Stop Safely Now message came on

[mxanotcar]

Last Saturday 09/15/2018, the error message "Stop Safely Now..." with triangle icon appeared on the driver side dashboard. Fortunately, I was not driving on highway or roads. I was starting the car normally and the error "Stop Safely Now..." appeared. Tried to steer but the steering could not be used. There was a huge humming noise when turning key to ignition position, turned turn key off and the huge humming noise went away.

 

I waited for a few hours and tried again and same error and humming noise (not from ICE engine and more like the electric transformer noise).

 

My CMAX Hybrid 2013 (about 5years and 10months old) is just over about 101,000 miles right after warranty 10years/100,000miles expired.

 

Ford really need to recall all CMAX hybrid cars (before loss of lives occurs). If driving on highway or roads and this error message comes up, there is no steering although the brake might still be working. There will be crashes and chain crashes.

 

There are other web sites where CMAX owners have been posting problems with the Ford CMAX hybrid and energi cars since the cars inception. My CMAX hybrid has had the same problems that other owners have been posting such as (I have not read them all, and there are a lot): windows rolling down by themselves, dead 12V battery, 12V battery not been charged correctly, doors did not get locked although the center light lock is orange lit, driver side door and windows controller not working from time to time, clock cannot be changed from time to time, below freezing temperature there has been rumbling huge noise and vibration from engine compartment.

 

When I brought some of these problems (especially the 12V battery dead and the huge noise and vibration from the engine compartment) to the dealership, they said nothing was wrong.

 

My CMAX hybrid is now still parked on the driving lot and gets a good millage since it is not drivable right after the warranty expired.

 

Remember GMC ignition switch problems that caused crashes? And that had been going for years

[ptjones]

Seems to me Ford is the only place that is going to be able fix your problem.  I'm wondering why you didn't extend your warranty out to 125k-135k miles with you having problems with the car.  I did when I knew that my trans was going to fail I was getting close to 100k miles. Trans failed at 98k mi. and was covered under warranty. I currently have 211k miles and new trans is fine and I'm getting great MPG's. :)  Let us know what you find out, typically the car goes into EV Mode and you can go another mile or two.

 

Paul

[mxanotcar]

With all the problems that have been going on the CMAX hybrid since the brand new purchased, the dealership where I bought my CMAX did what they could to probably fix the car. However, not much they could do since when I brought my CMAX to dealership services it was okay and the dealership could not duplicate the problems plaguing the CMAX hybrid. Even when I took my CMAX to the dealership about 12V battery dead and no power to the car, they said make sure remove device from plug-in 12V port and I knew I did not have any plugging into the ports.

 

I do not know about the Ford CMAX Hybrid transmission will fail around 100,000 miles. My other car had about 275,000 miles without any problems or transmission failure and had worked everyday and every time normally.

[ptjones]

Most trans don't fail and some did at 27k mi. , you didn't explain why you didn't extend your warranty when you were having problems. It's only Ford's problem when it's under warranty.  Have you taken it to Ford yet?  We would like to know what the problem is.   99% of us LOVE our CMAX's and we take good care of them, sorry you are having problems, why didn't you trade it in on something else? :headscratch:

 

Paul

[jestevens]

One of the fleet cars we had, an SE did this on the highway - the guy driving said it was pretty scary and he had seconds to go from 65MPH in the middle of the highway to a complete loss of power and pull over to the side.  I think for whatever reason the SE's had more problems.  Personally I have SEL with 88,000mi and the biggest service I've had to do so far is an oil change.  Did have some 12V battery issues but that was because after 5 years the 12V battery was legitimately going dead in 4F temperatures.  Since I've forced Ford to replace the battery (they didn't want to because all of their tests showed battery was fine) the car has been trouble free for the most part.  I do notice now that the engine seems a little rough on cold start since my last oil change but no codes set.

 

Love the car, the only thing that is making me want to switch is Toyota Safety Sense, is getting darker out now and I've had too many instances of people wearing dark clothing early in the morning and late at night trying to jay walk..

Edited September 19, 2018 by jestevens

[mxanotcar]

Even with the extended warranty, when the known problems with the car that have been occurring cannot be fixed, it is no good and not even counting the time spend, wait, rental cars, deductibles. When the car was still under warranty, the dealership still could not fix known recurring problems with the car.

I am glad to hear there are other CMAX have been running normally without recurring problems. However, Ford has not been able to fix all the problems with the battery random discharging in the CMAX Hybrids for those that have been occurring in the SE model.

I looked at the dealership service receipt, and the manufactured date was 9/17/2012, and 9/15/2018 was my CMAX Hybrid SE became inoperable. Only 2 days short.

As for trading it in, if I know the car is stable and reliable, I can trade it in so that when the traded in car get refurbished and for sale, the next owner can have a stable and reliable used car and not a car plaguing with known problems that Ford somehow still cannot fix.

 

Having Ford tests showed the battery was fine when the battery was not, something definitely is wrong with the Ford tests or quality assurance for the matter.

[jestevens]

I'm sure your dealer shop already applied all of the battery fixes such as TSB 15-0089 or CSP-15B04?

[mxanotcar]

For the 15B04, yes that was applied. However, battery still ran into random almost fully discharged after that was applied. For the 15-0089, not sure since that is for the Energi model.

 

Just saw a Niro newly came out this year that has about 52/49/50 MPG for the base model. Not sure if the MPG is the real world driving number and not the same as the CMax Hybrid base model 47/47 MPG when its was first advertised.

 

Also just browsing Ford website, the CMax plug-in (Energi) model is no longer listed and the CMax Hybrid SE model and CMax Hybrid Titanium model listed (both has the same 42/38 MPG).

[jestevens]

Ford is no longer manufacturing the CMAX for various reasons, the overstated MPG and parasitic drain issues were an early problem, and seemed to affect the SE more.  I already knew that it didn't get 60MPG from driving one as a fleet vehicle but at the time even 40MPG was impressive for a crossover car.  I drove a Prius v before buying the CMAX and was not impressed by the complete lack of power.  It's a very well equipped vehicle, one of the few with a panoramic roof for under $25K.  I think the latest model you can buy is 2017.  My SEL generally works well, I was able to use 1/4 tank of gas to make a 2 hour trip up and 2 hour trip back going up and down steep mountains, etc. I got to use the engine brake a bit..  The Kia/Hyundai Niro/Kona are interesting cars but I haven't test driven them yet.  The Hyundai Ionic seems to beat the Prius on paper but haven't test driven that either.  The Sonata Hybrid is nice, we have one at work and it has selectable driving profiles such as "Sport" mode.  The thing with the Hyundai is that it uses a 6 speed automatic transmission rather than a CVT like the Ford and Toyota cars, I think the CVT is probably more efficient.