C-MaxSea

Yes indeed, the C-Max has always been a 45+ mpg car in a moderate climate - and with the appropriate power & agile ride .............................................................. to go along with it. Nick

Nope: Definately no drop from 46 to 39. We have not 'seen' any drop in mpg's; still getting 45-50+ on all our trips. A more 'realistic' gauge reading, a possibility, we will all see as we compare the 'Trip 1 or 2' (Tank) dash reading with our fill-ups. Nick

Welcome Vancemi. We all feel for you with the instrument panel fiasco, and hope it gets resolved soon. Tough being without our C-Maxes !!! Nick

We are definite 'lightweights' here with embarrassingly low miles of 13k, but hanging in at 48.2 MPG lifetime. :dancing: (Work vehicles getting too much use) Yes indeed, Ford nailed it with the original 47/47/47 - for us at least in our mild climate, hilly terrain, crowded freeways and safe driving habits. Nick

Loved all the wacky car names we were seeing - Twingo, Twizy, Kangoo, Berlingo, Bipper Tepee, Punto, Pinto; and the proletariat workhorse of Italy, the Panda. Was watching a swanky Alfa following a Panda way too close on one occasion, only to discover that the wee little Panda was pulling the Alfa on a tether into a car shop down the street.

For our driving & location (and at this point in time), we are more than happy to have the ICE hybrid. For us there is something special about that combo and the versatility and serenity it offers in the C-Max body/platform (not to mention generally less expensive regular gas). A plug & some range (with a 'full' boot) would be nice, but it's still not there yet. We are expecting to cruise at 45 mpg for at least ten years (likely more) in ours, before letting our eyes wonder. Diesel - NYET. Came home with first case of bronchitis that I'll blame on the heavily polluted air our last couple days around Sorrento. Major dead air one day and major diesel pollution, especially marine diesel - choking. Yes, I know 'clean diesel' yadda, yadda, yadda .................. I'm not a believer yet, and still hate the sound of all diesels. Just my opinion. Nick

Not hybrids, but popular in their ICE versions all over Europe, and here in Italy for a decade or so. Sorry, only a couple feeble shots here of C-Maxes from our trip to southern Italy awhile back. White taxis in Rome, and pretty much the same colors we have. Too busy to focus any attention on them for features & differences. The Ford Escapes are badged KUGA. Got the one shot while I was driving with both a C-Max & Kuga out ahead of us. Nick

15B04 & 15E03 today; 3 hours; great service at Pierre Ford, Seattle. Happy :victory: 15B04: "Performed recall. Battery failed diagnostic test. DTC Code: 14J9S, UJ3S0, 982. ACES Code: X676L. Replaced Battery Reprogrammed PCM, DC, FCDIM, GWM and IPC to latest Calibration Cleared Codes. Wiring Harness passed inspection" Agreeing with Adrian, I'll go with 'an ounce of prevention ................' for my overused clichés. Not to mention the "bright minds at Ford", and steady hands of good dealer techs ....... (yes, perhaps a little dicey at some dealers on rare occasions) Vancemi's issue sounds like gross 'operator error' at the dealer to me, and a very flukey 1 in x00,000 statistical outlier, just MHO. New 'juice' (a nice fresh battery) every 2.5 years works for me, (get it done folks) Nick PS; For the record, we have never had any battery issues in 2.5 years, and have on two occasions garaged the car for 4 weeks un-driven. PSS: Regarding 'if it isn't broke ................'. If you don't have it checked, you will never know if it is in the process of breaking / about to break / destined to break ................................................ when you least want it to ........................

Great work & reporting Paul, and all contributors. Hope to hear more on fluid specs, if that has not already been addressed, and their comparative benefits, if any (alluded to). As we all know, tranny failures are common in other vehicles as well, our VW Eurovan model for one (don't know if anyone has ever monitored temps on it). We are at 67k on our Eurovan, and are now planning to change the tranny fluid at 15 k intervals to hopefully extend the life of it out to 120k+. Seems like a simple $100 a year or two solution (if you stay away from the VW dealer). Hmmmm, is extending the life of our C-Max trannies a good idea, or is it better to just buy ext. warranties & change them out ? (Might Ford issue revised maintenance schedules accordingly - ;) ) Ultimately hope this is a limited issue, Nick

Welcome with the 'new' 13 C-Max in Badgerland. Congratz & enjoy the great ride. Save the Priuus for slow moving parades (just kidding). Nick

The EcoSelect 'button'/option might help some achieve better MPG - excellent. (Guessing it may get nicknamed the 'Prius' button - less power, less fun, parade wave .......... ;) ;) ;) - but that's OK) Nick

Highway ECO Cruise for both cars or just one of them?

Welcome from Seattle Orphangirl. Nice you 'moved up' from the focus to the roomier & more earth friendly C-Max. 2+ years in and we're still loving ours. :congrats: & enjoy the new ride, Nick

And the largest portion of the buying public does not give a hoot about CR rating details – a black circle (kiss) of death is a black circle of death, is a black circle of death, is a ………………………….. . (Negative words and images stick) If CR gave a hoot about us it would use a system more color nuanced so as not to mislead. (the differences car model to car model are rarely 'black and white'; it would be more appropriate to use shades of the same color for the most part on our modern cars) Not to mention that first year ‘reliability’ ratings are always very suspect – new buyers, new toys, ‘how does this thing work’ ………..complain………CR hyperbole ........... CR parroting ............ The GP often does not get beyond headlines and (negative) hyperbole. CR is just another ‘reliable’ source of misinformation, or is that ‘unreliable’ source of information?. ;) Sadly, they get parroted way more than they deserve. Fear sells (negative hyperbole), and CR capitalizes on that - sad. Just mho; agreed, nothing new here, just different packaging. Nick (PS This thread perfectly illustrates that negative stuff sticks/stuck, and mildly positive stuff did/does not stick.)

Current car navigation systems will never be anywhere near flawless. The French Peugeot we were driving recently in Italy had us ford a river - seriously! It is a multiple edged imperfect technological tool to be used with caution (& patience) - as we all know. It can never be more than 'works great most of the time'. The GPS component is imperfect and especially vulnerable to satalite constellations & blockages - the satelites are constantly transiting in many directions and never in a perfect configuration for every person at every location at every point in time; driving in tree cover, past buildings.............. very complex real time technology involved. The mapping component is also fraught with hazard (updates, local nuances .......), thus we crossed a 1/4 mile of rocky river bed and made it through a 15' long (6" deep) summer rivulet in Italy - a seasonal 'road' crossing. (sweat dripping from three passenger brows) And we almost made it to dinner on time! Nick PS It was also interesting in Italy to see how well the time/telemetry component of the real time GPS worked going through very long tunnels. We exited tunnels to find ourselves either 'ahead' on the map if we drove 'too slow'; or 'behind' on the map if we drove 'too fast'. ;) ('Have we passed our exit, or is it still ahead ?') ((We had to rely on hard copy maps & preprinted route directions many times - ignoring the NAV system: the reality of finding ones way.)) PSS Very pleased with our C-Max SEL NAV.

Yes indeed, Mtceecee, a great car (still ahead of the curve three years in !!!); undervalued, underappreciated, over criticized, yadda, yadda, yadda. Great you discovered it and are enjoying it. :victory: Nick PS The C-Max is very well received and respected over in Europe (non-hybrid parent to ours) Love our USA 47 mpg hybrid. PSS Lots of C-Max taxis in Rome when we were there a couple months ago.

Good points Podivin. And to all the new C-Max drivers: 600 & 700 & ...............mile tanks do not require drafting - just careful, safe, considerate driving ! (fair weather, of course) :skateboard: :skateboard: :skateboard:

Congratz Torch ! Great driving. :clapping: :hat_tip: :clapping: (Still dreaming of the 700 opportunity here. :play: ) (Forgettabout the old 'break-in' myth - the C-Max rocks out the gate !!!) Nick

Welcome Shayne, and congrats on the new C-Max. Glad you are enjoying it - you nailed the differences to the Prius (eeek). We just had our C-Max parked in a garage in South Surrey for a month while we were traveling out from VCR. Our 93 E34 is going on the block this summer; we kept it around an extra year to absorb some of the blows in parking lots ......... It was a very good ride, but we now enjoy the C-Max even more for the ride comfort, handling and features. Nice that the Spring to Fall (& some warmer winter days) 'down here' in the balmy south are great for the mpgs - we are still hovering in the 47mpg zone for our lifetime rating. (It did remarkably well on our trip to Whistler last summer). Nick

You're a natural E., 47 out the gate, nice ! Congratz on the new C-Max. I think the 'break-in' thing is overrated, we are still looking for it ;) (but not very hard). Enjoy! The fun :skateboard: is still there for us after two years. Nick