Maxy

Theseeleys, Feel your pain! Don't wait any longer. Request a buy back. It is obvious there is something wrong with your car as well as mine. I am in progress of a buy back / replacement as we speak. Read your state's lemon law. Usually it does apply to new cars while under warranty. I hope you have been reporting to Ford all your battery failures . You need to document every problem with them as well, so your record is clear. It is a pain in the behind, but documentation speaks volume. I am very surprised to read about other posts as well who had more than 5-6 12V failures and still have not requested a buy back. Those cars are obviously having some mystery problems. So far I have had mostly good experience speaking with ford reps. Other than some service personals, who had acted like my battery failure was the first they've ever heared. Ofcourse I am still in the process of replacement, but hopefully it will go smoothly. Good luck in this learning lemon curve.....

Thank you Salman for the great, detailed info on going through with the lemon law. I am currently waiting to hear from my assigned dealer representative about replacing my c-max. So far my experience has been pretty straight forward. I did exactly what salman suggested. I had all my documents in order and after 4 weeks of my request I received the buy back offer. I am giving the c-max another try, because I really like the car. I hope I will not regret it! This time I will get the upgraded one since it seems like the basic ones with the small screen have the most problems. If the dead battery problem will remain I will just have to look somewhere else. Time will tell.

The Jeaner, Are you referring to 13B12 CSP? If you are I am sorry to say that I had that done on my c-max in April and I have had 2 dead battery since than and 12V battery replaced twice:( Very frustrating for sure. I know Ford is trying to find this mistarious drain but after almost 2 years of waiting and hoping for a cure with no definite solution I have requested a buy back.

It is not in their best interest to admit it.

Just got a call from the service department. They found dead battery, replaced it. Monitored it it for the two days and found no other problems, ready to pick up. Second battery replacement in 4 month, obviously something is a miss.....

I've run report too after failure and always says "in perfect health". I think it's just supposed to make us feel better:(

Hi Paul I sure admire your positive feedbacks on the 12V battery problems. I think you are absolutely right about having a jumper handy, I have one, but only want to use it if I absolutely have no way of getting Roadside out to jump my c-max. We need the documentation even from Roadside, so Ford can see that the car had to be jumped. As we "speak" my car is back at service for my 6th dead battery. I am pretty simple, do not use any USB or CD devices other than my basic cell phone. No extras in the car, it is the 2013, SE 201A. All TSBs are up to date. Recalls are done, other than the most current one they are working on. In May battery was replaced, and obviously did not help. After this service visit (at a different dealer, hoping for better results) I will request a buy back. I have my documentation in order, and sadly I just don't think there is a solution and I don't think I should keep waiting for the next dead battery, so I can use my jumper. I paid a lot of money to have a new car I can rely on. Wondering every morning or night if my car will start or not is a big deal! Sounds like you are a battery guy, you know a lot about that stuff and it is easy and enjoyable for you to brainstorm on the hows and whats. And like you said you had no battery failure. Do you know how frustrating it is when you have to get somewhere on time and the car says NO! Jumper or not…. A lot of us just simply want to sit and drive our nice new car without worrying and stressing about that darn 12V thing:) Having said that, you have given me some great ideas and I thank you! Maxy

Got my 12V battery replaced today. They did not found anything else wrong. They also did the latest recall 14S04. I just really hope this would be it, but reading other posts after battery replacement failure, I am not too optimistic.... I agree, they do not have a clue what is going on:(

Sorry to hear and a sad welcome to the growing list of battery problem fused c-max owner's club. Incase you've not read further back on this forum, it is most likely the 12V battery failier issue not the main battery. I've had so far my 6th dead car event last Thursday. 2 weeks after my 12V battery recall repair, that was supposed to fix this annoying problem! Has an appointment again for service and I hope they will investigate a little further this time, but I am pretty hopeless at this point. BTW when they test my 12V battery it had checked out fine, was not replaced. Sadly I aggree, they make me feel like I am the only one who has battery complaints. I really like my car, but starting to think about the lemon law.

Thank you guys! Also just another quick note. For the first time, after roadside jump start. My clock and settings were correct. I did not have to reset anything. But interestingly my AC came on at "75*". I know I did not have the AC on this morning when I was driving to work. There was no reason for it.

How do I send Ashley a PM?

Well, did not have to wait too long. Two weeks after the battery recall check I have a dead battery. Waiting for roadside assistance right now. Getting a little bit annoyed. This is my 6th dead battery event. Tomorrow morning I will be calling Ford customer service to get a new case number yet again!

Thank you salman for your input. I totally agree with you that my service department is not following as they should nor do the Ford Customer Service. I cannot say I do not try to make my point every time I go there. Take my notes, print out infos from the forum and my roadside assistance slips. I even got a name of my local Ford Customer Representative who I've told again about my case and give her the date and time I was taking the car in. She was supposedly making sure that things were taking care of. But I think it was only to the extent to the actual recall 13B12 and obviously nobody "looked beyond" the 12v battery. She called me to follow up on "how was my service visit"? Even after I've mentioned about the complaints that the new "fix" is not working for everybody, they all assured me it will fix my problem.... I can tell the way they talk to me they just have no clue what is really going on. And this dealership supposedly is the best around here. I have to say everybody has been super nice and seems like they really want to help, but.... So, I am not even sure if going to another department would change that, but next time I willing to try.

Update on Recall 13B12. I had this done this week on my c-max, after another dead battery. Battery checked out fine, was not replaced. They also " reprogram the front control / display interface module". They said it will fix the problem. I try to be positive and now the waiting game begins.

"Dead battery in the morning. This is my 5th at 6000 miles. Car is a year old. Last dead battery was 10 month ago. Prior to that every 4 weeks. Done all the updates required to solve problem, except the recent 12 v replacement which is next on my list. I do have the Stanley Simple Start, but does not seem to work. How and where is the best way to plug it in? How do you open the trunk when car is dead? Thanks for any new info! " - this was my posting to another battery related forum. Since than, thanks to Paul I have some more knowledge on the jump starting. However, I have owned 2 cars previously for over 10 years each and never had to jump start! So a bit frustrated. I am not too optimistic about the battery replacement recall, since it has not worked to several others. Taking it back to the dealer is a hustle, even more when the solution is not there. Now I don't use anything other than my Bluetooth for the phone, trying to narrow down the problem. But realistically it is a pain in my behind for buying a new car with all the special features I am afraid to use. Although obviously it doesn't make a difference. And strangely I still love my car....

Got my new case number. Super nice customer rep. He said that the battery replacement should put an end to my dead battery problems. I know he only tries to be positive... Obviously mxanotcar as you have experienced, it is not the case :(( Crap! And you are right my clock was off as well. Are you following up with the Ford Customer Service? Now just waiting to the next no picture no sound start.

Thank you both for your reply, will do. I have read some postings on the 12 v battery recall. Sadly, sounds like even the battery replacement has not solved the problem....... What the heck is going on? How is that possible that after all this time FORD still cannot fix this problem? I should not worry about how to jump start my new car every couple of weeks or month. It is frustrating. I call Ford Customer Service every time it happens and they give me a new "case number", but no follow up or nothing. They act like this is the first time they hear about such a problem! Just by reading the posts it is obvious there is plenty of complaints, I am not the only one. Maybe they need some media attention.

Dead battery in the morning. This is my 5th at 6000 miles. Car is a year old. Last dead battery was 10 month ago. Prior to that every 4 weeks. Done all the updates required to solve problem, except the recent 12 v replacement which is next on my list. I do have the Stanley Simple Start, but does not seem to work. How and where is the best way to plug it in? How do you open the trunk when car is dead? Thanks for any new info!

I had my last dead battery, the 4th one, at the end of June. This was 6 weeks after the recommended TSB updates back than. Because of the battery issues, I've been making mental notes what did I use or did different that might've caused the dead battery. Since the last dead, I have not used my CD player. So, I am wondering, and hoping, that maybe the Cd player does not shut down properly..... I will be taking in my c-max soon for the first 5000 miles check up and will mention it. But since it has been working great I am hesitant to do the recalls as well. BTW I am getting 39.8 right now, mostly city driving.

Interestingly enough, I had the car sitting once for 10 days and twice for 3 days and it has started just fine. All three dead battery problem occurred during regular use over night or end of the day, approximately 4-6 weeks apart. It is coming up 6 weeks, so I am a bit nervous every morning before I am getting ready to go to work.

Sorry to say mczajka, I had the latest updates to my C-MAX in May. TSB13-4-13 and TSB13-5-1. 3 weeks ago battery was dead again:( Did not have the time to take car in, but reported it to ford customer service and they gave me a new case number. They had no new recommendation about the battery problem. It is frustrating to say the least....

I was just about to ask, if anyone knows, can I get out of the car if battery dies while I am in it? Or, can I open the lift gate, back doors other than driver door without power. With my previous VW I was able to with key turning twice, when remote did not work.

Well, sadly I had my third dead battery yesterday morning. In May I had the latest TSB updates done and everything checked out fine. As most of the postings in this battery problem, I had nothing unusual happening, just dead on the driveway. Roadside to the rescue... Reported it to Ford, but have not have the chance to take it in for service. Dead battery seems to reoccur every 4-6 weeks. Ford customer service told me there is no new updates or recalls, so I'll just wait for the dead morning or night again:( Kind of a bummer, since otherwise like he car, but for 30K having a new car with problems is not cool! The least Ford could do is offer a loner car to all of us who are trying to be patient while they are scratching their head to figure out this mystery. Being without a car for days, since do not want to pay for a rental car on top of my car payment to have transportation is a bit upsetting. It is inconvenience enough to worry everyday if my new car starts or not.

Got my car back today. They did TSB 13-5-1 and 13-4-13. Could not find anything wrong.

Got my car back today. They did TSB 13-5-1 AND 13-4-13. They could not find anything wrong. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed?