Sad, Sad Day

[Mr. Green Jeans]

In early I ordered a C-Max Energy.  Before I took delivery, my 87 year old father-in-law was so impressed by what he was hearing me say about the car that he went to the local dealer and purchased the very first new vehicle in his life, a 2013 C-Max SE.  From the very beginning he started having problems with a dead 12v battery.  I bought him a portable battery jump starter so that he would not have to call someone to get it started.  He took it to the dealer several times and they said that they could find no problems with the vehicle.  This has continued to happen and last week I bought him a solar battery maintainer/charger to keep plugged in at all times to the rear 12v outlet.  Over the past year, while starting the vehicle, the check engine light comes on and it runs very rough.  He has taken it straight to the dealer and left it with them for several days.  They continue to return it and say that there is no problem with the vehicle.  It happened again this week. They see it when he brings it in and knew there is a problem, but can not duplicate it.  This is the last straw.  He loved the car, but must have dependable transportation.  Today it appears that he will be looking at a different vehicle, at a different dealership and a different brand as well.  He has very few miles on it and expects to take a big loss.  I advised him to only trade it in and not to sell it to someone else.  I now have over 16,000 miles on my 2013 C-Max Energy.  I have been to the dealer once for regular service and had the updates and safety recalls taken care of at that time.   271 life time MPG.   My only problem is that in the winter previously I could make it to work with the heat on with no ICE.  Now I can barely make it with the heat off and no ICE..

[fbov]

I'm so sorry to hear your Father-in-law got a stinker. The 12v battery issue would be particularly difficult, as you never know when the car will leave you stranded. I can see how he'd feel snake bit...

 

Our story is the opposite; my 82-year old Father-in-law was the one who bought the car, thankfully an SEL with no particular issues, and he drove it happily until he passed away. There was a certain comfort in knowing his last days were busy and active; the driver's side rear doorway was beat to crap from him shoving his walker in the back seat.

 

How I wish your family has received similar service from your FIL's SE. At least he's still in the market for a car!

 

HAve fun,

Frank

[Adrian_L]

Having been on this forum for a couple of years, I would not recommend the SE model to anyone I know.

 

It's probably to late to suggest this, but from my experience when a mechanic says "there's nothing wrong" , it is a good indicator to find another mechanic. (or dealer)

[hybridbear]

It's probably to late to suggest this, but from my experience when a mechanic says "there's nothing wrong" , it is a good indicator to find another mechanic. (or dealer)

This was my first thought as well.

 

They continue to return it and say that there is no problem with the vehicle. He has very few miles on it and expects to take a big loss.  271 life time MPG.   My only problem is that in the winter previously I could make it to work with the heat on with no ICE.  Now I can barely make it with the heat off and no ICE..

Did he ever try a different dealer? That would have been my first step when the dealer said "no problem found". My current dealer will pre-order parts for me & they don't even try to duplicate the problems. They just go off of my word & do the procedures described in the TSB or SSM that I bring them from online.

 

Regarding your Energi, it sounds like you're experiencing a normal amount of capacity loss. How many Lifetime EV miles does your car show of your total odometer miles? How many times per day do you charge? Do you charge immediately or do you delay charging using a Value Charge profile?

Edited January 14, 2016 by hybridbear

[Mr. Green Jeans]

Yesterday, he went to a different dealer in another city to look at trading and on his way home he thought that there was an jet flying over him.  He stopped the car and then realized that it was his car making that noise, so he turn the car off, waited a minute and then turned the car back on.  He got out of the car and it smelled like rotten eggs. Continued to make this noise for another 20 miles until he got home.  There was no check engine light with this.  He drove home, had lunch and then drove back to the original dealer.  The car was fine then but they wanted to keep it for a while to see if they could duplicate it.  By this time he really had enough.  They showed him several vehicles and he finally traded his 2013 C-Max SE Hybrid with 9,000 miles for a 2012 Taurus SEL with 45.000 and $6000 cash.  Hopefully he has a better time with the Taurus.

[ptjones]

That's weird! :sad:

 

Paul

[kostby]

Yesterday, he went to a different dealer in another city to look at trading and on his way home he thought that there was an jet flying over him.  He stopped the car and then realized that it was his car making that noise, so he turn the car off, waited a minute and then turned the car back on.  He got out of the car and it smelled like rotten eggs. Continued to make this noise for another 20 miles until he got home.  There was no check engine light with this.  He drove home, had lunch and then drove back to the original dealer.  The car was fine then but they wanted to keep it for a while to see if they could duplicate it.  By this time he really had enough.  They showed him several vehicles and he finally traded his 2013 C-Max SE Hybrid with 9,000 miles for a 2012 Taurus SEL with 45.000 and $6000 cash.  Hopefully he has a better time with the Taurus.

 

After all the dead battery incidents, it's safe to assume that ANYTHING that happens with this owner and this vehicle will be treated by the owner as 'that darned car acting up again', and by this same dealership as 'that darned customer acting up again' instead of searching for a logical, repeatable events and actual solutions.

 

The original dealership ABSOLUTELY has failed miserably to do their part to diagnose and remedy the dead battery incidents using the TSB's and Customer Satisfaction resources available, BUT I think there's a logical explanation for the noise.

 

At max fan speed, you'd swear a 747 was taking off in the next lane.

Sounds to me like the heating/cooling system was on either MAX Defrost -- if that car is physically located in Illinois where air temps in the teens or lower this weekend (or if in the south, MAX AC with the temp set at the lowest cool setting). That causes the fan to run at full speed automatically until the desired cabin temperature has been reached. In extremely cold temps, the desired setting might not occur, so the fan would remain at max speed.

Way back when, to get heat, you turned on the car, let the engine warm up a few minutes, set the temperature slider to High, turned on the fan to High, and if it got too warm, turned down the fan and/or the temperature setting, or maybe opened a window. With a big V8 heating the coolant, most 60's and 70's cars achieved the "too hot" setting in a few minutes, even in very cold temps.

 

Although it SHOULD be simpler, the C-MAX climate control includes an AUTO setting, dual temp digital controls, an infographic of which direction the airflow is going, a MAX AC and a MAX Defrost button, and a 6-step fan control, with the capability to automatically adjust (decrease) fan speed as the designated temperature is reached seem 'complicated' to older generations.

 

Rotten egg smell occurs occasionally on most every catalytic converter-equipped car I've ever driven, and it's highly unlikely that the smell is related to what I assume to be the HVAC fan noise.

 

OPINION:

A key part of "customer satisfaction" is understanding that older folks (like me, but frankly anyone who hasn't purchased a new car in a decade) require TIME and PROPER, PATIENT INSTRUCTION from a sympathetic, knowledgeable person -- dealership Customer Tech trainer (larger dealers have at least one), friend, child, grandchild -- who takes all the time necessary to explain and demonstrate the sophisticated 'smarts' built into C-MAX systems, and HVAC in particular.

 

The 'PATIENT' part of that means letting the customer push the buttons, fiddle with the settings, and see for himself/herself what happens, then let them ask questions and try it again, if necessary until the customer truly understands how it works and how their input affects what it does. Yes, that can take HOURS, and there is a real cost to a dealership who attempts to do this.

 

Yes, the dealership NEEDS to INCLUDE a REQUIRED class and list "Training" as an item on the bill of sale. If the customer thinks they're paying for training, they're more likely to value it. If it's assumed to be free, they'll value it less, and not pay attention. While helpful to 'the younger generation', watching a video of someone else doing it isn't enough for us oldsters.

Edited January 18, 2016 by kostby

[hybridbear]

They showed him several vehicles and he finally traded his 2013 C-Max SE Hybrid with 9,000 miles for a 2012 Taurus SEL with 45.000 and $6000 cash.  Hopefully he has a better time with the Taurus.

That sounds like he really got ripped off. :sad: :cry: The Taurus is older than the C-Max & has a ton more miles. The original price can't have been that much higher than his C-Max. Plus the Taurus will likely cost him more to insure & will probably cost him twice as much for gas.

[ptjones]

That sounds like he really got ripped off. :sad: :cry: The Taurus is older than the C-Max & has a ton more miles. The original price can't have been that much higher than his C-Max. Plus the Taurus will likely cost him more to insure & will probably cost him twice as much for gas.

That doesn't seem like a very good solution to me. :sad:  :shrug:

 

Paul

[ROCKY]

So many times, I think its necessary to find another dealership. Most areas have several and at least one of them has to hire decent mechanics, rather than recycled quick lube grease monkeys

[salsaguy]

Its really sad to see how many dealerships take advantage of older people because they knoiw they can get away with pulling the wool over their eyes.

ANd I agree that training is very important for anyone buying a new car these days, even if you arent over 50.

SO much tech on these cars can be confusing for even the new generation of people. No one knows/understands the way a new product (car, TV, computer, blu-ray player, game, etc) works as soon as you buy it

Even Apple offers training services for their new Mac products.

Customer service doesnt mean getting them to get out of your shop and out of your hair as fast as possible, it means getting to understand their needs and make sure they are happy and have a GREAT experience.The customer is NOT the enemy, Mr  dealer/dealer rep! The customer is who is paying for your food and house every day. Without customers (and repeat happy customers) you will be out of a job!