HPRifleman

I ordered my car from the dealer and used X-plan pricing. No problem. Find another dealer that actually wants your business.

I have found that I never even look at the gear indicators. Whenever I shift, it is done by feel. Sometimes I will over-shoot "D" by going into "L" but the shifter travels farther so it is pretty easy to figure out. Going from "P" to "R" is also pretty easy.

Your navigation screen looks different than mine. I don't remember ever getting the fastest/shortest/eco options on the right. These are settable in Settings but not on the screen. Can you elaborate on this?

OK. I finally got to improve on my best (660mi.) tank from last year with this effort. The interesting thing was that there were lots of placed I could have improved. There were some highway miles here that lowered my average and I think I could have stretched this out to 750 miles if I kept it on local streets. Regardless, I was able to break through the 700 mile barrier. Not much chance of bettering this in the near future as I will be spending too much time on the interstate.

Last weekend I was traveling on I-80 in western Illinois when I noticed a white C-Max entering the interstate from an on-ramp. I moved into the left lane to let him on and pulled up on his left as he came up to highway speed. The driver's left hand was on the steering wheel and his right hand was holding his cell phone and his thumb was busy texting. Even though he was wearing sunglasses I could see that his eyes were quickly shifting from the road, to his phone, back to the road. I let him go by as I didn't want to be part of the carnage he may cause.

Adair, Your braking score of 96% seems low. Is this what you typically get on your commute?

Like - The car's smoothness and stability (I'm counting this as one) Dislike - MFT will sometimes do what it wants, not what I want it to do. By the way, picking just one "like" is similar to being forced to pick your favorite child.

How does this happen? Doesn't the car detect that the fob is still within the interior?

I have tried enabling this setting. It seems to eliminate high-speed highway routes from the trip.

Yesterday, I saw a black Energi with Nebraska plates traveling east-bound on I-88 across northern Illinois. They passed me in my Blue hybrid but gave no acknowledgement of the C-Max brotherhood. Maybe they didn't know the secret hand sign.

I came over from owning a mid-sized SUV for 13 years. The C-Max is certainly smaller but I have been very impressed how much it can still hold. Day-to-day the only real difference between my old and new vehicles is that I have to plan a little more with how cargo is stowed in the C-Max. After owning the car for one year I can't remember a time where I could not haul something in the C-Max that I could in the SUV. There is a point in the C-Max where the cargo area narrows just behind the seats. That limits how I stow gear and whether I need to put one of the seats down or not. When carrying a rifle I would prefer to keep it in the cargo area with the seats up. But that means it has to go closer to the back and that interferes with some of my other gear so some imaginative packing is required. Not a big deal in the greater scheme of things.

Then I must be missing something. Last week I tried getting directions to a local bank and there were still prompts and menus even with the shortcuts. And at the end of it all MFT didn't understand the name of the bank anyway. “Destination POI” | pause | follow prompts | pause | "Name" | pause | "<name>" - See more at: http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/navigation-by-voice-sync-myford-touch#sthash.oIKuirHK.dpufGet directions to a POI when you know the name “Destination POI” | pause | follow prompts | pause | "Name" | pause | "<name>" - See more at: http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/navigation-by-voice-sync-myford-touch#sthash.oIKuirHK.dpufGet directions to a POI when you know the name “Destination POI” | pause | follow prompts | pause | "Name" | pause | "<name>" - See more at: http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/navigation-by-voice-sync-myford-touch#sthash.oIKuirHK.dpuf Is there some technical reason we can't pull the paddle and say "Destination, first national bank"?

Lots of agreement with your post here. It is difficult to find enough time and miles to put together a non-highway, warm weather tank. City driving is not mile-intensive so it takes a while. It gets even harder when taking the car in the interstate. Getting trip mileage of 60+MPG is pretty easy and fast. Getting 600 mile tanks takes a lot more time and consistent attention.

Just to clarify, the voice commands themselves are not the problem. It is having to speak through several layers of menus that is annoying. The link above shows some shortcuts but I have found it difficult to learn MFT's language when I don't use it every day.

I disagree. My C-Max is blue candy and it is certainly not close to being dark blue. As I stated before, it is more of an aqua color.

Today marks one year to the day that I picked up my C-Max. Overall it has been a very good experience and I still enjoy my car. A lot of people are curious about hybrids and I get asked questions about them. Overview Typical daily commute is 7 miles one-way. Most other driving is through suburban streets with 35-45MPH speed limits. During warmer months I spend about every other weekend on the interstate with 75-150 mile one-way trips of about 65MPH. In 12 months of ownership Total miles: 11707.3 Miles in EV: 4580.3 Regen miles: 232.8 Braking score: 99% Mileage Having your choice of several mileage gauges right in front of you will certainly make you more aware of fuel usage. In previous vehicles I have typically been conscious of keeping a light foot on the throttle and braking early. The C-Max gauges shame you into doing this even more. A 100% braking score is always the target and keeping the load indicator at an appropriate level relative to ICE stop/start is something I keep track of. As I tell people, it’s like driving a video game. As far as the numbers go, trip mileage is dependent on so many things that it is better to look at tank mileage instead. Best tank has been 53.3MPG and worst was 30.7MPG. After learning the car, my expectations for mileage are now based on outside temperatures. These are very rough estimates but about 50-60MPG at 65⁰+, 45-50MPG at 50⁰-65⁰, 40-45MPG at 30⁰-50⁰, 35-40MPG at 20⁰-30⁰, 30-35MPG at below 20⁰. This past winter here has been long and cold and this shows up on the mileage gauge. In one year, the total spent on gasoline has been $1002.61. Storage My previous vehicle was a mid-sized SUV so I had plenty of room to put things. I have been pleasantly surprised at how much the C-Max can swallow. Most of my bulk storage needs can be accomplished with the rear seats up. Bringing down the 60% rear seat will take care of almost all other storage needs. A couple times a year I will have to put down the entire rear seat but that accommodates all of my needs. The back seats actually fold flat and do not have a slope like on other cars. My only complaint with the cargo area relates to bringing the rear seats down. Ford has a two-step process where you push the button on the side of the headrest to bring that down and then pull up on the lever at the side of the seat to bring down the back rest. My former vehicle had one latch that accomplished all of this in one motion. In addition, Ford has placed the rear seat belt in such a position that, when the seat back is brought down, the seat belt is now angled across the rear door opening. Kind of like tubing in a roll cage. The seat belt can be unlatched from its plastic guide but it would be nice if this entire process was better thought out. Storage for small things up front is a little more lacking. My phone and iPod can go in the center console but I find myself needing some additional cubbies for change, keys, pens, and other miscellaneous things that I have from time-to-time. Also, the center console is a little too deep in that when something goes in there it’s a fishing expedition to get it back out again. Entertainment/MFT Except for the mileage gauges this is the part of the car that I interact most with while driving. Most of my entertainment listening has been to Sirius satellite radio or to my iPod plugged into a USB port in the center console. I have never inserted a CD in the car. I tried streaming music files from my phone but that was more hassle than I wanted. Phone connectivity has been very good with my Samsung Galaxsy S4. Calls are clear and it is easy to understand the other person through the speakers. The delay between pressing a button to answer an incoming call and being able to start the conversation is annoying and the worst part of the Bluetooth phone connectivity. My use of the navigation system is infrequent. I will use it in case traffic is backed-up along my traditional route or to find places I have never been to before. The map has always been accurate and I trust the system to get me to where I am going. Voice commands have been hit and miss over the past year. For the phone it has been pretty good and I typically call out in this manner. For music, MFT doesn’t always understand a band or playlist name but gets it most of the time. The worst voice command experience is with the navigation. Trying to get to a common destination like a school means having to go through multiple menus and then MFT won’t recognize the name anyway. I have found it is easier to just go through the touch screen but that means that I have to pull to a stop. My wish is to just be able to hit the paddle and say “where is the nearest Wendy’s”. Instead, I have to go through a heirarchy of commands like “navigation”, “destination”, “POI”, “nearby”, etc. Overall the MFT is decent and adds to the “techy” feel of the car but it still needs work to make it a more polished option and truly usefull. Comfort and Driving experience Being 6’3” and owning larger cars all of my life I was wondering how comfortable I would be in, what I viewed as, a compact car. I need not have worried. It may be the glass roof but I could be several inches taller and still have adequate space above me. Leg room is equally ample. While I can understand how some people are annoyed by the dead pedal on the left, it hasn’t really bothered me. My foot will sometimes be resting on top of it and sometimes next to it. Smoothness of ride has also been impressive. Even with the ICE running, the C-Max feels very stable and smooth going down the road. I have not encountered any squeaks, rattles, or other vibrations. Steering has been tight and responsive as I would expect on a brand new front wheel drive car. I am in agreement with those that have mentioned the large turning radius. This requires a little more planning when turning into tight corners such as driveways or garages. Braking felt slightly grabby when I picked up the car but that went away quickly. Reliability My biggest concern when buying the C-Max were the incidents of dead 12v batteries that were popping up at that time. After purchase, I would check the voltage periodically but it has typically been 12.2-12.6v. To date, the car has always “started/powered up” and has never failed to deliver me to my destination. The car only went to the dealer once for any recalls. That was the rear gate trunk module reprogram (13B06) since it would only open intermittently, and also the powertrain control module update (13B07). I lost MFT voice commands twice in the past year. Both times required a master reset to correct. While this did not take much time it did require a re-entry of channel presets and navigation destinations plus a re-pairing of my phone. Modifications I have not made any modifications or added any aftermarket items to my C-Max. Miscellaneous My key fob is rarely used to lock or unlock doors. Now, my habit is to lock the doors using the black touch pad on the handle and unlock by putting my hand inside the handle. The rear hatch is opened using the kick motion. The fob just always stays in my pocket. The auto-wipers work pretty well although their sensitivity is not perfect. Summary I purchased this car because I have wanted to buy into hybrid automotive technology for a decade now. Even so, I did not want to sacrifice some of the creature comforts that are found on other cars. The C-Max has really fit the bill. Great mileage, lots of technology, comfortable ride, good utility. Ford did very well.

Contrasting colors like white or gray will show up just like you would expect. But things like water spots after a rain will not show as badly as black. Keep in mind that, although the color is called Blue Candy, it is more like a teal or aqua. At least, that's what it seems like to me. I really haven't seen a photograph yet that shows the car's color accurately.

I am an engineer and find hybrid technology fascinating. It's such a departure from the last 100 years of mass-produced automobile propulsion. I had done lots of research on hybrids (10 years worth) and the C-Max when it was announced. I decided my next car would be a hybrid and I would buy into the technology. In autumn of 2012 I was ready to buy and went to the dealer 2 miles from my house. They didn't have any on the lot but said they would get one in about a month. I left my contact information but they never called me back. I went back over the winter and they still didn't have any C-Max that I could even sit in. Plus they made no attempt to follow up on my visits despite my leaving my contact information. That was enough to tell me they weren't interested in my sales business. Last spring I drove by a Ford dealership in an adjoining town and saw a C-Max on the lot. They actually had three in stock. None had the exact features I wanted but at least I could sit in one and take measurements of the cargo area. I came back a few days later for a test drive. Because of the research (including this forum) I knew exactly which options I wanted and the dealer searched around and found a car in Wisconsin that they could get for me. By the time I came back to buy, that car was gone so I decided to special order since I was not in a hurry. Because I was ordering, I decided to try the Blue Candy color since that was not a common color. I purchased using X-plan. While I have heard that a good negotiator can get down to the same price, the X-plan eliminated the haggling part of the process. I signed the forms, wrote a check, and waited for my car to come in. The dealer kept me informed throughout the order process and the car was delivered within the stated time frame. Overall a positive experience dealing with a type of business that, for decades, has had a poor reputation by the general public.

The way I read this is that your annual non-long-trip fuel costs are $250 for your Energi. Is that correct? Even the costs with the Honda seem pretty low.

With the C-Max I don't really pay attention to the posted gas prices any more. When I need to fill up, I fill up. Too much energy is wasted worrying over a few cents per gallon especially when I won't be back at a gas station for a few weeks.

It's easy to start thinking about how cheap things were in the past but just remember to account for inflation. http://inflationdata.com/inflation/images/charts/Oil/Gasoline_inflation_chart.htm

Thanks for the help everyone. I will work on downloading and installing the update.

I am using the Galaxy S4. Connection with MFT is pretty seamless. It pairs every time although I have turned off the option to update the contact list as that was causing a delay in connection time. I have posted previously about the delay in answering when receiving a phone call but this is pretty minor. Once the call is answered I have no trouble hearing the other person via speakers and they can hear me. The MFT notifies me of incoming texts and the electronic voice will read them to me. Depending the punctuation used by the text sender, the voice translation will vary from fair to very good. As far as I can tell, replying via text is limited to standard answers that are already programmed into MFT. I think these are only available through the touch screen and not by voice which eliminates its practicality. Early on I tried loading the S4 with music and streaming. This worked alright for individual songs but I had difficulty in playing particular playlists. This was almost a year ago and I forgot what exactly happened but it was frustrating enough to where I gave up and now use an older iPod via USB for my music collection.

My CCPU S/W # is 4.29.12285. So does this mean that, for my car, 12M02 is actually an action to update this? If so, does anyone have experience with this? What does this fix?

Smiling Jack, I am not very knowledgeable about the Energi so a few questions: 1) Did you install a special charger in your garage or do you use a 120v extension cord? 2) After a full night's charge, what is a realistic EV-only range? 3) Do you find that you are plugging in at one time of day (in the evening for example) or do you constantly plug in when the opportunity arises? In other words, do you fill up once or get multiple smaller charges over time? 4) Do you plug in only at home or have you found chargers in other locations?