HPRifleman Posted May 22, 2014 Report Share Posted May 22, 2014 Today marks one year to the day that I picked up my C-Max. Overall it has been a very good experience and I still enjoy my car. A lot of people are curious about hybrids and I get asked questions about them. OverviewTypical daily commute is 7 miles one-way. Most other driving is through suburban streets with 35-45MPH speed limits. During warmer months I spend about every other weekend on the interstate with 75-150 mile one-way trips of about 65MPH. In 12 months of ownershipTotal miles: 11707.3Miles in EV: 4580.3Regen miles: 232.8Braking score: 99% MileageHaving your choice of several mileage gauges right in front of you will certainly make you more aware of fuel usage. In previous vehicles I have typically been conscious of keeping a light foot on the throttle and braking early. The C-Max gauges shame you into doing this even more. A 100% braking score is always the target and keeping the load indicator at an appropriate level relative to ICE stop/start is something I keep track of. As I tell people, it’s like driving a video game. As far as the numbers go, trip mileage is dependent on so many things that it is better to look at tank mileage instead. Best tank has been 53.3MPG and worst was 30.7MPG. After learning the car, my expectations for mileage are now based on outside temperatures. These are very rough estimates but about 50-60MPG at 65⁰+, 45-50MPG at 50⁰-65⁰, 40-45MPG at 30⁰-50⁰, 35-40MPG at 20⁰-30⁰, 30-35MPG at below 20⁰. This past winter here has been long and cold and this shows up on the mileage gauge. In one year, the total spent on gasoline has been $1002.61. StorageMy previous vehicle was a mid-sized SUV so I had plenty of room to put things. I have been pleasantly surprised at how much the C-Max can swallow. Most of my bulk storage needs can be accomplished with the rear seats up. Bringing down the 60% rear seat will take care of almost all other storage needs. A couple times a year I will have to put down the entire rear seat but that accommodates all of my needs. The back seats actually fold flat and do not have a slope like on other cars. My only complaint with the cargo area relates to bringing the rear seats down. Ford has a two-step process where you push the button on the side of the headrest to bring that down and then pull up on the lever at the side of the seat to bring down the back rest. My former vehicle had one latch that accomplished all of this in one motion. In addition, Ford has placed the rear seat belt in such a position that, when the seat back is brought down, the seat belt is now angled across the rear door opening. Kind of like tubing in a roll cage. The seat belt can be unlatched from its plastic guide but it would be nice if this entire process was better thought out. Storage for small things up front is a little more lacking. My phone and iPod can go in the center console but I find myself needing some additional cubbies for change, keys, pens, and other miscellaneous things that I have from time-to-time. Also, the center console is a little too deep in that when something goes in there it’s a fishing expedition to get it back out again. Entertainment/MFTExcept for the mileage gauges this is the part of the car that I interact most with while driving. Most of my entertainment listening has been to Sirius satellite radio or to my iPod plugged into a USB port in the center console. I have never inserted a CD in the car. I tried streaming music files from my phone but that was more hassle than I wanted. Phone connectivity has been very good with my Samsung Galaxsy S4. Calls are clear and it is easy to understand the other person through the speakers. The delay between pressing a button to answer an incoming call and being able to start the conversation is annoying and the worst part of the Bluetooth phone connectivity. My use of the navigation system is infrequent. I will use it in case traffic is backed-up along my traditional route or to find places I have never been to before. The map has always been accurate and I trust the system to get me to where I am going. Voice commands have been hit and miss over the past year. For the phone it has been pretty good and I typically call out in this manner. For music, MFT doesn’t always understand a band or playlist name but gets it most of the time. The worst voice command experience is with the navigation. Trying to get to a common destination like a school means having to go through multiple menus and then MFT won’t recognize the name anyway. I have found it is easier to just go through the touch screen but that means that I have to pull to a stop. My wish is to just be able to hit the paddle and say “where is the nearest Wendy’s”. Instead, I have to go through a heirarchy of commands like “navigation”, “destination”, “POI”, “nearby”, etc. Overall the MFT is decent and adds to the “techy” feel of the car but it still needs work to make it a more polished option and truly usefull. Comfort and Driving experienceBeing 6’3” and owning larger cars all of my life I was wondering how comfortable I would be in, what I viewed as, a compact car. I need not have worried. It may be the glass roof but I could be several inches taller and still have adequate space above me. Leg room is equally ample. While I can understand how some people are annoyed by the dead pedal on the left, it hasn’t really bothered me. My foot will sometimes be resting on top of it and sometimes next to it. Smoothness of ride has also been impressive. Even with the ICE running, the C-Max feels very stable and smooth going down the road. I have not encountered any squeaks, rattles, or other vibrations. Steering has been tight and responsive as I would expect on a brand new front wheel drive car. I am in agreement with those that have mentioned the large turning radius. This requires a little more planning when turning into tight corners such as driveways or garages. Braking felt slightly grabby when I picked up the car but that went away quickly. ReliabilityMy biggest concern when buying the C-Max were the incidents of dead 12v batteries that were popping up at that time. After purchase, I would check the voltage periodically but it has typically been 12.2-12.6v. To date, the car has always “started/powered up” and has never failed to deliver me to my destination. The car only went to the dealer once for any recalls. That was the rear gate trunk module reprogram (13B06) since it would only open intermittently, and also the powertrain control module update (13B07). I lost MFT voice commands twice in the past year. Both times required a master reset to correct. While this did not take much time it did require a re-entry of channel presets and navigation destinations plus a re-pairing of my phone. ModificationsI have not made any modifications or added any aftermarket items to my C-Max. MiscellaneousMy key fob is rarely used to lock or unlock doors. Now, my habit is to lock the doors using the black touch pad on the handle and unlock by putting my hand inside the handle. The rear hatch is opened using the kick motion. The fob just always stays in my pocket. The auto-wipers work pretty well although their sensitivity is not perfect. SummaryI purchased this car because I have wanted to buy into hybrid automotive technology for a decade now. Even so, I did not want to sacrifice some of the creature comforts that are found on other cars. The C-Max has really fit the bill. Great mileage, lots of technology, comfortable ride, good utility. Ford did very well. ScubaDadMiami, FordIVTteam, hybridbear and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted May 22, 2014 Report Share Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) My wish is to just be able to hit the paddle and say “where is the nearest Wendy’s”. Instead, I have to go through a heirarchy of commands like “navigation”, “destination”, “POI”, “nearby”, etc.Just hit the paddle and say "I'm hungry." I forget the rest of the prompts, but you can go right from there. ;) Also, the more I use voice commands, the more shortcuts I find. I am finding that, where a command can only mean one possible thing, MFT often works. For example, I can just say "91.3," which is actually FM station 91.3, without having to start off with the other prior steps. "Temperature 73 degrees," is another example. There are a whole bunch of them that work that way. The only thing is that you have to remember what that last command step is for this to work. It took a while, but it works very well for me. Edited May 22, 2014 by ScubaDadMiami hybridbear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salsaguy Posted May 27, 2014 Report Share Posted May 27, 2014 (edited) Nice review.Glad it's been good to you.Surely by now someone has created a MFT cheat sheet pdf file with all the voice commands to make it easier??Or a link to one on the Ford official CMax forum for owners?? Edited May 27, 2014 by salsaguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordIVTteam Posted May 29, 2014 Report Share Posted May 29, 2014 Hey everyone,You can find voice commands on our support site. :) Here's a link:http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/voice-command-categories-sync-myford-touchRebecca ptjones and salsaguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HPRifleman Posted May 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 Just to clarify, the voice commands themselves are not the problem. It is having to speak through several layers of menus that is annoying. The link above shows some shortcuts but I have found it difficult to learn MFT's language when I don't use it every day. salsaguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salsaguy Posted May 31, 2014 Report Share Posted May 31, 2014 And dont forget to check out all these important and helpful owner videos on a lot of different topics for using your CMax efficiently: http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/OwnerVideoPage Hey everyone,You can find voice commands on our support site. :) Here's a link:http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/voice-command-categories-sync-myford-touchRebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted May 31, 2014 Report Share Posted May 31, 2014 Just to clarify, the voice commands themselves are not the problem. It is having to speak through several layers of menus that is annoying. The link above shows some shortcuts but I have found it difficult to learn MFT's language when I don't use it every day.There are lots of shortcuts. Try just jumping to the final command; it works very often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HPRifleman Posted June 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 There are lots of shortcuts. Try just jumping to the final command; it works very often. Then I must be missing something. Last week I tried getting directions to a local bank and there were still prompts and menus even with the shortcuts. And at the end of it all MFT didn't understand the name of the bank anyway.“Destination POI” | pause | follow prompts | pause | "Name" | pause | "<name>" - See more at: http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/navigation-by-voice-sync-myford-touch#sthash.oIKuirHK.dpufGet directions to a POI when you know the name “Destination POI” | pause | follow prompts | pause | "Name" | pause | "<name>" - See more at: http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/navigation-by-voice-sync-myford-touch#sthash.oIKuirHK.dpufGet directions to a POI when you know the name “Destination POI” | pause | follow prompts | pause | "Name" | pause | "<name>" - See more at: http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/navigation-by-voice-sync-myford-touch#sthash.oIKuirHK.dpuf Is there some technical reason we can't pull the paddle and say "Destination, first national bank"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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