joe

I have always removed dealer stickers from my vehicles. If they want me to advertise for them, they can deduct another 5% off the sticker price. Otherwise, I take the sticker off the day I get the vehicle (when the glue is still fresh and can be easily removed). Now, sometimes I'll leave the license plate holder with the dealer's name if they gave me a good deal. But even that is removed after about a year. The dealer stickers, if left on the car, will eventual peal or fade and that leaves unsightly blemishes on the paint.

The seat warmers work great. We turn them on when we drive in cold weather and wait until the temp gauge is at operating temp before putting the climate control on. We have an SEL and have not yet had a battery problem - we have @ 18,000 miles. The only item of concern is no spare tire. We drove out west - I carried the tire jack and tools so I could at least remove the tire to get it fixed, depending on where we were (fortunately we did not get a flat on our trip). 6 months after we got the car, I had a flat tire - called Ford and they took us to a Ford dealer (no cost for tow) where they put a new tire. Tire cost about $20 more than Costco. The foot-activated, power lift gate is a very useful feature. We love the seating and the way the car drives.

When I gas up the C-Max, and drive around town for about 100 miles, I will have an average of around 44 mpg. When my wife drives the car for a few days around town, it drops down to around 40 mpg (which means her average is probably more 36 mpg.) I then drive the car and it slowly works back up to around 44 mph (I'm probably actually getting over 50 mpg to pull the average up). The lessons learned - my wife drives the C-Max just the way she would drive any car. For me, however, when I leave the stop sign or stop light, I speed up to get to get to the speed limit and then back off to electric. I also take every opportunity to let the car charge the battery using various driving techniques. I believe that the driver is the most significant contributor to the MPG.

OK, I went to the Edmunds web site to make a comparison. I have 18,000 miles for a C-Max bought in Dec. 2012. Edmunds says the trade-in value is $19,600 and the private sale value is $21,000. I decided to look at a brand new Ford Fusion Titanium which had the closest sticker price ($30K) to the C-Max I bought ($30K). Listing the same mileage and condition (Excellent), its trade-in value was $21,000, and private sale as $22,545. So, at this time, it appears that the C-Max has not lost that much. I realize resale value can vary with regions. Concerning mileage, my wife drives the C-Max as a car, not a hybrid. Whereas, I speed up to the speed limit, back off as I reach the crest of a hill, and gently ride the brake going down hill to charge the battery - under the assumption that it charges more when using the brake than just coasting. She averages 40 mpg, and I average 44 mpg.

Good point. Would I be happy if the insurance rated the vehicle much less than what it should have been? No, I would not be happy with my insurance agent. Here again, it is a risk taken by any owner of a new line of vehicle, that the resale value of a new line of vehicle may decline sharper because of unknown mechanical, style, or other issues that arise a year or so after its purchase.

On the one hand, people's concern that Ford produced funny mpg numbers is legitimate. And I'm sure someone is doing a "lessons learned" within Ford. But at least they have owned up to the bad figures and without me asking, they are finanically compensating me. And for those of us who bought the C-Max in its first year, we must have known the risk to resale value for a first year production car. Back in 1975, I bought the first year production VW Rabbit. It was the worst car mechanically I have ever owned and when I traded it in 3 years later for a Chevy, I got scrap metal resale value. VW never compensated me for the poor mpg I got, or all the mechanical problems that occurred after warranty. My experience with the C-Max is totally different. I usually keep my cars 9-10 years do I wasn't too concerned with resale value. I also didn't buy it for the mileage since just about any vehicle was going to be better than my Mercury mini-van's 15 mpg. I bought the C-max for its comfort, ride, features, and capacity - and in those areas, it has met or exceeded my requirements. My next car will be a Ford because they are at least standing behind its product - whereas, those Chevy owners with ignition problems . . .

I was hoping Ford would offer updates for free - where we could download them, copy on our own SD card and install. My 4 year old TomTom still gives me free updates every six months.

Melinda - You indicated that you "tap" the brakes. I would suggest "riding" the brakes gently when slowing up. In regards to acclerating, you should speed up to the speed limit using the gas engine rather than starting slowly and using the battery. Why? High mpg comes from covering more ground using electric than gasoline. When accelerating to the speed limit, it might take a quarter mile to get up to the speed limit. If you use electric to cover the quarter mile, it drains the battery and forces the C-Max to switch to gasoline when you get up to speed. Whereas, if you use gasoline for the first quarter mile to get up to the speed limit, it results in having electric power to cover the next half mile or mile on electric at the speed limit. This will give you better mileage. It took me months to figure this out.

I have an 2013 SEL and never had the battery problem. But I have found that I cannot use the accessory mode to play the radio or set the GPS because within a few minutes, the center screen will indicate that it will shut down the system - I'm assuming because it is draining the battery. I then turn the car on (pushing the starter button with foot on brake) in order to listen to radio or use sync, etc. Since most SEs don't have the larger center screen, maybe there is a battery protection circuit for the SELs which is absent in the SE models????

When a driver is tailgating me, I slow down to or slightly below the speed limit. Within a few seconds, the tailgater will whip into the left lane and pass me. I never look at them as they pass me. I'm sure they are giving me the finger or staring in anger, but I never acknowledge them - which probably drives them even crazier.

One of the problems with dealerships is that most of C-Max problems are computer related - not mechanical. My dealer only had one mechanic trained on the vehicle computer parts but had little experience. Hopefully, in time, the dealerships will develop the expertise to fix computer problems as good as they can fix mechanical problems.

Last year, the dealer replaced the navigation module and it corrected the problem. It was a very common problem with 2013 C-Maxes. I'm surprised that your 2014 has the same problem. Once it was fixed, it worked great.

Webcontrol - This like a cool idea. Please describe the solar charger and where you bought it. Thanks

Here is a possible solution for iPhone users in syncing their phone's contacts list to the MFT. Background - When we first bought the car, the iPhone uploaded the entire contacts list to the car. But recently, we found that only the same six contacts would upload to the car. After trying unsuccessfully to upload contact list, our conclusion was that it wasn’t the MFT but it had to be an iPhone setting. After thoroughly looking through the iPhone settings, we discovered that a change in the iPhone's sync option prevented the entire contacts list to be uploaded. Here is our solution: 1. In the iPhone, go to Settings 2. Make sure bluetooth is connected 3. Make sure Sync is connected 4. Press the “i” symbol to the right of the Sync selection. 5. Scroll down to Groups - make sure “all contacts” is checked. 6. Uncheck favorites and recents if checked. Because we had the "recents" checked, and not "all contacts", only the six most "recents" uploaded. Hope this helps. Joe

pjurek99 If they did not replace the GPS module, then that's the problem. I had NAV problems right from the beginning (DEC 2012) but after they replaced the module in spring of 2013, the NAV worked great. We drove 6,000 to Montana and back and it this summer and the NAV never failed us.

I wonder if the sound suppression system within the cabin is malfunctioning and allowing you to hear a sound that normally would be suppressed.

It could be wheel alignment - I had a tire noise and slight vibration from 20 to 30 mph. Had tires rotated and wheel alignment. The alignment was off. After tire rotation and wheel alignment - noise and vibration disappeared. I suspect the tire rotation placed the out-of-line noisy tire to the rear.

I had a good laugh over this. Imagine someone looking at my GPS data when my GPS has been showing me driving 65 mph through wheat fields next to the Interstate - until the GPS module was updated and fixed last summer.

I have 13,000+ miles and last week a message appears as soon as we turn the car on, saying "Oil change required." Was in the dealer to day for something else and they reset it (made it go away). Service guy wasn't sure if it came on because of time (12 months) or some other reason. When it comes on again (hopefully not for another 12 months), I will try the instructions that fbov has provided. It seems odd that the owner is given instructions on how to reset the message.

I've been looking at the "Mighty Jump Pro" but the reviews have been mixed. Unfortunately, if the battery dies because of bad cells or old age, then nothng is going to really help, which could be part of the reason for some bad reviews. But since some new C-Max batteries are failing and are smaller than regular car batteries, this device might be enough to work.

I've seen a lot of professional promos on the C-Max. This is one of the best I've seen.

I laughed when I read this post. I too had a ritual of pulling the driver's door handle to ensure the car was locked, and kept unlocking the door. Hopefully, she can reprogram her ritual, as I did. I was afraid my wife would be overwhelmed by the technology. She ignores the screens that report on mpg performance. She just loves to drive the car. She loves the snug fit of the seats, the handling, the heated seats, and the power. Our C-Max replaced a mini-van which had a manual rear hatch which was heavy to open and close. My loves being able to just wave her foot under the back to open or close the rear hatch. I suspect, in time, your wife will come to love the car.

We drove out to Montana and back and not until a few days on the way back did I discover that the exit screen would tell me what facilities are at the next few exits off the Interstate, and that I could select an item, e.g., restaurant, it would set a route to the location. Yes, Ford should at least make available manuals on the Internet detailing the features on MFT.

I agree with the sun visor. When pushed to the left window, it leans upwards, allowing the sun to pass under. It only works for really tall drivers.

Ford offers an option to add a keypad on the outside of the car which can unlock the door. I've had this option on other cars and has come in handy when I wanted to get something out of the car but didn't have the keys in my pocket. I'm thinking of having ther dealer install the key pad.