Laurel

I got to the answer to whether you have your C-Max as I just looked at your tinted windows--looks very nice. How many weeks did you wait in total for your car?

Thanks so much. Yes, BLIS is what I meant. I am not sure whether I read that you have you C-Max or not? I think you ordered in August though.

I guess I wasn't very clear. My question is backing out of a blind parking space like at a busy mall, will there be any alert to indicate a car about to cross behind me? Or that I am backing into a crossing car's path? Hope that makes sense.

Does anyone know if the C-Max Hybrid reverse sensing sytem has the feature of an alert sounding when you are backing up and another vehicle is moving into your space? I can find a description of the reverse sensing system. Thanks.

http://www.hybridcars.com/news/gm-volt-founder-trading-volt-for-ford-c-max-energi-53502.html

REC thanks for telling us about your C-Max. I can hardly wait to see one being driven here in Vancouver (mine is on order). Your mileage is good too. I really liked the high seats and visibility too.

Pretty neat that your Great Dane fits comfortably. My husband has a Lexus GX 460 and I actually felt more comfortable in the C-Max. The Lexus seats are softer, but I found the C-Max had such great visibility and felt cozy. The Lexus feels like a bus to me--just too big, but nice and safe for the big cross country road trips. I won't be surprised if my husbad opts for the C-Max Energi when it comes out as I think the C-Max Hybrid will be plenty comfortable for the road trips and won't break the bank. Sterling grey is a nice colour and the stone interior is really nice.

Wow that was quick, but I totally see what happened with your wife. My SEL is on factory order since Saturday. I had been reading about the C-Max Hybrid for months, and was totally smitten with it when we first saw and tested one this week. What colour of car and what colour of upholestry? Congrats!

Jack the panoramic roof seems like it almost meets the front windshield. Here is a pretty good photo. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/oct/06/test-drive-new-ford-c-max-hybrid-wagon-puts/

Just read your description to my husband, and it reassured him as he was dubious about me choosing it from a picture. I sort of thought it did look a sophicated colour, but you have a way with words that was helpful for me to capture an image. Thanks Maximus. When it comes, I will post some photos.

Maximus that is reassuring as I chose the colour without actually finding a car that colour--had to use the website. I thought it looked like one of those pale metallic blues that changes with the light.

Zippy the demo that we drove a few days ago had the panoramic roof. It does not open but does have a filter cover that you can close. Actually it looked very nice on the demo, but I ordered without as $1200 seemed a lot to pay and I thought it would be eve quieter without that feature. But it looks very nice with it.

The C-Max has some nifty little cubby holes under the rear passenger's feet. You lift a little trap door on each side and there is room to store a camera etc. A crook probably wouldn't spot them especially if you buy rubber floor mats to put over the carpeted trap doors.

I ordered the SEL with stone leather colour. I see mention of them being heated, but no mention of the cooling feature. Also, there doesn't appear to be a memory feature for different driver seat positions. I wonder if the SEL has the automatic head lamps?

Zippy we have a dog and no kids. We ordered Ice Storm with a stone interior with the 303a package, but did not want the moon roof. 8-12 weeks for delivery so they say. Got back into the demo C-Max and still loved it.

We ordered our C-Max in ice storm with the stone leather. They say it will be 8-12 weeks. Hope it comes sooner. I didn't order the moon roof, but got the 303a package with park assist etc. Dickering was a bust basically. They gave me a couple of things like a full tank of gas and the first servicing free. But obviously they really aren't suffering so stuck to their guns more so than us. We are never good negotiators at dealerships. Very nice car though and I am excited. They should target the senior's market what with the higher seats and good head space for getting in and out. All our older friends have a hell of a time finding a car that isn't low to the ground causing difficulty for them getting in and out. The C-Max is wonderful for that issue.

I posted our test drive under "Hello from British Columbia, Vancouver". We loved it, and I am going into to dicker on my Smart Car.

Forgot to say that my husband is VERY fussy, and he loved the C-Max as well and is not balking about my decision to buy one. He said he would be happy to drive it and park his SUV and only use it for long road trips. Also, there were lots of people gathered around the C-Max and they had lots of bookings to take it out. One of the salesman said he took it home for the weekend and used the cruise control and kept it at 85 kilometers per hour and it stayed in battery mode the whole time. Laurel

Wow is the word I use to describe our test drive this afternoon. Drove into the dealership and right away spotted the silver grey C-Max sitting there. First thought was "gee it is nice looking and a little different". One of my criteria in car shopping is to find a car that is interesting to look at and looks a little different than the zillions of compact cars out there. The C-Max double grills looked very European to me and very stylish. I said to my husband in the first 5 minutes "I am buying this car!" I have tried many cars in the last 10 months including all models of the Prius and other economy hybrids. Walked away from all of them due to the ho hum looks inside and outside of the car plus other negatives. The next important attribute that I was after was seats that sit high enough off the ground that I am not wrecking my back trying to get my 63 year old body in and out of the car. One of the reasons I bought my Smart Car was because of the higher seat placement. The C-Max seats are nice and high from the ground so you can easily enter the car--no hunkering down and groaning to get in and out of the car. Nice head room as you sit so you don't bump your head at all.The car we tried had black leather sits and they were very comfortable and ajustable. The rear seats are less comfortable and do not slide forward and backward, but the head rests have a button on the side to depress to fold them them down when you want to fold the seats flat. My husband is 6 feet tall and 230 lbs and fit in comfortably but due to the lack of plushness in those rear seats he wouldn't want to sit there on a long trip. For kids it would be dandy.. The rear seats fold nice and flat. No a six foot person cannot stretch out for a nap without bending your knees up, but it is possible to stretch out kitty corner and have a snooze if need be. The magic swing your foot under the bumper to open the rear hatch was very cool. When it is coming down and you put your head under it, it will retract when it touches your head.. Works very well. It will take a little studying to learn how to interpret the information center on each side of the speedometer. But by the time we had driven it for our 2 hour trial we were getting the hang of it. I gathered lots of leaves on my driving stint, but hubby had a few blowing off due to his heavy foot. The My Ford Touch and navigation system worked perfectly for us. Hubby said the system is much better than the one in his $80,000 Lexus. Lovely maps and insets. Not complicated to us and very responsive to voice commands. The transition from gas to electric seems very quiet over all and seamless--minor little rumbling sound. I did note that every time you go up a grade in height on the road, the car goes into gas mode but I guess that is normal? That occurs on small grades and not just big hills. But on the freeway it seemed to stay in that EV mode up to about 90 kilometers an hour. I think the gauge said that since this car began being driven (it has approx. 600 kilometers on it) it has been in EV mode 67% of the time. And I believe it is averaging 5.8 L per 100 kilometers. Most of the time I was driving in suburban areas with 60 km per hour speed limit and it was generally in EV mode even when I was going 70-75 klicks. When we went onto the freeway, hubby put the pedal to the metal to merge into traffic. He noted that due to the C-Max being front wheel drive it torqued quite a bit to the right. The steering perhaps is firmer than I am used to but no problems with it. Good suspension going over bumps. Hubby found the brakes a little testy, but I found it okay. Lots of pep when needed. Lovely car. Tomorrow I am factory ordering my C-Max and trading in the Smart Car. Supposedly will have a 2-3 month wait. I think Prius has met its match for sure. Laurel

We have been waiting for C-Max Hybrid to arrive in Canada. Just got a call from a local dealer, and an unexpectedly a C-Max arrived today. She says it isn't even showing in their inventory. It is a fully loaded SEL. Silver in colour and black interior. Neither would be my preference, but I am going to test drive it tomorrow at 2 PM. I currently drive a 2011 Smart Car which I love and hubby hates. He drives a big honking Lexus SUV which I hate. He wants me to trade in my Smart Car and I want him to trade in his gas guzzling SUV. What happens depends on whether he loves the C-Max. I hope I'm ot disappointed as I have been reading about the C-Max for months. I'll write and let you know what we think.