flatbat

Turned in car and got my check. Seems this chapter ended.

great to hear that Ford is doing the right thing with your car as well.

Maybe it was the TSB. Maybe the weather (the trouble free period was essentially the summer). I know I would be unlikely to have the same problem again, but I just started to wonder about the quality of the software that went into the Cmax and about Fords understanding of the software. And that could easily lead to other problems as well. It's a shame, because I really did enjoy driving the car and i think longer term the car will be a winner for Ford. I'm not really sure what other car to get. Probably some model that's been around for longer.

Thanks. I will go with the repurchase. I don't feel like rolling this particular die again.

Good news - just this afternoon Ford verbally comitted to repurchase (or replace) the Cmax. Written confirmation is on the way. Turns out i was overly pessimistic. Maybe being pleasant and patient does pay off. I hope this bodes well for everybody else on the forum.

i guess i was a bit low on detail, but here are my sanitized notes on my Cmax experience so far. I don't think my problems have been as bad as some of the others here, but I clearly can't rely on this car. My 15 year old Honda is now back to being my primary car b/c I can't be missing school pickups and the like. I have no interest in trying to figure out what is wrong or why. I bought a new car specifically so I wouldn't have to do those things. Jan 18 Breakdown 1: Car inert in driveway - 12V systems not functioning at all. No lights or accessories were left on. Ford roadside assistance jumped the car. Car behaves normally after jump. Mileage: < 100 mi. Jan 30 Breakdown 2 / Repair attempt 1: Car inert in parking garage at work - 12V systems not functioning. Missed pickup for my daughter at school. Parking assistant jumped car and I drove it to the dealership (MD) where the battery failed the quick test but passed the Ford battery test. Deep cycle recharge of battery. I mentioned the forum stating others were having similar problems, dealer ignorees me. Mileage: 271 mi Feb 1 Breakdown 3 / Repair attempt 2: Car inert in driveway - 12V systems not functioning. Ford Roadside assistance towed car to dealer on dollies so they could inspect it in the malfunctioning state. Battery was exchanged. Mileage: <278 mi Feb 6 Breakdown 4 / Repair attempt 3: Car inert in driveway - 12V systems not functioning. In the afternoon the car was towed to dealership. Mileage: ~300 mi Feb 8 email to service director and registered letter to ford copying the attorney general's consumer protection division. According to MD law a manufacturer is allowed 4 attempts to fix the same problem. An initial letter should be sent before the 4 attempts are reached. See http://www.oag.state.md.us/consumer/lemon.htm Dealer contacted Ford. According to Ford, most these cases are due to user error (12V outlet and USB port supposedly remain hot after shutdown). I stated that i had nothing plugged in. Dealer kept the car for further unspecified tests Feb 9 called Ford customer relations center at 800-392-3673 to tell them that the letter was on it’s way and to let them know about the problem. Feb 11 Dealer admits that there are other cars with the same issue and states that Ford is remotely working on the car to figure out where the drain is coming from. Feb 13 Over the weekend the car had posted some error codes while parked at dealer. based on whatever these were, Ford suggested checking all the wiring harnesses. Technicians found a pinched wire in the audio system which may have been the cause. Pinched wire was fixed. They will keep it for a couple of more days to make sure that this was indeed what was causing the problems. February Never received call back from regional Ford office or Ford central, nor did i receive an answer to my first letter. Did receive call from Consumer Protection Division following up. May 14 Breakdown 5 / repair attempt 4: Car broken down again. Jumped and driven to Sheehy. Now there is a TSB (13-5-1 Reprogram DC/DC converter). Aug 8 First regularly scheduled service. Performed factory recall 13C02 [R&R Headliner]. Performed factory recall 13B07 [Reprogram PCM]. Oct 3 Breakdown 6 / repair attempt 5: Car dead in driveway. Towed to dealer. They simply replaced battery (i.e. they've given up). Informed Ford by phone that i will now pursue a buyback. Customer service rep took my information, gave me a case number and stated that i should receive a call within 2 business days (which would be Monday Oct 7). Informed dealer that I am now pursuing a buyback (in person since he did not return my call). Oct 8 Still no call from Ford. Sent registered/certified letter to Ford using template from consumer protection office. Oct 9 Call from Ford regional sales manager. Tells me they are conducting a "good faith review". Oct 9-Nov15 Multiple calls with customer service. They consistently miss their own deadlines. Every time there is some sort of reason why they haven't finished the review. Meanwhile I am in contact with the attorney general's office of consumer protection again.

Hi, I am also pursuing a buyback from Ford. It's been more than 6 weeks since i notified them that I wanted a buyback. I had previously notified them that i would if the car kept breaking down. Ford customer service has been dragging their feet endlessly. They've missed most of their self imposed deadlines. I've been patient and friendly, but did ask them if they themselves thought this was a satisfactory level of service. I got the impression that they are taking it seriously, but are just very disorganized. However, yesterday I had a conversation with a mediator from the Maryland attorney general's consumer protection division. She said that she has seen an increase in complaints about Ford recently and a clear reluctance on Ford's part to label any car a lemon. So I am really not sure what to expect when Ford finally gets around to making a decision. I've had 6 12V battery related breakdowns, so I'm not sure what their argument would be for turning me down. Good luck to everybody.

sorry about the confusion. I've been off the board for a while and didn't have time to go through all the posts i missed. Hope Ford gives you no trouble with the buyback.

Sorry, but I had the audio wiring harness replaced and still had the battery die again after a while.

Thanks bam48, that's good to hear. I am following up regularly.

It's been a while since i posted here, but i wanted to give an update about our Cmax. Back in the summer after the recalls and the TSB for the dc/dc converter i thought the problems on our Cmax were fixed. However, in October the dead battery returned and the dealership has given up trying to fix it, as have we. By Maryland law, the car is now a lemon. I am in contact with Ford regional sales managers to pursue a buyback, but Ford customer service is atrocious. They have never met any of their own deadlines. It's been three weeks since first contact and they haven't even gotten the paperwork from the dealer. I am very frustrated. One question i have is to those of you who have gotten a buyback - how much of the money did Ford return? Thanks.

@salman: During the third repair attempt i wrote an official letter informing Ford and the dealer of my intention to invoke the lemon law once the conditions have been met. Such a letter is in my state part of the process. Prior to the letter service was poor and breakdowns were blamed on me ("user error"). After the letter, service got better. I have the paper work at home, but if i recall correctly, the audio harness was replaced. @Plus 3 Golfer: thanks, i'll read up on that.

Dead again - after we got our cmax back mid February with the "fixed" wiring harness, it was dead in the water again this morning. This will be the 4th repair attempt making it their last chance before i can enforce the lemon law and they are refusing to start the paperwork now. The service manager said that a TSB just came out in the last few days and they want to update the software. They yet again promise that this is a sure fix. I'm skeptical. Anyway, I just wanted to update the forum.

update: since we got the cmax back about a month ago (after they fixed the pinched wiring harness), we've not had any more incidents. I'm still not willing to trust the car fully, but i'm getting there. and gas milage is getting much better now that the heater is getting used less. good luck everyone.

I've had the car back for 4 days now since they fixed the wiring harness behind the dash an so far so good. Of course the other times it took a while for the problem to occur, so i'm not holding my breath. They check three different harnesses, so I don't think it's only the lift gate that is affected. I would guess that it's more likely a problem on the assembly line making a new model rather than a specific design problem with routing the wiring. One thing that is surprising (and i guess a testament to the car) is that most of us still like the C-MAX in principle. Good luck to everyone.

salman My understanding from what the dealership says is that the car was not continuously monitored. The error codes were stored by the car's computer while it was sitting for two days and simply read afterwards. I can try to find out more about the remote connection, but I don't think I'll be able to get more detail.

salman, i think the working remotely referred to ford connecting to the car's computer from wherever the C-MAX engineering team is. Yesterday we heard from the dealer that the car had yet to fail there but did post a few error codes while sitting over the weekend that lead them to checking all the wiring harnesses. they found a pinched harness from the audio system that they think might have been the cause. The car will stay there for a couple of more days for monitoring. If there are no more error codes i am willing to give this attempted fix a try. I 'll update you guys when i know more

First posting: My C-MAX SE was bought in December and worked fine (though with disappointing milage) until mid january when i first encountered the dead 12V system issue. Naturally i assumed i left something on, had it jumped, and went on my way. But, like for everybody else here, it happened again (three times in my case). After the second time, I took it to the dealer after jumping and they did a "deep battery reconditioning". Third time they exchanged the battery. At that point i was telling them about the other cases i heard about here but was ignored. After the forth breakdown i took it back in for the third time and again told them about other cases. I also wrote official notifications to FORD and the consumer protection agency to inform them of my problems, which in MD is a required step to invoke the lemon law. Initially the dealer said they spoke to FORD and were hearing that in most cases this problem was the result of user error, which is laughable. They were quite dismissive. I called the FORD customer relationship center to tell them of my problem and inform them that the official letter was in the mail, but never heard back from them. However, a day later, the dealership called back, apologized, and now said that FORD was working on the car remotely, that there were indeed a number of cars with the problem, and that once they figured out what was wrong that there might well be a recall issued. They cited a software bug as a likely culprit. That was two days ago and the car is still in the shop. These things can happen with a complicated machine like the C-MAX, but of course that does not change the fact that this 2 month old car has now spent more time in the shop then my wife's 14 year old honda over its life span...