Laurel

I graduated from high school in 1968. For graduation, my dad gave me a 1960'ish Nash Rambler that was painted black. I put huge flower decals on my beautiful car and named her Flower Pot. He paid $25 for it, and gave me $50 on top of getting the car. I hit the road from Billings, Montana with my $50 and went to Alberta to enroll in nursing school. (Dad was American and Mom was Canadian). Got to my destination with $2 left as Flower Pot wouldn't start a few times enroute. I loved that car!

I was trying to research your question, but only came up with these comments on a car forum : A heat shield works to limit both radiation and convection. In winter the upper heat shield will help retain heat to keep the converter hot so that it will function properly and it will also help keep the surrounding area cooler. The next lower small triangular shaped shield appears to be located so that it protects the rubber CV joint boot, etc. If you run without the shields in place, eventually the reason for their existence will become apparent. So it sounds like a proper repair is called for--sorry for the problem. Bummer.

The next one that I see I will be calm cool and collected, and assess the lay of the land before I interact with them. I think the couple we bumped into were an exception with their flatness, but the taking of pictures probably freaked them.

Oh dear! So sorry. Adair I hate to say this, but maybe you need a buy back too? It is so sad for poor Jelly Bean.

We finally saw our first C-Max in the wild in Vancouver! It has been 7 months since we bought ours and this is the first one we have seen, BUT it was a little weird in the end. We went for ice cream as it is a hot day today and pulled into a parking lot by a local ice cream shop. Sitting there was a shiny red C-Max SE. I got so excited and told my husband to hurry and get his iphone camera. He snapped a couple of photos, we got our ice cream, and ate it in the car hoping the red C-Max owners would appear. It turns out they were in the ice cream shop too and eventually came out. I was so excited that I greeted them with enthusiasm, but I think they thought we were stalking them or something! They were cold as ice and barely acknowledged us and looked at us oddly. I think they must have watched the picture taking and I had walked around their car admiring it. Geez I was all set to talk mileage, upgrades etc and even invite them home for dinner LOL. They were older and rather prim in manner. Oh well next time I will be calmer and not so over the top friendly. On the forum we are all so friendly and ready to share info. I guess I forgot not everyone is the same. Lesson learned eh?

Adair I think they then would have to explain things to Ford, and then these lemon cars do get publicity that wouldn't be wanted by the dealership. I am interested in the private service department where Maxie Rose was sent to and came out with many things fixed. Sort of like movie stars getting into Betty Ford? So Maxie Rose got star treatment --Yay!!!

Such sad news. Good luck with a buy back!

This SSM annoys me. I have always thought that the black screen and "Performing System Maintenance" was a crash. Why not call a spade a spade? I would rather see "your system crashed--your phonebook has too much crap".

If someone on the forum had the energy and time, it would be very helpful to put together a composite list of the screw ups happening during 3.5.1 installation so we could take a copy in hand when we get our upgrades.

Like: everything Dislike: that there are some people who have lemons and are so distressed

Thanks for clarifying the issues. I am really sorry for all the troubles you are having. Very discouraging and time consuming too. You have every right to be really upset. We are behind you 100%, and we will bombard your dealership with supportive emails if required <g>. Joking, but happy to do that if it would help.

You were so spittin' mad that I couldn't totally figure out what all your issues are? You something about "halted back up" and air conditioning problems. Not sure what the "halted back up" is. I thought the recall on the hatch was just software and not an actually replacement of the latch. I haven't had it done yet, but maybe someone else knows if it is a latch or just software? Sorry that you are having troubles!

Thanks Jus! We have the Maple Leaf flying proudly at the front and back doors. Guess who was at our nation's capital singing today? Yep, our singing astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield. He was singing the Space Oddity song with a children's choir. In case anyone missed it, our Canadian astronaut recorded a song on the space lab. and he is a national hero now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDChKgoETo0

Sorry that you are in the growing group of dead batteries. Is your car SE or SEL? Are you in Vancouver, B.C. or Vancouver, Washington? If it's BC, we are neighbours as we are in White Rock.

GreenChicago maybe you are speaking too slowly and enunciating too much. I find you really have to speak at a normal --almost quick--rate giving address numbers. I just assumed she would want it slow enough to register, but we have found you have to do it somewhat quickly. We always say the numbers in sequence i.e. 1,0,0,0 instead of one thousand for a house number,or street number.

My arm could be twisted to get that diesel Cayenne.

Generally you do get a scheduled maintenance statement on the screen, but not always. A couple of times we have had no camera and a black screen when we start to back up, and it seems to be the scheduled maintenance is happening. You just have to wait a minute or so when that happens and then the scheduled maintenance statement comes up on the screen and that takes a minute or two. I think likely your foot wasn't firmly on the brake when starting for the other issue.

Did you get it straightened out and fixed eventually? I hope so.

You're right Zhack. For sure it would be hard to monitor all these independently owned dealerships, and having qualified IT techs has got to be expensive. You are a voice of rational thinking.

It is nice to read a happy 3.5.1 update story! Glad it went smoothly erwhitham.

How discouraging Julie! Comes down to poor work ethics and lack of knowledge. Gotta wonder what is with these dealership managers to not supervise their employees. I will make sure I check my system thoroughly in October when I do the upgrade BEFORE I drove away. Sure hope somewhat at Ford reads these forums and acts on what they read.

Adair I think good old fashioned work ethics have disappeared. It seems rare to get stellar service from anyone whether it be car dealerships, plumbers, contractors etc. Slap dash and superficial seem to be the modus operandi nowadays. The times are a changing. Just read an article about whether kids need to be taught to cursive write any longer! I know for sure they don't teach them to count without using a calculator. I am always amazed if you go into a MacDonalds or the like and the kid behind the counter can't figure out in his head what your change should be. My age is showing LOL.

I wonder what is going on Darrell? Probably another case of no land line.

That's good to know. My last car was a Smart Car and the defrost was horrible. We live in a rain forest and come to think of it we have never fogged up in the C-Max.

Congratulations! We were looking for a Fusion Hybrid when we discovered the C-Max. Our car is great thus far--lots of pep, lots of interesting technology that distracts you while driving LOL, and for us pretty good summer mileage. You'll love your car. What colour did you choose?