gnc

Wow, I really appreciate all this good, timely advice! I'll report what I learn tomorrow. I'm quite familiar with battery physics but new to the peculiarities of hybrid cycles. I'm commited to c-max, amazing car, but in no hurry to buy. I'd normally go used to let someone else take the apparently precipitous depreciation because of Ford PR botches. But the worisome (unresolved?) battery draining electrical short makes me wary of 2013 model lemons. So I've decided only 2014 used or perhaps the last one new as dealers get desparate. Shoppers around here seem to be on autopilot especially Prius buyers (especially those who stick Apple logo on bumper). So our local dealers are pretty lazy w/ such sheep.

On Mon we'll drive a demo car from 2 dealer consolidation; was told the car was forgotten on the merged lot. VIN shows 2/13 build so 8 months into year 1 :sad: , but only has a few hundred miles of demo driving and never licensed so sold new w/ full warranty :) . It's SE + MFT (no nav). I'd be keeping it for a decade+. If the sale is go I'd request 1) fresh fluids, 2) update MFT firmware, 3) new 12V battery. Anything else I should be concerned about on such an "old" car sitting in sun, so lightly driven? He's asking $18.9K+fees+tax, so high enough to haggle but thousands less than the increasingly rare new 2014 SEs (most w/o MFT) let alone identical 2015. I don't want SEL (unclear if failed battery is more frequent in SE or simply smaller # stats for SEL) heated leather seats or fog-lamps. What do experts here estimate is a fair settling price for this configuration? Kelly seems to indicate $17K, but I might well be mis-interpreting it. Thank you

Returned the 2014 SEL loaner and drove a used 2013 SE. I decided that I could live w/ the less cluttered console w/ fewer electronics to break. However, the SE rear seat is awful ... cheap, zero cushion. SEL is much better even with its micron thick 'leather coat'. I looked around for a scrap SEL to swap out the rear seats ;) but none close by. I also looked at a pano roof, decided to pass. Deal killer for this SE: CarFax reports that it had one battery failure/replacement and an unexplained 'customer loaner' request to Ford that implies to me an off-warranty damage repair. So, we'll pass on this one. I can't justify new, so we'll keep looking for a former fleet SEL w/o useless to me built-in NAV (I prefer tablet) and backup camera. May be a long search ...

I appreciate these quick responses, thank you! Seems like MyFord problems are history. But given the battery/electronics bug for a minority of cars, I'm extremely reluctant to pull the trigger on a used purchase. The loaded SEL I have on loan through tomorrow is former fleet so presumably didn't have the battery problem as it racked up ~23K miles. But it has features that I don't want that would likely break in S. Arizona heat. I may instead track the SE and put a few $ into the moonroof. For now I'll probably just monitor how Ford addresses the 12V battery failures (a really dumb thing to go bad, but I've always been suspicious of Ford wiring QA given Taurus stupidities!) I'll need car for 10+ yrs like my Taurus. I've looked around and see nothing that appeals as much ... fun to drive, excellent features, one potentially fatal flaw apparently introduced by the non-Euro mod, the rest seems debugged.

Hi, I hope that you can help a forum newbie. I have a 2014 SEL on loan for several days and have enjoyed it enough to consider buying. But reviews rate this car well below average and bad value used. Anyone care to explain? CU says "Electronics" are awful, and as a 1999 Taurus wagon owner I know all about random wipers, failed AC, etc. although the rest of that (analog) car has been solid and cheap to maintain. If electronics means just the inept MyFord+Sync "entertainment center" then I can live with that failure because I find radio vapid. I could get an SE to avoid it, but that model has unappealing interior aesthetics to me. So it's SEL or elsewhere if the rest of the electrical hardware sucks. Please enlighten me Thank you