Ford C-max least reliable car in America (Says CR)

[C-MaxSea]

Are you Swedish LOL?

 

Oui oui, and my real name is Posselius Dionysius Chenon.

[DaveofDurham]

Oui oui, and my real name is Posselius Dionysius Chenon.

 

Are you friends with the Swedish Chef?   He also drives a Fjord.

 

[Muttonhead]

CR says that owners rated the vehicle as unreliable. Yet, when you go out and check different reviews of the vehicle, it gets high marks. I attached a link for Edmunds review. I also found a review by Yahoo Autos, where it received high marks. Why does the Fusion get such high marks, and they can't keep them on the lots. Wouldn't they be considered unreliable according to Consumer Reports?  They pretty much have the same Hybrid system and My Ford Touch. Just makes me wonder....

 

http://www.edmunds.com/ford/c-max-hybrid/2013/

[csavage7]

I don't dislike my C-Max, but for a brand-new car it has spent a lot of time in the repair shop. Problems include:

 

1. The interior panel of the driver-side door falling off, which had to be replaced

2. A faulty GPS module that had to be replaced

3. Discovery of a large dead moth floating around inside one of the rear taillights, which had to be replaced

4. The MSFT Sync system freezing up with the radio turned on, etc, several times, requiring fuse-pulls to fix, until the recall upgrade fixed it

5. The hands-free hatch liftgate sensor not working and needing to be replaced

6. The various recalls

7. Plus, of course, the 47 combined mpg lie - a different category to be sure

 

But that adds up to being a pretty unreliable new car. Hopefully it's all tip-top now, but it's hard to quarrel with Consumer Reports' assessment. 

[C-MaxSea]

Are you friends with the Swedish Chef?   He also drives a Fjord.

 

265px-Hot_wheels_sc2.jpg

 

You should see me make Linguine Ai Fruitti Di Mare - oh, wait that's Italian !

[zhackwyatt]

Our own little poll doesn't agree w/ CR either:

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/1820-my-ford-touch-poll/?hl=poll

[ScubaDadMiami]

Things like the system not coming back on at the previous settings when I restart the car. 

You need to turn off the Auto setting.  Most of the time, I have my interior set to 73F, with Recirculate active.  The only thing I change is fan speed.  I never have a problem with the issue that you mention.

[FoutsNC]

This is a first year car for Ford that has MFT for most of the built vehicles sold.  The MFT is what puts it overboard on the rankings.  I think most of us can admit that the MFT does have some issues and some training curves.  As for the car, I think the reliability is on par with any other first year release of this kind.  Just look at the Volt or Prius in their first years.

 

As for Consumer Reports and bias, we need to first understand that EVERY organization has bias of some sort.  To say that your rankings are completely unbiased would be a complete lie.  I had a CR subscription for many years until I found that their rankings didn't match up with my experiences or with online reviews from many others.  I would rather use word of mouth from many sources nowadays and just understand that there will always be a bias.  This way I am not paying a company to lie to me.  If you don't think they are biased on vehicles still, go to Google Maps and pull up the street view for the parking lot for 101 Truman Avenue Yonkers, NY 10703.  That is the Consumer Reports Headquarters.  Across from the building you will see the employee parking lot.  Take count of how many Domestic vehicles you can find in the parking lot.  I found 2 (Both Dodge products) before I got bored.  What I did see was a large number of Honda, Nissan, and Subaru, in comparison with national averages.  Just like us, writers are going to have a little bias to what they are familiar with if they enjoy it. 

 

Let's see if they give a better review to the 2014 after the tweaks made, or if they correct their MPG statements after testing with the FE updates.  Then they might gain some credit with me again.

[zhackwyatt]

You need to turn off the Auto setting.  Most of the time, I have my interior set to 73F, with Recirculate active.  The only thing I change is fan speed.  I never have a problem with the issue that you mention.

Mine is always on Auto, never had this problem except for when I had my remote start changed out.  They had to reprogram some stuff again when I got the new remote start and worked fine ever since.

[DaveofDurham]

You need to turn off the Auto setting.  Most of the time, I have my interior set to 73F, with Recirculate active.  The only thing I change is fan speed.  I never have a problem with the issue that you mention.

 

SDM -

 

I don't use the Auto setting.  I do sometimes see unusual behavior of the climate system.

 

[re the Auto setting - I think Auto is turned on when the Auto button is pressed and then "AUTO" appears on the small climate screen.  Pressing other buttons, e.g., one of the air directional buttons such as the one that directs air to the floor, makes "AUTO" disappear from the small climate screen which I have always presumed was an indication that Auto is turned off.  Am I missing something about turning Auto off?]

Edited October 30, 2013 by DaveofDurham

[drdiesel1]

SDM -

 

I don't use the Auto setting.  I do sometimes see unusual behavior of the climate system.

 

[re the Auto setting - I think Auto is turned on when the Auto button is pressed and then "AUTO" appears on the small climate screen.  Pressing other buttons, e.g., one of the air directional buttons such as the one that directs air to the floor, makes "AUTO" disappear from the small climate screen which I have always presumed was an indication that Auto is turned off.  Am I missing something about turning Auto off?]

Nope. That will turn off the auto mode. It deactivates auto mode and turns it into manual mode.

 

Even changing the fan speeds will deactive auto mode. Auto mode is controlled by the temp setting. Anything else

is manaul mode.

Edited October 30, 2013 by drdiesel1

[Jmonty]

Wow.

 

I'm happy with the car but the only issue I've had is the battery dying for seemingly no reason. Once a door was left open slightly but another time I saw no reason. I just had to get a set of 20 ft jumper cables because if I'm head first in my garage there's no way (cheap & quick) to charge the battery

[mrobinso8]

There is no reason that a person should have to worry about a car starting.  If it has warranty it should be used for starting problems so that the builder of the car has a financial incentive to find a fix for the problem.  Jumping the car yourself, while quicker than Ford's service, does not give them an incentive to fix the underlying problem.  I for one, get very upset when I go to my car and it is dead.  I myself and getting sick of the battery problems and Ford saying a usb thumb drive is killing the car.

[wab]

There is no reason that a person should have to worry about a car starting.  If it has warranty it should be used for starting problems so that the builder of the car has a financial incentive to find a fix for the problem.  Jumping the car yourself, while quicker than Ford's service, does not give them an incentive to fix the underlying problem.  I for one, get very upset when I go to my car and it is dead.  I myself and getting sick of the battery problems and Ford saying a usb thumb drive is killing the car.

 

"Ford saying a usb thumb drive is killing the car."

 

Is this new?

We haven't had any battery issues on our sel, and we do leave the USB plugged in all the time.

[Wingrider01]

CR collects a lot of data points from their subscribers and I think the MFT problems hit the C-Max especially hard leading to this rating, although I don't know why the Energi got picked except with its fewer sales it probably had the higher per capita score.

 

key word "subscribers" - NOT subscribers that actually own the product in question. Would not trust anything that that rag has published, many years back when I did trust them they reported the car seat I paid a lot of money for when my daughter needed one failed all the tests, not withstanding that the NHSTA passed it with flying colors, I trusted them and got rid of it - a month latter it was reported in the news that CR used the wrong testing requirements for the seats and they withdrew the article. A CR report and "survey" is only good for one thing - lining the bottom a bird cage - if the bird agrees

[Jus-A-CMax]

"Ford saying a usb thumb drive is killing the car."

 

Is this new?

We haven't had any battery issues on our sel, and we do leave the USB plugged in all the time.

Same here, usb drive is fine.  SEL here

[C-MaxSea]

"Ford saying a usb thumb drive is killing the car."

 

Is this new?

We haven't had any battery issues on our sel, and we do leave the USB plugged in all the time.

 

Ditto here, thumb drive in 24/7 - no problems.

 

('Knock on wood')

Edited November 1, 2013 by C-MaxSea

[cmaxguy]

I've had 12 dealer visits and gone without my cmax for 49 days in just about 10 months and I still have problems that need fixing as well as a problem Ford refuses to fix. I would say consumer reports is spot on.

[C-MaxSea]

I am sorry to hear of your Energi / C-Max issues Cmaxguy, and I think that goes for all of us here.  We certainly would hope your buy-back proceeds well. 

 

Keep in mind that this is the hybrid forum, so we are not necessarily familiar with Energi specific issues. 

 

Also please keep in mind that many of us are surviving / thriving well with our first year C-Maxes.  It is a very complex vehicle, and first year models of this complexity are challenges for all car companies.  Many of our dealer visits are to be expected for a first year car.  I've been in for service only three times, two oil changes and one 'update' trip.  By combining things it has been exceedingly smooth.  Yes, perhaps I am one of the lucky ones having a great dealership - I enjoy visiting them.

 

Also remember that CR is dealing with comparative data from limited sources.  Yes they may be "spot on" with something, or some things, but car ownership is much more than just that.

 

Again, my sympathies, and I hope your buy back goes well,

 

Regards,

 

Nck

Edited November 1, 2013 by C-MaxSea

[cmaxguy]

I realize this is a first year vehicle and a first year for this technology - but BUT - this is what I teach my young children: Everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes are a part of life. Don't get hung up on the mistake itself because making a mistake isn't what defines you - how you handle that mistake and learn and grow from it is what defines you. Ford needs to take some lessons on Customer relations and doing what is right. That's my whole beef. I absolutely LOVED my CMAX when I first got it and the car worked. I waited 3 months for my CMAX delivery with great anticipation. But my entire customer experience and vehicle quality has been horrible at best. Ford could care less about doing what is right. It is obvious they live through the eyes of their lawyers and don't see the people right in front of them - and that saddens me.

[Jus-A-CMax]

That suxs cmaxguy, sorry to hear your issues.  Part of these issues may be dealer related. We know there are atrocious ones out there. In regards to Ford Motor..let me say this and I don't work for Ford, they conducted an Irvine pow wow where they brought in over 100 cmax owners ( my estimate) as well as over 50+ of their engineers. Never heard or seen another motor company do that.  They did the same for the FFH. While I I have NDAs in place, I have been passing on my experiences and also issues with our CMaxs. One meet was interesting in that other models have similar issues and also dealer service issues.  Let's face it some dealership are NOT prepared for updateable cars eg needing wired internet vs wifi, bandwidth issues?

 

So what does this mean for troubled owners right now...nothing as Ford is a giant ship that takes a span of ocean to turn. I myself gave had gos issues and it took galpin and Ford techies 3 days to finally replace my gps module and a sone other days off for past pcm updates such as 13b07. I hold no grudge against galpin or ford. My Jaguar takes a a week or 2 for some issues also...may be when it comes to cars, I don't need my instant gratification. 

 

And before someone jumps on me for this post for not understanding what its like to own a lemon, I owned a very expensive XJ8 Jaguar with over 20+ dealer fixes and it was a lemon...but I did not go off my my tree because Galpin & Jaguar took care if us and the car each time. We bought 2 more Jaguars subsequent. Importance of finding a great dealer that still has customer service ad their #1 goal.

Edited November 2, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax

[wab]

This seems to be just like that lady that testified before congress about the "Affordable Care Act"

Congressman: Mrs ..... did you log in and set up a your account before it went public.

Mrs ....: uh I setup an account so I could see stuff.

Congressman: Mrs ..... LET ME ASK YOU one more time, did you log in and set up your own personal account before it went public.

Mrs ....: uh un uh no

　

 

Customer: Mr Ford did you drive or have any C-Max driv/driven before selling them?

 

Mr Ford: uh a committee reviewed a cmax

 

Customer: LET ME ASK YOU one more time, did you test the cmax?

 

Mr Ford: uh uh a couple of mail room employees took some home for the weekend, they said they liked them.

 

NOTE to MR. FORD: Step out of your office point your finger straight out do a 360* turn while YELLING "YOU stop what YOU are doing and FIX THIS PROBLEM!!"

[drdiesel1]

The new Ford App :love_shower:

 

[Phil1336]

Same here, usb drive is fine.  SEL here

So far, no problems to date with our C-Max SE.  if the issues are related to a "usb thumb drive" being plugged in all the time, I might be safe.  Don`t know what the device (is/does) nor where the "port" is to be plugged into.  Sometimes ignorance (is) bliss.

[DaveofDurham]

The new Ford App :love_shower:

 

Untitled-2.jpg

 

Is this for the Energi only?  If so, how about a similar app for the hybrids?