Laurel

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.