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A government lab has been doing long-term tests of many EV cars including 4 2013 C-max. They log all service and repairs. Three out of the four have required transmission replacement between 90k and 116k miles, with an average cost of around $4000. Other service has been negligible in comparison. Here are selected data and link to the page of pdf's. Long term repair experience with four 2013 C-max. Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity - Idaho National Laboratory https://avt.inl.gov/vehicle-button/2013-ford-c-max VIN# 1FADP5AU1DL528698 116k replaced transmission $3989 116k replace right hub bearing $252 127k tires (first replaced 60k) and front-end alignment 130k repair window track VIN# 1FADP5AU0DL535139 90k replaced transmission $4383 130k replaced 3 tires VIN# 1FADP5AU9DL535138 73k replaced 12V battery $166 77k replaced 4 tires 77k front end alignment 110k serviced transmission 155k replaced two tires VIN# 1FADP5AU0DL532158 70k replaced 3 tires 81k replaced 12V battery 100k serviced transmission 110k replaced transmission $3889 130k replaced two tires and aligned front end

Seeking Testimonials of people that have Successfully Upgraded Sync versions and USB Hubs on 2016 and older Cmaxes. I'll be having a new driver soon and I was looking to get her a C-max Hybrid. Right now we have our eyes set on a 2016 or newer (bc of Transmission fears).... but now I'm learning about Carplay support introduction in 2017. Rather than opening up the discussion on the transmission fears being overblown... I'd like to focus discussion on the Carplay aspect. Curious to know how many of you had success updating your Sync 3 revisions and install newer USB Hubs to support Carplay??? Thanks in advance.

I've got about 146K on my 2013 Hybrid and the transmission is still fine so far .. fluid changed at 100K with no issues. I've recently changed from mostly back road driving to mostly highway so we'll see. The vehicle has been pretty reliable with just basic service -- oil changes, 12V battery, coolant and spark plug change around 80-100K I think? It had a bad reputation to start with because of overstating the MPG for sales purposes and the battery drain issue. (I'll never forget when I drove past the Chevy dealer and for a short time they had a big sign advertising their Colorado pickups getting 60MPG?? .. like you can't compete, so just lie right?) I never did experience battery drain issue with my SEL, but a few times the amp has hung up, requiring pulling the fuse to get audio back .. one time the APIM hung while I was on a long trip and it ended up resetting itself after some responsiveness timer probably elapsed. Sync 2 seems to have issues keeping track of which CD track is playing, the LED ambient light for the driver's side turns blue instead of the selected RED color when you open the door after turning the car off, sometimes the car alarm goes off if you are too quick opening the back drivers door after unlocking the doors? That's a pretty comprehensive list of things I've had go wrong, but at least no MAJOR problems yet .. most of them are just nuisance issues. I remember being able to open the hood and change the headlight bulb in my Cavalier within 30 seconds -- that doesn't seem to happen anymore because of service shop $$$ needs.

He's an interesting tale. I have 2016 cmax energi . I love this car I bought used with around 50,000 miles on it and luckily it was certified. Anyway jump ahead about year and 17,000 and the transmission starts making noise blah blah blah. Anyway the dealer is great they say they will replace but it's peak COVID and parts were hard to find and the car stayed there for awhile but eventually it got done. Great! I now have car with 70,000 miles on it and new transmission so I'm good. Fast forward 3 years and 50,000 miles and guesses what. The transmission starts making noise. I take it back to the dealer they say it's possibly the transmission out a bearing in the axle and in order to figure it out it's going to cost me $1300 for a half shaft and if the noise is still there then it's the transmission. Ok I guess I don't have choice. The fix they say fixed but it really did not. Some the transmission only has 3 year warranty I'm out of luck. So to summarize Ford replace my faulty transmission with a worse transmission and I now have car with 121000 miles that needs a $7000 transmission...it probably the end of the car honestly.

This advice was spot on. I had the exact same symptoms with my 2016 CMAX after 9 years but just 35,000 miles. I don't trust the local Ford dealer's repairs after recent experience. I found the pump online at another LA area dealer's online parts department saving $135 off the list. It took some calls to find a shop to install it for me. The first places I tried wanted nothing to do with what they thought was a transmission issue. Eventually I reached a guy that knew what I was talking about and told me it would take less than an hour to install. I considered his rate of $150 per hour to be a bargain. Left it for a few hours on a Saturday. He installed the pump and cleared the code and the car is running fine with no engine light and choice of EV mode back.

I have a 2013 CMax SE and I LOVE IT. I have 87k on it. Heard high pitch noise under hood. Had leaking fluid from transmission involving CV shaft. Car still makes whizzing noise and dealer said damage to pumps due to no fluid in transmission cause it and may run 20k up to 75k and then quit. I am tempted to install another transmission because I don't want to worry about it dying somewhere in traffic, etc. (single woman). Should I invest in a 2018 Max or just buy something else OR install a new transmission? I read about people on here having 250k on their max. I want to be one of those people.

If you don't want to tackle replacing the transmission bearings yourself, Hybrid & Electric Car Sales out of Franklin, TN will do all of the work for $~4500. If you pull the transmission, Chip will repair it for ~$2800.

I could not find anything regarding the transmission on C-MAX, does it need any maintenance at all?

Hey guy's I'm a in a bit of a dilemma. So one of my rear motor mounts bolts snapped in the transmission housing and thought it would just be easier to replace the housing part #(DG9P-7976-CC). While pulling the housing I accidently pulled the Electric motor input shaft and intermediate shaft. I see there are blue marks on the gears. Do shaft gears teeth have to align with one another or can I just place them in without aligning them specifically? I work on cars a lot but never on a transmission so I'm not sure where to go from here. All transmission shops near me are booked for a couple of weeks. Here is picture below of the gear's/shafts I'm talking about and the other is my snapped housing. If anyone has a link to manual or where I can purchase one that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks ahead.

The transmission can be removed without pulling the engine; however, you should use a "cherry picker" to support the engine from the lift bracket found on top of the engine, then disconnect the motor-mount on the passenger side of the engine bay. This allows the 1/4" movement (towards the passenger side) you will need to get the transmission out. Unlike the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Ford engineers did not leave enough space in the engine bay to allow safe removal of the transmission with the engine fully-installed. It is literally that tight in the C-Max engine bay, and that is why Hybrid & Electric Car Sales out of Franklin, TN, charges $500 more than the identical FH35 transmission repair service, compared to the Fusion. If anyone wants to attempt a repair of their HF35, I'm happy to share what I learned going through the entire process, in my garage, with the help of none other than my amazing brother-in-law, Steve.

A 2014 CMAX SEL with 70K is at the top of my list, but I'm reading all the issues with the CVT and thinking "no way!" Is this 10% of transmissions, or is it ALL of them? What is the chance to make it to 200K without the issue? I'm mechanically inclined, but it appears that getting the motor/cvt out requires a lift. Which means WHEN it fails, I'll be spending a minimum of 3K and probably 2-3 weeks downtime. If that is the case, I just. can't. do. it. So frustrating because this is the perfect car in every other respect. I don't want a miniSUV that gets 25mpg, I want a CMAX! Also, is there a magnet in the transmission pan like a traditional transmission? If a normal transmision is quietly grenading, you can drop the pan and check the magnet. You will see all the metal fragments collected there and know something is wrong.

We finally removed and split-open the HF35 in our 2013 C-Max Energi after 222,500 miles. The "grinding" noise had started ~6 months prior (~12,000 miles prior). This is the first serious problem we have had with this car since new. NOTE: I had changed the transmission fluid twice (first time @ 99,659 miles, the second time @ 200,657 miles). The interval recommended by Ford in the owners manual is every 150,000 miles(!). Three of the four roller bearings in our HF35 had severe spalling. I replaced all four roller bearings as well as the pump filter. In hindsight, I wish I had changed the transmission fluid every 50,000 miles; maybe that would have extended the life, maybe a lot, maybe a small amount. I think 100,000 miles was asking too much out of Mercon LV in the HF35 application, let alone 150,000 miles which Ford recommended. We ordered a 2025 Ford Maverick Hybrid (CVT), and I'll be replacing the transmission fluid every 50,000 miles, religiously. I have about ~$250.00 into repairing the HF35 in our C-Max. Transmission has been reinstalled and car has been test-driven: No more grinding noise. Hoping to get another 100,000 miles out of this car. If you are mechanically-inclined, have a "cherry-picker", transmission jack, and are willing to spend ~$100 on bearing puller tools (if you don't already own them), this can be done with the help of a second mechanically-inclined friend/relative, and not that much $$...

This data in late 2024, looks different now, I think Consumer Reports found some transmissions with issues maybe built around 2015 (MY 2016) and in early 2013 releases, but overall the eCVTs are very reliable. Consumer Reports is stringent with giving out double green arrows. And if you do a bit of research on eCVT from Toyota, these things are iron clad. If Ford used Aisin (Toyota's transmission house) then this should not be a grave concern, outside of what is noted.

I have 2013 cmax hybrid, 137k miles. I love it, but I now have diagnosis/estimate for transmission replacement of $13,000. Is this job normal at this mileage? And is cost reasonable? Car works fine except for low level whining sound. How urgent is fix?

I just got a 2013 C-Max Energy plug-in hybrid 5 days ago. I am looking to change all the fluids and filters since I don't know the previous maintenance history of the vehicle. I got everything but I am needing to rely on Advance Auto parts to tell me what type of DOT 4 brake fluid the vehicle needs, the guy handed me a bottle of high mileage Dot 4 fluid and said any Dot 4 brake fluid will work. Then on Amazon I found some Transmission oil which was listed as compatible with my vehicle, Automatic Transmission Fluid ATF (6 Liters) LIQUI MOLY. Is this correct?

Ford just dropped this massive recall, including all domestic C-Max Energi/Hybrids (2013-2018). You can look up your VIN on Ford's web site or nhtsa.gov and confirm this recall is listed (it was for me as of this morning). Parts are not available yet. When they are Ford will proactively contact customers to schedule the repair. Parts are expected in the 4th quarter of this year. Here's the text: Jun 10,2022 Manufacturer Recall Number22S43 NHTSA Recall Number#awaiting Recall StatusRecall Incomplete, remedy not yet available Summary ON YOUR VEHICLE, IT MAY BE POSSIBLE THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTER CABLE BUSHING IS DAMAGED OR MISSING. Safety Risk A DAMAGED OR MISSING BUSHING COULD PREVENT THE SHIFTER FROM MOVING THE TRANSMISSION INTO THE INTENDED GEAR POSITION AND CAUSE THE VEHICLE TO MOVE IN AN UNEXPECTED DIRECTION. THE TRANSMISSION MAY NOT BE IN THE PARK POSITION, EVEN THOUGH THE SHIFTER POSITION INDICATES THAT THE VEHICLE WAS SHIFTED TO PARK. EXITING A VEHICLE WITHOUT THE TRANSMISSION IN THE PARK POSITION AND WITHOUT APPLICATION OF THE PARKING BRAKE MAY ALLOW THE VEHICLE TO ROLL, INCREASING THE RISK OF INJURY OR CRASH. Remedy FORD MOTOR COMPANY IS WORKING CLOSELY WITH ITS SUPPLIERS TO PRODUCE PARTS FOR THIS REPAIR. WHEN PARTS BECOME AVAILABLE, FORD MOTOR COMPANY WILL NOTIFY YOU VIA MAIL TO SCHEDULE A SERVICE APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR DEALER FOR REPAIRS TO BE COMPLETED FREE OF CHARGE PARTS AND LABOR. PARTS ARE ANTICIPATED TO BE AVAILABLE 4TH QTR 2022. and here's the first page of a dealer letter about it (shamelessly copied from a post at fordedgeforum.com):

Hello, I recently purchased a 2017 Ford C-Max Energi Titanium with 15k miles. I did my research on these for about a year, and finally found the color, trim, and mileage I wanted. Its my understanding that my C-Max was built after the transmission issues were corrected (Aug 15,2015). With that said, I'm wondering what, if anything, I should do as preventative for this car? Should I get the extended warranty? Change the transmission fluid? I'm open to suggestions. Carfax on the car is clean. Thanks for any input.

Ford updated their TSB on the transmission issues in the past couple years to cover all years so there's no 'safe' year. That said, as always it isn't a guarantee you'll experience it. Extended warranty is up to you and what you think is a safe bet. Just make sure it covers everything you may need. As far as preventative measures, I and others have recommended shortened transmission fluid change intervals. Ford calls for 150k miles. I think around every 75k is safe. No guarantee it will help prolong the life but at the very least it would give you a visual and see if there's any metal particles in the fluid coming out before things worsen. These transmissions have no normal wear components like clutch packs or the like so there shouldn't be any 'expected' contaminants in the fluid. That said it also means there's no harm in doing the shorter intervals or even shorter at your own discretion. Even high mileage changes should not be an issue. It's not like a traditional automatic transmission. It's more like a basic manual in this regard. Just a drain and fill and there for lubrication/cooling.

From memory some people on this forum have had luck sourcing a used 2016+ transmission from wrecking yards via car-part.com, and getting a local mechanic to install that. It will cost much less than the 7k the dealer wants to charge.

Hi all, I hope that this finds you well. I need some guidance as I am up against Ford and I THINK I have a leg to stand on, but I need some ammo... Quick background: 2014 CMAX SEL 103,000 km's (64,000 miles) In-service September 2014 I am the second owner. Never bagged. Local car to where I live. The transmission is starting to whine. After taking it to an independent shop and then to Ford itself, it's been confirmed that components in the transmission are starting to fail, and I need a new transmission. Ford tells me they can't JUST order the specific parts as FORD doesn't make them available to order. My local dealership has quoted me a hair over $10k CDN for the trans and labour. The car is likely only worth $15k CDN, so not really worth it. Here is my question/issue. I have read on the Internet (big grain of salt taken) that other people have experienced issues with this transmission and that Ford has deemed it to be something that falls under the hybrid component warranty timeframe (up here it's 8 years or 160k km's). I very much recognize that I am about seven months outside of the timeframe, but way under as it relates to kilometers. I tried escalating the case up through Ford executives to ask for an extension of the timeframe to include my car, and ended up dealing with an Executive Office Liaison. The woman I have been dealing with is incredibly adamant that the transmission is powertrain, and as such is covered by a five year 60,000 km warranty and due to that it is WAY outside it's warranty period. I fully agree with her, IF it is a powertrain issue. I would like to be able to make a case that it is a HYBRID issue and as such am only seven months outside the warranty timeframe. I guess what I am looking to understand is if it's powertrain or hybrid. They are simply saying TRANSMISSION = POWERTRAIN and no one is listening. I need some ammo to argue or I need to be told I am out of luck and to scrap the car. I THINK it's an HF35 transmission. If it is in-fact an HF35 transmission, I THINK that was a hybrid only transmission. Wouldn't that by default make it a hybrid component? Thanks for your wisdom. Josh (oh. and in my 27 years driving, I have had 10 fords and currently have a Mach-E Premium (up there that's an $85k car) on order. I am strongly considering cancelling that as I have NEVER been treated so poorly. NOT by the dealership, but by the Executive Office Liaison person).

Ford workers break silence

>or 10 yr/150,000 mi if (first)sold in a CARB state. I have a 2014 Ford Cmax hybrid SE. (certified as ULEV II) It was sold in a CARB state, and is currently registered in a CARB state. I was told I needed my entire transmission replaced. This counts as a hybrid component as you mention here- but I am curious about the extended 10 year/150k miles warranty. I can't find anywhere that states that hybrid components of a ULEV II vehicle, bought and currently registered in a CARB state, will abide by the 10 year/150k miles warranty instead of the standard 8 year/100k mile warranty. I think this is my ticket to having the transmission replacement cost covered by ford. All I see addressed are AT PZEV certified vehicles being covered for 15 years/150k miles. I really need that statement that covers ULEV II vehicles, or at least 2014 hybrids being covered for 10 year/150k miles bought and registered in CARB states, and the the issue is a hybrid component.

The transmission fluid actually looked like new but I believe it was a little bit low because I've added like 1/2 Liter more than I've drained

Wow, amazing! How dirty was the transmission fluid at 150k? My daughter has my old 2013 SEL with 80k , and no repairs so far. My son has 2016 Energi with 85k and no repairs so far. Doesn't go as far on battery only though.

I have a 2013 C-Max. I bought it cheap because the trans was making the typical whining noise. I dropped the trans out, tore it down and found a bunch of bad bearings. Fortunately, the shafts were all good. Replaced the bad parts, reassembled the unit with new filter, an oil pump shaft, and reinstalled it in the car. Now when I turn the key, I get nothing. The stop safely now box comes on the dash. I'm thinking it may be a 12v battery issue, but haven't really gotten into that yet. Would also appreciate any input that other folks might have.