HotPotato

Uh-oh. Prior to reading this I noticed a drivetrain noise like a low grindy whistle has appeared in the last 5000 mi (starting @ 30 mph, quite audible by 70 mph), and a very faint rocks-in-coffee-can noise at very low speed. Dealer claimed the first was normal and didn't hear the second. Maybe by my next scheduled service it will be loud enough for them to hear. Or maybe I'm paranoid.

YAY!!! Thank you for sharing this! Looks like it will address some of the infuriating reliability and connectivity problems for those like me who use their iPhone as the near-exclusive music source, and this news comes just in time for my next dealer visit.

Cool, a recognizable brand! Looks identical to the Chinese one...but priced at $180 instead of $50. Still, would you rather spend the $180 and know for certain that it fits...or spend the $50, wait for the slow boat from China, and maybe have to spend the $180 anyway if it doesn't fit? Alpine now has a CarPlay receiver: built that way from the factory, not just a Pioneer AppRadio update. It's shallow depth, so I don't imagine fit would be a problem. It has to be plugged into the phone at all times, no Bluetooth-only connection (!). The trouble with going aftermarket is that unless there is a Sync retention module and a steering wheel control interface and a custom wiring harness compatible with the C-Max for the particular stereo you choose, you could lose everything from your center-dash display to your steering wheel controls to your ability to use the car's inbuilt mike and USB jack. I don't want to be the first one to try this on a C-Max (I was already that guy with the speaker/amps/subwoofer/processor upgrade, and it was painful to be my shop's guinea pig).

Median home price in my town is a cool million bucks. I can't imagine living outside of California...but I can imagine moving to a different part.

Yep. This spurs me onto my soapbox. Speed doesn't kill: speed differential kills. If you're going 50 and someone hits you going 80, you're in much worse shape than if you're going 64 and they tap you going 65. Safest bet: leaving a safe following distance, match the prevailing speed of traffic in the center lane, and be courteous trying to those trying to enter your lane from left or right. Never dwell in the passing lane, unless actively in the process of passing someone. Occasionally you'll see some jackass in the passing lane going the speed limit. This endangers the jackass and everyone else, and enrages the angry guy behind him...you know, the one tailgating and flashing his lights. Who knows why the angry guy is trying to pass--maybe he is a doctor racing to the emergency room to save a life before it's too late. Depending on the state, the highway patrol can ticket the jackass for either remaining in the passing lane or impeding the prevailing flow of traffic, regardless of whether that prevailing traffic is speeding. Those tickets are as valuable to traffic safety as speeding tickets, because...speed differential kills. Stepping off the soapbox now, thank you all for your indulgence.

Over 35k mi, avg mpg has crept from 34.5 to 38.2. Astonishingly thrifty for something so scooty. My first-model-year C-Max has the lower gearing, which may contribute to its surprisingly high fun-to-drive factor, albeit at some alleged cost to MPG.

HANDLING is excellent. TURNING RADIUS on the other hand is poor, although that's not unusual in front-wheel-drive cars. The parking space in my building is next to a pole, so I can't swing wide into the adjacent space, which means I have to turn in, back up, and re-enter the space in order to avoid being over the left line. Other than that, the only time it's an issue is when making a U-turn; I have to do those slowly to be sure I'll clear the opposite curb. At this point these behaviors are automatic, so it's not a big deal...a minor inconvenience greatly outweighed by the car's many strong points.

Welcome, from the next county down. :-) I love my C-Max. Best all-around car I've ever owned.

Unfortunately I don't have the doodad under the stereo since I don't have the kick-sensor hatch. :-(

As Paul shared, Tire Rack has tested our tire against the likely competitors, and it not only performs the best of them all in fuel economy, but is a strong performer in pretty much every category, across the board. Others may shine in one category but not in others. For instance, the Yokohama db Super E-Spec corners well in the dry, but it's a summer tire not approved for driving in near-freezing temperatures or snow. The Bridgestone Ecopia does well in the wet, but not as well in the dry. Switching to a non-green tire line brings a non-trivial hit to MPG (I believe it was like a 7.5% drop for a Goodyear ComforTred vs the Michelin Energy Saver A/S), but as Hannah points out, you can do the math and see how that pencils out for you. OEMs sometimes skimp on tires, but not in this case -- it seems like Ford spent top dollar to get the best all-around tire they could buy for a hybrid application.

So a few weeks ago I drove 100 miles to IKEA to pick up a chair. Went to open up the hatchback and...the hatch wouldn't open. Unlocked the car multiple times...the 4 doors clicked to unlocked position and opened fine, but the hatch didn't click and unlock, and just wouldn't open. Used the hatch-only button...still wouldn't open. The chair wouldn't fit in through a passenger door, so this sucked! Looked in the owner's manual to see where the manual release or child panic latch was...none shown or mentioned. Called the Ford 800 number, waited on hold. Having been on hold for a long time and not wanting to bake my ear, I got into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition to continue the conversation hands-free on Bluetooth. Got transferred to the local dealer's service department, and though friendly, they couldn't identify any alternative manual release option either, so we finished the convo and I hung up. Needing to pee after all this time, I turned off the ignition and headed toward the IKEA entrance...when on a whim, I figured I'd try the hatch one more time. It opened. It has continued to work fine ever since. (FWIW, my car does not have the keyless proximity doodads, just a regular lock/unlock fob.) Anyone experience anything like this? With computer problems, the IT crowd always says "Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?:Now that computers control our cars, it appears that you can fix random problems by...turning it off and turning it back on again!

Want.

Congrats! It's a great car, and like nothing else out there.

Good point!

Ford cars in general tend to have overly soft suspensions in front and insufficient wheel travel in back, and it has ever been thus. In the C-Max, it's the soft front that bugs--you really have to slow down for dips. Progressive springs and/or progressive shocks that really stiffen up as they approach full compression might help. Apparently Koni FSD shocks--the not-so-poor man's alternative to active suspension--are available for the C-Max in Europe. I'd love to try those, but they're probably tuned for different weight distribution--i.e. a heavy turbodiesel lump in the front and nothing much in back, instead of a relatively light gas engine in front and a heavy battery pack in the back.

I've only ever had two no-starts, so hard to say if it was a parasitic load over time or a watery connector or just not closing a door all the way. Both times, the dealer load-tested and replaced the battery, and I have zero confidence they actually looked into the TSBs. I suppose if the battery itself has a yearlong warranty then we could play this game forever at little cost to me, but I'd rather they try to locate whatever's causing the battery to discharge severely enough to fail the test and warrant replacement. The second time, the dealer implied it's because I'd added a small subwoofer...but they provided zero evidence for that, and in any case the sub wasn't installed when the battery failed the first time. Dealer laziness aside, I don't get why Ford didn't build in some sort of battery protection--when battery gets to level X, power to everything is killed unless the key is turned, to prevent battery damage. Or just use a bigger battery so even if there is a parasitic draw, there's enough battery capacity that nobody will notice it and damage won't occur--as I'm certain is the case in many ordinary cars. Edit: just did a little reading, and it seems 12V batteries lasting only 2 years in hybrids of any make is not uncommon, so I suppose significant wear in one year is not such a shock. Still, it just suggests all hybrid makes ought to consider using a 12V battery closer to standard size.

Congrats! I've owned everything from raw-boned sports cars to luxobarges, and honestly my humble hybrid potato is the best car I've ever owned. I plan to keep it until the wheels fall off.

I had several car audio shops advising me and one working on the car throughout, I read all the usual boards, and like you I've built systems for previous cars over the years with varying degrees of satisfaction. Nobody had ever seen or worked on this car before at the time, which certainly didn't help. You already have the Sony, so you already have a 100W amp. I do not, and the other people commenting on here do not, which is why for them the first step would be to get a decent quality modestly powered digital amp. From there, the next step is a sub. From there, if you have the Sony and hence the better speakers, you're probably done, but if you don't have the Sony, you may decide you want better speakers, and that will mean re-EQing the system. I don't recall saying I "hear" the sub down to 20Hz, but something is playing down that low, because it shows up on the spectrum analyzer when a full-spectrum white noise track is played. Obviously you shouldn't try to re-EQ your system without a spectrum analyzer; I thought I was clear that I'm using one.

Switching to the Escape form factor for more sales: plausible. Getting over 40-60 MPG simply by using a Euro drivetrain instead of hybrid: implausible. Published European fuel consumption figures are bunk: the Euro fuel economy test is notoriously unrepresentative of real-world mileage, is routinely gamed by manufacturers, and has become so scandalous and embarrassing that the EU is looking into throwing out the test cycle and rules and starting over. Nor would American traffic conditions suit a gas 1-liter 3-cylinder engine powering a car with the weight of a small Cadillac. Nor are most Americans interested in driving a diesel with a stickshift, and even diesel-crazed Europe is slowly beginning to transition to hybrids as the health effects of diesel pollution grow more severe. Nor is a DSG likely to provide better fuel economy than an eCVT, which has "infinitely" variable gearing. Point is, Ford gave us the right drivetrain; customers just prefer it in a Fusion body (and why not? the Fusion is dead sexy), and given how well the Escape sells, they'd probably prefer it in an Escape body too.

I traded in a fast German luxobarge for mine, so I have more to miss than some...but after nearly two years of ownership I'm still pretty happy with the C-Max, and assuming it remains reliable, I expect I will remain so. Steering and acceleration are roughly on par with my old 17 MPG beast, which makes my 37 MPG feel pretty impressive. Plus the electric motor sound and enormous windows make me feel like I'm piloting a spaceship, and it's fun to coax in and out of electric mode. People tend to focus on either the car's European road manners or its stingy fuel economy, and those are both delightful, but in a way the most impressive thing about the car is how much Ford sweated the details that make it easy to live with day to day: tall roof and butt-height seats so it's effortless to get in and out of, automatic headlights, dual climate controls so you don't argue with your partner over temperature, rear seats that fold pancake-flat in one lever pull (the dog's favorite feature), and so on...if you have the front wipers going, the rear wiper even comes on automatically when you shift into reverse. One exception to this theme of good design: the confusing and unreliable Sync infotainment system (button and screen versions alike), which generates loathing in every Ford product.

Congrats! Funny story, I went to the Ford store for a Focus ST and left with a C-Max -- the oomph is that good. (Mine's a 2013--the 2014 has a little taller gearing for better MPG, but I'm sure it's still a quick little machine.) I have this fantasy that someone releases a chip to unleash the other 50 system HP, and the Koni FSBs apparently available for the German model also fit ours, and several of us build the world's unlikeliest hot hatches.

Nearly 25k mi. Issues as follows: Reliability: One dead battery, fixed under warranty. The same slew of recalls as everyone else. Durability: In the cargo area, the carpet and rubber tie-down surrounds don't like to stay down, and the elastic failed on the side cargo net. A creaky noise from the doors in turns. Design: The non-touchscreen infotainment system has indifferent sound, a hostile user interface, and capricious functional reliability. The AC was more effective before the fuel-economy recall, but one can always turn on the lap vents and turn it to LO. The front suspension hits the bump stops in dips that wouldn't faze many other cars. No gear indicator on the PRNDL selector (yes, I know it shows in the dash, but that's a kludge). These are all extremely minor things, and they don't affect my feelings for the car: I love my C-Max like I love coming home to my adoring Golden Retriever. But I do worry about these little flaws, like I worry about the lump on my Golden Retriever's flank: probably nothing to worry about, but then again, maybe serious. Is that creak in turns just loose trim, or does it suggest poor torsional rigidity? (The dealer's certainly not going to find out.) Is the terrible stereo just because they assume anyone who doesn't pony for the Sony only listens to AM, or because Ford is actually that bad at engineering electronics? (That would't be good on a hybrid.) Does the front suspension crash on dips because that's an inherent part of the otherwise excellent ride/handling compromise they chose, or because they spec'd cheap shocks that will give out at 40k mi? (Is that you, Focus ZX5?) Still, it is my favorite car I have ever owned, and I have owned some pretty fancy cars.

The dealer said "the new ones drive the same," but I am not convinced. There is a sort of looseness, plus kind of a hollow thunk from the front over certain pavement cracks, that are just like how a 10-year-old VW or Audi with worn-out front strut bushings and/or struts drives. And I feel like the one I test drove originally had more precise steering than mine. I wonder if maybe a bushing/plate isn't torqued within spec? Or if I'm just a big geek either imagining things, or having expectations unsuited to a Ford or its mechanics? Maybe I'll ask to take a new one out and drive the same route.

After seeing only one other in my Central Coast beach town for a year (a Sterling Gray one on the Northside), I have started seeing a whole bunch: a Blue Candy at Costco, a Platinum White in the local student 'hood, a Ruby Red (?) rolling downtown, and so on; and as sales charts would suggest, maybe every fourth one is an Energi. As the cliches would have it, my fair city is both "the birthplace of environmentalism" and "playground of the rich" (mostly the subtle old-money types), so a prominently labeled hybrid that drives no worse than your gracefully aging German luxury sedan is the magic combination here.

I believe they can't void your warranty unless they can prove that the equipment was the direct cause of a failure. So I wouldn't sweat it. Connect the amp to the battery in back--easy to do. Obviously include inline fuses. I will say this though -- make sure you're not pulling a ton of power with your amp(s), since the C-Max's 12V battery is marginal to begin with. I'm running an ultra-efficient digital 4-channel amp plus a modestly sized single sub amp, and honestly at some point I should replace the sub amp with a more efficient digital model.