joe

I would like to make a small suggestion to improve economy.  When I first drove my C-Max, I would gently drive up to the speed limit after stopping at a stop light or stop sign.  What I found was that this used up most of my electric to drive 1/4 mile up to the speed limit, and then the engine would kick in at the posted speed limit because I had a low reserve of electric.

The trick is to use gas to get up to the speed limit and use the electric after attaining the speed limit.  During the winter, this also helps get the engine warmed up faster, and then turning on the interior heat sooner.

Like I said, I wasn't comfortable going 10,000 miles or about it year without taking it in. I hope that you like your car, it's very good at what it is but performance is just OK. Maybe a Focus SVT might have been a better choice for you.

I'm not sure if any one has pointed out the obvious, but 10,000 miles is not 10,000 miles of engine wear.  The engine only runs about 60% of the time (my C-Max has 36K miles of which 14,500 miles was electric).

I had to replace the front turn signal.  If you follow the manual, it is impossible but I found a video that shows how to do it. 

http://www.carcarekiosk.com/video/2013_Ford_C-Max_Hybrid_SEL_2.0L_4_Cyl./lights/headlight

The secret is removing the screw on the black shield over the firewall.  I didn't loosen the body connector in the front as suggested although it probably would make it a little easier.  I was able to replace the turn signal without unplugging the headlight assembly.

Hope this helps.

SnowStorm.  You are probably right.  I didn't keep the cupped tires on the front for very long.   But it took another 10K miles on the back before the tire noise began to grow.

I have had wheel alignment done at 13K and 30K and both times the front and rear wheels were not within specs.  At 13K, when I had tires rotated, I could hear a thumping so I knew it was too late for the tires so I had them rotated back which put the cupped tires on the rear which made less noise.  By 30K, the tires were getting noisier.  So, I put new tires on (Costco), and took to dealer for alignment, which it needed.  I'm not sure if 12K or once a year will be sufficient for wheel alignment with the C-Max.  I think I will, however, rotate tires more often than 12K.

Here is a Youtube video of a guy changing the enginer air filter.

http://www.carcarekiosk.com/video/2013_Ford_C-Max_Hybrid_SEL_2.0L_4_Cyl./air_filter_engine/replace

I just had my filter replaced by my Ford dealer.  It cost $19.95 for filter and $15 for labor.  I think the labor charge is reseasonable when you see how much work it takes to replace the filter.

I'm sorry but the $149 for the Ford update is too much, when you consider my TomTom still gets free updates.  Plus, I now have an iPhone6 with Google map which can do more than the TomTom or Ford system and for free.

Now, I like having the Ford navigation available when I need directions and it is rare that it is inaccurate.  And regarding new roads, I know where the new local roads are and just ignore the gps when using the new roads.

Inspecting wiring, etc. is probably a good thing.  One theory is that corrision of some connections might cause the battery drain problem.  My car is garaged and is rarely in wet weather.  But over time, the corrision might be at work so having someone inspect it would be a good thing.  I suspect the updating of software would be for cars that have not yet updated to current versions. 

I just got my letter from Ford for this Program 15B04.

1.  Check 12 volt battery and replace if necessary.

2.  Update software in various modules

3.  Inspect certain wiring and repair as needed.

I have a SEL with about 27K miles and never had problems with battery.  I hope they don't screw things up with this program.

Thank you all for your great input! I will look into a battery charger. 

 

I do have one other question that maybe someone can address:

I read online that some C-Max owners have experienced the vehicle shutting down while driving or getting a message advising them to "safely pull over" and then the vehicle shuts down. Has anyone experienced this personally? Is this more of a rare occurrence than the battery simply being dead? I found that alarming when I read it, and wondered how people handled that scenario.

 

Again, thanks everyone!

I have a 2013 SEL.  About a month after I bought it, I had the "safely pull over" message when I tried to start the car.  It would not start.  I left it over night and then the next morning, it worked and it has not occurred again.  I now have 26,000K and have had no problems with the car.

If you're driving in cold weather conditions and you have heated seats, use the heated seats to keep warm and keep the environmental controls off until the engine has warmed up.

If it wasn't for the lack of acceleration, I would suggest  that maybe the noise suppression system is failing, allowing for previously masked engine noise to enter the cabin.  I know it's a long shot but occassionally I will hear unusual engine noise and wonder if the noise suppression system is taking a time out.

I've had the dealer do my oil changes because of the shield that is under the engine.  I'm not sure a jiffy lube shop would know what to do in changing oil if they had to remove that shield first.

I just found this presentation about portable jump start systems on CNET. http://www.cnet.com/products/bolt-power-d28-portable-car-jump-starter/

This happened once to me over a year ago.  I left the car over night and the next morning it started right up.

I had this problem with my 2013 C-Max and was fixed by replacing the GPS Module.

The other question is, where to buy a warranty.  Third party warranty (non-Ford) has significant risks - such as - will the company be in business 3 or 4 years from now.  Does it really cover everything you need covered?  E.g., it might replace an AC compressor but will it pay for the back flush and other maintenance services that should be done?  I suspect most third party warranties don't cover the electric hybred components and if the warranty can claim your problems resulted from the hybrid parts, they may walk away from the warranty.  What limitations are imposed in the warranty. 

Years ago, I belonged to a fleet of vans and we found that extended warranties didn't compensate enough to make it worth the cost.  Investing in frequent maintenance was a better deal than extended warranties.  We would replace all fluids, make all mechanical adjustments at 15K miles.  So, it might be a better investment to replace your fluids and other items that wear out more frequently than the maintenace schedule requires.

Most of our scientific advances have come from looking for something else. Computer chips became nano-sized due to discovering new materials, combinations of materials or new uses for old materials. Same thing happened with MRI & CT scans. We wouldn't know anything about DNA sequencing if it weren't for radiography. Endocrine disruption by BPA plastic was discovered while looking for cancer. Even those ubiquitous sticky notes came about due to faulty adhesive at 3-M's labs. Such 'happy accidents' probably occurred as far back as the discovery of fire FCOL. So who knows what might be discovered in the way batteries can be made in the future. It will likely happen while someone is looking for something else!

 

As an aside... my first computer class in the early 70's involved writing code using IBM cards. While I did my homework in the computer lab, my 2 little kids played games coded in one of the other IBM machines. Anyone else recall how those cards worked?

Regarding early exposure to computers.  I worked as a summer employee in 1966 and 1967 at ATT&Ts computer center in NY.  In 1968, I took computer programming and really liked it.  When I tried to sign up for advance classes, I was told that I couldn't take the advance computer courses because I was an English major and would never have any reason to use a computer.  For my term paper (program), I wrote a program that would hyphenate words.   It wasn't until the 1980s did I get the opportunity to use and program computers.

Be careful about computer technology analogies.  We've known about Moore's law since the 60's, and it was accurate for quite some time (only now is it slowing down and showing signs of not being a good predictor.  Still, for a half-century run it's impressive).  So even though your 100 meg drive was expensive those of us in the industry were absolutely certain it would not remain that way.

 

Battery technology does not follow Moore's law -- far from it, there have essentially been no huge breakthroughs of the same scale as that law for hundreds of years, since batteries were even mass produced.  That doesn't mean we don't hear ALL THE TIME about an exciting new process that will "revolutionize the battery!"  Indeed, it is because batteries have such a slow growth of improvement that they are so ripe for revolution, but it never seems to come to pass.  That isn't to say they don't get improved, just not on the same order of magnitude.  To put it another way, if batteries had followed your hard drive example, we'd now have a AAA battery that could run for years and provide ten times the power of conventional ones, all for a fraction of the cost of such a AAA 20 years ago.  Not going to happen, not in my lifetime and most likely not in yours (if anything, batteries that are improved tend to cost more and more).

I wasn't thinking about Moore's Law regarding battery technology.  The point I was making is that we shouldn't assume that if we don't see how to make it today,  it doesn't mean we won't know how to make it tomorrow.  The idea of waffer thin solid state drives in 1991 would have been seen as futuristic.   It is possible we may never make a really better battery than the ones we have today but building a better battery would certainly support an easier solution rather than the more complex hydrogen fueled solution.

Unfortunately, I seriously doubt we will ever see a conventional sized car with 500mi range that charges in <5min. About the most energy dense battery we can build is the Li-Air battery and even with that kind of energy density a target of 500miles would be difficult. Charging in under 5min is nearly theoretically impossible for batteries of this scale, not to mentioned the power requirements for it.

Never say never.  20 years ago, a 100 meg harddrive cost $500.  I have on my desk a waffer thin SD card that holds 32 gigs, with fast load speeds, and cost @ $40.  There is also the interim alternative of swap out batteries in which you pull your car into a facility and your battery slides out and a fully charged battery is slides in, and your out in 5 minutes or less.  It will require more infrastructure but it is feasible.

I also agree with statements stating that at some time, oil will become a limited commodity.

The key to the world's energy is the battery.

When an electric powered car has a range of 400 to 500 miles and can be charged up in 5 minutes or less, then all these other alternative fueled vehicles will go away. And I suspect it will take  less research and developent to create a 5 minute rechargeable battery than building a hydrogen system.  Plus, the infrastructure exists today where you can just plug into your home, at gas stations, etc.

 Yes, it takes some dirty manufacturing processes to create electricity (power plants) and to recycle the batteries, but a quick charge battery can be used for heating and cooling homes (using daylight solar power to recharge batteries for night use), etc. without needing a power plant except as a backup.  And with more efficient solar panels on the car's roof, batteries could receive a boost to extend the car's range.

MPG is dependent on how you drive.  For example, at high speed, I get lower mpg if I use cruise control because its reaction time is slower than mine when when reaching the top of the hill.  I know to back off and go into EV mode.  Cruise control waits until the car starts to speed up and then backs off.  Also, when the stop light turns green, I accelerate fairly fast up to the speed limit and then back off.  The idea is to use gas on the short stretch getting up to speed rather than using up electric reserve.  It is best to use electric at the speed limit when you go further for the same amount of energy.  I'm sure others can also provide tips that help with mpg.

@ 19K miles.  Recalls and GPS fixed early last year.  Last week, got 46 mpg going to Baltimore and 43 mpg returning home (360 miles round trip).  Love the car.

The trip link costs around $70 a year.  When we were out west on vacation, and wanted to go see a movie in the evening, we searched Sirius for the nearest theaters and what was showing, and set the NAV to that location.  The weather map also comes in handy.  In regards to traffic, we do get an occassional alert in route if there is construction, etc.  I'm think we've gotten alerts to accidents but I'm not sure.

Received our $475 check today with a nice letter of appology.