yark99

Nice pictures of the Ruby Red. We just got that color and it's really beautiful. It is much nicer than the Red shown on the Ford web site.

Hurray donhak!! Incredible patience on your part.

Took delivery of the CMax today! We were very lucky that there was one somewhere in the vicinity with our specs (201a, moonroof, SE). Downside of the dealer shuffle-- it had 250 miles on it at 25 mpg. Ugh-- were they driving it without tires?? Now I can get on to whining about mpg instead of delivery time... Rachel and everyone else waiting, please keep us posted!

Great story and photos. Thanks for sharing!

Congratulations and welcome! Very exciting. Will look forward to your gas mileage and detail care reports.

Thanks for your thoughts, mtberman (and yay w00t back Julie!) We drove it. We could have taken it yesterday, but we'd have to give it back when they got the parts to upgrade the options. So it exists, and carries a "Sold" sign. The week delay is mostly our fault-- both husband and I travel a lot and we can't take delivery until we are both in town to sign. Otherwise it would probably be just a couple of days. I should have noted the VIN but I was too busy figuring out the gadgets! I am not sure who is giving mixed signals. I've talked to both the salesperson (who is very new) and the manager, and I think some of the things they've told us are weird, but they are all consistent with the idea that Ford is giving them a tiny allocation and Retail Order Verification isn't possible any more. They had to trade another CMax for this one and now they don't have another one on the lot. That's a shame for their sales, because it was the drive that convinced us. But if they can't get them, I guess there's not a point in selling them. I don't understand this system, but I do think the dealer is trying, and that means something to me. Dealer tried to trade for this very car when we first ordered, but the other dealer wouldn't let it go, and/or didn't want to trade for the CMax they were giving. I don't know if allocations are handled differently around the country. We are not in a large urban area and might not be in one of Ford's target markets. They may be hoping to pump up the visibility in the classic hybrid markets (California, DC area) with their initial limited production, and selling in downstate Illinois doesn't get them a lot. I'm totally guessing though.

I'm curious about this too. On the one hand we see in some reviews that Ford "wants to catch the Prius." And on the other hand we do not see the publicity or production (yet) that would allow it to do so. I wonder what they are thinking.

Dealer came through! They found one they could trade for. They have to add some of the options, but looks like we will be getting it in a week or so! Woo-hoo! (Otherwise we'd be looking at February and maybe beyond.

Just drove one with the sunroof-- at last! That's what we ordered, but as we hadn't seen one, I didn't know if I would be happy with the decision, because we hadn't seen one. As others have said, it makes the car feel much more open and light-filled. I like it. IMHO, the big plus is for the folks in back. From the back, it feels like you can see the whole sky, whereas the driver and front passenger just feel the light. I think our kids will be even happier than us! I don't think the cost is a purely rational decision. We're not getting the cheapest car possible (nor the most expensive) and it's more like: does 5% cost increase make me feel like YAY when I get in the car? Yeah.

Liz, you had a long wait! I hope you are rewarded for your patience soon!

Hey Rachel, aren't you the person who bought two? Are you checking on both of 'em and neither one is coming through? It would be interesting to see how far apart they are delivered...

Good point, valkraider. I'm not trying to blame that good little car. I have two concerns though... 1. How do we know this isn't a *Ford* problem? This is what the dealer says and perhaps it is true. Nevertheless, in this internet age, I can see CMaxes sitting on other lots around the country. Do I want to buy from a company that doesn't want to sell to me just because I'm in the wrong place? If no cars were available anywhere, I'd shut up and wait my turn in a long line. That would be fair. But that's not the case. My husband has appreciated Ford's handling of their business through the whole industry bailout thing. That's one reason we were happy to choose the CMax. If this really is how they do business-- ignoring real customers in favor of imagined ones-- I'm not sure I agree with him. 2. If it *is* a dealer problem, I'm in a captive market (smallish town). We can drive to another town to buy the car. But I'll have to deal with the folks here for service and warranty for the next 10 years, because that's how long we keep our cars, and I don't want to make a pilgrimage every 10k miles. So the dealer relationship is important to me. I like the CMax and that's what I want. But I can't be on my own in buying a first-year car. I need to know that we have the backup of both the manufacturer and the dealer. Failing that, our current hybrid car has a lot of life left in it and it would be much cheaper to keep it running than to buy a new one.

Called before Christmas checking on VIN. Dealer said "We are right on track for the 10 weeks we promised!" I said No you are not, you have no VIN, you tell me it's four weeks to delivery after VIN, you tell me Ford is closed, so when they come back, unless you get the order pulled right away, you are going to miss the 10 weeks. Dealer says No! It is working! Not sure why I can do math and they can't. I hate being right. Called dealer today. According to them, CMax is no longer eligible for Retail Order Verification, and wasn't when we placed the order on 11/26. Furthermore, they (and the entire region!) have no more allocation for *January* and nobody knows about February. So it looks like we won't even get the order pulled this month-- 10 weeks will be Feb 4. I don't think that this dealer knows how to tell good stories. According to them: "It's not good business to build a bunch of inventory and then have it sit unsold." Oh, so it's good business not to produce cars that are already sold? I am getting kind of worried that the story will not be any more useful when it comes to service, or problems. I really liked driving the CMax, but we don't *need* a new car.

Oh thanks, folks, for your suggestions. I will call after Christmas and ask about the Retail Order thing. There are CMaxes on lots so it's not like our dealer is fighting for the hottest car in the universe. (Yes they are cute, and hot, but not impossible to get.) We ordered on 11/26, 4 weeks ago, and still no VIN.

Oh no PWBarrett! Wait... I thought they could fly? It can't get to your house on its own? Just off the phone with dealer, looking for VIN number. Anyone else running into allocations? Apparently Ford will not pull our 4-week-old order yet, since our dealer has sold all their allocations. They have to wait for another CMax to be allocated to this dealer, and then they can pull the order. This won't happen until after the holidays, because Ford is shut down. According to dealer, we need to "hope" that Ford gives them another allocation, and then they can pull the order.

Hm. That wasn't anything like our Falcon! :) How many people could there be who replace a Jag with a CMax? Yes JulieB, it was the drive that sold us. I didn't even want to like the CMax over the Prius, but we drove the Ford first and when we were in the Toyota I was thinking, "Are you kidding?!"

Hello all. We ordered our Ruby Red CMax SE (201a+winter+sunroof) 3 weeks ago. We've driven a manual Honda Civic Hybrid for the last 10 years-- got one of the first ones off the boat so we are not afraid of first-year cars. We have been very happy with the Civic, except for the trunk space (NOT!), but it is time for a new car because the hybrid battery needs replacing. I thought surely we would get a Prius, but we should check out this newcomer just for the heck of it, and after driving the two of them, the choice was clear. The car felt great on the road. We're also happy to be able to buy a Ford. Husband grew up with Fords and I still remember going with my parents to buy their first car, a Falcon.

newbie: Model: C-Max Hybrid SE Ruby Red, panoramic roof, charcoal, few other whiz-bangs. Date Ordered: 11/26/12 Promised Delivery time: 8 to 10 Weeks No VIN, sticker, etc State: IL Would have got more features, but don't like leather seats or nav. So that cuts out a lot. Our salesperson was pretty new, although she was nice. We told her more than she told us. How do we make sure we don't have that Retail Verification thingee problem?