MY CMAX is a lemon

[dmk2000]

C-Max lover ~ I assumed you've already read the forum's "Batteries" topic section - if not, you'll find helpful posts there.

JMHO, but a face-to-face visit with your service dept. manager might be called for - copies of those posts in hand. Sounds like they could use the advice!

Unfortunately, using this tactic can backfire. When giving suggestion to service department mechanics you might clash with their ego. It is like "who the heck are you to tell me what to do?". That said perhaps tech in your dealership might have open mind for an outside help. Good Luck.

[Kelleytoons]

I think you're right, but it's in how you approach it.  When I called the service department for a problem I had I was able to quote the two TSBs posted here relevant to the problem and said something along the lines of "I think perhaps if you just apply these it will fix it" and the tech not only listened but was really happy for the info (he asked me to repeat the numbers slowly so he could write them down).

 

It fixed my own particular problem (no, not a battery one, sorry) but I suspect if you try a little friendly "we're in this together" approach you can get them on your side (they *want* to solve problems, just not be told they aren't competent).

[kostby]

Sexism rears it's ugly head.

 

Many of us old men hate to listen… "Yes dear"

 

In my experience, unless there is a woman service writer, or woman co-owner, women always face a HUGE problem when taking their cars to any type of service facility for anything.

 

Men of a certain age (6-years-and-up), absolutely hate to be told (informed, advised, reminded) anything about how to fix anything when that information comes from a woman, be it their wife, girlfriend, daughter, mother, mother-in-law, up to and including, "female customer at the dealership".

Any boy or man can give them the identical info in the same way, and will usually be listened-to, at least by the second time.

 

Footnote: My wife has always refused to take 'her' car to any local repair facilities.

The one facility where she (justifiably) trusted their advice and always felt unthreatened was in the next town where she lived before we were married. Unfortunately, they closed years ago.

[MomsHugs]

Unfortunately, using this tactic can backfire. When giving suggestion to service department mechanics you might clash with their ego. It is like "who the heck are you to tell me what to do?". That said perhaps tech in your dealership might have open mind for an outside help. Good Luck.

 

Of course treating people with respect is the best course of action in all situations. Example -- Within 3 wks of buying a new Ford Probe, I felt the transmission 'give' whenever I slowly turned a corner. Twice the service dept. said they couldn't find anything wrong after hooking it up to a computer for diagnostic tests. When I took it back in the 3rd week, I asked to speak to the dept. manager & explained the problem might become ever more serious, leading to a Lemon Law complaint. He agreed to drive it to figure out what was wrong & quickly realized the problem as well as the likely cause. A major transmission bolt was stripped when installed & they replaced it under warranty. Btw... the manager came from a BMW dealership.

[MomsHugs]

Kostby ~ You're right about boys/men not listening to girls/women... until she 'growls' at them & then they do so begrudgingly. On the other hand, I have found that most men do respond positively to women who can easily manipulate them.  ;) 

 

I've worked with many men who came to respect my knowledge &/or willingness to learn mechanical problems to find workable solutions. However, I've encountered many women who have not been so respectful.

Just hate to run into those insecure, ego-driven PEOPLE who walk amongst us everywhere all the time.   :gaah:

Cheers ~ Eve

[MomsHugs]

CMax lover ~ Hope the dealer called back & sent help today. Let us know what happened. Cheers ~ MomsHugs/Eve

[MomsHugs]

Full disclosure: My brother was a Ford Service Advisor in the Midwest for many years & is a Ford man all the way. His son-in-law was a Ford mechanic & is now a Service Advisor. A close friend's daughter is an Automotive Engineer with Ford. You might think I would have asked their advice about the C-Max, but I did not.

 

I read MotorTrend, Car Connection, etc. & posts in this forum (12V failures almost convinced me to buy Toyota's Prius V instead). I also read CR's 2014 Auto summary, but CR surveys did not influence my reasoning/decision since they are based upon outdated data.

 

After a few months of research, driving both cars convinced me I would be happier with the 2014 C-Max SEL - believing battery problems should be corrected. Sure hope I'm right about that!

[Cmax lover]

Full disclosure: My brother was a Ford Service Advisor in the Midwest for many years & is a Ford man all the way. His son-in-law was a Ford mechanic & is now a Service Advisor. A close friend's daughter is an Automotive Engineer with Ford. You might think I would have asked their advice about the C-Max, but I did not.

 

I read MotorTrend, Car Connection, etc. & posts in this forum (12V failures almost convinced me to buy Toyota's Prius V instead). I also read CR's 2014 Auto summary, but CR surveys did not influence my reasoning/decision since they are based upon outdated data.

 

After a few months of research, driving both cars convinced me I would be happier with the 2014 C-Max SEL - believing battery problems should be corrected. Sure hope I'm right about that!

MomsHugs......Do you have a dead battery problem in your 2014?  I'm behind in reading all the posts!!!

[ptjones]

It would appear that very few percentage wise of CMAX's have the battery problem. :)

 

Paul

[MomsHugs]

MomsHugs......Do you have a dead battery problem in your 2014?  I'm behind in reading all the posts!!!

 

No, but IIRC from your first post, you didn't either until your 2013 had over 8000 miles on it. As a result, I returned to the Battery topic & read more about getting a battery voltage device & jump starter ... you know - to be prepared - just in case.

 

Did the dealer/service dept send help to you today?

[homestead]

Wonder what Ford does with the lemons that they buy back?  Do they crush them or just send send them

in for service and after the service department says "No problem found" put them back on the lot for sale

as a used c-max?

[Cmax lover]

No, but IIRC from your first post, you didn't either until your 2013 had over 8000 miles on it. As a result, I returned to the Battery topic & read more about getting a battery voltage device & jump starter ... you know - to be prepared - just in case.

 

Did the dealer/service dept send help to you today?

Partially.  I have a rental car, but no resolution/decision has been made by the dealers or my local rep yet.  My local rep said she had a new update, but I'm done with that road.  No one can say "This will definitely fix your car".  The car dies, I have it towed, they do an update, get the car back, it dies, etc. etc.   I want a 2014 Cmax Se just like mine, but need to know if anyone with a 2014 is having battery problems. I don't see anything on their forum that states they have had battery problems.  If anyone knows differently, please let me know.  :)  I've read that a couple people on this forum had their new 2013 for 3 days, and the battery died so I don't think the mileage has a lot to do with it. 

[Cmax lover]

Wonder what Ford does with the lemons that they buy back?  Do they crush them or just send send them

in for service and after the service department says "No problem found" put them back on the lot for sale

as a used c-max?

Good question, Homestead !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kostby]

Homestead,

 

I think Ford has a verbal agreement with GM to send them to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green KY, then Mother Nature makes lemonade...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/12/corvette-museum-sinkhole/5417171/

 

But they'll have to make new arrangements now, because they're going to be filling the sinkhole in, likely with GM ignition switches...  ;)

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/09/01/corvette-museum-sinkhole/14943143/

 

Seriously, for product liability reasons, I'd say they're studied, then crushed. If they've already found out what they need to know during the prior attempts to repair, maybe they're just crushed.

[MomsHugs]

I want a 2014 Cmax Se just like mine, but need to know if anyone with a 2014 is having battery problems. I don't see anything on their forum that states they have had battery problems.  If anyone knows differently, please let me know.  :)  

 

If you haven't yet posted on the 2014 topic forum, you might want to ask that question there & on the Battery topic forum.

[RockwallRick]

Yes, I am running a thread specifically for Issues on the 2014's. Please post there if anyone has battery issues on their 2014 C-max SE or SEL. :rockon:

[Steve]

I am afraid that I have to agree with Wendelina.  I bought the first CMax that the dealer sold.  We love this car.  However, the problems have  been many.  We have 55,000 KM which is about 31,000 miles.  The battery has been replace twice.  The catalytic converter has been replaced as well as a corroded wiring harness for the sensors around the car.  The clock stops for no reason.  The wave you foot to open the tail gate almost never works.  The drivers door handle sometimes unlocks the car.  The MyKey is off on one of the keys.  In the 25 months that we have had it the dealer has had it for 3 months.  I have been asking Ford to take back this lemon for well over a year.  We don't have a lemon law here.  I am about to go to arbitration to get them to buy it back.  We want a new CMax.  We don't want to part with it but don't want this one.  The dealer has been terrific with loaner cars etc.  It is in the dealer now and has been for a week.  We are forced to park it or we will go past the warrantee and arbitration can't force them to buy it back.  It has been a great car but the problems are tooooo much.

[SStoner]

I am afraid that I have to agree with Wendelina.  I bought the first CMax that the dealer sold.  We love this car.  However, the problems have  been many.  We have 55,000 KM which is about 31,000 miles.  The battery has been replace twice.  The catalytic converter has been replaced as well as a corroded wiring harness for the sensors around the car.  The clock stops for no reason.  The wave you foot to open the tail gate almost never works.  The drivers door handle sometimes unlocks the car.  The MyKey is off on one of the keys.  In the 25 months that we have had it the dealer has had it for 3 months.  I have been asking Ford to take back this lemon for well over a year.  We don't have a lemon law here.  I am about to go to arbitration to get them to buy it back.  We want a new CMax.  We don't want to part with it but don't want this one.  The dealer has been terrific with loaner cars etc.  It is in the dealer now and has been for a week.  We are forced to park it or we will go past the warrantee and arbitration can't force them to buy it back.  It has been a great car but the problems are tooooo much.

It they don't buy it back talk with your dealer about trading it.

[plus 3 golfer]

I am afraid that I have to agree with Wendelina.  I bought the first CMax that the dealer sold.  We love this car.  However, the problems have  been many.  We have 55,000 KM which is about 31,000 miles.  The battery has been replace twice.  The catalytic converter has been replaced as well as a corroded wiring harness for the sensors around the car.  The clock stops for no reason.  The wave you foot to open the tail gate almost never works.  The drivers door handle sometimes unlocks the car.  The MyKey is off on one of the keys.  In the 25 months that we have had it the dealer has had it for 3 months.  I have been asking Ford to take back this lemon for well over a year.  We don't have a lemon law here.  I am about to go to arbitration to get them to buy it back.  We want a new CMax.  We don't want to part with it but don't want this one.  The dealer has been terrific with loaner cars etc.  It is in the dealer now and has been for a week.  We are forced to park it or we will go past the warrantee and arbitration can't force them to buy it back.  It has been a great car but the problems are tooooo much.

Unfortunately some cars are lemons and you appear to have one.

 

Have you started a case with CAMVAP?  Are you saying the vehicle manufacturer doesn't have to abide by the decision of CAMVAP ?

 

There is a Ford rep that monitors this site and you might try contacting the rep by PM.  But, the rep may be only for US customers.  Also, you need so many posts to enable PMs - just post a number of test messages in the test forum.

 

Good luck in moving forward with Ford. 

[TheBearAK]

I own 2 C-Max (2013) and both have been in and out of the dealer for various problems and recalls.

 

One (Red) of them is currently at the dealer because the 12volt battery kept going dead.   The dealer told my wife she needed to drive it more.   She typically only drives 10 miles a day.

 

I'm afraid that would not explain the 12 volt battery issue though.  I charged it up on a Friday evening, then she didn't try to drive it until Sunday and the battery was dead on her.   No lights are on, doors are fully shut.

 

My silver one did that once as well, and I drive 50 miles a day.  I'm thinking about putting a battery tender on hers, specially for the winter time.

 

ps. the dealer has replaced the the battery in the red one twice, and once in the silver car.

Edited June 1, 2015 by TheBearAK

[Kelleytoons]

There is a new TSB out (called a "customer satisfaction program 15B04) for a lot of our vehicles, and I'm guessing yours will fit that as well (it's like every 2013-2014 up to about June of last year manufactuer) that reprograms the module that may be causing a lot of battery issues.  You are likely to get a letter from your dealer about both of your vehicles, but you can also have them check the VIN and see if you qualify (I haven't gotten my letter yet, but it's in effect until next May and I suspect they are taking their time getting to them all).

 

My gut tells me this will solve nearly all the problems that aren't otherwise obvious (like the faulty cable issue).

[MichaelM]

There is a new TSB out just yesterday targeting the Energi. It is the same as 15B04 just specifically naming the Energi and moving it to a TSB from a CSP. It is TSB 15-0089. Check with your dealers.

 

Would anybody that belongs to the Energi forum post this there please. Thank you

[DaveofDurham]

What is a CSP?

[Kelleytoons]

Customer Satisfaction Program (but who the heck really knows what *that* means?)

[MichaelM]

Customer Satisfaction Program

There are several designations that have to do with urgency, likelihood of change, technical nature, and safety.

FSA, TSB, ISM,and SSM are a few others.

Field Service Action

Technical Service Bulletin

Edited June 2, 2015 by MichaelM