C-Max Problems

[mrobinso8]

Wife picked up new C-Max on 3 Nov. On 6 Nov went to start and totally dead. Called Ford Service who sent someone to jump start it. I did not wish to touch it as so new and it being a Hybrid. On 14 Nov while wife was driving the brake warning lights lite up. She pulled off road and shut down car and called home. When restarted all seemed ok, no warning lights or such so told her probably a hiccup and keep an eye on it. I drove and could not recreate. Next day did again and she called and explained problem. I called the Ford Dealer in Knoxville, TN who said to bring in the next day, the15th. I checked car the next morning and got same brake warnings on both displays, left and right side. Driving to dealer brake warnings again and car stayed in gas mode, no EV. Dealer put on computer and said would have to keep for up to a week depending upon if parts needed to be ordered. Wife unhappy. First car that broke in 20 yrs. Traded reliable Honda Accord. Dealer did furnish a loaner but she is concerned about reliability.

[Laurel]

That is very discouraging. I would be pretty upset too. We haven't received our factory order yet--so I have not had any experience with driving it. Best of luck, and I hope it is not indicative of problems to come for all of us.

[CrystalSC]

What Laurel said. ^

[RachelnLa]

Aww. Frustrating. Sorry y'all are having to go thru this.

[Chinto]

We had purchased the 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid in June of 2009. Within the first 30 days the entire dash screen went blank. No speedometer gauges of any kind just blank. Went to the dealer, why is this happened and when will it be fixed. This car was one of the first few models sold, so no experience on service at that point. Finally after many days of wondering what did I get myself into the dealer called and said we have a fix. Apparently the software had a glitch and the car needed to be reprogrammed/updated. Anyway, after that incident we have not had one single problem with this car. It has been rock solid the entire time. I know this time is enormously frustrating, but I believe your car will be fixed for you. It will run great for years to come. I know mine has and so will yours.

[rfruth]

My guess is a faulty 12 volt battery although the car did okay for a week after being jump started :headscratch:

[bkawaii7]

FYI

I have a 2012 F350 which had to be in the dealers shop 3 times in the first 3 weeks after I bought it. Seems the sensors in the DEF tank did not work, The dealer finally installed the latest software update, no problems since, Now has 18K not a single issue.

 

My C-Max now has 6500K, the only problem has been the fuel filler warning which the dealer fixed in about 10 minutes. No other problems.

[darrelld]

I have to give my dealer credit for taking care of this. They gave me a choice of several 2013 vehicles to drive while mine was repaired. Chose the 2013 Escape 1.6 ecoboost. Ask for a 2013 Fusion but they only had 1 left on the lot.

[dtorres]

There have been a few reports on this forum of issues with the car suddenly not starting. Typically the solution was to replace the regular 12V battery (not the high voltage hybrid battery). It sounds like Ford is getting a few bad batteries in the bunch. I don't have an answer for the brake light though that's the first reference I've seen on this forum for that issue.

 

Like others mentioned small quirks can occur in any new car. Give the dealership a chance to make it right. My 2006 Escape lost all power and turned off on me at 2000 miles and had to be towed to the dealership. Turned out to be a bad alternator. Ford replaced the alternator and I drove it to 101,000 with no other problems before selling it to buy my C-Max.

[BobJustBob]

Ouch! Sorry to hear about your new C-Max issues. I hope your dealership fixes it pronto. Please keep us up-to-date on how this is resolved. I am just now considering the C-Max, and I have never bought a Ford before, so I am very interested in how they treat their customers.

[mrobinso8]

The dealer said they think the problem was with a brake sensor that caused all the problems. They ordered the part Friday and not in yet. Suggested that it should have been shipped over night since the rental car is costing them $35 per day. I can understand the sensor giving brake warning lights but preventing the car from running on electric seems strange to me. Will see what happens in the end.

[RachelnLa]

Bob, same here. Always been a Chevy family. My hunny recently bought a dodge and loves it. My dad has fords and loves them.

[DC_Cat]

I picked up my new 2013 C-Max on 10/6/12. The Sirius Navigation will not show traffic or any of the other information (fuel prices, weather etc) on the map. It sits and spins and says "data not available". The dealer has tried to fix it 3 times, with software updates, system reboots, calls to FORD, and a different APIM module installed (behind the screen) to no avail. Now I have to wait for another update with no timeline, it has been over a month and i still cannot see traffic on my navigation map. This is not a good thing for commuting, I heard there is one other car sold by the same No. VA dealer that is having the same problems. Are there any others out there? When will this be fixed? Very Frustrating.

[Laurel]

I don't know much about the traffic reports on the nav systems, but wouldn't that be an issue related to Sirius Travel Link versus software in the program? In Canada the Sirius Travel Link is only available as a trial and is not actually an available standard feature. Did someone contact Sirius?

Edited November 22, 2012 by Laurel

[RachelnLa]

True. The traffic is real time and that info comes via Sirius. Do u have Sirius radio in the car? You may have to call and get it activated. I read on another forum someone was having trouble with icons not showing up as the neared exits. Icons for gas and gas prices and food. That was fixed with a setting change.

 

Hope it's resolved quickly.

[darrelld]

I picked up my new 2013 C-Max on 10/6/12. The Sirius Navigation will not show traffic or any of the other information (fuel prices, weather etc) on the map. It sits and spins and says "data not available". The dealer has tried to fix it 3 times, with software updates, system reboots, calls to FORD, and a different APIM module installed (behind the screen) to no avail. Now I have to wait for another update with no timeline, it has been over a month and i still cannot see traffic on my navigation map. This is not a good thing for commuting, I heard there is one other car sold by the same No. VA dealer that is having the same problems. Are there any others out there? When will this be fixed? Very Frustrating.

 

I am assuming they properly activated the complementary Sirius NavTraffic option. I have been using Sirius Travel Link since taking delivery of my C-Max for about 3 weeks. Have you called Sirius to verify activation?

[dtorres]

I have the same problem in my car with the Sirius TravelLink not working. I've tried the feature for local fuel prices several times and it only worked once. I've never been able to bring up the traffic info. However these features rely on downloaded data from Sirius not Ford so I blame Sirius for it. I'm definitely not renewing the Sirius after the six month trail.

[mrobinso8]

Picked up repaired C-Max this afternoon. The problem was with a brake sensor that apparently caused more than issuing a brake warning light. The sensor prevented proper notification to the computer that allowed the car to run in EV mode. Strange but the car seems ok now. At least my wife had a loaner for the week, was in shop Friday to Friday but Thanksgiving probably slowed the process of getting the part in. Additionally, I just got the vin # on the Fusion Hybrid I ordered for me.

[Hughesblues]

So I am a former Ford employee who found himself without a job due to a plant closure in Norfolk, Virginia. I could be bitter but I am not. I have been an advocate and loyal Ford owner for 20+ years. I have purchased 10 new Fords from one dealer in the last 5 years. I write this to give any reader of my post some background as to the gravity in which I speak.

 

My last Ford purchase was a 2013 Ice C-Max SE with navigation. Traded a 2012 Escape Limited with every option except 4WD. Escape had a chronic water leak around the back glass that kept in the shop.

 

We were the first customer to purchase the new C-Max from the dealer and had hero honors on the companies website and Facebook page. The car would fit the perfect hybrid owner scenario as my wife daily commute was 6 miles round trip. We were happy!

 

The first hint of what was to come as a C-Max owner was the extraordinary effort it took to pair the iPhone with the SYNC. The SYNC specialist at the dealer was summoned to force them to play nice. After the shot gun marriage of the two, SYNC would only recognized the phone half the time. However, If you stopped and restarted the car once the first linked was not successful, magic happened. Later, navigation started to not recognize street names. First trip to the shop where it is believed to be a corrupt software/SD card. Reset system and looking for Ford's ultimate fix. NO PAPERWORK for service visit.

 

The first car payment was made when the car was in the shop for the second time. A warning message appeared in the dash to alert "Check Fuel Inlet" Not exactly sure what was fixed/adjusted/replaced but the car was delivered back less warning message. And NO PAPERWORK for repair. 

 

With in the week of second shop visit, service engine light illuminated. Car was appointed for repair and dropped off. I also demanded to get all paperwork from previous visits for the record. Dealer obliged. After several days of no "news" we call and spoke to the service writer. It seems the root cause of the light was a defective E-VAP purge valve. The part is currently in a backorder status with no ETA. Dealer seems genuinely frustrated that there is little to be done for answers or expediting of the part. I suggested we remove the part from new vehicle on lot and tie that car up instead of ours. Dealer claims that part could also be defective and not fix anything but has no TSB's to support this. It's just like Ford has vaporized leaving owners to struggle with the dealer. Does anyone remember when Deawoo sold cars in the states and had nothing in the way of service/warranty support?? I don't think I bought a Deawoo. 

 

Btw, second car payment was made while car was in the shop.

 

We are currently driving a Chrysler 200 rental car with North Carolina plate.  Do you think the neighbors notice that the "Ford guy" is in a rental? I have only lived in the neighborhood for 47 years and hardly know the neighbors. 

 

At least my Ford stock is paying a dividend. Go Ford. 

 

 

[erwhitham]

Shall we laugh or cry? What's your future with the CMax?

[Hughesblues]

My wife has past on a Mercedes twice now and bought a Ford because she couldn't justify the price of the Benz. I don't think this will happen a third time. 

[Catmobile]

So sorry, Hughesblues!  This is my first Ford (if you don't count my ex-husband's trucks, which I don't) and my first American-brand car since 1988, so I'm hoping for decent reliability.  If not, it'll be out the door.  I'm taking a real leap of faith with this thing, I usually wait at least a year when a new model comes out to let the manufacturer shake out the bugs but I really wanted out of my old ride.

 

I've just gotten mine, but so far my only frustration is that I can't get the voice recognition to understand anything I'm trying to say.  I end up using the Nav on my smartphone because it doesn't understand addresses, and I've pretty much given up on using the voice commands for anything at all.  And I'm originally from the Midwest, so it's not like I have a Southern accent, or a Jersey accent or something, and I think I speak very clearly.  I'm not sure what the problem is, my phone doesn't have a problem understanding me! 

 

I'll cross my fingers for ya that everything gets straightened out.

[Roggie 51]

Not too encouraging, I hope that Ford will react. good luck.

[acdii]

I am in the same boat but with the Fusion Hybrid. Be patient on the NFT, there is a fix, 3.5.1, just not fully available yet, seems only the left coast has it.

 

However, my FFH has been in twice now for poor MPG, MFT problems, buzzing overhead console, fuel tank hard to fill, and finally this second time a hard check engine light.  Fouled spark plugs, all of them with 4500 miles in it. Already had a case opened with Ford Customer Rep, and was blown off, now going back and requesting again that they do something before it gets nasty.   poor MPG and fouled plugs, hmm seems like a problem to me, how bout you?

[Generalbeluga]

Just down load the Sync App for your smart phone (iPhone or Android) and you can get free real time traffic reports, turn by turn directions spoken and displayed on your Sync dash screen and much more with Sync Services and it's free!  Check it out.  I have been using it and it is way cool!