wamba2000

Zhack, if the headlamps are properly adjusted, they would not blind oncoming drivers. They appear brighter or whiter than OEM bulbs. I drove a short distance last night, I can see the color spectrum is lighter, not sure as to distance. Make your own choices if you want to change out bulbs. There are a lot of conversations and articles about what is good/bad, you can read online for hours.

Mike I have read numerous opinons and reviews about replacement bulbs. I think the Phillips bulbs I had in another vehicle were the Xtreme Vision, not Pro-Vision as I stated. The Osram bulbs are harder to find branded as Osram. The zXe is made by Osram in Germany. Osram owns Sylvania, not sure as to how products might have any overlap. I will try them out and if not happy, I do not have a lot invested, at least I know how to change them out efficiently. If you remove the headlamp housing, at least on my C-Max, I could see there was some wear marks on the back top clear plastic section, looks like installation was not easy at the factory. If you have fairly long fingers and a good lighting source, I think you could replace bulbs without removal. Good luck

For the past several vehicles, I replaced the OEM head lamp bulbs to get better light and coverage, especially on highway driving or in the mountains at night. I just replaced the bulbs in the C-Max this morning, and took before and after pictures during the install. I purchased a pair of Sylvania Silverstar zXe H11 bulbs for the low beams, which are supposed to have a higher color temperature (in the 5000K range) and be more like HID than stock bulbs. THese go for $59 at Autozone, I got mine from Ebay for $32 including priority mail shipping. I followed the instructions in the owners manual (pps 296-297), which leave a lot to be desired. Not sure how the headlamp assembly gets installed at the factory, it is t-i-g-h-t! I removed the drivers side unit, the bulb replace was a snap. Steps: Make sure power is off to the headlamps, remove the housing, remove the rubber cap that seals the bulb receptacle, unsnap and remove the wiring connector, turn the original bulb 90 degrees counter-clockwise and remove. Place the new bulb, being very carefull not to touch anything, turn 90 degree clockwise to lock it in, re-connect and snap in the wiring, then the rubber boot, then position the housing and attach. On the passenger side, I did not remove the assembly, just took the boot off, unhooked the connector and removed/replaced the bulb. There is little swing room, so getting the rubber boot seated was more of a challenge. To my eye, the zXe bulbs are whiter and more intnese, Will drive tonight to confirm if I can see much difference. Hope this is helpful for anyone considering. I have used different bulb from manufacturers: Sylvania Silverstars (lasted 2.5 years), GE NightHawk (lasted 8 mo), Phillips Pro-vision think that was the name, lasted about a year) and PIAA - still working in my wife's car. The common concern is shorter life- but I will take the added cost and inconvenience to be able to see further at night. Enjoy your C-Max!

Traveler. welcome! It is an ongoing discovery process. I still swear at the MyFOrdTouch voice, but I knwo it is "operator problems" getting used to asking for things in the proper terms to be recognized. Try it out, you will learn over time. To add to what Jus-A-Cmax posted, I set up "My View" on the left hand screen, using most of the Empower mode, but adding a temperature gauge and removing the instant mileage part. There is even a tachometer which I was tempted to try, but for what? No shift points on the CVT.... Enjoy your new ride

Have not taken a long trip, so no insight into the comfort, mileage, etc. Plan to take a drive Phoenix to Flagstaff AZ in a few weeks. It is over 100 miles and climbs from 1000 ft to 7500 ft above sea levels, takes you from desert to mountains and snow. I plan to drive speed limit ( 75mph most of the way) using cruise as possible. I will report on mileage and comfort. I realize this is a short jaunt compared to cross country, but a couple hours should give an indication.

I suggest Ford shows pieces of the "Hybrid Wars" videos that are on the Ford website C-Max page. They are well done, with familiar actors and contrast the C-Max with the Prius. In a 60 second or 30 second commercial, they could get enough message out to get people to go look at the site. I like the cartoon sketch guy commercial, but think it depends too much on the auto-liftgate. Ass soon as another manufacturer releases that, there goes your differential. Last, I hope Ford has enough productioncapacity so that if they create demand, it can get filled or dealers can get vehicles in reasonable times.

Cassy, you are so close, hang in, it is worth the wait. Remember that most people will post comments if they have an issue, rightly so, but it is rare that people post that everything is working and acting right. I am about to hit a month of ownership and other than for a rear brake rotor that had an issue and a TSB for the auto-lift gate, I am good. My lifetime mileage just hit 39.0 and I am not lightfooted while driving. Good luck, be patient!!

I purchased the following, it fits compactly in the below floor storage behind the driver seat. Ounce of prevention I hop I never need to use it. Summers in AZ take a toll on batteries, so you never know when they will fail, they just do. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GO5E10/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00 Note: remind yourself somehow to re-charge the unit every 6 months, as it will lose power over time.

Congrats, I have a Sterling Grey w 303 pkg, it is awesome

Joey, I washed the car with Dawn dishwashing detergent first and rinsed thouroughly ( Dawn is very alkaline and will remove any wax/polish applied by dealer wash, etc.) The claybar was pretty fast, due to there being no oxidation and the surface was warmed by the sun a bit. Then buffed the detailer Mothers recommends off, and applied the polish. Let it glaze up and then did a little window cleaning inside and out, dressed the tires, etc. All told, probably a 2.5 hour job, maybe 3. I washed my wife's car while the polish was setting up. Sure looks nice and I had a good chance to examine the paint job, nothing to complain about.!

This Saturday it was partly sunny and into the 70's in Phoenix (sorry if you are in cold country, you can laugh next August when we melt), so took advantage by giving the C-Max a bgath, claybar'd the exterior and a coat of Mother's polish. Got inside and cleaned the windows, dusted, and wiped down the vinyl plus dressed the tires. I think it runs better!!

My dad ran a filling station back through the mid 1960's (yes I am old) and the lowest I recall was during a "gas war" that the pumps were set at $0.20 and 9/10ths. Using an inflation calculator, that converts to $1.46 in 2013 money.

Chinto, ouch, $3.75? In Phoenix gas is up to ....$3.17...it got beloe $3 for a week or so. We had a 5 day cold snap for us, temps in the 20's in the a.m. and warnming in the 40's, right when I first got my C-Max. Seems like the ICE ran a lot to get heat to supply. A feature you may not be aware of: In the left side display, you can create "My View" and pick from various items. (there is even a tachometer, but only measures the ICE I believe. ) I modeled my settings after the "Engage" view, but removed the instant mileage indicator and added the temperature gauge, which can be a concern in our summer heat later. When you display the temp gauge, just to the right there is a tiny thermometer symbol. When you first start out, the thermometer shows as blue in color; once the ICE reaches operating temperature, the gauge becomes white. In my experience, the EV mode is easier to get engaged and to keep once the color change has happened. Fun to try things to help us get best efficiency. Look in the book for MyView for more details on what you can see.

I may have been that way 1-2 times in the past week or two....who knows? I have the AZ Centennail commeorative license plate, so ifg you see a Sterling Grey with that kind of plate, a good likelihood it would be me.!

My suggestions are few, as have had the C-Max less than a month. 1. I agree that the MFT is quirky and slow to respond. More software/firmware improvements for usability are needed. 2. I would like to have LED running lights and LED based tail lights. It keeps with the lower energy usage and is pretty much the standard for current vehicles. 3. It's a nit, but the mats should cover the left side/dead-pedal space for the drivers left foot. My tax carpet is already showing the dust after less than 30 days. I do wish I could freewya cruise in EV mode at 65mph or so, but I get why the car works the way it does...a minor quibble. It has been fun with passengers at around 60 on flat ground and the ICE is off....nice and quiet!

Interesting topic - I have had new cars from domestic and import manufacturers with varying levels of quality issues. I traded an 08 Hyundai Santa Fe (yes a Hyundai and quality in the same sentence) and after 5 years, the only major repair was for an a/c refrigerant leak. The car has had a heat-shield type rattle since new, which at least 7 attempts were made to fix.....and it went to the trade in pool with that same rattle. Major mechanicals were solid. My last GM car swore me off of another purchase, and the last Toyota (80's vintage) with leaking cam tower gaskets (yow, expensive if not under warranty) made me lose faith in their engine quality. My last Ford was in the early 90s, so the C-Max was a leap of faith. So far, so good, time will tell.....

Tom, congrats, your C-Max sounds like mine, same color and options. I also lucked into a dealer ordered unti that was in transit when I pulled the trigger to buy. Enjoy!!

In Scottsdale area, have seen one red and one white on the road. My dealer can't seem to keep them in stock, I got lucky and a dealer order vehicle was just off-loaded at the train yard when I decided to purchase, was the color, interior and options I wanted. Maybe it was just meant to be! Almost 500 miles, and only filed up once, my gauge is still on full from the first fill-up. As Kevin on teh The Office says: "N-I-C-E"

When starting the C-Max in the morning , I got the "Check Engine" light rather than the normal OK to Drive indicator. Pressed the On/Off button and then the Ok to Drive came on. No Fuel Filler warning light. Both times it has been after a time of driving on EV mode and the battery indicator is down in the bottom 1/3rd, due to EV and EV+ driving to home. I guess I will have the dealer run for codes; any other experiences like this?

Zhack, thanks/ I remember with the Honda there was express warning about not tinting the glass roof. Have not seen anything on other vehicles. Phoenix has unique circumstance compared to other parts of the country, given the intense summers. I will observe this year and see if A/C needs help or not. Where did you get your C-Max? I got one from Power Ford that was inbound, also talked with Sanderson but they did not have stock of what I wanted.

I have an SEL with the panoramic roof in Phoenix. I like the light and open-ness it provides. Will check on heat intrusion with summer coming, seeing of the rollout power cover blocks any heat. I had a Honda Element with the sunroof in the rear ( quirky car) and it was not deeply tinted, but I found vinyl window film that was non-adhesive to apply which helped on heat transfer. Will use that also in summer on the C-Max if the A/C can't handle it.

Found this pdf on Ford's electric vehicle site; Interesting the difference in size in a short number of years http://media.ford.com/images/10031/Battery_Tests.pdf

Being an old gas pump jockey ( remember the days when someone would come fill your tank when you ran over the bell-cord entering the station- ah memories) we would round up to the next quarter of a dollar for ease in making change. With pump nozzles now recovering gas fumes in many cities, and with car emission systems designed to capture vapors, it is a bit more complicated. As one of the other posts stated, if you fill "up to the brim" gas can invade the charcoal cannister that is intended to process the fumes. That can render your emissions bad and guess what- if you have emissions testing for vehicle registration, you would fail. IT can be expensive to replace. With that background, to your exact question: with fuel over $3, getting to the next quarter dollar is less than a tenth of a gallon, and most shutoffs happen with that much space. Top off slightly to make the "CFO" happy.....but don't try to squeeze in another $ 2-3 of gas. If the auto shut-off kicks more than twice, stop fueling. Hope that helps. Side note: a friend was looking over my C-Max and talking about fuel prices lately. About how we were so happy a month ago when prices went under $3 for about a week in Phoenix - then remembering when we had a pipeline problem a few years ago and people panicked when it went of $2 as fuel was short in supply. And now we read how the supply is being constricted and Brent crude is headed up---makes the C-Max look better and better. Out

Mueller, I do not have any such noises from brakes etc. Dealer did find bolts holding the right rear caliper were cross-threaded from the factory and replaced them, which got rid of a severe rattle when driving. Good luck

I have an 8 mile commute each way daily, using arterial city streets for most. Phoenix traffic is not necessarily friendly to hybrids, I have seen a fair amount of tailgating in the short time I've had the C-Max, especially if you are trying to stay in EV mode off the line...... THis morning, I must have hit a light day or break in traffic, as I hit a lot of green lights and wasn't followed too closely. I think I got a taste of what is possible: Outside temp: 39 degrees F. Battery was 1/3 level when I started out. ICE ran to put some heat into the car and charge the battery. I stayed in EV mode as much as I could. I kept at speed limit and used regen as approaching red traffic signals. Mileage for the trip per the Trip Summary: 46.1 mpg It is doable, temps are going up this week in Phoenix so hope to have mornings in the 60s by next week, will see if it improves. Got to say, I really like the C-Max so far and it is not even broken in!