Buy New 2014 SE or low mileage 2013 SEL

[C-MaxSea]

Congratz Nwswdn - great deal on a brilliant car !!!

 

We do love the goodies on our SEL, but the SE is great as well.  Low miles here, 100% reliable; overall best & most fun car we have ever owned.  

 

Enjoy,

 

Nick

[Kelleytoons]

Yeah, I'd take that deal right now and we already have Maximis (but my wife would love one of her own!).  Congrats!

[SPL Tech]

*Except* the battery will then need replacing -- although there's no (or not enough) hard data on how long our own HV batteries will last, there's a good reason the system is only warranted for that long.  Ford doesn't believe (or at least isn't willing to back it up with money, which is mostly the same thing) the battery won't need replacing, which is a *huge* cost right now.

 

Down the road this may not be as big an issue -- the guess is the batteries will then be cheaper (as I think they are with the Prius now, although I could be mistaken) and/or recycled so that cost is offset somewhat.  But RIGHT NOW if that C-Max has more than 100K miles on it it is in no way a good buy, which is all I was saying (what are our batteries going for right now?  2K?  More?  If so, they would need to knock that price off the car for sure).

I dont think the lifespan of the HV is dependent on miles. I think that's more dependent on age, regardless of miles. I dont think that cycling the battery between 30 - 60% SOC every few min while driving really matters. If the car has 100k on it, it's likely highway miles in which the SOC barely even changed, so it's basically like just letting the car sit in the driveway as far as the HV is concerned.

 

As far as 100k goes, I dident see that the car he is looking at has 100k miles. IN that case I would not recommend it unless he was paying under $10k for it.

[jkumpire]

Just to update,

 

I am close to pulling the trigger on an SEL, I have at least two options to choose from. the brand new 2013 is what I want but $$$ is an issue, it is the 203 package, a;most too many options. I will let you know what I am fortunate to purchase if I can do it.

Edited March 30, 2015 by jkumpire

[jkumpire]

Just a final update....

 

THE BANK IS NOW THE PROUD OWNER OF A BRAND NEW 2013 C-Max SEL I get to drive with the 302A or 303A options package. It was a 150 mile trip home, but it is a marvelous machine. I've never been in anything so quiet, and the bells and whistles are great beyond belief. Thanks for your advice, the SE is no comparaison and I didn't pay much more for it than a 2014 SE I was looking at.

 

I have a lot to learn about driving it efficiently since i do a lot of highway driving, but I will have fun learning. Thanks again, and if you have any recoomendations for beginners and/general threads for information onthe car, please share.

[Adrian_L]

Pleased to hear that.  Your 'eco' cruise is your friend on the highway.   I use it in the city too. 

[ptjones]

The 2013 and 2014s are identical in every respect except for slight aero modifications and (if I remember correctly) a subtle change to the transmission.  Oh..........and thinner oil (Ford authorizes 0W20 in the '13).    Any software updates or changes are available for the '13 too.

Someone checked the Part # for 2013 and 2014 transmissions and they were the same, Ford said they were going to change to Energi ratios, but appairently they didn't. ;)

 

Paul