New Cmax SEL owner

[Bruce Z]

Just wanted to introduce myself to everyone. Purchased our ford cmax sel hybrid two weeks ago and so far love it. Just figuring out all the cool things about it so decided to join the forum for info and tricks. Looking forward to some great fuel economy compared to my last few vehicles with this first foray into a hybrid vehicle. Looking forward to the ford cmax community and learning and sharing any information I can.

 

Cheers,

 

Bruce

[Laurel]

Hi Bruce.  Welcome to the forum.  We have had our SEL since the end of November.  We love it and bought it in Langley.  Ours was the first C-Max they sold and we have yet to see one on the road here in the lower mainland.  We have some good mileage runs at 4.6 L and some bad ones --most of the bad ones seem to be short distance before the car warms up.  Our life time average is 6.4 L--not horrible but not great.  We've only had about a week of really warm weather and cranked on our air conditioning and our mileage plummeted.  So we now keep it set at 22C and that really helps.  I will be interested to see how your mileage is since you are in Kamloops i.e. hills and very hot summer weather where you will need good AC and cold winters.  We do notice that when we take longer runs in the car i.e. White Rock where we live to Chilliwack our mileage is around 5 L to 5.4 L.   It is quite interesting to find how mileage varies.  I thought we would be ideal candidates for good mileage i.e. short little trips around White Rock.  But that seems to yield the worst mileage.  Nice to see another Canadian on the forum.  We are few and far between.  We have Ryan in his Energi in Chilliwack and Roggie and his SEL in Montreal, and me in Vancouver.  We have Ice Storm --same as you. 

[Bruce Z]

Thanks for the reply Laurel. I think we are the third one sold in Kamloops by our dealership and we have one other ford dealership that may have sold some also. So as you say there are not many others around so far. The ones sold here are white and red according to our dealership. Right now I am getting 5.8 L with my trips too and from work. I travel daily from Kamloops to Logan Lake for work so quite the trip uphill on the Coqihalla. I sure have tried to vary my driving to suit the hybrid and see what kind of mileage we can get. Only have 950 kms on it so far so not quite over the break in period. We are loving it so far and learning more and more about it daily. Hope the forum is a great learning and sharing tool and that I can gain some insight in tips for better mileage. I was just on the Island for a holiday and only managed to see one and it was on the back of a large car hauler. At first we had our eye on a Candy Blue but when our dealership called to get it sent up to kamloops from lower mainland it was already sold so we got the ice storm instead.

 

Cheers,

 

Bruce

[Laurel]

My husband wanted Candy Blue, but I wanted the Ice Storm.  I think the Ice Storm is nice, but it is a touch bland.  We ordered the colour sight unseen.  Knock on wood everything has worked well on our car including the old  navigation.  The last time I was on the Coquihalla I was coming back from Calgary after farm sitting for a month last August.  I drove straight through to White Rock from Okotoks.  Just me and my dog Tinker.  It was so darned hot I could hardly stand it when I left the air conditioned car to walk Tink or get gas.  I remember laughing in Kamloops when I let Tink out for a little walk and she took a few steps and turned around and sneered at me.  The sneer stayed on her face til we got to the coast. LOL. It sure can get hot up your way.

[Bruce Z]

Yes Hot is one word for it, but I love it and wouldn't trade it for the wet of the coast. Have family down in the Lower Mainland so it is nice place to visit but couldn't pay me enough to live there. We also got the Ice storm sight unseen only from having seen it online at the ford website. We have come to like it even if as you say it is a little bland at times. 

 

Cheers,

 

Bruce

[roninsd]

BruceZ, congratulations on your new car.  Glad you are enjoying it as much as most of us are.  Lots of good info on this forum.

Laurel: another Canadian C-Maxer:  wahoo!  :happy feet: You are not alone!

[Adair]

Welcome to the Forum BruceZ! You came to the right place for info about your car. If you don't find the answer to a particular question in all the forum selections, don't hesitate to ask. We are a friendly bunch and love to talk up our cars.

[GreenChicago]

Welcome to the forum! I, too, have been owned by a C-MAX SEL for about 2 weeks and am soaking up the wealth of info on this board. Enjoy your new drive!

[ScubaDadMiami]

The Forum grows!  :hi5:

[Bruce Z]

Thanks for the welcome everyone hope I can add to the forum and be as helpful as you have all been so far.

 

Cheers,

 

Bruce

[rrbote]

Hi, I just got my new 2013 C-Max Blue Candy on Jun 1, 2013 from one of the dealership here in Vancouver.  So far, I love my C-Max only thing is that I got some minor issues like the shifter needs to be changed as there was a rattling sound underneath it. And I was informed only after I got it, that somebody smashed the tail light and back window causing the liftgate to be always ajar and also affected the electronic module at the backdoor.  I was not happy about it and have asked the dealership to replace it with a brand new one but they say they can't anymore and instead gave me a 2 year (40K)free maintenance) plus a free remote start and cargo organizer.  They fixed all the issues at the liftgate including the electronic module, and still waiting for the new parts to replace the shifter.  Apart from that, I love the car, only discomfort that I have is that I felt cheated coz of the hidden story of the back door and the shifter issue. Fuel economy is good and I observed that battery kicks-in when a gradual speed upto 45-55km/hr.  This is awesome and really save a lot of gas.  On may way to work from Vancouver to Surrey, I am averaging a 20.8 km/L so this is really something that I am very happy about.  I would be happy to hear any comment (that though I have those issues with the brand new car) if I really got a good deal by agreeing to get the car with those maintenance packages and freebees knowing that some minor issues exists though can be addressed by the free maintenance.

 

Thanks,

rrb

[ScubaDadMiami]

Welcome aboard!  :) You might consider seeing an attorney about investigating the sale of a car to you without prior disclosure of the issues, especially if it was sold to you as a new car.

[METROMAN]

My wife bought a brand new 1980 Mustang. Roof got scratched somehow on the transport truck. Dealer offered to repaint the roof & make it "good as new". Wife accepted it & was happy with it for about 5 years. After that the repaired area faded like crazy & stuck out like a sore thumb. Had to repaint the whole car. Was a great car, zero problems. Would never knowingly do it again on a brand new car unless the $$$  were heavily discounted. Of course paint & procedures / repairs have probably changed a lot since then.

[JohnnOhio]

Welcome aboard

 

I've had my Silver SEL since March. No problems at all. I have been getting 46.5 to 49 mpg's on my 35 mile freeway trips to and from work at 70 mph. Have had as high as 60mpg on back roads and 2 lane highways at 55. Just wait until you get yours broken in with the warm weather now you can easily get these numbers to.

 

Any questions just ask. This site is the place to be when you need info on your new c max. Everyone is real helpful.

 

Enjoy your baby.

[Bruce Z]

Its been a little while owning the C Max and have 3 fill ups under my belt and loving the car. It makes the drive to work awesome. I think the car you got rrbote is the one we saw on our search at our dealership in kamloops, but once we tried to get it shipped up here it was already sold. I think I'm glad we got the ice storm and not the candy blue like we had wanted now knowing of the damage. I really wish Ford would think about changing how their inventory search works. If a car has a sale pending it shouldn't be that hard to mark it as such in their inventory list and that way you do not get your hopes up when they say they found your car in another dealership then come back to tell you it is already sold. Can't be that hard to mark it as pending sale or sold on inventory list and if deal falls through then switch it back to available. Just my thoughts, maybe it is harder than it sounds. I hope everyone is enjoying their C Max as much as my wife and I are. With the summer sun coming soon the moon roof will be a hit.

 

Cheers,

 

Bruce

[Laurel]

Hi, I just got my new 2013 C-Max Blue Candy on Jun 1, 2013 from one of the dealership here in Vancouver.  So far, I love my C-Max only thing is that I got some minor issues like the shifter needs to be changed as there was a rattling sound underneath it. And I was informed only after I got it, that somebody smashed the tail light and back window causing the liftgate to be always ajar and also affected the electronic module at the backdoor.  I was not happy about it and have asked the dealership to replace it with a brand new one but they say they can't anymore and instead gave me a 2 year (40K)free maintenance) plus a free remote start and cargo organizer.  They fixed all the issues at the liftgate including the electronic module, and still waiting for the new parts to replace the shifter.  Apart from that, I love the car, only discomfort that I have is that I felt cheated coz of the hidden story of the back door and the shifter issue. Fuel economy is good and I observed that battery kicks-in when a gradual speed upto 45-55km/hr.  This is awesome and really save a lot of gas.  On may way to work from Vancouver to Surrey, I am averaging a 20.8 km/L so this is really something that I am very happy about.  I would be happy to hear any comment (that though I have those issues with the brand new car) if I really got a good deal by agreeing to get the car with those maintenance packages and freebees knowing that some minor issues exists though can be addressed by the free maintenance.

 

Thanks,

rrb

Welcome rrbote.  We are neighbours as we live in the South Surrey/White Rock area.  We bought a SEL Ice Storm last November and are happy with it.  Our life time mileage is 5.3 L per 100 kilometers.  No problems so far (knocking on wood).  I would not be happy with the dealership about hiding those issues from you--almost sounds like your car was in an accident to cause those kind of issues versus someone breaking the back window.  Did you buy it as a new car, demo, or used?  I agree with Adair about checking with a lawyer about whether they have violated your contract and perhaps did not disclose an accident which is required by law in British Columbia.  An accident would include someone ramming into it on the dealer's lot.  I think you need to go back to the dealer and have a conversation about what the heck gives. Also I would be inclined to have BCAA check the frame of your car to inspect for undisclosed damage. 

I just looked at our sales contract and the dealer has to disclose  1) has the vehicle sustained damage costing $2000 or more --yes or no 2) the dealer declares with respect to a new vehicle that the vehicle has never sustained damage requiring more than 20% of the asking price of the car.   The damage to your car was obviously over the $2000 .

 

I think that if you are assertive they should agree to give you a new car.  You can always involve Lynda Steele on BCTV to investigate and talk to the dealership about your issue.  She is great and gets immediate action.

Edited June 27, 2013 by Laurel

[salsaguy]

most likely they don't show "pending sale" on the website because they DO want you to come in and check it out and try to get a higher bid or tell you it's sold and then bait/switch you to get a different car.

 

if they don't get you on their lot they have no chance at a sale (big fat commission) but once your on the lot they have a fighting chance, especially if the customer is weak and clueless.

 

No one ever said a dealer has YOUR best interests in mind. if you believe that... forget it," cuz you be dreaming fool. "  :)

Edited June 27, 2013 by salsaguy

[Laurel]

After paying about $35,000 for our C-Max, I have to say I am shocked at the indifference and lack of communication from our dealership.  We have never had a follow-up phone call from the dealership asking how we like the car or if we have any problems.  When I have gone in to inquire about the updates and have them check for updates they have twice said "you will get a letter in the mail from Ford Canada concerning the upgrades.  Come back for the upgrades when you get the letter."  No letter has ever  come.  I had to write to Ford Canada to ask about the upgrades and they said they do apply to my car and they will intervene if the dealer doesn't have info. about them.  The dealership was  polite when we booked our first servicing, but any question I had, I had to pry info. out of them.  C-Maxes are not selling in our area and if our experience is any example, one can see why people aren't buying C-Maxes here.  When we go in for our October servicing, I will ask to speak with the Manager of the dealership and give him my experiences (not that he will care obviously).  In some ways I hate to do that as some of it reflects on our salesman i.e. lack of follow-up, and I don't want to jeopardize his job.  When we first started looking at the C-Max, we had a sales person who was a bright light and knew all about the C-Max.  She quit and moved onto another car maker before we put our order in.  It was all indifference from that point on. The economy is not good here lately so one would think they would bust their butts to be helpful to generate business.

 

My husband is totally disgusted with the quality of service.  He sold his Lexus and he was used to almost subservient over the top service from them.  They would pick up his car for servicing and drop it off.  They sent him coupons for free service, serve him lattes if he had to go in, robo call reminders to go in for service etc.  I felt uncomfortable with their over the top  methods, but I have to say I miss it now and can understand why my husband is so choked with Ford.  We have gone from 5 star service to 1 star service. Husbsand thinks I was too harsh with 1 star as the salesman smiles and says hello when we go in LOL.  Okay I will bump it up to 2 stars but 3 would be too generous.

Edited June 27, 2013 by Laurel

[roninsd]

Laurel,

You finally have a C-Max neighbor!  Congrats.

 

I just got my letter last week for the Sync upgrade.  Haven't had time to go in yet.

 

I just got an email from my the saleswoman who sold me my car, just to check in (I think a "robo-email" but it WAS personalized. :)  "My" service manager was very friendly when I was introduced to him when I picked up my car, and the one time I had to take it in for some service.  I guess what I'm saying is that each dealership will be different.  But I would THINK that Ford would like to be kept aware of problems dealing with its people.

 

rrbote: since you have the car in your possession, I'm assuming you accepted their offer.  I don't know if I would have, but it sounds as though everything is working as it should (except for the awaited gear shift).  Hope that continues for you!