SPL Tech

Dude, I used to be a mechanic at the dealershit, so I am not just making this up as I go. No one ever paid for my training. I had to get my ASE cert on my own, and most of the training I had to do was on my own. I had to pay for uniforms I never wanted but I had to wear, and I had to provide all my own tools which costed tens of thousands. The dealershit doesent provide jack other than a place to work and vehicles to work on. They charge $100 an hour and paid me $10 an hour. So yea, they are rip offs. Dealershits, car salesmen, bank CEOs, hedge fund managers and politicians all rank in the same top tier of scum garbage. It's been seven years since I worked in the field, but I doubt it has changed much. You get charged $2,000 for something you can do yourself for $200.

Well it would be nice to find a way to scan codes yourself. It would be really nice if the HUD just told you the code. I doubt it would be hard for them to program that. It's best to avoid the stealership as much as possible. They charge like $150 just to read a code, something that doesent cost them a cent. Dealershits are literately the worst possible place to conduct any form of business.

Try replacing one of the bulbs back with the OEM bulb so you can make sure the headlights are actually on. Also, this car does not have DRL, so if you dont turn the lights on they wont be on.

Why did you bother to ask the question when you had your mind made up before you even posted it?

You dont need to run out of gas to damage the fuel pump. It's well known that running low on fuel can damage the pump, just Google it. Anything below 1/8th tank and you are risking damage to the pump. I am afraid that 40k on your car does not prove much other than you can go 40k on your car. Most of the fuel pump failures I have replaced were instant. Car pulled into the driveway fine, and then next morning it would not start, or the car sputtered at a traffic light, died and would not restart. Fuel pump failure is very common, quite possibly one of the most common things that can go wrong with a vehicle, so it only makes sense not to put the pump at unnecessary risk, especially when there is no real reward for doing so.

I am at 43 MPG with 400 miles of 90% city driving in moderate to heavy traffic. A bit of AC use, maybe 25% of the time. I am light on the throttle, although I have to climb a 1500' hill every other day twice. Car is well beyond broken in. I run door spec PSI in tires, so 38 or whatever is printed on the door. Temps are 75 - 80F. I dont really see the 47 MPG happening that others claim, not in serious traffic. Maybe if I maxed out the PSI on the tires, never used AC or opened the windows, and drove slower than a grandmother, but under normal conditions it's not going to happen. Not for a full tank of fuel.

I thought OBD was a universal language?

umm, everyone does? So you are saying if you spend $26k on your new car and the next day it's worth $5, you dont mind? Well sorry, but 99% of people would very much mind. No one likes getting ripped off, and no one likes buying something expensive that is quickly worth nothing.

Check engine light typically refers to an emissions problem. There is a separate light for low voltage which is red and looks like a battery. You can get the code with an OBD2 scanner, which is quite cheap and can even be found at some Wal-Marts. The OBD2 port is right next to the driver's left knee.

Soon they are going to offer insurance for when your insurance company does not pay.

I once used an F350 to tow a 50,000 lb semitruck and 77' trailer. Just because it can be done does not mean it wont damage the vehicle. Proof of someone doing something is not proof it is a good idea, or it will work in the long term.

LOL, that's an SUV and a van. That doesent even compare to a hybrid car. The CMAX is not rated to tow anything. It would probably be a better idea to buy a cheap ass $500 truck off craigslist and use that for the occasional tow.

If there is no dash kid for the MFT, which it doesent look like there is, you will need a custom solution which is big $$$$. Probably more than just replacing the unit through the dealer. Also, if you go aftermarket you loose EVERYTHING. All the OEM integration with the climate controls, radio info on the HUD, phone info on the HUD, integrated steering wheel controls, everything. You wont have any of that. You can retain the bluetooth, although you wont be able to use the OEM mic. You can get navigation, but you wont be able to use the OEM GPS antenna. Some headunits will allow limited integration of the steering wheel controls, but it usually requires more hardware which is more money. So just keep in mind if you dont replace it with OEM you will loose a significant amount of the features that came with the unit. But on the upside, higher end double din headunits from aftermarket are much nicer than OEM, and the navigation is typically superior. IT might be worth looking at one of those "national" junk yard websites that link many junk yards together on one website. If you can find a totaled CMAX somewhere, you could probably snag the headunit for a deal and have it mailed to you. That would likely be the cheapest option. Also check ebay.

Nice, so many times do you have to get a 600 mile tank to profit over the $1,000 bill you will likely get for damaging your fuel pump?

Either way it's covered under warranty, so I wouldent be concerned with it. If you did damage it, I dont think it would take long for you to notice. They charged you $17 for a spark plug? Or was that labor included?

Yep, well that's a risk you take when you choose not to buy gap insurance. Same as if you choose not to buy insurance at all. You have to weigh the cost against the benefit. That's how the game is played.

But it also means you can replace it with a similar CMAX at little cost since they are going for cheap.

Is it really that much different from the Prius or any other hybrid? I suspect not, and if the noobs at the Ford dealership can figure it out I am sure a legit mechanic would do fine.

That's a meaningless number. I can get 338 MPG with a semi when all I am doing is driving downhill too.

It's called insurance. Dont worry about it.

Ford has never had a good reputation for reliability. The second I mentioned a bought a Ford CMAX to my friends they were like "I had a Ford and it never ran." or "we have 50 Fords in our fleet at work, and only 2 of them are out of the garage at a time." ect. ect. Even the dealer acknowledged that Ford has a bad reputation by saying "The newer Fords dont suffer from the serious reliability issues that old Fords did." Even JD Powers gives Ford a reliability rating of 2/5. Your charts seem to show the same, with Toyota leaving Ford in the dust on those reliability charts. So hopefully the dealer was right and newer Fords are more reliable than older ones.

Our SE came with the upgraded radio: the My Ford Touch. It did not come with the nav package though. My GF wants nav on her headunit, but she does not like SYNC because it's specific to one phone (as opposed to one car) and she has multiple phones (for work). Is there a way to get nav? Obviously it can be done since the SELs come with nav, the question is what product can get it done? The other option would be is there a way to bypass the one-phone restriction on SYNC and use it in our one CMAX with an unlimited number of phones?

Unnecessary, regardless of where you live. That's just another thing the dealer tries to scam you on, like nitrogen in your tires. FYI CMAXes in Hawaii and Guam last as long as they do elsewhere, and those salty-air environments are more prone to corrosion than any area in the continental US, even the northern most point of Alaska.

Well pull the spark plug and test the compression of the chamber then. If it heated up so much that it warped the cylinder walls or the piston, or the rings, then the compression will take a hit.

I dont see how messing up the fuel to oxygen ratio (too much fuel) would damage a cylinder. The main issue is lubrication, and all cylinders are lubricated via the oil pump regardless if they are firing or not. Even if the fuel injector was not pumping any fuel at all, you just have a spark plug that is firing. I dont see how that could damage anything. Oh, and replace the spark plug yourself. Not sure how hard it is on these CMAXes, but changing spark plugs is typically one of the easiest things you can do on a car unless the engine is buried way the hell in there. If they said the plug is bad, that means they pulled the plug and looked at it (no other way to determine), so tell them to show you.