post again below.

IGregor, I don't know if this will help or not (and I can't check it out because the wife has Sestra with her today. Sigh) but a workaround for named destinations *might* be to use the saved destinations feature in combination with the NAV system. Here's the dealio (and what is confusing): there are really *two* separate navigation systems for those of us who bought the "official" NAV card system. The other system comes with the car whether you have the NAV system or not, and it's the SYNC navigation. That's the one that (apparently) uses radio presets or some such to store destinations that will then be read to you with turn by turn directions even without the NAV system. Confused yet? So, assuming you're following me so far, we have the ability to set "Favorites" within the NAV system, but the ability to set "saved destinations" within SYNC. Those two really don't have anything to do with each other, AFAIK, but you *can* get directions using voice commands once you have a saved destinations. All you have to do is say "Directions to Chicken Place" and it will do it. What I don't know -- and can't currently check -- is whether once you say "Directions to Chicken Place" AND have the NAV system whether it will invoke it to provide directions or whether the SYNC services override it somehow. But you can test this out. Send a saved destination using Mapquest or the appropriate phone app to your car (with those above instructions about invoking "Services" to load it up), and then go to SYNC services online and set it as a saved destination with whatever name you want. THEN go ahead and try the voice command out and see what happens (and report back to us <bg>). Even if this works (and I'm slightly skeptical it will, at least insofar as integration with the NAV system) not only is it convoluted but I doubt whether these "saved destinations" will actually be viewable in the NAV system, but you'll have to somehow go to SYNC services to see them. Okay if you go to some places where you remember the name, but otherwise a big PITA and certainly not a solution to the Favorites issue (which should really allow you to name your favorites).

Ummm, according to the Heatshield website they do NOT recommend folding it - it should be rolled up so as not to damage it (I assume they know their product).

Addresses are the heart and soul of the NAV system -so, yes, trying to find "items" aren't nearly as good, although to be fair even Garmin doesn't get this right (especially since most of the POI databases aren't well maintained -can't even count how many times I've gone to a business that wasn't there anymore). My iPhone and Google Maps does this best, but those databases ARE well maintained. So, like Scuba says, looking things up on your phone and THEN entering the address into NAV is still always your best bet (and let's face it, we really shouldn't be trying to find places while we are actually driving. Let's all practice safe driving and leave the craziness to the kids).

Hmmmm, have to remember that one. "Sorry hon, but I just can't hear you riding as a passenger." Actually I have been hogging it as well - keep finding reasons for her to take the Durango ("We need the oil changed, you need to pick up those doors that won't fit in the Max, I need to go to Lady Lake which takes a lot of gas normally...") even though part of the sales job was how much gas we'd save when she used it to go to work (I'm retired and get to play). I'm sure the novelty will wear out... eventually.

Folding them took longer the second time? LOL -- did you forget how? If you grab them with opposite facing palms and twist your hands together they go like magic (IOW, grab with one hand facing outwards, the other facing inwards and twist them in opposite directions and the shades follow suit).

MFT's "touch" is pretty bad -- it's easy to get spoiled by Apple's stuff, for example. But I rarely use it -- the voice commands, OTOH, are much *better* than Siri or nearly anything else I've ever used. I find it almost never gets confused by what I tell it, even when I ask it to play albums or find streets or people's names that are difficult for even ME to pronounce. About the only "trick" I think to MFT is understanding what it wants you to say first in the prompts (so if you say "Find Address" you're set but if you try "Set Destination" or some such other reasonable idea you're going to be in for some pain). I use voice even just to pause my music.

I knew going in that the SYNC NAV wasn't going to be as good as my $150 Garmin. In fact, for an hour (over lunch) my wife and I discussed whether or not just to get MFT without NAV and use a Garmin. In the end I chose to have the screen in MFT and I don't regret the decision. I actually really like MFT otherwise, and do appreciate how easy it is to use voice commands to look up an address. But integration? No, not at all and you're right that others do it better (one of the vehicles I borrowed -- and at this point I don't even remember which one -- did *exactly* what you are talking about with its in-dash system. But otherwise it wasn't nearly as integrated and didn't have the voice commands). My pessimism as to whether they will "fix" some of the MFT issues lies with the direction the industry is going. It's kind of a no-brainer that car makers shouldn't be in the IT business (at least for anything other than the engine and driving aspects of a car). Why shouldn't they leverage all the power of the apps of Smart phones/tablets/phablets that nearly everyone has? So we're starting to see just that in the high-end vehicles, the ability for an onboard system to just control all the applications of such external devices (which are in and of themselves integrated devices -- if I look up a business in Google Maps I can call that business by just pressing the highlighted phone number, which then operates the phone). But for Ford this is next gen -- they kind of committed themselves to MS and SYNC and it's going to take a major sea change to get to this complete integration and having the faith they will do this on their old systems (which might not have the CPU and/or OS available to it to handle it) is just beyond my experience. I think in 5 years we'll look back and think that SYNC was a stopgap measure, and very quaint, the way we look at cell phones of the 90's (which were great to have at the time, but no one would want to go back to that technology).

And, Plus, I'll respectfully disagree with you. I can put up my sunshades with one hand, reaching in the seat next to me (so no reaching over the back seat, nor any problems with passengers sitting there). I can also put the sunshades up with three other passengers in the car with me, all without disturbing them in the slightest (and remove them and put them away, all without even slightly touching them). If you can do that with your shades, I'll eat them (well, you MUST at least provide some jelly and/or jam :>). Anything that involves two hands and any maneuver that reaches into the back seats or involves other folks in the car having to duck and or rearrange themselves is really ridiculous, in my never humble opinion. However, as I said, for folks who travel alone and/or park for many hours I will admit almost anything is worth the effort.