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Just thought I'd give an update on our dead battery experience. On Jan. 21,2013 when out to start C-Max and wouldn't start. No dash lights. Nothing electrical functioning. Towed to dealer. Diagnosis was a defective cranking battery in rear hatch cover that would not hold charge. Battery was replaced. Mileage 3,797. C-Max now has over 16,000 miles with no problems since battery replacement. Never thought much about it at the time, but had run the C-Max through the car wash the day before it died. Remember because when wiping down with towel at home the horn beeped twice when wiping back up sensors on rear bumper. Also later in the day the radio stayed on after key was removed and and door opened. Had to reinsert key and remove again for radio to shut off. Like I said, never thought much about it at the time, but have since seen where similar incidents happen to others. Don't know if replacement battery fixed it, car wash infiltrated wiring, or have just been lucky. Hopefully one of the first two! Thought others might find this interesting since there was the one incident and it has been over 12,000 miles and over 8 months without further incident since replacing battery. Also have since run it through car wash several times and never noticed anything out of the ordinary. Love my C-Max - 44 mpg overall without any radical changes in driving habits - just enjoyable to drive. Good luck to all with battery problems.

ZHACKWYATT THIS POLL IS A VERY GOOD IDEA AND EVERYONE WHO HAS HAD THE DEAD BATTERY PROBLEM SHOULD ENTER THEIR INFORMATION TO SEE IF THERE IS ANY PATTERN AS TO BUILD DATE, OPTIONS PACKAGES, AND SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEM.

Survey is a very good idea. Results should be interesting as time goes on and more people enter info.

Picked up C-Max today, Feb. 14th. After much communicating back and forth between dealer and Ford headquarters, running scans, and 60 miles of test driving, it was concluded that "stop safely now" message was a result a defective 12V battery which was replaced in late January. Supposedly the only code that showed up on the scan was the bad battery code which was still in the history. I mentioned the forum and that one member had the same message and it was a result of a defective modulator which resulted in a dangerous situation with high voltage being present and endangering first responders after an accident. They said that was very possible as the "stop safely now" message covers many possible electrical issues, but the scan didn't show a problem in that area with our C-Max. Guess for now I will go along with that explanation and see how things go. It does seem odd that there was a time lapse of several days between the battery problem and the "stop safely now" message. However, since I know virtually nothing about the inner workings of the C-Max I am not in a very good position to debate them on the cause of the "stop safely now" message. :cry: At any rate, my wife is very happy to have her C-Max back. And as everyone knows, when the wifey's happy, everyones happy! :)

Laurel, no I didn't mention Cassidy's situation. I didn't want to have any influence on them coming up with a preconceived notion of what the problem was, and just wait and see what they came up with. In the meantime before we took the C-Max into the dealer we just drove a couple of short trips to the store and tried to be very very careful. :) Waiting for an update from dealer, but have heard nothing as of today, Feb. 13th. Last communication they did say, as in Cassidy's case, that after pinpointing the bad module, replacing it, and reprogramming they would have to drive the C-Max for a short period of time to check things out and make sure everything is up to par. My wife has said, as did Cassidy, that if they put too many miles on the C-Max or put a dent or scratch on it they will hear about it. :rant:Will report back when more info is available.

On Feb. 7th went to start C-Max. Red triangle with "stop safely now" message came up and C-Max would not start. Tried to start 6 or 7 times and finally started. Has run fine since. Called dealer and made appointment to bring it in today and they didn't seem concerned about driving it until then. Called later today and said they were waiting for information from Ford headquarters to determine which modulator was defective. After determining this, the modulator would be replaced and everyting reprogrammed. Don't know any more than that at this point, but there was another problem on Jan. 22nd. Went to start C-Max and everything electrical was dead and C-Max would not start. Called dealer and said to have C-Max towed. Towed C-Max to dealer and diagnosis was 12V battery would not hold charge. Battery was replace and C-Max ran fine until incident on Feb. 7th. Don't know if the two problems are related, but kind of doubt it. We both like our C-Max and driving it is a pleasurable experience. Hope this is just a bump in the road and everything will be smooth sailing after this. Got our C-Max Nov. 20, the next day after delivery to the dealer, so it is probably an early Nov. build. Will check on that later. Even with these problems would recommend the C-Max. Probably just some of the bugs that always pop up when a new model starts production.

Same story. January 22 went to start car, no interior lights, no dash lights, everything dead. Dealer said not to jump start. Car towed to dealer. Dealer said bad 12V battery. Wouldn't hold charge. Replaced bad battery and everything fine until today, February 7. Went to start car, red triangle message on dash "stop safely now". After 5 or 6 attempts at restarting, vehicle started. Ran fine the rest of the day. Decided to check on the forum to see if anyone else had gotten the "stop safely now" message. Saw where someone had gotten this message and the dealer said there was a problem in the electrical wiring and had to replace a modulator of some sort. Don't know if the battery problem and the "stop safely now" problem are related or not. Will have to make trip to dealer tomorrow. Hope the "stop safely now" message is an easy fix since the C-Max is my wife's and she is not too happy with two return to dealer issues in less than a month! : (