ScubaDadMiami

This, to me, is the most important part to which I pay attention, because it says something about Ford. These days, in the race to the top, manufacturers end out introducing products at a fast rate and with the newer technology, sometimes (okay, more often than just sometimes) with issues resulting. Not that I am saying to just forget about these instances, but my concern is about how manufacturers and dealerships handle them after they become known. GM recently had the incident with the ignition switches, a reportedly known issue about which they did nothing for a long time. Toyota had the sudden acceleration issues that were said to be known but pushed off. Ford has also had its share of issues with the C-MAX: lower than reported fuel economy, kickgate requiring two kicks, MFT, dead battery issues, etc. Okay, some of these--the battery issue, in particular--have not been fully resolved. On the other hand, Ford voluntarily paid money to those affected by the fuel economy issue, and Ford reprogrammed the vehicle to address the issue. (I am not saying that lawsuits or publicity did not play a role a role in this decision. However, Ford also did not stonewall by making denials for years.) Ford worked on the solution for the kickgate, and then took care of that. MFT continues to get updated and improved, and they have extended the period for warranty and updates, to address the issue. Ford found out about the seat issue, and they stepped up on that issue, even though there have not been many reports about it. I feel pretty good about working with a company that handles mistakes well. Sure, I'd prefer not to have the mistakes in the first place, or to at least have many less mistakes. However, these things happen. It's what comes next that counts the most, right behind not having too many mistakes in the first place.

I would put myself in the same place. I was passing a dealership, and I stopped in to take a quick look. Once I looked inside, I never went another step. There is almost no storage in the rear when the seats are up, and not enough with them down. I was thinking along the lines of a Prius V, however, once I test drove the C-MAX, I was pretty much sold. I did go to a Toyota showroom to take a look at the Prius V, but I didn't even get to a point of talking to a salesperson or test driving.

Welcome aboard! :)

Looks like something between a C-MAX and an Escape. Very attractive looking on the outside. Is it bigger? Is it a Hybrid? This is the first that I hear of it.

My understanding is that the manufacturer has to continue to make parts and do service for at least 10 years after model discontinuation. I got this info from a friend that bought a Hummer when they were being discontinued; I haven't verified from other sources. So, even if they do discontinue the C-MAX, we should be okay.

I have also been playing around with this. What I am finding that seems to be a good balance is: EV to 13 to 18 MPH (EV has good low end torque, so you get moving nicely), ICE at 1.75 to 2 bars, briefly, to gather some speed and momentum, and then reducing to 2,000 RPM while continuing to accelerate to speed, which corresponds to 1 to 1.125 bars. This allows decent pick up to keep along with traffic, but keeps fuel economy at a good number. ICE runs a bit longer than going with a 2 bar burn, but due to lower RPM, it seems to use the same or maybe even a little less fuel. Last year, on a typical route of 12 miles that I routinely run, I was usually averaging about 50 MPG. Since starting with this new procedure, I haven't made this trip enough to verify with certainty, but is seems that I am now getting 52 MPG on the same trip. When I say last year, and to explain why it has been a while for running this route, up until about three weeks ago, I was running with no air conditioning during the winter. So, I didn't count trips made without the air conditioner in the 52 MPG; those would be more like 60+ MPG.

I believe that I heard that there was a change where newer versions do not show the lifetime numbers. Maybe someone can verify this. My C-MAX does show this, but it is a year old.

+1

No question that braking is not as important as throttle control. However, with just a little additional brake control, you will also certainly get a little better fuel economy, even if it's just a little bit.

What kind of fuel economy are you getting when riding around with the top empty, compared to not having one?

I have a Galaxy Note II. I frequently use it for Bluetooth streaming. I have had very good results. I did have issues where I would have to occasionally delete and then re-pair the phone, in order for the text message reading function to work. However, after closer study, I now think that this only happens after an Android update. This has happened perhaps two or three times over the past year. It is a snap to delete and re-pair. Regarding texting, as was said above, MFT does not allow you to reply when the vehicle is in motion. The only choices are to stop, use a stock reply from MFT (which I wish could be customized), or to use the phone. For streaming, the system has been excellent. The only thing that is a miss is that album art does not show when I stream using Spotify (the music app). You can use the steering wheel controls to move through the song que and adjust volume. I use voice commands to stop the music. One other little hiccup: When I first get into the C-MAX, when I want to listen to something, I flip the steering wheel paddle, and I say, "Bluetooth audio." The system responds: "The Bluetooth device is currently not connected. Synch is trying to locate the device." It does this after I can clearly see that my phone is already connected. Right after it says this, streaming starts. So, even though MFT says that it can't find the device, it starts working a second later. Strange, but I have never had it not start working right after saying this. So, I no longer worry about it.

I'll have to look at the window again. I never noticed the dots. I certainly don't have anything on the outside.

That pedal is there, apparently, because a big cable runs under it. This means that you can't just take it out. Am I incorrect about this? If they had to put one someplace, why not put it on the side of the passenger? There will always be a driver in the vehicle, but not always a passenger. Unless some safety code (fire fighter extractions, etc.) requires this placement, I wonder why they didn't just run the cable inside of the console that is between the two seats.

I got the paint, but I have not yet done the actual work. Partly, it's because I am afraid of what I might do. It's on the list.

There is no question about sales drop at least partially due to the negative reports. I'll not address that issue here, as there is another focus (not Focus ;) ) I wish to discuss. From the beginning, it seems that Ford treated the C-MAX as a sideline product, and, IMHO, they have marketed this car in the poorest manner. I think that these issues have had a significant impact on sales that were not big to start, and then dropped. At that time that I found out about the C-MAX, I was driving a 20 MPG Nissan Murano that was going on ten years old. I like four door cars for when I have passengers. I need to carry a lot of things around. I don't want two cars, so I am not going to get a truck for hauling and a little two seater for the city. I need a car that can do both. Oh, did I mention getting great fuel economy? I was looking for something that could get at least 40 MPG. Until the Prius V came out, I was hoping to find something like the Prius but bigger. When the Prius V came out, I was planning on buying one at the time of my next car purchase, without even testing one out. After all, there really was nothing else in the category. Then, I saw this dorky C-MAX cartoon commercial on TV. Honestly, it made the C-MAX look like a cheap econo-bucket. Yeah, it held five and was advertised to get better fuel economy than the Prius, but that was about all that the commercial showed. It was so vague about the really rich features available, and really didn't do any kind of justice about the handling and power. The only reason that I bothered to check out the C-MAX was because there really were only a few potential candidates that fell within the requirements I needed. Once I made a test drive, I didn't even bother going to the Toyota dealer. Other than some quick checks online and such, I made up my mind. Sure, I ended out with the C-MAX, but it is almost like a lucky shot that I decided to check one out. Now, if Ford had marketed to someone who wants to be "smart" with his/her money (look at all that you can get for the money), someone who cares about the environment while still enjoying luxury (instead of the vanilla Prius line), someone who needs to be somewhat practical (the need to have sufficient cargo space, room for five), someone who enjoys tech, and someone who is looking for more than an econobox, Ford may have attracted more people to take a look at the C-MAX. Instead of a cartoon, they could have shown things like the real interior of a C-MAX all tricked out with the Pano Roof, Park Assist and kick gate on the SEL, and that would have opened the door. Unfortunately, with a first year launch vehicle, things happen. As issues arose, Ford almost completely discontinued advertising, and the C-MAX has never really been featured since. Ford needs to correct the few problems that are out there, and then should completely revamp its marketing campaign. Perhaps Ford backed off of the marketing while they are still working out these issues, and they already plan a big push for when things are fully resolved. The powers that be aren't stupid, and I would imagine that they are well aware of issues and likely ways to go in the future. However, if they have missed it before now, :superhero: .

Are you talking about the dots that are around the rear view mirror? I can't really get your description. Perhaps some pics would help. I had my windows tinted by the dealer. I did not have a strip put across the top of the windshield. I don't know of any "tape" on mine.

It will be a year for me at the end of the month, and my A/C seems the same as it was on day one. I would hate to suggest another dealer check, but . . . .

That would be just about perfect. It's already hitting 90F. I guess I am becoming a sort of reverse snow bird. I live here, but I plan to start hitting the mountains and seeing the country in summertime.

I went back to the same location, and virtually identical conditions--perhaps a little cooler by a degree or two. No problem today. At this point, I plan on doing my 10,000 mile service very soon, before leaving on my 4,000 mile cross country trip in June. I'll have it looked at.

It pains me to read this, when I am now running only about 51 mpg, now that air conditioner season has started. Just last week I filled a 61 mpg tank, my last for probably the next six months. :sad: I am only a little jealous. :gaah:

With the Air Conditioner on and set to 73F, I probably only get about 40 mpg at 75 mph. I've never driven for any substantial time without the Air running while at this kind of speed; I can't comment on that.

There are basic techniques, and then there are more advanced techniques for things. Don't get frustrated by trying the advanced moves from the start. A good acceleration basic is to use EV to between 10-18 mph, ICE at between 1.75 and 2 bars until you get up to speed (or just above), and then to cruise for as long as you can in EV--perhaps slowly losing speed down to your next ICE burn. There are variations that depend on things like battery state of charge, intended speed, etc., but don't worry about those for a while. Just get your basics with something akin to this. For braking, the ideal is to glide to a stop without using the brakes. Since that won't work well with traffic on your tail, try to work things out to brake in a short enough distance not to get people behind you upset while also not waiting until the last second to slam on the brakes. As long as you can apply the brakes evenly from the time that you start to press down on the pedal (you can press a little harder as you near your stop point), you should be getting mostly 100 percent scores, or pretty close to that. There will always be sudden requirements to stop due to road conditions, but you will find, after a while, that you can keep your average at about 98 percent.

The temperature was above 90 today in Miami. When I came out to where my C-MAX had been parked for about three hours, I tried to use NAV. Check out what happened. Notice that the GPS is crossed out on my screen, which I suspect to be at the root of the issue. Nothing I tried seemed to work, and this lasted more than 30 minutes, so I know that it is not an actual problem with the satellite. Also, my cell GPS worked perfectly during this time. Once I arrived at my destination, shut down, and then didn't come back to my parked C-MAX for about 15 minutes or so, everything was back to normal. Either my GPS module is about to die, or maybe the heat got to it (even though it has never been a problem in heat before now). I hope that it is just a one off type of incident. So long as everything keeps working, I'll have it checked out when I do the 10,000 mile service, which should be in a couple of weeks. If not, I'll be visiting my dealer sooner than that. :headscratch:

You'll be back! Just wait and see! :)

How about an "Ashley, Help Me" Section, or equivalent, though I think that my suggestion has a nice ring to it!