Podivin

Anyone slowing down to 50 mph on what I assume is a 60 mph road (based on the speed from your other trip) is going to be a truly annoying person to follow, plus forcing more people to pass him and/or jam up behind him, thereby interrupting the overall traffic flow. I think that's one of the ways road rage begins. That aside, on your 200 mile trip you saved ~62 cents, using a fuel price of $2.50, and it took you about 10 minutes longer. If you value your time at more than $3.72 per hour (10 minutes * 6 = 1 hour, 62 cents * 6 = $3.72) then no, it's not worth it. For me, it's not worth it. On the highway I run at the speed the law allows on that stretch of road and I don't sweat the gas mileage. In town I don't accelerate hard, I try to anticipate stop lights and coast when I can (while still maintaining a reasonable speed for the traffic around me), and my overall average is 45 mpg. I figure what I 'lose' on the highway I make up for in town.

Yes, that would make quite the difference.

I had a back-up camera in my previous car and I never used it. I tried a few times but I always felt like it 'lied' to me. Because the camera was inboard of the rear bumper, the camera would show I had about 8 inches to go when the rear bumper had already touched. Yes, I could have learned to allow for that, but since I learned years ago (ok, decades ago) how to back a car/van/dump truck using side mirrors, the camera was really superfluous at that point. Give me decent side mirrors and wide angle lenses and I can put a car wherever it will fit (thank you Ford for the built-in wide angle lenses). I can see an argument for using a camera to prevent back over kids toys or other stuff that might have accumulated in the driveway behind your car while you weren't looking, but since that's not really an issue in my house I have no need for a camera. Like others, I REALLY like the rear proximity sensors, they do a good job of verifying what I'm seeing in the mirrors.

The only difference I've noticed so far is streaming from the Sirius/XM app. Previously the display would just say 'Bluetooth Audio' when I was streaming that app. Now it shows me the name of the program that's playing, or the name of the commercial that's playing (which is nice because I always turn down the volume on the commercials). I say 'program' because I use this app almost exclusively to listen to old time radio shows, as opposed to music. So it shows me the name of the program (Suspense, Gunsmoke, Fibber McGee and Molly, etc). So far, that display change is the only difference I've noticed.

I installed the update this morning, but I haven't driven the car since the update. So it's too soon to tell whether or not I see any change in BT connectivity (or any changes at all, for that matter). But since I didn't notice the connection being UNstable (it was always there whenever I tried to use it), I don't really expect to see any difference.

Kelley, I think you need to look around a bit more while you're driving. I'm SURE I regularly see retirees here in Florida in their convertibles. I don't think it's just a thing for the young. :) I have a 10yr old convertible that I enjoy driving on nice days. I completely agree that there is such a thing as 'too hot for the top down', but that's close to 90 degrees or so. I'm seriously considering having a sunroof added to my C-Max. I don't think it would affect mileage much, if at all (when closed that is, opened I'd expect to loose about 10% or so). My main concern are the mics in the headliner for the active noise cancelling. I talked to the shop recommended by my Ford dealer, when I asked about those he said something along the lines of 'gee, I dunno, we've never had to deal with those before'. Really? Never? On any car that you've ever worked on? I know the C-Max is not the first car that has these - I'll have to some shopping around to find someone who has a better answer to that question.

Thank you sir.

Yep, I'd look for a grounding problem also. It's odd that both bulbs (filaments) go out at the same time, and that both are bad in the replacement. Before spending much more than 15 minutes on it, this should be covered by warranty. You've already done the obvious, now let the guys at Ford fix the problem.

Pepe and MTB Would you gents happen to have links to the mats you bought. I looked up the mats the Pepe bought on Amazon and think I found them, but they say that they fit MOST Escapes, so I'd like to make sure they are the same ones he got. Thanks.

I bought a new 2014 w/201a package (does not have MFT) on 2/27/15. I don't recall the exact build date on the car, somewhere around August I as I recall. I remember thinking that it was about 6 months 'old' when I bought it. So far I've put about 500 miles on it with an overall average of 45.6 mpg. I don't do much interstate driving, lots of secondary roads in my normal travels, so that helps the MPG, and I've been driving hybrids since 2005, so I've got a reasonable feel for a balance between speed and fuel economy. So far the car has been problem free, and like others I enjoy it more as I drive it more.

Personally I'd be very hesitant to add any aftermarket radio to this car, due to the way that everything is connected the dash displays and steering wheel controls, as SPL Tech mentioned above. That seems like a nightmare just waiting to come true if you start messing with that particular batch of electronics.