Funny story. We never heard of a C-Max

[lvm01cmw]

The Saturn we use to tow behind our RV was dying just as we needed to drive from Indiana to Florida and back. We rented a car from Avis and a very nice agent offered us an upgrade. We asked for a Prius (which is not flat towable). She said there were no Prius' but they had a C-Max. We had never heard of it. It was the best week we have ever had in a car. We came home and went down to Ford the next week. They had exactly the car we wanted on the lot and we drove it off the same day. It is now set up for us to tow to Texas next month.

 

It was obvious from the web chatter that we needed to add a trickle charger. We are using the one from RVI Brake. I added a fuse inside the coach to prevent any problems in the wiring back to the C-Max dingy.

 

One question I have to research is: When we tried to charge our Samsung Galaxy S5 phone using one of the USB sockets we got an error message saying the device was not compatible. I wonder if it is still charging properly. I'm not worried about anything else than charging since the phone syncs to the phone control.

 

Regards,

Mike & Lynn Watson

[scottwood2]

Newer phones can use a bunch of power.  I think the USB ports are limited.  I found a nice 2A cig lighter plug that is almost flat with the plug.  Works well. 

[fbov]

Use your AC charger; there's 115VAC on the back of the armrest.

 

And welcome! Neat story...

 

Frank

[C-MaxSea]

Welcome & :congrats: Mike & Lynn, thanks for sharing your story.  The C-Max is a 'magical' ride - sadly, experienced by few.  Nick

[markd]

Congratulations on the new car! I bought a rapid charger that plugs in to the power point that you can plug two cords into from Amazon, my wife likes to read on trips and streaming kills my battery. Enjoy your new "spaceship"!

Edited September 2, 2015 by markd

[Adrian_L]

You may have problems with the 115 volt power outlet behind the armrest.  It won't be a pure sine wave output, so electronic devices such as phone chargers or laptop chargers may not work. 

 

I'd take your phone to an electronics shop and ask them if they sell a 12v car adapter compatible with your phone's voltage.  We got one for ipod/ipad for about $10 and it works well.

[WNY]

Congrats!! I never heard of them either until about 2 weeks ago or so, i was searching online at the local Ford Dealer for something to replace my Scion Xb, of course wanted a Focus ST or RS, but 25-35K+ and not as big as the Xb wasnt' gonna happen. LOL

 

I saw this Cmax online and went down to check it out, it was sold, but still there.  I talked to the guy and checked it out, didn't even drive it, but asked about getting another one, off lease return one, and they found mine (2013 with 20K miles)  and shipped it in.

 

Love it!!! had it just 10 days and having fun with it!! and learned so much on this forum about all the features and how to get the most MPG from it. :)

[revanoff2]

I'd never heard of one either. I call mine a "Fo-Scape" though, since it literally seems to be the gap between a Focus and an Escape. I've had mine for a couple weeks and have loved just about every minute of it.

 

~Revanoff~

[cmax-nynj]

I'd never heard of one either. I call mine a "Fo-Scape" though, since it literally seems to be the gap between a Focus and an Escape. I've had mine for a couple weeks and have loved just about every minute of it.

 

~Revanoff~

I believe if Ford USA had named the car as Focus Hybrid or Escape Hybrid it would sell a lot more.  Only Europeans know what a C-Max is; not Americans.

[stevedebi]

I believe if Ford USA had named the car as Focus Hybrid or Escape Hybrid it would sell a lot more.  Only Europeans know what a C-Max is; not Americans.

Both of those share the platform, but have different styling (similar, but not the same). They were able to take the Euro platform and simply import it. They were attempting to make a "Prius killer", but it didn't quite work out for them. To do that they needed a platform that was unique from other existing models.

[fbov]

I came to the C-Max from a Volvo 940. I'd park next to an Escape and wonder if I could ever live with such a small cargo area. That's never been an issue in the C-Max. I'm glad they brought this UK platform over!

Frank

[Kelleytoons]

Yeah, I agree.

We actually had the Escape near the top of our list of cars to buy when we went looking.  I *did* have the C-Max on the list, but it was so near the bottom we probably wouldn't have looked at it at all had the salesperson who had us test drive the Escape not mentioned it.  The test drive sold me and while we did look at a few other small SUVs afterwards there was no question the C-Max had beat everything else.

 

The lack of cargo space is why the Energi wouldn't have been a consideration for me at all -- there isn't a day goes by I don't use nearly all that space in the rear (I play tennis nearly every day and my bag is just about the size of the rear.  For those of you not serious players you may doubt this, but if you look at any of the pros on the tour you'll see what I mean -- my bag could almost literally fill that back space.  It certainly would have never fit in the Energi and no way I would have wanted it in the back seat as I often have other players with me there).

[RockwallRick]

I was recently in London and Paris but saw NO C-Max's over there! My Wife was looking for a hybrid and that's when I found out about the C-Max. I talked her out of buying a Prius! :rockon:

[scottwood2]

Congrats!! I never heard of them either until about 2 weeks ago or so, i was searching online at the local Ford Dealer for something to replace my Scion Xb, of course wanted a Focus ST or RS, but 25-35K+ and not as big as the Xb wasnt' gonna happen. LOL

 

I saw this Cmax online and went down to check it out, it was sold, but still there.  I talked to the guy and checked it out, didn't even drive it, but asked about getting another one, off lease return one, and they found mine (2013 with 20K miles)  and shipped it in.

 

Love it!!! had it just 10 days and having fun with it!! and learned so much on this forum about all the features and how to get the most MPG from it. :)

I guess I was not the only one with a Scion xB that was sold on this car.  I had a 2005 xB, great fun car too but way different from the C-Max.  

[Adrian_L]

I was recently in London and Paris but saw NO C-Max's over there! My Wife was looking for a hybrid and that's when I found out about the C-Max. I talked her out of buying a Prius! :rockon:

 

Really?  I can't speak about Paris, but when I was in the UK (London/midlands/lake district) and Ireland (Cork) for three weeks recently I saw about a dozen C-maxes.  All diesel from what I remember.

 

And some older C-maxes which were pretty damned ugly :)

Edited September 20, 2015 by Adrian_L

[raadsel]

Really?  I can' speak about Paris, but when I was in the UK (London/midlands/lake district) and Ireland (Cork) for three weeks recently I saw about a dozen C-maxes.  All diesel from what I remember.

 

And some older C-maxes which were pretty damned ugly :)

 

Yes, that makes the C-Maxes a bit harder to spot in Europe, the lack of Hybrid badging (since they don't sell it), and the fact that they have some older and newer C-Maxes that look different (the 2015 model in Europe was redesigned). Not to mention the Grand C-Max.

 

I wish we'd get the new style on the US C-Max:

[SnowStorm]

And bring over the B-Max too!

[Smiling Jack]

Yes, that makes the C-Maxes a bit harder to spot in Europe, the lack of Hybrid badging (since they don't sell it), and the fact that they have some older and newer C-Maxes that look different (the 2015 model in Europe was redesigned). Not to mention the Grand C-Max.

 

I wish we'd get the new style on the US C-Max:

 

In London last week, I saw a number of C-maxes and Kungas on the street.

 

In Calgary, Canada the week prior, I saw a whole lot more C-max Hybrids on the street than I usually see in Houston.

 

(I note that Calgary is is as much of an oil industry town as is Houston.)

[raadsel]

In London last week, I saw a number of C-maxes and Kungas on the street.

 

In Calgary, Canada the week prior, I saw a whole lot more C-max Hybrids on the street than I usually see in Houston.

 

(I note that Calgary is is as much of an oil industry town as is Houston.)

 

I'm going to guess that at least part of that is due to gasoline prices. Currently you can find gas for less than $1.80/gallon here, which really destroys the incentive to buy a hybrid. From looking on the web, it appears gas is around $4/gallon (over $1/liter) in Calgary. Additionally, Houstonians love their trucks (even if a lot are starting to be in the form of SUVs). There may be other reasons but Hybrids just don't seem to sell well here; at least compared to other cities I've visited in the last couple of years.