Jump to content

Nice car - but digital systems incl. MFT/Sync are appallingly bad


fghalasz
 Share

Recommended Posts

Three weeks ago I leased a 2013 C-Max Energi - with high hopes for my first American car in 25 years.   As a car, it drives well and gas mileage is great.  I am getting a little over 52/MPG for my 100-miles per day commute (75% highway) while charging it at home and at the office.  
 
HOWEVER, every digital aspect of this car - including MFT and Sync -  is appallingly bad - not only is it badly designed but even its simplest function don't work reliably.
 
I would believe that I was sold a lemon - but looking at the online forums it appears that many Sync and C-Max owners are experiencing the same reliability problems with Sync, MFT and other digital systems.
 
Here is a list of what's happened in two-plus weeks of driving my C-Max:
 
1,  The clock has gone haywire twice.  I turn the car on on the morning and the clock shows a random time.  I have to reset the clock manually to the right time and then it keeps time correctly (at least for a week),.   Really, even the clock doesn't work reliably?  How can I trust the rest of the features?  
 
2.  My voice commands just stopped working - pulling the voice button does not produce a prompt and will not respond to any voice command.   This all worked just fine for the first 2 weeks and then just stopped. Its clearly a SW problem with Sync given: a) the voice button works since when I pull it, the radio stops and the display shows that it is in vice command mode and b) the microphone and speaker work just fine since voice commands work just fine with Sync Services if I manually start them.  I will reboot/reset to fix.  But again : Really? A regular reboot/reset to keep a basic feature running?

3.  The plug-in charging circuitry fails about 1 in 10 times I plug it in with the supplied 110v charger unit.  Most often the charging ring does not light up when the car is plugged-in.  The car does charge.  To fix the issue you have to unplug the car, start the car, turn it off and then plug it in again.  Sometimes, though, the ring fails to light up AND the car fails to charge.  Fix is the same.   Not a fatal problem - but definitely not what I paid for either!  
 
4. The notification that I've received a call or text over a BT connected phone (Samsung Galaxy S3) is extremely unreliable - about 1 in 3 phone calls and 4 in 5 txts simply do not show up on the displays in the car.   I haven't done any research online on this problem nor have I figured out how to improve the situation.  
 
Doesn't Ford have a quality control department?  I have spent 30 years in the computer industry and I would be ashamed to put out any product with the quality/reliability of the C-Max/Sync/MFT.
 
Mark me, a very unhappy C-Max owner.
 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3500 miles since jan 17th on my Energi!  All works just as FORD said, including MyFord Mobile finally today. MFT, Nav, rear lift hatch, etc works just fine.  Not sure why so many folks are seeming to have problems.  Also, the more miles I pour on, the better the fuel economy gets. Love it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ours works like a charm too (we have navigation and MFT).  We just love the car and the technology --both very reliable so far and we have had our SEL 303A for almost three months.  It must make it very difficult for Ford to find the problems when some of us have systems that work well and some have lemons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

fghalaaz, with respect to the clock issue, if you have Navigation than you can sync the clock to the gps system but otherwise we have to wait for the clock fix from Ford.  I've never experienced your number 2 or number 4 on my iphone4 and can't comment on number 3.

 

One thing I've learned after 42 years about software (began in 1970 with assembly level coding of mini-computers) is it's a product that is virtually always sold with "bugs" in it. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think some cars just don't like certain people, this is my first car that doesn't like me. :cry:

 

Our foot operated liftgate doesn't work for me, worked one time, thought it might be the key fob.

Switched with my wife, she can still get it to open every time.

 

Her fob doesn't work for me either???  :hysterical:

 

wab

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing will get you to use foul language like trying to get a voice command to work. Luckily the other controls are good, so it is less important. Still, it should work in 2013. Speech recognition is not new.

Are you sure you are using a command that the car is programmed to know? 

 

 

Just trying to be helpful :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing will get you to use foul language like trying to get a voice command to work. Luckily the other controls are good, so it is less important. Still, it should work in 2013. Speech recognition is not new.

 

rarely have an issue with voice command, when it did fail it could be attributed to background noise and other people speaking the in the passenger compartment

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...