Dorian

As a hobby I rebuild vintage Japanese motorcycles from the 60's and 70's. I've seen the gung that winds up in carburators due to lack of additives and detergents in some cheap gasolines. For that reason I always fill up at either Shell, Chevron, or 76. Also, as a test I ran a Gold Wing on 5 tanks of gas with Shell, then 5 taks of gas with Chevron (I was on an ironbutt ride from San Diego to Jacksonville and back). Shell gave me 47 MPG, Chevron gave me 51 MPG. So I usually go with Chevron.

Sure, I don't mind stating the price I paid. Keep in mind I am in Silicon Valley where the cost of living rivals Manhattan. I got the Premium Care for 7 Years for 1625 with $100 deductable. I could have done better, but I paid a lot more for the Premium Care on my Escape the day before so I didn't press too hard.

I've heard that hybrids don't get nearl as good mileage in the cold climates during winter as they do in the summer. Is it getting cold enough in CT yet for you to tell a difference? I am moving from San Jose to Indianapolis this winter and am curious about the impact.

Hybrid Dude... regarding HID Xenon lights, The manual mentions that all electronics on the car run off the same battery pack as the drive train. Considering the amount of power the HID uses, would you be negatively impacting Hybrid mileage if you were using HID Xenon?

12 Years ago my wife and I were buying a new car and we looked closely at the 2000 Honda Insight. I talked myself out of it saying, "Its the first generation of a new technology, it will probably be extremely buggy." Stupid me. The Honda Insight has been extremely reliable and there have been only 200 battery failures to date, all well after their warranty expired. 200 battery failures against 17,020 first generation units sold.... Thats impressive. Because I have regretted that uninformed decision I did a bit more research this time around and went ahead and took the leap of faith.... hedged with an extended warranty and service plan. Oh, and the first time they mention the extended warranty turn it down. Its amazing how much the price drops when they start applying the pressure during contract signing.

My wife traded in her Mercedes 280 SLK for the C-MAX. She says the C-MAX is the best (and most fun) car she has ever owned. She is constantly competing with herself to get the best mileage on each trip. Last night she was beaming when she came in the door bragging about 51.2 MPG coming home from work. She said taking it easy on the throttle while listening to her iPod on the Sony Sound system is a far better experience than riding with the top down in the Mercedes. It's all perspective. You probably won't miss the Camaro once you are driving your C-MAX

I think hybrids in general are meant to be commuters and not freeway dwellers. We have put a little over 700 miles on our C-MAX the past two weeks and have not left Santa Clara County. We have averaged 42.6 mpg during that period. Due to the population density in Silicon Valley, driving above the speed limit is only possible late-late night. All other times the traffic is too heavy for speeding.

My wife an I are moving to Indianapolis in mid December. Do you know Deer are an issue in the suburbs of Indianapolis?

We briefly considered the Energi, but the benefit didn't justify the cost difference. We ended up with the Hybrid. It was supposed to be our secondary vehicle, but it has turned into our primary vehicle getting about 300les a week of use.

I went to the link and saw what you did. People with talent and craftmanship piss me off! I wish I had those skills.

They add up to being almost the same size. Our guy weighs 150 lbs (30 lbs more than my wife). We are looking for a rescue labradoodle to be his companion. The sleeping bag trick is nice because it can be easily swapped back and forth between the C-Max and our Escape. Cotton with synthetic stuffing is also nice because we can toss it in the washer to keep it smelling okay, and yet it is still nice and cushy for the pup.

Funny, we were looking for white too. And ended up with the same type of choice, a white SE base model or a Sterling Silver (darker gray) SEL. We decided on the SEL because of the leather seats. Our great dane would eat fabric seats.

I have a Great Dane. He gets the zoomies quite a bit, and keeping clean is not an option when we are at the park. I bought a cotton sleeping back at Goodwill and unzipped it all the way so it opens and lays flat in the back of the C-Max. It does an excellent job of keeping things clean. Unfortunately he also likes to stick his head out the window in the wind so we end up with dog slobber running all the way from the dor to the rear hatch. I found that a liberal coat of Klasse All in One acrylic polish can protect the paint job against everything.... including Great Dane saliva.

Shows you how observant I am... I didn't notice the reflectors until you pointed them out. That is pretty smart. Our Great Dane is 33" tall at the shoulders. When he first jumps into the back he bends his knees a little so that he doesn't hit the top of the opening too hard. But the roof rapidly slants upward in side, giving him room to stand up without hitting the roof as long as he keeps his head down. The pictures posted above show him laying down in the back. But when we are going down a straight street with no curves he will sometimes stand up, stick his head out the window and enjoy the wind.with his head high above the top of the car. Makes me consider putting a sun roof in the back just for him!

Welcome to the realm of the new C-Max owners. I guess there are no old C-Max Hybrid owners yet, so we represent the future "Owned one for a while" group. I agree with you, the Prius V doesn't really compare all that well considering the accelleration and comfort of the C-Max. As far as the MPG goes, I found there is a serious learning curve. Each day my wife or I drive the car we are getting better mileage than the day before. We are still on our first tank of gas at just under 3/4 of a tank and are averaging 42.2 mpg (as of last night) after 318.5 miles. I look forward to seeing pics of your C-Max. What color paint? Interior?