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Went to dealership to test drive but dead battery


buffalofrenchy
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Hi

New member here from Western New York.

Looking at the C-max Energi as the lease prices seem very good and my current lease is up...

I stopped without notice at a dealer yesterday to test drive a C-max but the 12 volt battery was clearly dead or no longer charged.

That was a bummer.

We rescheduled the test drive for later next week.

Since then I have read lots of posts on this forum concerning dead battery issues... wonder if I should be concerned that the actual car I might lease is currently out of service on the dealer lot...

I have read also lots of positive and good things about the car.

This seems to be a great forum.

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Hi buffalofrenchy.  Welcome to the forum.  In my opinion if you have to ask your question, your gut is telling you maybe there is a problem and you should not carry on with that particular dealer and car.  I tend to follow my gut instincts and that has served me well.  Why take a chance when you probably have other dealerships and cars to choose from.  Good luck.  Our SEL has been a keeper.

 

Edit:  My husband has a different view LOL.  He thinks don't sweat the dead battery as it is likely just been sitting on the lot for a long while and does not indicate anything other than a dead battery from sitting.  So you have the yin and yang from our household. 

Edited by Laurel
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It could be that it's been sitting a long time and the battery dyed. My old car hadn't been driven in a month, got in it and the battery was so low that it almost did'nt turn her over and that was while it was still warm out.

Yep!  We call it, lot rot ;) That's died as in dead... Not the color dyed :victory:

Edited by drdiesel1
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Wow!  That was quick.  Congratulations and keep us posted.  What colour is your car?  We will look forward to all your stories.

Welcome to the fold, buffalofrenchy, and glad to see Laurel's asking the important questions... Ice Storm seems quite appropriate for WNY, but I'd steer clear of Platinum or Oxford whites... too easy to be mistaken for a snow drift.

post-1320-0-79387400-1383755097_thumb.jpg

 

Frank

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Thanks all. 

The car is grey.

Day 1 today went very well. I was able to complete almost my entire commute in EV, switching to hybrid mode with about 2 mi to go when driving back home.

My four year old daughter asked me if I forgot to turn the car ON when we left the house this morning.

 

Way to go and thanks for adding your location - now we know what the buffalo means in buffalofrenchy and what kind of winter climate you will be operating in.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Howdy folks,  I'm new to this forum so forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong place.  The "DEAD BATTERY" caught my attention.  I bought a 2013 C-MAX SEL to tow behind my motor home.  I was towing 2011 Ford Edge but my wife has turned into a gas mileage freak and we went with the C_MAX.  Great car for RV towing, more aerodynamic, lighter, and almost as much interior room as the Edge.  I had a problem with the Edge arriving with a dead battery after a 4 or 5 hour tow.  The C-MAX has the same problem.  Apparently Ford products have a heck of a battery drain when the car is left in neutral.  That can be overcome.  Here's a serious problem.  The owners manual indicates that you tow the C-MAX in neutral with the ignition in accessory position.  Great but they didn't realize that if you leave it in accessory the odometer will clock miles while you're towing it.  Not only will it get you to the end of warranty faster, it also totally screws up the MPG history because the car thinks it's getting great mileage, mine was showing 59 mpg.  The C-MAX support folks said the engineers were looking into the problem.  I took the car back to the dealer for some serious talk and the tech got on line with their tech support and the answer came back to shut everything down when you tow (I have a copy of that e-mail in case I need it for future discussions).  With everything shut down the odometer doesn't record the towed miles, but, the car still arrives with a dead battery.  Easy solution, I had to spend $75 for a new RV to car electrical cable.  The connector on the car is a four pin from the 7 blade on the RV.  New cable is a 6 pin with one pin a 12 volt from the rv that connects to the C-MAX battery (via the jump start post under the hood because I haven't laid eyes on the 12 volt battery).  Every one I ask says it's in a rear quarter panel or it's under the storage area.  I'm too old to be sticking my fat head under a car with low ground clearance to find out where it is.  I assume there really is one back there because the dash lights up and the car starts (hope it's a maintenance free battery).

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Thanks all. 

The car is grey.

Day 1 today went very well. I was able to complete almost my entire commute in EV, switching to hybrid mode with about 2 mi to go when driving back home.

My four year old daughter asked me if I forgot to turn the car ON when we left the house this morning.

 

Great to hear you got an Energi.   The cars are nearly identical in most aspects so you'll find a lot of good information here on the hybrid forum but you should also join the Energi specific forum too:  http://fordcmaxenergiforum.com/forum/2-welcome/

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