ArizonaEnergi

We usually buy light gray for Arizona climate but we saw this color and it was certainly a factor in us making an offer for it on the spot. Damn those FMC color-pickers! Since then, we have noticed many models of cars with this color. Must be the IT color for this year.

I installed, with the help of my wife, a 2" Torklift Central hitch on our Energi today. http://shop.tlcentral.com/store/pc/Ford-C-Max-2-Eco-Hitch-Trailer-Hitch-p1080.htm It was fairly easy to do for us 60-somethings, and took about 1.5 hours, with some of that correcting a mistake I made. The hitch costs $250 delivered within a few days of ordering. The short instructions were good, although the pictures could have been a little clearer. (The Prius instructions were also included and their pictures were better.) Here's how it arrives, wrapped like a mummy. Takes awhile to unwrap. The hitch is well-made and painted nicely. The hitch behind the car. I rolled my car onto some leveling blocks I had from my RV days, and also used a jack to make holding it up easier as the wife wasn't up to much weight lifting and holding. The jack could have made it a one-person job. The hitch bolts into six threaded holes on the car. No drilling required. This is what makes this an easy install. This is the driver's side attachment, with the muffler plate on top of the hitch plate. Note: Two of the bolts are bit longer and are for the center plate. (Thank you Wife-Unit!) Here was my only problem. There's a "tab" on the passenger side that is in the way. It must be bent down. Well, don't bend it toward the rear of the car as it will likely still be in the way. Bend it toward the front to fit into the notch in the hitch frame. As I bent this twice, along with some ballpeen adjusting, the paint came off so I touched it up with Rustoleum after I was done. And here's the final result. Very neat and tidy. And the foot-activated door still works (when it works!) - just kick to the right of the hitch. I installed my bike rack and tested the door opening. Some foam on the vertical frame covered with black duct tape will prevent damage, and the door automatically reverses, but doesn't entirely re-close, upon striking it. So, very happy with this hitch, and we'll now be able to take our bikes along with us, and I plan to also buy a small platform from Harbor Freight for other hauling we might have.

I went with WeatherTech All-Weather front mats. $69.95 delivered. Have had them in the Odyssey for six years and like them very much.

This is the WeatherTech floormat I bought. For our weather and use it should perform very well.

Here's the very small 32GB thumb drive I bought from Amazon for my C-Max to hold my music and not protrude in the bin too much. I also bought a 16GB one to get the order above $25 to get free shipping. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00812F7O8/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Costco sells a large sun shade that we have found fits very well, wedging between the two sides and not requiring the whimpy sun visors to hold it up. It comes with two suction-cup shades for the rear, and is less than $10.

My wife was driving ours today and was manuvering for the perfect parking place when a Safeway employee moving about six carts appears and the first cart pulled away from the train and went pass us about 3' away and she started running to get it and abandoned the other carts and they went roaring by us about SIX INCHES away. We bought the C-MAX 8 days ago. Close call. Too close.

For those that have installed the Tork-Life 1.25" hitch - do you think there are any drawbacks to the 2" size? While my main use, my bike rack, will fit either size, I was thinking about getting one of those platforms for possible large object hauling and they seem to all come in 2".