Tree63

I agree - best car I've ever had, in terms of comfort ("like sitting on my living room sofa" friend said after 14 hour drive), features, maintenance, FE.

I put 325K km on our 88 Honda Civic Wagon over 15 years, with way more headaches.  As long as tranny holds up with the highway miles that I'm driving now, it will continue to be a great drive. 

I'm hoping there will be a swing to fuel cell (hydrogen) before I need another car.  Seems less expensive in terms of infrastructure with a shorter "refill time" than plug-ins.

ps my lifetime is down to 5.4L/100km, just haven't updated Fuelly for a while

I was told by dealer that the housing holding the bulb in 2013 C-Max was starting to rust out, but new bulb should work for a while.  Maybe yours has gone past the point of working.  Replacement was about CDN$700. 

Twice or so a year, I have towed brush to the dump at the cottage in a small 4x4 box trailer, probably 3 feet high to keep sight lines.

The front end is noticeably lighter handling.  There's no way I would see anything more than this towed with my C-Max.

Solution?  Rent what you need for occasional towing.  Buy what you need if more serious.  But keep the C-Max for routine driving to save $$ to get what you need. :)

My 2013 has some minor surface rust in  the same area.  It's gone through 4 winters up here.  Not bad.  Time to put some wax or NuFinish on it before winter.

I bought my extended warranty from these guys and saved some money.  http://andersonandkoch-ford-warranty.com/ [on the site it says "When you buy a FORD EXTENDED WARRANTY online, you save hundreds of dollars over buying at a dealership!] (There is a message thread on extended warranties.  That's where I heard about those guys) You may just want to get their pricing if you want to get it from your dealer and it gives you some kind of baseline.  I personally liked getting it off the website.  My dealer wanted me to come in and go into "the room" and I wanted something simple.  They wouldn't do it over the phone.

 

I haven't used it yet but it nice knowing for a few years I will not have any huge expenses.  I figured one bad circuit board and it practically pays for itself.  

 

I think questioning the coolant flush and fuel injection something is indicated.  No one that I know on this website has had to flush coolant, though some have had to add to it.  As far as injectors, some people here add an injector cleaner to gas every once in a while but not something the dealer does.  

 

I vaguely recall one person having to replace shocks, so it is rare but on a 2015 - is that a warranty item ?

 

One good thing about the extended warranty you can get an option for a free rental car though I don't know the specifics on when you get one.

I had to replace a fuel injector at 80K km/ 50K miles - only unusual maintenance so far ... Flushing coolant due to colour change at 32K miles doesn't sound right.

I just had 12V battery in my 2013 C-Max SEL (140K km/90K miles) fail --- without any warning --- no dimming lights, no hiccups with anything. Almost 4 years to the day I bought it.  Just had it towed to the dealer.  Paid C$175 for battery plus C$150 for AVR test.

With the real winter conditions, it could have been a lot worse.  Any way to catch this?  I couldn't open trunk or any doors besides driver's.

No other battery problems since getting the car.  This and having a flat (and no spare) are making think a bit more.

Thanks djc.  Fusion Energi cars had a couple of transmission leaks but out of the 4 Fusion and C-Max models, only C-max Hybrid had transmission failures in 3 of 4 testers.

Wonder if the transmissions are same across Energi and Hybrid/Electric models?  Could C-max H have a "smaller" tranny that shows strain due to proportionally greater weight of vehicle?  Perhaps others can offer more depth with this.

Hi

wouldnt this recall take care of the cost? A Title: SYNC WITH MYFORD/MYLINCOLN TOUCH - WARRANTY EXTENSION COVERING ACCESSORY PROTOCOL INTERFACE MODULE (APIM)

Field Service Action Number: 12M02

Great find - thanks!  Will ask when I go in for rest  of work on unrelated FSAs/Recalls to be completed this week.

Zero hiccups with anything audio related since the last dealer visit, through a good number of bumpy cottage roads and all kinds of fall weather.

Probably marking this as "take fuses out if it happens again".  Static build up or connections bumped out of alignment with fuses - any guess.   Still a great car.

Had a Blaupunkt installed after the one radio failure 35 years ago that I mentioned earlier.  Glad to hear their sound is still as good as ever.

OK --- not all parts were delivered to the dealer today, including new radio.  They "put everything back together" so I could have the car over the long weekend (Cdn Thanksgiving).  They drive car up to the pick up spot AND ... car jockey has radio tuned to the Blue Jays - Rangers ball game !!!!  WOO HOO, except we lost the game.

Paddle for voice control and rear warning system are all working fiine again.

I called over the service advisor and of course we'll see if this is an intermittent problem or a matter of pulling fuses 69/79 out from time to time, for whatever reason.

Kellytoons - interesting comment - and I hadn't thought of the rock and roll over time - but last radio I replaced was in college days with a 78 Datsun B210.  I like holding onto cars too -- there's a lot of earth-materials in every car so may as well stretch their lifetime.

I also have SEL with July 2012 build date.  Yesterday I lost Entertainment, Voice Control paddle and Rear Warning system.  Couldn't even get CD out - showed No Disc message after swallowing it.

Dealer looked at it today while doing some updates and advised radio needed replacing.  This is not exactly a part that wears out with mileage so I was surprised it wasn't covered by extended maintenance plan.

Anyone else had this happen?  Glad to find at least one related thread.

... Tree63

How hard was it to replace the injector?

Work done at dealer under extended warranty, so just wait time for me.  Ready next day - seems to running fine again.

Not sure how a fuel injector "breaks" - just clogged or does something shear off somehow.  Wonder if Ford looks at such broken parts from a QA/improvement/root cause perspective, in case it is a manufacturing defect of some kind for a part common across a family or model year. 

Actually, this is not an uncommon problem. Google it and you will see what I mean.

 

However, I have noticed a trend, both of my injectors went out in super cold weather. The reports I have read online seem to be from drivers in cold climates and their injectors went out in winter. I bet thermal shock has something to do with it.

 

Yes the first injector was covered under warranty.

 

Matt

I am so thankful for this Forum.  Just experienced a fuel injector failure on the weekend at 80K km/ 50K miles, confirmed at dealer today, and I think my guess impressed the SA. 

Good to know they are relatively rare among us, even with the long cold spell through Feb in NE.  If I get another, I'll consider replacing all 4 at the same time, but for now will see how FE is affected. 

Glad car ran smoothly in EV mode but might be fun to have option to press a button and get a  "rough idle massage"!

Will miss DD.

Might not be what is going on in your case, but when this happens to me, it is usually because the fob has something blocking it in my pocket or my body is in the way (when I am opening the passenger door for instance).  Most of the time, a jiggle to reposition it is enough to get it to work.  Sometime in winter up here in the north, I have to take a glove off to get it done.

The trouble is that I am starting to get upset when the front door of my house doesn't autmatically unlock even with jiggling the house key in my pocket :)   - it is such an addictive convenience.

There are threads in the Forum on hitches, and certainly my local guy had a few listed for C-Max. He had no problem putting in a hitch with harness for me. I use it a few times a year to haul shingles and brush about 10km (6 miles) to the dump at the cottage with a 4 x 4 pup trailer.  With a full load of shingles once this year, the rear sagged a few inches but no other sign of strain.

Saw a "towing number rating" (forget the real name) on a commercial for a "super heavy duty top-towing" pickup - 873.  A regular pick up was 450 something.  When I looked up the value for C-Max, it was 97.  Now, I wouldn't call it a 97-lb weakling, but as OM says it just wasn't designed for any serious towing.  Bicycles and brush are enough for me.

My Ford dealer has a service bay for free Nitrogen top ups, since that's what came with the tires.  I follow all the other helps mentioned - monitor for leaks, check regularly, watch start of colder weather etc - and also do a visual before any long drives, and at all stops on those drives.  Spotted a bulging tire on one drive and that could have been serious safety issue.

Even with non hybrids I've had over the past 25 years, I've just driven after starting the engine.  Even with full HVB, I've found ICE will come on to ensure slight warming of components with winter temps here up north, but not enough to provide cabin warmth.  I  keep an eye on the coolant temp and when it's a bit above the low line, that's when I start warming up the cabin with Climate on Auto (as I did with non-hybrids basically).  C-Max climate control is nice because t delays fan blowing at higher speeds if engine is not sufficiently warm for set temp.  Takes about 2 minutes to get there on an expressway, sometimes quite a bit longer if city driving since C-Max is so efficient.  Seat heaters and touqes help until then.

I commented recently to my wife that the cargo capacity of the C-Max is deceiving - deceivingly small under the cargo cover.  You do gain a little by folding it up or removing it, or a lot more by folding down the seats.  Our lifetime average is 45+ MPG - I would not mind getting a little less (>40 MPG?) in a larger version of the C-Max...which I think is pretty close to what the Escape is.

 

The C-Max is actually the wife's car - I drive a 2012 Buick Lacrosse - it is a mild hybrid.  It is a larger and more luxurious, quieter, smoother riding vehicle than the C-Max, but it get's only 35+ MPG.  When we drove from Phoenix to San Diego (1,000 miles total round trip) for the weekend a couple months ago, we took the Buick...sure we squandered a few extra dollars on gas, but I think it is a better lengthy road trip car.  For around town driving, the C-Max can't be beat.  And for driving up to our weekend place in the AZ mountains, the C-Max is better on the curvy roads and has more _alls going up the long steep grades.  Also, with the CVT, the transmission does not hunt like the Buick.

C-Max works for what I need - head and stretch room for 6+ footer, room for 2 sets of golf clubs and a greener driving experience.  I've always thought buying one was an early investment into the right direction for personal transportation, not the final product.  EPA and Transport Canada numbers were not real world to begin with and most of the recalls have been more noise than substance to me. 

At least my kids (20-somethings) have seen you have to be prepared to put your money where your mouth (or rear) is, and wife thinks I am still a hero keeping her comfy, cosy every time we're on the road.  :)

Ford - bring on the next gen!!

Looks like we have East and West coasts covered, so I'll say welcome from the middle (TO).  I'm just over 60k km and still enjoying every bit of driving my 2013.

Great to hear your doing well with fuel efficiency.  Are you using Regular or Premium?  I can average 5 - 5.5 with Premium, and 5.5-6 with regular. Some forum folks said it shouldn't matter and save the cash difference, but I'm not sure where that debate wound up overall.

Nice to compare in L/100km without always converting!  Keep on C-maxin'!

I agree with HotPotato - the C-Max is unique and wonderful as a driving experience.  I bought it with a jaundiced eye on EPA rated 47/47/47 because the same technology on a friend's Prius was not delivering anywhere near that.  My sat point was set for 40/40/40 and I am pretty much there, 2 winters included.

Resale discounting is probably expected now due to perceptions but I'm planning to hold for quite a while, and then pass on to family as a first-time or second car. 

The kinks aren't going to be out of the next-gen or new-edge market cars like C-Max for a while -- I am willing to share some of the ri$k -- but good to name the problems and disappointments as a reminder for next time and get pre-production quality of product and marketing to improve.

For Canadian C-Max hybrid folks, called Ford this morning and second cheque would be C$725, same reasoning as before for amount that seems higher than for US customers.

My overall mileage (including the brutal winters) is pretty much what is now the posted numbers and I continue to enjoy the ride.

Do you have an ICE block heater or garage? Have you tried Grill Covers? Oil pan heater is worth 2mpg short distances, anywhere you can plug it in. :)

 

Paul

The Revmobile is always in a garage but it has been a very long, cold winter here this year.  I've used pipe insulation in front grill both winters so far.  Haven't read much about oil pan heater so far but assume it is similar to block heater as an add-on that needs a plug - ok in garage but not when travelling around. 

Shoot - just did the Sync update myself on Friday (all good) and this afternoon lost my Nav - it is asking for SD card.  Will check other threads but first time that has ever happened.

Living in Miami, I am the last person to say anything about cold weather driving. However, when I start my C-MAX to leave home, I often have a good amount of battery charge from when I last parked. Since I live in a high rise with an underground parking garage, I EV through the garage to the exit gate (which involves a short climb), I exit out of lot, and I often go as much as a half mile or more on EV power. I just have to accelerate gently.

 

Assuming you had to ICE up the hill to park the night before, wouldn't it be possible to carefully EV from the garage of a home at that top of a hill, and then glide down the hill without ICE firing up?

I live at top of a hill and in cold winters.  At anything below freezing, even with a good SOC, ICE kicks in within half a block.  It does stage1 cutoff within about 2 minutes and stage2 cutoff after ICE is on for at least 3-4 minutes again. 

Lucky SoCal and Miami folks!

Well done Scuba Dad M!  Sounds like you are on your way to many more miles of eco saving travel.  I'll have to read up on the seat covers even though I find the seats very comfortable still, even on long hauls.  Like the idea for the dead pedal too.  Please post more about the LED project - could be fun - not sure how many others have done that too.

FE just takesa hit from the cold weather up here in Canada, but otherwise your story sure lines up well with my experience up to now (about 28K miles).  My Revmobile keeps going and keeps me comfy/happy all the time.

In the meantime, keep C-MAxing!

Glad the Forum is around to share these as well as the problems and glitches that can happen to any of us.

If it helps with sourcing it:  I've only heard anything like wooo-ooo for the first minute on really cold mornings (here in the great white north) when driving the car uphill. 

zacsc,

 

I would definitely take your C-Max to your dealer and show them the concern you're having. Once you've got an appointment, send me a PM with your name, phone number, VIN, mileage, and dealer info, and I'll get your regional customer service manager involved.

 

Ashley

What other Fords have the same access system?  Wonder what their experience might be with same feature.

Warmth in cold temps helps but I had to revert to fob for a while after a recent deep freeze, and now back to working fine (cancelled dealer appt).  Moisture at sense point might be the problem.