C-MaxA2

Wish I knew if a block heater (had them when I lived Upstate NYS and they were great) would help here (and if they are even available). Just plug it in before coffee when you knew you'd be leaving soon and not have to have the ICE run overtime to warm things up. Now all I do is turn off the heat and wait until the ICE has to run for a hill, etc. and then slowly heat up the cabin. Makes a difference in MPGs but my wife HATES it when I do that.

Welcome! I have a 2016 (SE) that I bought in June of 2018 with 2,200 miles (yes, 2,200...). So far so good. We don't drive it a lot so after a year and a half of ownership we're at 12,000. Getting about 38 mpg in winter and 48 mpg in spring / fall (no AC and no heat). Summer on the highway with the AC and 70 mph we get around 44 mpg. Very nice car - quiet, comfortable. Wish we had a back up camera as it's hard to see out the back. Kona blue color. Run our Michelins at 50 lbs. (51 is the max and Michelin said 50 is fine 'as long as you like a 'firm' ride'. It feels totally normal and helps the mpgs a lot.

Tell us more. How many miles, SEL or SE, etc. Color?

Take it to a Ford dealer and ask this question. Your hybrid is not just any car with just normal brakes; it has 'regenerative braking' and that is what engages first in most braking situations. Sounds like something happened to that.

I live in Michigan (we've had a fairly warm winter so far) and if I want EV I need to almost turn the heat off. I tried it and it would go to EV and avoid the ICE. Of course, it's COLD in the car and my wife doesn't particularly like it so I only do it when I'm alone in the car. I've tried the heated seats and that doesn't seem to trigger the engine. It's the same with AC in the summer. Avoiding the heater and AC we get around 48 mpg and in the fall and spring when it's easy to do that.

Somewhere here (or perhaps somewhere else, sorry my memory isn't what it used to be....) there was a date (middle to late 2015, May?) where the transmission issues were largely solved. Fortunately, I have a 2016 with a build date of Oct. 2015 so I'm hoping I'll be OK. I'd like to see some data on transmission failures BY MODEL YEAR - that would tell all of us a lot about what to expect in the future.

Back to Black did not work for me. Looked great then disappeared pretty quickly; like in weeks. The listed durations on the website below pretty much align with my experience and other people I know. I did a search and found this: https://procarreviews.com/best-plastic-restorer/ Going to try TriNova when it's warmer. None of them really last long enough unfortunately. But if I can get a bit more time that's still less work in the long run.

My two Prius owning brother drove my C-Max and while he wouldn't say ANYTHING about the C-Max, he was clearly shocked by the acceleration (I made sure it was off the 'Eco' setting). I ended up telling him he didn't need to jam the pedal to the floor for some speed.

Thanks for the analysis. At this point I'll stick with the Michelins since I've had exceptional reliability from them (on several cars). You probably can't 'cost out' the no flats, no issues of tires. I guess it's the old 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' analysis. All your comments are very factual and we all learn a lot from what you say so thank you again for posting this kind of stuff. I've learned so much from this forum and it makes me a lot more comfortable knowing what other people have found. I assume your analysis is based on all the tires at the same pressure. Or is that another issue to be considered?

Thanks MNizlek for the follow up. Too many times here you never hear of the final resolution of an issue.

Mine was fine but 4 years old so I decided to get a new one. Got it from the dealer along with an oil change (and they forgot to reset the oil change sensor so they gave me a free tank of gas (12.5 gallons!). Costco doesn't sell that battery.

I used to run cross country and track in college and we had a coach who would have us (as a warm up and strengh exercise) push his VW Bug. My family had a Bug and I tried raising the tire pressure to see how much difference it made on pushing. A LOT. I was shocked and the coach didn't notice at first and praised us for a 'super' effort. Eventually he noticed. And he left the tire pressure there and said he got better gas mileage (he had a long commute). I've always kept my tire pressure high. In my garage I occasionally put my car in neutral (5 speed) and if it doesn't roll slightly I check the tire pressure, If it doesn't roll then it's almost inevitably too low for my liking. Just driving out of our neighborhood I can notice higher pressure - the car clearly rolls better. I run my C-Max (with Michelins) at 50 pounds. Michelin's fine with it (I called and asked) and neither my wife or I feel the ride is at all uncomfortable. We hover around 49-50 mph spring/summer/fall.

While I have low miles on our C-Max and am not really in the market I would never buy a first or second year new model. It usually takes 1-2 years to identify and fix the initial bugs from a new design. I am glad to read about a real spare tire (or even just space to store one), the more accessible 12 V battery. The 42 mpg sounds promising (bigger vehicle) since that's what the C-Max had and many of us can beat it by a lot. Maybe when my 2005 Focus Wagon ages a bit more I might look at an Escape Hybrid.

There are now after market back up cameras available that are wireless. You might go on Amazon and check (esp. the reviews). For a LOT less than $800. And no wiring running the length of the car to worry about.

Steve 'Sun' - I have an SE model with few to none bells and whistles (old Sync version, no navi, back up camera, smart keys, big screen, etc.). After getting mine (used 2016) I felt like maybe I should have looked for an SEL model. Now after a year on this forum I realize that simplicity has its advantages. Way less stuff to break and malfunction.

My 2016 SE just hit 10,100 miles (we bought it with 2,200 in June of 2018). No repairs and doing around 48 mpg.

I have a simple, dumb SE model (2016) with no big screen, a old key only, etc. Reading these adventures is fun - one thing less I have to worry about breaking! Keeping it simple has its virtues.

I have a full size spare tire (mounted on a wheel). I also have a 20 year old hand pump that I can get out and going in about 250seconds. Never fails, requires no power. Simple, fast. I've used it a fair amount on the highway and at motels to top off my tires and when someone finds their tire flat (I can usually get it inflated enough for someone to drive to a repair place). It amazes me how people react to my hand pump and how fast it works. I use a lot of hand tools around my house (yard and home repair) and most of them are 40+ years old and work perfectly and frequently faster than some electric tool. I keep one of my four snow tires in the 'space saver' space in rear of our 2004 Ford Focus wagon for the same reason. The ridiculous 'toy spare' took up the SAME space and was an utter joke (and displayed 'tire rot' in about 10 years). In the winter I put one of the summer tires in the same place. I usually only carry the spare tire on long trips - 100+ miles and out of the country (we live near Canada) where our cell phones don't work. We took a trip a few years ago to Georgia (from Michigan) for a wedding and it was sobering how a stretch of broken up highway (Kentucky I think) destroyed so many car tires. We saw at least 5 cars off the road with 1-2 tires destroyed and we thought what a headache they faced getting new tires in a rural area on a Sunday... The KISS principle in action (Keep It Simple Stupid) - it works.

If you could tell us what parts are good and maybe provide some pictures that would help a lot. Leather seats? Special items?

My Focus is also a 2004 ZTW (silver)! 5 speed paired to the Mazda 2.3 liter engine - speed and economy (highest mpg was 44 mpg). I waited until 2004 to buy a Focus since I'd heard a litany of issues with the 2001s (live in Michigan among Ford folks). Love how the rear seats fold down. Good roof rack (standard; ready to go). Excellent visibility as well compared to the C-Max. The Mazda 5 was similar with even more room. Never could figure out why Mazda advertised them like Ford advertised the C-Max - never saw almost any advertising about them and Consumer Reports liked the vehicle. Now imagine that vehicle in a hybrid...

Given the experience of 2013 C-Max owners and the initial build issues I'd wait 2 years to get one so those problems are found and fixed. I must admit a bit more room (my 2004 Focus Wagon has more room than my C-Max) would be really nice. The C-Max always makes me feel like they cut off the 'rest of the car' behind the rear seats. My Ford Focus is considerably bigger than the C-Max back there (and a low floor). Let's hope Ford doesn't fudge the EPA gas mileage numbers again and ruin another good car like they did with the C-Max.

If you're a Costco member they have Mobil One. My local one has it always on the shelves. I don't know the price but on-line it's 6 quarts for $28.69 for 5W-20.

That's why a lot of us refer to dealers as 'stealerships'. Can't tell you how many times they clearly decided to pursue the most profitable path for them irrespective of what is really wrong and what is really needed. 'Throw parts at the problem until we hit the right one'.

Thanks Plus 3 Golfer - from this forum it's clear to me all the warning signs of a dying battery. We've all heard about keys, etc. not working and it was the battery! Just had mine replaced, the original (and asked the dealer to make sure the battery - and oil change system - were reset). It's the wonderful expertise and experience from folks like you and Paul that make this forum so valuable! Thanks again.

Thanks Paul. 227,000 miles wow! We hit 50+ mpg on a couple of tank fulls until it got hot here (Michigan) and we had to use the AC. Mid 40s now. Was reading the latest news on Ford and their Focus/Fiesta transmission disaster (Detroit Free Press). What a total disaster. Doesn't inspire trust in Ford. Just out of curiosity I checked my dealer's used (and new) car inventory to see how they were dealing with the fall out. #1 dealer in Michigan for sales volume and there wasn't ONE Focus or Fiesta for sale AT ALL. Looks like they got out of them a while back. Checked on C-Maxs on inventory: zero. Interesting.