C-MaxSea

How has this been working for you KAL? (Anyone else give this one a try?) Your pics look great, I was wondering if it could be installed a little further out toward the bumper nose? I like the simple look, simple install & low price. Still on the fence between this and the UK one, leaning toward this one. Marc, are you still satisfied with yours? Sounded a bit tricky to get a good install. Nick

Adrian, I just checked again and you are still isolated with 2 or 3 others in the 'Hybrid SEL' group. You need to deselect 'Hybrid SEL' by selecting 'other' and following the next selections as I noted above. (Ignore the second lower Sub Model/custom category item.) Good Luck. I still hope to get them to fix their system. Nick

Yes Frank, there is some goofiness in the selection options. But, like I said, you are safely in the largest sample and don't need to do anything. For those who are 'outside' of the large sample block (Adair & Adrian), you can follow the note above to change your car profile settings and move into the larger sample of 241 individual C-Maxs. Nick

Frank, In 'My Garage', and clicking on Porter, Porter will come up. Under the heading Porter will be '2013 C-Max ..... (Edit Profile)'. Click on 'Edit Profile' to change Porter's particulars. BTW, Porter is currently safely in the 'group of 241', hopefully 243 when Adrian & Adair edit theirs. :) (now, if only we could get Jus to add his last 20 tanks, we would be safely over 40 MPGs, & climbing) ;)

Regarding Fuelly. They had an update recently and needless to say, it's rather twirked up right now. Not to discourage anyone, but .......ARGH ! I have been e-mailing them trying to get them to 'clean it up', but with no real luck. The problem is their attempt to differentiate everything, and be inclusive. As a result, some of our cars are 'mis-categorized' for one reason or another; not to mention that it does not show the mean numbers any more. I was not able to find our C-max or Adair's C-Max in the 'right fit grouping' for our mileage results. After some travail, I was able to get ours re-categorized and into the 'group' where it belongs. To get ours in the larger more appropriate grouping, I edited the car profile like this: Sub Model - other, Engine - other, Fuel Type - Hybrid (Gas), Cylinders - L4 This moved me back into the largest (most appropriate) group of 241 vehicles, segregated by Engine/Fuel Type Hybrid Gas L4 (275) and Submodel Other (341). http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/c-max/2013?engineconfig_id=13292&bodystyleconfig_id=&submodel_id=-1 Sadly, they are trying to segregate the SEs from the SELs in spite of the fact that they have identical drivetrain & body. Adrian, you have entered yours 'correctly' (Hybrid SEL), but it ends up in the very small (wrong) group because of Fuely's inappropriate subdivision there, and you are excluded from the largest/best grouping. They have a bit of a mess. If you do not find your C-Max in the list of 241 above linked, you may want to edit your car profile. Side bar to this, is that Fuel Economy.gov is still working well, but lacks as much input from all of us. I would encourage logging there as well if you can. Nick

+1 Snakebitten, Precisimo !

Yup, Daring to do, Daring dinged ! Thanks Ford for being willing to take on those evil black dots of doom from CR (oooooooeeeeeeeeooooooooo) and innovate ! Those evil black dots, so 1960, never tell an accurate story, more anecdotal innuendo than anything else; overrated, misused .............. Yes, I still refer to them for an overview ;), but only as one of many resources to compare, and always with measured caution. Please CR, wake up, its 2014, our decisions are not all black & white, more like shades of gray, or better yet, yellow to light green (all shades of caution) !!! ;)

You go Key Lady !!! ;) (Kudos Long-Lewis Ford in Birmingham, AL :thumbsup: )

Great note to musicians Xym !

Paul, I think you are spot on - as we have all guessed, a significant portion of owners make little or no effort to understand the vehicle in order to take full advantage of its Eco-engineering; perhaps 10, 20, 30.......%??? Certainly it is OK, taking only 'half advantage' (default mode for most drivers) which aint bad at all at 38MPG; and driving in full fun mode occasionally, perfectly fine; but just a little sad. We all understand the failings of the dealers too in educating the buyers; but in their defense, the salespersons/dealers have only a couple cracks at helping the buyers. I would be curious what their braking score was on that car. nick PS I still would like to see some coaching opportunities offered by the dealers. My hypothetical: http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/2976-coaching-tech-sessions/ PSS The Force is With you '38ers', EVe that is: http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/2962-the-force-is-with-you/

Pearcrl, a correction. For those with/or thinking about getting Intelli (touch pad) Access; the back doors do have unlock sensors. If we use the touch pad to lock (90% of the time), we just look at the outside mirror for the flashing light to know that it has locked (there are lights which flash there, as well as in the front and back of the vehicle), especially if we are around lots of noise where it might be difficult to hear the locking mechanism. If you want to 'test the lock' with the handle, you can not place your hand into the cavity behind the handle - you have to carefully grab the handle top and bottom only and pull (not necessary if you have watched the light(s) &/or heard the mechanism). :) nick

Looking great Wnuk, yes the C-Max seems to love rolling hills - 47+ MPG (50 + actually) can be like falling off a log (jus "don't read the memo" as a friend says). Here is one for our friends in Canada - nothing special, mostly freeway from Seattle to Deep Cove, BC and back. (Hmmm, guess that is the impossible 47 MPGs - :secret: , and that was with two half hour EV sucking border crossing idles !) Magic ? :future: Yes, C-Max Magic - allowing the car to do it's thing ! (no hypermiling, just driving speed limits or a scosh under, 2-4 passengers, mostly ECOcruise) Nick

I think they look very good, especially on the Sterling Gray. Sorely tempted. How about part numbers & $ on those, great pics :thumbsup: thanks. nick

Congratz Shinytop, second tank - fab.!!! That has got to feel :jump_earth:. :hat_tip: Nothing wrong with going AC a bit and enjoying the summer to the fullest either !!! Upside down works. I think we all need to be turned upside down ocaisionally and shaken a bit; better yet, the other way around. ;) (turned your pic right side up and shook it a bit, hope you don't mind)

"most of us have to settle down to one or two cars." Huh, that is exactly what I said too! One 2001 clunker for work, and our first ever new car, our 2013 C-Max. We have never even come close to a new car before; and you mentioned buying two new cars yourself in 2 or 3 years! No rich Jay Lenos here. No thanks for the inference. (Sorry, if I am misreading you) Yes, it is always tradeoffs/compromises. nick

Sorry to hear that mlsstl, but we all do have rationale for our purchases, some even make sense ;). Good luck with your decision. Like I told our friends last weekend, we would likely be driving a MB 250BlueTec Diesel if we only had one vehicle (and a whole lot more money), or more likely a Subaru (eeeeeeeek). Having a VW Eurovan as a crossover for work & serious play (mountaineering, camping..... ) allows us to have the C-Max for everything else. And our C-Max is a dream machine for 'everything else', which will include some camping, skiing etc........ Anyway, Subaru models according to Fuel Economy.gov: get 28.3, 26.0, 29.4, 27.8, 29.3, 28.6, 29.5 MPG's - $1800 - $2200 per year. Deal breaker for us for a 2014 vehicle. (Those numbers are embarrassing now, just think in five years - IMO). Call me a fanboy if you wish, we all are to some degree because we buy our vehicles to fit our needs/likes - hopefully. To the death? Hardly. I know you are exaggerating, but I know of no one on this site who fits that description. (Also, keep in mind that the C-Max has 'giddy inspiring' characteristics. For example, crossing the USA/Canada border a couple days ago - sitting in line, all EV, no gas, no exhaust, no on and off .....silly giddy at times, sorry!!!) Again, best of luck, nick (our C-Max reliability 100%, nick's reliability eeeh, not much better than 83 % ;) ) (PS Sounds like you still have some time to rethink your 'need to post now' almost decision :))

Great work David, welcome & congratz Wnuk - 48 mpgs first tank, dynamite!!! You and your foot were obviously made for the C-Max. :victory: Lots of exc. info. here on every aspect of the C-Max. Just got back from British Columbia and had about 48 mpg going for the trip, then lost a bit when we had to hit the AC button on the way home, still logged another 600 mile tank, mostly freeway. :love_shower: our C-Max. Nick

That is insanely good SnowStorm !!! :hat_tip: :hat_tip: :hat_tip: Cheers to 'off the beaten path Freeway/Interstate' driving, when we get the chance ! Nick

Hang in there Kostby (& others). Keep on sleuthing. Sure hope you get it resolved! KC, can you point us in the direction of the water pump connectors? Are there any preventative measures we can do to those connectors, like taping up, slathering with grease ???. Shouldn't Ford be helping us weather protect some components, like replacing the front hood seal, etc....? Not that easy? (If that has anything to do with it of course.) Just pondering. nick

Tim, you need to reprogram the lift gate to yell "FORE" when closing. ;)

Nice work Dave ! Speaking of gifts Laurel, I'd still like to see Ford give us 2013ers a couple 2014 aero mods for free (installed), like the hood seal and back window deflectors ! Pretty please, Nick

Sure glad we did not have to read headline "Cat Crushes C-Max Owner". :) Trust it did not hurt. Cats! nick

Very similar story Adrian. Our 'problem child' was our BMW 525, a beautiful inline 6 and not bad on gas, but did require premium, and leaking oil several drops each night. It still is, and has had cardboard under it the last several years - know it is $$$ to repair. 'Discovered' the C-Max, sat in one and was startled, drove one and was stricken. We will miss the BMW when it is retired (still smitten with it's hood closure and a couple other features), but no question which one we want to use now every chance we get - outside of our 'ditch digging' occupations - definitely the C-Max! Nick

Agree with you both Marc & Adrian, and with the original thread intent just comparing size elements. It is interesting to me just how the market has changed and made categorization weak at best, with driveline variations, size fluctuations, actual vehicle use, etc.... some just because none of the manufacturers wants to have a vehicle labeled a 'Wagon'. (As we know, there are many 'wagons' out there, although I have not checked, I'm guessing few, if any, manufacturers claim that label - Subarus come to mind.) I'm sure 'Minivan' is very stigmatized now as well. Our VW EuroVan is an MV - I think it stood for Multi Van (guess that is an oldie now). Now, I think the SUV label has been washed out and difficult to use accurately, or take seriously. Labeling, YIKES ! Reminds me of the PZEV label - does that mean KOSOHWC, Kind Of Sort Of Half Way Clean? ;) Nick PS Adrian, we seriously thought about getting a B200 before we discovered the C-Max in late 2012. It was a good knock-off of the Euro C-Max when it came out in 2006, I believe, with great entry, utility & drivability features. Loved them, but sure glad we held out for the hybrid C-Max. I believe the current 2nd gen. C-Max (2010) drew upon the B200 considerably for it's upgrade. Will be up in B200 territory over the 4th.

Great work / news FoutsNC !!! There are deals to be had out there folks on our C-Max (one way or the other) - plan your attack & execute! Nick