dkashlee Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 HI Everyone, I'm new about to buy a C-MAX and wondering what your thoughts and experiences are to the owners of the base MyFord Sync system? I've been scanning up and down the pages of the forums and not much is talked bout with the base unit. I'm worried about getting the touch system kind of slow when I used it at the dealership. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asb Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 The Touch system has a lot of quirks, and there is a huge learning curve with it. I like it, and I hate it. I miss having buttons to push. I think the bottom line for me is how much can you pay? I love the CMax, but my father bought the car for me. If I paid for it myself, I would have to get the base model, and I'm sure I would still love it. My biggest reason for getting the Touch was to have navigation. I do a lot of driving to new locations for work, and I gave my Garmin to my Dad. Being practical, I first said no to Navigation because I can use my phone through the blue tooth for that. However, when I actually did have to use my phone with rental cars, I discovered that it is nearly impossible to set up while driving and can take five minutes to get the satellite. The car Nav is a lot easier! The only true negative I see to having the Touch is that I can only get the rear camera with the SEL, and I didn't want leather seats. Bottom line, I have a love/hate relationship with MFT. But all the things I actually use it for, I can do without needing the Touch system. So, I would classify it as a Nice-to-Have and not a necessity. Just know that there are lots of problems with sync. It's not user-friendly until you conform to how it wants you to use it. And I think that MFT causes you to take your eyes off the road more than I ever did with a 'regular' car. But I love how the C-Max handles. It's truly a great car to drive. And it's fun whether you have the base model or the fully loaded model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhackwyatt Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 For me, I would much rather have My Ford Touch than not. I've had a few quirks, and problems with slowness have mainly been associated with the Navigation. Is it perfect? No. Is it as good as it should be? No. I also don't believe I take my eyes off the road more. If anything, I take them off to look at the Empower display gauge more than anything. It has a learning curve, but I wouldn't call it huge, and the only thing I find user unfriendly is entering navigation destinations via the touchscreen can be a pain, but most of the time I just use voice. I guess my point is, is you will never get a consensus on MFT. Now the base sync, on the other hand, has been around longer than MFT. Its pretty much all voice controlled. I have no experience with Non-MFT in the C-Max but have used sync not too long after it first came out and found it worked just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotPotato Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 HI Everyone, I'm new about to buy a C-MAX and wondering what your thoughts and experiences are to the owners of the base MyFord Sync system? I've been scanning up and down the pages of the forums and not much is talked bout with the base unit. I'm worried about getting the touch system kind of slow when I used it at the dealership. Thank you! I have the SE with the base "Sync with MyFord" (SMF) setup, instead of MyFord Touch (MFT). There are pluses and minuses to both. Pluses of SMF:1. Does not crash like MFT (rarely will forget how to do something within the first 60 seconds of startup, but self-recovers).2. Responds faster than MFT.3. Clock maintains correct time unlike MFT.4. Screen is in a safer line-of-sight location than MFT -- at the base of the windshield so you can keep your eyes on the road.5. Only SMF offers AppLink to integrate selected smartphone apps into Sync -- which is FANTASTIC if you like Pandora radio as I do. Minuses of SMF:1. The menus are still awful and unintuitive -- you're just cursing while pressing softkeys instead of cursing while pressing the screen. So you'll likely end up using voice commands...and MFT recognizes more voice commands than SMF does (though still nothing remotely approaching natural language recognition).2. Sync Services are free for 3 years with MFT, but cost $60 a year with SMF if you want to subscribe.3. With MFT, not only do you get a bigger screen, but also your right-hand instrument panel screen can show more things than with SMF -- like keeping your Sync Services turn by turn directions visible all the time.4. SMF does not offer the option to upgrade to Sony audio. The base 6 speaker system offered with both SMF and MFT is OK, but the Sony upgrade for MFT sounds better. So I guess it's kind of a draw...but if I had to do it again with more money to spend this time, I'd go MFT with Sony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtorres Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 I have MFT because I wanted the built in Nav. However aftermarket dash kits are available for the Focus with SMF but not MFT. I suspect the same will happen with the CMax and those with SMF will be able to use aftermarket radios while those with MFT will not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotPotato Posted March 15, 2013 Report Share Posted March 15, 2013 Yeah, dtorres, I went around a few times about that one too. Ultimately figured I'd save the $, stick with SMF and do a Proclip mount for my iphone. It works great -- the phone's home button falls right to hand, so I can talk to Siri any time to ask for navigation directions, dictate text messages etc. Gotta post pix of that when I can borrow someone else's phone to take a pic of my phone in its mount. :) I'm hoping an upgraded pair of tweeters will bring my stock stereo up to snuff. It's not bad at all, just not all I'd like it to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatAutGuy Posted March 15, 2013 Report Share Posted March 15, 2013 Please post some pics - I have a c-max with SMF, and I'm thinking about getting the Proclip mounts, but would like an idea of what it actually looks like in the car. Yeah, dtorres, I went around a few times about that one too. Ultimately figured I'd save the $, stick with SMF and do a Proclip mount for my iphone. It works great -- the phone's home button falls right to hand, so I can talk to Siri any time to ask for navigation directions, dictate text messages etc. Gotta post pix of that when I can borrow someone else's phone to take a pic of my phone in its mount. :) I'm hoping an upgraded pair of tweeters will bring my stock stereo up to snuff. It's not bad at all, just not all I'd like it to be. HotPotato 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhackwyatt Posted March 15, 2013 Report Share Posted March 15, 2013 (edited) I posted this in another topic but I bought the pro clip mounts that clip onto the center console, not the vents. Edited March 15, 2013 by zhackwyatt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotPotato Posted March 25, 2013 Report Share Posted March 25, 2013 (edited) <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="ThatAutGuy" data-cid="12351" data-time="1363331032"><p>Please post some pics - I have a c-max with SMF, and I'm thinking about getting the Proclip mounts, but would like an idea of what it actually looks like in the car.</p></blockquote> OK, ThatAutGuy, here you go. Anyone wondering how to mount their smartphone close at hand ought to check out ProClip's setup for the C-Max. I'm using their dash mount and it works great to keep my iPhone always close at hand for navigation etc. When using the Maps app, the next-turn directions are easily in sight at the top of the screen. When I want to talk to Siri (to find a gas station, specify an address I want directions to, dictate a text message, etc.) I just push the Home button to summon her over the car's Bluetooth connection. You need not give up any functionality just because you didn't spring for the nav. Edited March 25, 2013 by HotPotato Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asb Posted March 25, 2013 Report Share Posted March 25, 2013 I think this is a great idea, and I thought of it for myself as well. But I don't have an iPhone and my phone does not function as well as an iPhone. I tried all this out with rentals before buying. If I were able to afford a phone that functioned this well, I certainly wouldn't buy a car that duplicated all the services. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotPotato Posted March 26, 2013 Report Share Posted March 26, 2013 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="asb" data-cid="13180" data-time="1364200117"><p>I think this is a great idea, and I thought of it for myself as well. But I don't have an iPhone and my phone does not function as well as an iPhone. I tried all this out with rentals before buying. <br /><br />If I were able to afford a phone that functioned this well, I certainly wouldn't buy a car that duplicated all the services.</p></blockquote> ASB, many non-smartphones offer a Navigator turn-by-turn nav service through the carrier (Verizon etc.). Works great! Uses arrows & text instead of maps. Costs a couple bucks per use, or you can subscribe. Or, you can subscribe to Ford's Sync Services and get directions from them - same deal, voice+text+arrows but on your car's center screen instead of your phone screen. You don't need a data plan; Ford built a dial-up modem into the car that automatically downloads data over your phone's voice connection! Takes a few minutes rather than a few seconds, but works great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asb Posted March 26, 2013 Report Share Posted March 26, 2013 I do have a smart phone and while I was spending a whole lot of time in rentals, I used it to navigate. However, it took forever to get set up. I would often find my location before the phone could hook up to a satellite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatAutGuy Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="ThatAutGuy" data-cid="12351" data-time="1363331032"><p>Please post some pics - I have a c-max with SMF, and I'm thinking about getting the Proclip mounts, but would like an idea of what it actually looks like in the car.</p></blockquote> OK, ThatAutGuy, here you go. Anyone wondering how to mount their smartphone close at hand ought to check out ProClip's setup for the C-Max. I'm using their dash mount and it works great to keep my iPhone always close at hand for navigation etc. When using the Maps app, the next-turn directions are easily in sight at the top of the screen. When I want to talk to Siri (to find a gas station, specify an address I want directions to, dictate a text message, etc.) I just push the Home button to summon her over the car's Bluetooth connection. You need not give up any functionality just because you didn't spring for the nav.Thanks for posting this! Quick question, from browsing ProClip's website it looks like they have mounts either with a cable attachment included or without - which one did you end up getting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotPotato Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 I got the one without the cable attachment. It's cheaper, I already had a spare cable, it won't be obsolete when I upgrade to a newer phone with a different connector, and it's actually easier to stick a cable in each time than to align the phone with a fixed connector -- I've had both kinds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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