joe

I usually have the "My View" set to show the RPMs on the left and the water temp on the right. Keeping the RPMs at or below 2K helps economy. When on electric, the rpm gauge changes to show I'm on electric. Knowing when the water temp has reached operating temp is when I turn on the heater. When starting up cold, I use the seat heater to keep me warm.

Got our check the other day. So, when I bought the C-Max, I got $1,000 Ford rebate, the dealter knocked $1,000 off and now $550. I'm happy. And we love our C-Max. PS - We bought our C-Max Dec. 2012.

This is the first new car where I have had numerous recalls in the first year. But as mentioned above, this is a first year production car. What I like about recalls is that Ford is standing behind its product and if something isn't working, they are getting out in front to get it fixed. This is also the first time I've upgraded a car function using a USB thumb drive. I could have used this feature years ago. The fact is, the C-Max is almost half mechanical and half computer and all of the recalls have been about technology issues and not mechanical issues. Ford gave me $550 because I might feel cheated in not getting 47 mpg. I can't think of any other product that I have bought where the product did not meet expectations, and the company paid me to off set the failure to meet performance - without me asking for compensation!

Federal law requires a chime noise when you open the driver's door when the car is on. Apparently, if you have push start feature, and the car is on, and you open the door, there is no chime to warn you that the car is on. The recall will program a chime to activate when you open the driver's door when the car is on.

Upgraded last week. So far, no problems.

I like the blue strip, that would look nice on a civilian version like mine.

Doesn't the use of a smaller (or different) diameter tire change the speedometer reading, either faster or slower? And therefore, mileage and mpg readings will also be altered?

In August, my wife and I drove from Virginia to Colorado to Montana to South Dakota and back - 6,000 miles. The C-Max was amazingly comfortable. 8 hours in the saddle most days but no sore butts. We drove up Mount Evans, CO - 14,200 feet, Logans Pass in Glacier National Park - 6,000 feet - going up steep grades was no problem. We cruised at 75 mph on the western Interstates and 70 on the two-laners (posted speed limits). We got an average 39.9 mpg. I kept my fingers crossed regarding flat tires and dead batteries but had no mechanical or electronic problems. Discovered the NAV could tell us what eat joints or gas stations were at the next Interstate exit which proved to be very helpful. We love our C-Max.

There are a few pluses and negatives. Negative - the route is in light green and sometimes can't be seen in bright sunlight. Wish I had a choice of different screen colors. Side street names are too small. On the Plus side - it provides most of the features you find in stand alone GPS systems. One feature we recently found is that if you're on an interstate, it can tell you what services (food, gas) are available at the next exit and if you can touch an icon to see a list of food or gas services available, and press the one you want to visit - the GPS resets to that location. What I found I liked is the travel link which costs around $72 a year - it gives you traffic reports, weather reports, movie theater info., etc. We were staying overnight out west and wanted to see a movie. travel link listed local movie theaters, what was play, and when. The weather map has come in handy to identify the weather during a trip.

Another clue to indicate if you have the updated version of MFT is if the outside temperature is showing at the top of the screen. Noah's picture shows 73 degrees.

My C-Max now has over 12K miles. We just completed a 6,000 mile trip out west and back. My wife and I would drive 500 miles a day and were not saddle sore. It is a very comfortable and fun car to drive. The car averaged 39.9 for the 6,000 miles. Most of that driving at Interstate speeds - 75 mph + and state roads - 70 mph +. The NAV and Weather map worked great. Going up Mount Evans and Going to the Sun highway was a breeze. Cruise controlling across the prairies was a delight. Before the C-Max was announced for USA, we had been following the C-Max in Europe with the idea of replacing our old mini-van (20 mpg - highway) with the C-Max when it arrived in the USA. When it did, being a hybrid seemed just an added plus - it was not the deciding factor. Driveability, comfort, technology, and luggage capacity were the main factors.

I love this forum. I went out to the C-Max, brought up the weather map, touched a symbol, pressed "Info" and there was a description of the symbol. Now, why can't Ford tell me that in a manual or something????

In Fotomot's picture, there is a yellow round symbol with a 4 blade symbol - what does that mean? The blue circles with white spots I think represents rain but does the number of white spots represent how bad the rain is going to be??? The vertical blue/white line down the middle, what is that??? Why can't Ford provide an online a chart explaining these symbols? How hard can it be to supply an explanation? My wife and I discovered something else in MFT NAV. We found when you have set a distinaction, that the NAV will tell you what facilities are available at the next two or three exists on the Interestate. It's the third screen (first screen just shows the map - second screen shows the list of turns). The list will show what restaurants and gas stations are available. So cool. But again, why not a list of features described in the manual or available online?

Bill-N. You said, "For those who may not be aware, the "Where an I" MFT screen gives altitude, and will display changes as one drives." I can't find this option. Which screen does the altitude appear?

CassidyB Thanks for the link. I've found a chart for a Sirius marine radio containing some of the symbols. But you would think that either Ford or Sirius would provide a chart explaining what each symbol represents. How hard can that be? No where on the Sirius Travel Link page is there any explanation for the symbols for the weather map.

I have the weather map but I can't find anywhere on the Internet (including the Sirius site) an explanation for all of the different weather symbols on the map. Does anyone have an explanation of what the different symbols represent?

Recently, I've had something similar regarding the "battery saver" message. I've been parked in my garage and pressed the starter button to operate accessories (not to start the car). After a few minutes, I get a message in the center screen that says that I need to either shut down or start the engine and that the system is about to shut down. It has a time bar indicating that I have maybe 30 seconds to comply. So, I turn off the accessories by pushing the starter button. I have to wait until the time bar fills in. (The bar goes left to right). Then everything is shut down. I can then start the engine with no difficulty. But if I push the button to use the accessories, the battery saver screen comes on within a minute. So the question is this, could it be the 12volt battery? Maybe I've driven around too many short trips and it's had no time to fully recharge. My lithium battery gauage on the left side showed I had 1/4 charge.

I think some have missed the point of my chart. The chart shows that using premium gas to increase mpg requires at least a 3 mpg increase to offset the cost.

Let's do some math: Scenerio 1: Assumptions: 1. Regular costs $3.35 and Premium costs $3.55 (local Costco prices in Virginia). 2. Using regular gas, 10,000 a year at 40 mpg average = 250 gallons or $838 a year for fuel. Using Premium 10,000 a year at 41 mpg average = 244 gallons x $3.55 = $866 costing an additional $28 a year. - 6 gallons saved per year 10,000 a year at 42 mpg average = 238 gallons x $3.55 = $845 costing an additional $7 a year. - 12 gallons saved per year 10,000 a year at 43 mpg average = 233 gallons x $3.55 = $827 saving $11 a year. - 17 gallons saved per year ================== Scenerio 2: Assumptions: 1. Regular costs $3.35 and Premium costs $3.55 (local Costco prices in Virginia). 2. Using regular gas, 10,000 a year at 50 mpg average = 200 gallons or $670 a year for fuel. Using Premium: 10,000 a year at 51 mpg average = 196 gallons x $3.55 = $696 costing an additional $26 a year. - 4 gallons saved per year 10,000 a year at 52 mpg average = 192 gallons x $3.55 = $683 costing an additional $13 a year. - 8 gallons saved per year 10,000 a year at 53 mpg average = 189 gallons x $3.55 = $670 saving $0 a year. - 11 gallons saved per year Conclusion, If you're getting lower mpg (e.g., 40 mpg) and can raise mpg by 3 or more mpg, saves a few dollars. If you're getting excellent mpg (50 mpg), you'll need to get at least 3 mpg to break even. The higher your average mpg in regular, the harder it will be to save money using premium. Using premium gas needs to raise mpg significantly to save any money. If using premium results in better mpg, it is a benefit to the environment.

Moving from an older vehicle to the C-Max is like moving from the space shuttle to the star ship Enterprise. So many features that you never realized you needed. Such as auto wipers, auto hatch back with auto kick feature, hill assist (holds car while moving foot from brake to accelerator pedal), The left information screen which allows you to customize it. Although auto seat adjustment would be nice, we don't find it that inconvenient. MyFord Touch features, GPS, etc.

I did some checking. My 2009 Taurus bolt pattern is 5-115 or 4.48 The C-Max bolt pattern is 5-108 or 4.25 So, the holes are not identical. I suspect the .007 or .23 size difference is too great.

So here is my question: I have a 2009 Taurus - tires are 215/60R17, the spare tire is a T135/90D17 (I guess its similar to obob's spare tire). C-Max takes a P225/50R17. I'm going on a long trip. Would it be useful to borrow my Taurus spare and jack? I compared the lug holes between the spare and C-Max wheels and it appears that the holes may not be entirely the same. Do they have to be perfectly the same?

One would assume that if extending the cardboard undercovers further back would improve mileage, Ford would have done that. I recently peaked under my C-Max and was amazed on how much the undercarriage is covered, although there are open spots near the rear. I suspect its open in the rear to provide additional cooling to both the exhaust and electric systems which is probably more important than any minor increase to mileage.

I too did not want leather seats but these leather seats are not slippery and because I got the lighter colored seats, don't get any hotter than cloth seats. I didn't think the auto wipers was anything but have found them a positive feature to have. Its one less thing I have to manage while driving in the rain. I thought the travel link was part of the 3 year free sync services but it, in fact, is a separate subscription service (free for first 6 months). I liked the weather map and travel info, but I'm still debating whether to subscribe to travel link. The auto tail gate is great.

When I bought the C-Max, I realized that with so much technology built into the car, that it was becoming no different then my computer. And computers can be updated to improve performance. That's what is happening now. Ford is updating our systems. I just hope its updating to a Windows 7 and not to a Windows Vista. But remember, we have an 8 year warranty. In the old days (40 years ago or more), the only performance enhancements were sparkplugs or putting on radial tires. What ever else came with the old car, you were stuck with. I consider my C-Max a Tardis, just like member nsteblay. I have a small "Tardis" name plate on the rear window. My grandkids refer to our C-Max as the Tardis. nsteblay said it best, "It appears larger on the inside than it looks on the outside, its got a strange and funky mix of controls, displays and lights, your never quite sure where the GPS will bring you, it doesn't always listen to you, it needs to be tweaked occasionally to run properly, and somehow it always leaves you satisfied after a trip."