On Monday, 03/25/2013, I brought my 2013 Ford CMax in for service, again. This time I was ready. This time I provided the Service Techs with a written list of 12 issues, and a link to this blog with the video evidence I've collected to date. This time I was sure they would try everything possible to find and fix the issues. My hope was that they would at least be able to fix "some" of them, and that they would report the rest to the Ford Engineers so they could investigate further.
I was wrong.
I received a 2-page list of FAQs related to the gas mileage with "tips" for improving it that were nothing new to me. I have been driving this car with all the helper indicators on (braking coach, empower gauge, etc.) since I obtained the car. Those tools are all quite helpful, but have not changed the fact that this car, combined with a careful driver using all of them, does NOT help the car achieve a fuel economy that even comes within 25% of the EPA Estimates. Just to re-iterate: The best MPG my car has achieved thus far has been 35mpg, and winter fuel economy has been 31mpg. I'm not reporting this problem because of what Consumer Reports has stated publicly regarding mpg. This is based on my own personal experience.
One item is known to be a problem (car won't move in Reverse after having been parked without first moving forward about 6 to 12 inches). There is supposed to be a Tech Service Bulletin coming for this (it's been in the works for more than a month or two now) but it still has not been released.
All other problems I listed, and even had videos for, were listed on the service report as "NPF" which means No Problem Found; they could not reproduce the issues, and therefore they did nothing to try to fix them (or so the Service Record would indicate). Apparently the videos were not helpful to the technicians.
I got my car back the same day I brought it in, even though they told me they wanted it for a couple days to really give them time to work on it. Apparently one day was all they were really willing to spend trying to reproduce the problems. I don't really blame them. Why waste valuable technician time and car rental money when the problems are intermittent? If I were the service manager, I'd probably make the same decision.
So, I returned the rental car and had my car brought around for me. On the front passenger seat was the 2 page FAQ about mileage, so I picked it up to read it before leaving. It was nothing new to me as I stated previously, so I put on my seat belt, placed my foot on the brake, pushed the button to start the car, and .... it didn't start. At this point I was beginning to freak out, thinking I must be giving off electrical interference or something. Why else would it fail for me, but not be reproducible for the technicians?
I'd had enough. I tried starting the car again without issue, drove around the corner of the building, and walked across the main showroom directly to the special office of the primary sales managers, dealership managers, whatever they are. I was fuming. I was so angry I was shaking, but decided it would not be in my best interest to scream at people. Instead, I asked who was in charge and a man kindly stated he would be happy to help me. I stated very clearly to him that I was extremely upset and disappointed with my car, and that I was sick and tired of bringing it in for service, only to receive no solutions. I asked him "why do most people lease or buy a new car?" He replied quite promptly with "to avoid having to keep bringing their old one in for repair." I provided him with a summary of everything I had been dealing with since I obtained the car, and he said maybe I had received one of the first ones built, and that the newer ones didn't seem to have the same issues. He then explained he manages the used cars, so he asked one of the people who managed new car sales if anyone who purchased a 2013 CMax in recent months had reported problems, or poor fuel economy, and the other guy said that he was not aware of any complaints at all. He further stated that people had been very happy with their new cars. At this point, he said maybe I should work with Ford directly to see what they might be willing to do for me. I explained that I already had been working directly with Ford, but so far I've simply been told to keep bringing the car in when there are issues. I had calmed down considerably at this point, but was still angry and I told him so. He said he was actually impressed with me because I was remaining calm and trying to work with him, unlike some others who, according to both managers present, come in screaming and name calling, etc. I simply explained taht I was not raised to believe that I would achieve much good with behavior like that.
But I digress...
It was getting late, and I needed to get home, so I thanked him for his time and told him I would see what else I could do with Ford.
I walked back out to my car, started it up, and the center console caught my attention. The clock was an hour off, my phone was no longer recognized by the car, and after checking the navigation system, I noticed all my favorite destinations had been erased. The anger returned and I shut off my car and walked back over to the service department with my service report in hand,
I requested to speak with the Service Manager and after several intercom pages, the person who helped check my car in that morning came over to let me know that the manager had gone home for the day. He asked if he could help me with anything, and I said "yes". I handed him the report and asked him to show me where the technician had noted that he/she had done anything that would have reset my phone, clock, and navigation system. We both read through the entire report together, and agreed there was no indication that anything had been reset by the tech. The tech had also gone home for the day, so I asked him to call me the next morning to explain what happened.
I drove home feeling so angry, disappointed, and just plain sick and tired of all this nonsense.
03/26/2013: I received a call from a service manager. He had spoken with the tech, and the tech told him that he had performed a hard reset, or reboot of the system per Ford's standard direction if/when computer/software problems cannot be reproduced, because "sometimes" it resolves the issues. He apologized that the tech had not noted it in the report. He was supposed to list everything he had done, and neglected to do so this time, probably because it's become something that they just do out of habit at this point. I'm going to speak with my Ford CSM about all of this, and insist that Ford do something to make things right.
By the way, my phone records calls automatically, just like the customer service phones that "record for quality purposes", so I have the whole conversation recorded. When I get some extra time, I will upload the recording (with any personal information removed for privacy reasons) because what I was told regarding this "standard reboot practice" was quite interesting and informative. I will simply add it to this same post to keep things together, so keep an eye out if interested.
I guess my next steps will be to call Ford and/or begin the process to report this particular car to the State of Minnesota as a "lemon" if Ford isn't ready to work with me directly to make things right. I am out of patience, and left with few options...
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Back in For Service - 2013 Ford CMax Hybrid
Today (3/25/2013) I brought my car back in for service/warranty repair. I provided a list of the 12 items (see previous post) along with a link to this blog so the technicians can review the videos while attempting to resolve these "ghosts" in the system. I also contacted my CSM to let her know I had brought the car back in, where I brought it, and who the Service Advisor was that I spoke with.
The Ford dealership, once again, graciously provided me with a rental car (this time, a Toyota Corolla) while they work on mine. I was told to expect my car to be in the shop for at least 2 days.
Here's hoping they can resolve the issues. I will post results when I receive them.
The Ford dealership, once again, graciously provided me with a rental car (this time, a Toyota Corolla) while they work on mine. I was told to expect my car to be in the shop for at least 2 days.
Here's hoping they can resolve the issues. I will post results when I receive them.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Current List of Problems and New Instructions from my CSM - 2013 Ford CMax Hybrid
First, a quick update. One more issue has received attention. The part for the evaporation canister arrived, and my local Ford Dealership installed it last Thursday (3/7/2013). I have not seen the "Check Gas Inlet" indicator light for a while now, so as long as it never shows up again without good cause, I will consider this item resolved (that's 2 items total from my original list). I also hit the magic 5,000 mile mark, so I brought it in for an oil and filter change plus tire rotation.
CURRENT LIST OF ISSUES
I received a call today from my CSM thanks to the use of Social Media getting Ford's attention. I was asked why I hadn't brought all these issues to the attention of a dealership yet so they could attempt to fix them, and I explained that I had been instructed by her to log what was happening, and that she would call me periodically to discuss. After a bit of discussion about this, and her stating that she can not diagnose or fix my car so obviously I need to let the dealership know about the issues, I proposed that I make a list of all the issues I have been seeing, write them all down, and bring them and my car in to a dealership for service again. I specifically mentioned that I would need to write them all down because of the inaccurate data entry the last time I brought the car in for them to go through my original list of issues. She agreed that it would be a good idea to do this to avoid any confusion.
Then I asked about the Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) she mentioned was coming to address item 2 in the list above. I wanted to know if it was my responsibility to ask the dealership if the TSB was available, or if they would call me. She told me that the VIN associated with my 2013 Ford CMax Hybrid was already flagged to receive this fix when it becomes available, so any time I "happen" to bring my car in for service, it will automatically show up in the computer, and a technician will simply correct it if/when the TSB becomes available, and the fact that they applied the TSB will be noted in the copy of the service record/receipt I receive. I won't receive a call, letter, or any other indication. I will only know it is available if I bring the car in for service.
So, I will take the list above, add more detail to each item, and present that list to a dealership sometime soon, along with a link to this blog telling them that at least "some" of the items listed have been captured on video so they will have a better idea about what might be wrong, and also realize that I am not making these things up because it is possible that they may not be able to reproduce them in the shop because they are intermittent failures.
For the record, this will be the second time I will be bringing the car in to address items 1, 2, and 11. I brought the car in 3 times before they managed to fix the remote starter. In the state of MN, we have a Lemon Law.
"The law has special refund and replacement provisions for cars that have substantial defects or problems, commonly called “lemons.” Under the law, if the manufacturer or its authorized dealer has been unable to repair a car’s problem after a “reasonable number of attempts,” the buyer or lessee may go through a manufacturer’s arbitration program, or to court, to seek a full refund of the car’s purchase price (minus a deduction for use of the vehicle). The law considers a “reasonable number of attempts” to be any one of the following:
Failing that, at least I still have options...
CURRENT LIST OF ISSUES
- poor fuel economy (best average MPG for my car has not exceeded 35MPG which is 25% below EPA Estimate of 47/47/47)
- mysterious brake locks after parking preventing Reverse without driving forward first
- failure for doors to unlock automatically as I approach the car and grab the handle
- mysterious noise generated by the gas engine coming through the speakers (with the radio on AND off). When engine switched back to electric, noise went away.
- completely blank screen on center console after starting car (no radio, camera, navigation controls)
- radio presets disappearing and reappearing
- sensor alarms going off due to weather conditions dropping snow on them (need a way for driver to disable temporarily)
- rear view camera "rolls" up the screen occasionally
- hands-free phone feature starts to work, asks me questions through the speakers, dials the number I request by voice, but after dialing the number the sound ceases to come through speakers forcing me to pick up the phone and talk
- radio sound goes mute until switching stations back and forth
- car not starting (manually) on first attempt after having used the remote starter.
- radio will not turn off (new problem and new video)
I received a call today from my CSM thanks to the use of Social Media getting Ford's attention. I was asked why I hadn't brought all these issues to the attention of a dealership yet so they could attempt to fix them, and I explained that I had been instructed by her to log what was happening, and that she would call me periodically to discuss. After a bit of discussion about this, and her stating that she can not diagnose or fix my car so obviously I need to let the dealership know about the issues, I proposed that I make a list of all the issues I have been seeing, write them all down, and bring them and my car in to a dealership for service again. I specifically mentioned that I would need to write them all down because of the inaccurate data entry the last time I brought the car in for them to go through my original list of issues. She agreed that it would be a good idea to do this to avoid any confusion.
Then I asked about the Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) she mentioned was coming to address item 2 in the list above. I wanted to know if it was my responsibility to ask the dealership if the TSB was available, or if they would call me. She told me that the VIN associated with my 2013 Ford CMax Hybrid was already flagged to receive this fix when it becomes available, so any time I "happen" to bring my car in for service, it will automatically show up in the computer, and a technician will simply correct it if/when the TSB becomes available, and the fact that they applied the TSB will be noted in the copy of the service record/receipt I receive. I won't receive a call, letter, or any other indication. I will only know it is available if I bring the car in for service.
So, I will take the list above, add more detail to each item, and present that list to a dealership sometime soon, along with a link to this blog telling them that at least "some" of the items listed have been captured on video so they will have a better idea about what might be wrong, and also realize that I am not making these things up because it is possible that they may not be able to reproduce them in the shop because they are intermittent failures.
For the record, this will be the second time I will be bringing the car in to address items 1, 2, and 11. I brought the car in 3 times before they managed to fix the remote starter. In the state of MN, we have a Lemon Law.
"The law has special refund and replacement provisions for cars that have substantial defects or problems, commonly called “lemons.” Under the law, if the manufacturer or its authorized dealer has been unable to repair a car’s problem after a “reasonable number of attempts,” the buyer or lessee may go through a manufacturer’s arbitration program, or to court, to seek a full refund of the car’s purchase price (minus a deduction for use of the vehicle). The law considers a “reasonable number of attempts” to be any one of the following:
- Four or more unsuccessful attempts to repair the same defect; or,
- One unsuccessful attempt to repair a defect which has caused the complete failure of the steering or braking system and which is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury; or,
- A car which has been out of service due to warranty repairs for 30 or more cumulative business days."
Failing that, at least I still have options...
Monday, March 11, 2013
Video Evidence of Issues with My 2013 Ford CMax Hybrid
Today's post will focus on some of the evidence I have been collecting since January 23, 2013 with regard to various issues I have been having with my 2013 Ford CMax Hybrid. My intent is to help educate others who may be considering the purchase of this car of "potential" issues they may also experience. The issues I have been experiencing may or may not exist in other 2013 Ford CMax Hybrids. If they do, then some of what I share may help you at least be prepared for, and may even help you resolve some of these issues before they cause you any grief.
As I mentioned previously, I was still experiencing occasional car start failure after using the remote starter, and also periodic cases where I would put the car in Reverse after having been parked for a while (without using the handbrake) and the car would not move. It would act like the brakes were "locked". The first video is an attempt to capture one or both of these issues, but the issues did NOT present themselves at the time I captured it. The reason I am placing this video here is because it is important to note that when I push the Start button, I do so for the same short time that I do in the second video where it fails to start. I mention this because Ford Engineers claim it didn't start the second time because I hadn't held the Start button long enough (not true, in my opinion).
This video, taken around 5:10pm the same day (1/31/2013), shows the car failing to start after using the remote starter, and coincidentally, also "sticking" when attempting to move the car in Reverse. I shared this video with Ford Engineers via the Customer Service Manager (CSM) assigned to my case. She informed me that the Engineer's opinion was that I did not hold down the Start button long enough, so they still don't believe there is an issue with the car related to this. If you watched both videos, what do you think? Did I hold it down for a shorter period of time when it failed than when it successfully started? I believe I pressed it long enough. The Ford CSM assigned to my case did concede that there were numerous reports coming in related to the brake "lock" situation I have been describing. As a result, I was told there would be a Technical Service Bulletin released to address the brake lock issue. It's March 11th, 2013, and I still have not been notified that I should come in to have this issue corrected...
At the beginning of February, I started noticing some new issues. This first one has to do with the automatic door unlock feature. This feature is quite handy. When you approach your locked car, and you have the keys with you in your pocket, or purse, the door will automatically unlock when your hand touches the handle. You do not need to press an unlock button (although you can). It's a nice feature, but not critical to the car's function.
This video shows me walking up to my locked car, and trying to open the door simply by grasping the door handle. Normally, this works just fine. For some reason, it started to fail periodically, so I started attempting to capture it on video, and I did. I have not yet shown this to the Ford Engineers, but when I described the scenario to people, I was told that I had to be certain my hand was in the correct location to open the door. I've been successfully opening the door the same way since I got the car, and didn't try opening it any new way, so I'm confident that my hand has been in the correct location each time.
Above is a video showing the auto door unlock feature working as it should for comparison.
Another issue that appears periodically is related to the perimeter, or proximity sensors located both in the front and rear of the car. These are nice because they alert you when there is an object within a few feet of your car that perhaps you had not seen. However, they are pretty sensitive, and as a result, when it rains heavily, or when water freezes on any of them, or it snows heavily, the alarms go off. If you clear the senors off before driving, you will be fine until the snow becomes too heavy, or water freezes over them, and you happen to be at a stop sign, stoplight, or in very slow ( <10 mph) traffic. Believe me, if this happens to you and you have a long slow commute due to weather such as this, it will drive you nuts. Ford, if you are reading this, please consider giving the driver the option to temporarily disable the sensors.
Alarm noise while driving in slow traffic due to wintry conditions.
OK. Here's another annoyance. This is SYNC related. I've had more than a few weird things happen with SYNC, but haven't been able to document all of them yet. This first one shows that the radio presets disappear from the main console display on occasion, and I show how to work around that until they issue a fix for it.
Radio presets have disappeared, and how to get them back.
Another strange phenomenon occurred recently. I connected my phone via bluetooth, and using the built-in system, placed a call to my boss. When I told the car who to call, and what phone to use, everything worked normally. It asked if I should call the person on cell or at work, and this came through the speaker system as expected. I told it to call his work number and I waited to hear the phone ring. I couldn't hear anything for some reason, but then noticed a muffled sound coming from my phone. I picked up my phone, which was still connected to the car via bluetooth, and I could hear my boss saying hello. So I spoke with him briefly using the phone, and then hung up. This was the first time the hands free system had failed me. I checked my phone to ensure bluetooth was still enabled, and it was. I then turned the bluetooth off, and decided I would try to capture this in the future. I then noticed that the radio was silent, so I thought maybe I had turned down the volume somehow. I adjusted the volume, but still no sound came out of the speakers. That's when I made the first video below. I followed that up with a second video when I noticed something else odd. I must apologize for how blurry some of this is. I was driving slowly in traffic, so my eyes were more on the road than on the phone.
Eventually, I could not stand the silence while stuck in traffic anymore, so I tried to find a workaround for this problem. It turned out to be quite simple in this case. Watch the video, or simply read the description below it.
I changed radio stations, the sound came back on, and I changed it back immediately to see if it was simply problems with the radio broadcast station. It wasn't. The broadcast was working just fine, and there were no reports that the station had even skipped a single beat during this time. So, if this happens to you, simply try switching between stations and it may clear up for you as well.
I've also had the entire center console go black on me, I've had the rear view camera scroll up the screen like an old black and white television from the 60's or 70's, and a few other odds and ends. I hope to catch those on video to add to this collection soon. I have still photos of some other things, and some audio files as well that I may upload in a future post.
03-25-2013 UPDATE: New video showing that the radio would not turn off, even after turning off the car and shutting the door!
Let me know if any of you are having any of the same issues I am seeing. I'd be especially interested to hear about your real world fuel economy since mine has not even come close to the EPA estimates yet. I don't expect that it ever will, but it "should" be within 10% of those estimates in my opinion.
As I mentioned previously, I was still experiencing occasional car start failure after using the remote starter, and also periodic cases where I would put the car in Reverse after having been parked for a while (without using the handbrake) and the car would not move. It would act like the brakes were "locked". The first video is an attempt to capture one or both of these issues, but the issues did NOT present themselves at the time I captured it. The reason I am placing this video here is because it is important to note that when I push the Start button, I do so for the same short time that I do in the second video where it fails to start. I mention this because Ford Engineers claim it didn't start the second time because I hadn't held the Start button long enough (not true, in my opinion).
This video, taken at around noon on 1/31/2013, shows the car starting just fine after using the remote starter, and NOT having a problem moving in Reverse. In other words, things work as expected. The key thing to notice in this video is how quickly I press the Start button, and how the car starts just fine. I did NOT need to press the button any longer than I did.
At the beginning of February, I started noticing some new issues. This first one has to do with the automatic door unlock feature. This feature is quite handy. When you approach your locked car, and you have the keys with you in your pocket, or purse, the door will automatically unlock when your hand touches the handle. You do not need to press an unlock button (although you can). It's a nice feature, but not critical to the car's function.
This video shows me walking up to my locked car, and trying to open the door simply by grasping the door handle. Normally, this works just fine. For some reason, it started to fail periodically, so I started attempting to capture it on video, and I did. I have not yet shown this to the Ford Engineers, but when I described the scenario to people, I was told that I had to be certain my hand was in the correct location to open the door. I've been successfully opening the door the same way since I got the car, and didn't try opening it any new way, so I'm confident that my hand has been in the correct location each time.
Above is a video showing the auto door unlock feature working as it should for comparison.
Another issue that appears periodically is related to the perimeter, or proximity sensors located both in the front and rear of the car. These are nice because they alert you when there is an object within a few feet of your car that perhaps you had not seen. However, they are pretty sensitive, and as a result, when it rains heavily, or when water freezes on any of them, or it snows heavily, the alarms go off. If you clear the senors off before driving, you will be fine until the snow becomes too heavy, or water freezes over them, and you happen to be at a stop sign, stoplight, or in very slow ( <10 mph) traffic. Believe me, if this happens to you and you have a long slow commute due to weather such as this, it will drive you nuts. Ford, if you are reading this, please consider giving the driver the option to temporarily disable the sensors.
OK. Here's another annoyance. This is SYNC related. I've had more than a few weird things happen with SYNC, but haven't been able to document all of them yet. This first one shows that the radio presets disappear from the main console display on occasion, and I show how to work around that until they issue a fix for it.
Radio presets have disappeared, and how to get them back.
Another strange phenomenon occurred recently. I connected my phone via bluetooth, and using the built-in system, placed a call to my boss. When I told the car who to call, and what phone to use, everything worked normally. It asked if I should call the person on cell or at work, and this came through the speaker system as expected. I told it to call his work number and I waited to hear the phone ring. I couldn't hear anything for some reason, but then noticed a muffled sound coming from my phone. I picked up my phone, which was still connected to the car via bluetooth, and I could hear my boss saying hello. So I spoke with him briefly using the phone, and then hung up. This was the first time the hands free system had failed me. I checked my phone to ensure bluetooth was still enabled, and it was. I then turned the bluetooth off, and decided I would try to capture this in the future. I then noticed that the radio was silent, so I thought maybe I had turned down the volume somehow. I adjusted the volume, but still no sound came out of the speakers. That's when I made the first video below. I followed that up with a second video when I noticed something else odd. I must apologize for how blurry some of this is. I was driving slowly in traffic, so my eyes were more on the road than on the phone.
Video 1 of 2
Video 2 of 2
Eventually, I could not stand the silence while stuck in traffic anymore, so I tried to find a workaround for this problem. It turned out to be quite simple in this case. Watch the video, or simply read the description below it.
Fix for missing sound (in this particular case)
I changed radio stations, the sound came back on, and I changed it back immediately to see if it was simply problems with the radio broadcast station. It wasn't. The broadcast was working just fine, and there were no reports that the station had even skipped a single beat during this time. So, if this happens to you, simply try switching between stations and it may clear up for you as well.
I've also had the entire center console go black on me, I've had the rear view camera scroll up the screen like an old black and white television from the 60's or 70's, and a few other odds and ends. I hope to catch those on video to add to this collection soon. I have still photos of some other things, and some audio files as well that I may upload in a future post.
03-25-2013 UPDATE: New video showing that the radio would not turn off, even after turning off the car and shutting the door!
Let me know if any of you are having any of the same issues I am seeing. I'd be especially interested to hear about your real world fuel economy since mine has not even come close to the EPA estimates yet. I don't expect that it ever will, but it "should" be within 10% of those estimates in my opinion.
01-2013 Discrepancies in Service Report 2013 Ford CMax Hybrid
On Jan 24, 2013, I decided to read the service report from the recent visit to the dealership near my home. I had calmed down a bit by now, but was curious about the exact comments the technician(s) had entered related to the list of issues I had reported. Below is the list from the report, and my comments related to their findings. The most irritating ones are the ones that have an incorrect description of the problem entered. They should have had me proof-read the entry to assure them that their entries had reflected my concerns accurately.
I am entering the exact text from the service report created on 1/21/2013 after describing them all to the Service Manager, the person who entered them into the system, and a third person who sat between these two men listening as I described the issues. Please understand that any typos are not mine; they are from the person who entered them in to Ford's service order system. The text in italics is the service technician's response/explanation/recommendation. You will note that I continue to avoid listing any names as I do not feel the names of the persons involved are relevant or necessary to reveal at this time. The fact that there were 3 people present (and listening) at the time I described the issues is relevant, however, because they witnessed my actual descriptions TWICE before data entry took place.
2013 Ford CMax Hybrid
1) Driveability/Electric - Warranty
CUSTOMER STATES THIS AM THE REMOTE STARTER WORKED BUT ENGINE TURNED OFF AFTER 10 MIN. THEN WOULD NOT START BY PUSHING THE START BUTTON. A MESSAGE COME UP THAT SAID "SEE OWNERS MANUAL" LET CAR SIT FOR 15 MIN AND THEN THE CAR STARTED
WHEN THE REMOTE STARTER SHUTS OFF WHEN A DOOR IS OPENED IS A NORMAL FUNCTION OF A FORD REMOTE STARTER. ALSO, WHEN THE REMOTE STARTER TURNS THE VEHICLE ON, THE PCM CONTROLS IF THE ENGINE IS ON OR IF THE VEHICLE IS IN ELECTRIC MODE. AND IF THE STARTER SHUTS OFF AFTER THE TIMER HAS EXPIRED, THE BRAKE PEDAL MUST BE PRESSED FIRST BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO START VEHICLE AGAIN. THIS ACTION WILL TURN OFF THE REMOTE STARTER ACCESSORY POWER WHICH IS STILL ACTIVE AFTER THE VEHICLE SHUTS OFF.
I had already been informed at the time the remote starter was finally fixed that the car would shut off as soon as I opened a door if I had used the remote starter, so this was nothing new, and I had already explained to them that I knew this was considered "normal". I had, however, mentioned that I felt that Ford should consider a modification that would keep the car running if the person opening the door was in possession of the "keys". I did not consider this part of the problem at all. The part that was a problem, was that when I got in the vehicle, and tried to start it again, it failed to start and displayed an unusual, and useless, message. The response to that part of the issue listed above was insulting to me. They stated that I had to place my foot on the brake before attempting to start the vehicle. How stupid do they think I am? I ALWAYS have to place my foot on the brake to start the vehicle. I've known that since the day I obtained the car, and it has become a natural habit. In a future post, I will include a video I made when attempting to capture this issue so that I could prove to them that it wasn't something I just made up. The video proves this.
2) ELECTRICAL SYS. BODY
CUSTOMER STATES THE LIGHT FOR THE CK GAS CAP COMES ON INTERMITTENTLY
42:9C915
TEST EEC. FOUND CODE P0457, GROSS EMISSION EVAP LEAK. RAN PINPOINT TEST HX, FOUND CANISTER PURGE VALVE STUCK OPEN. NEED CANISTER PURGE VALVE. FOUND VALVE ON BACKORDER WITH NO EXPECTED ARRIVAL DATE. EMERGENCY ORDERED
At least this one they could identify. While they had no idea how long it would be until the part became available, I was assured that I could drive the car until they were able to replace the part.
3) REPAIR IGNITION SYS
CUSTOMER STATES THE PARKING BRAKE SEEMS TO STICK. VEHICLE WILL NOT MOVE IN REVERSE UNLESS YOU GO FORWARD FIRST.
NPF
UNABLE TO DUPLICATE CONCERN. ACTUATED PARKING BRAKE IN NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, ALSO RAISED VEHICLE ON HOIST AND VISUAL INSPECT ANY PARKING BRAKE COMPONENT DAMAGE. ALL OKAY UNABLE TO FEEL ANY DRAMATIC CHANGES IN PARKING BRAKE ACTUATION THAT WOULD FEEL OR SHOW ANYTHING WRONG WITH SYSTEM. RAN OASIS. NO REPORTED CONCERNS FOUND, UNABLE TO FEEL OR FIND ANYTHING VISUALLY EVIDENT WRONG WITH SYSTEM. OPERATING NORMAL AT THIS TIME.
Here is their first data entry mistake. I clearly told 3 people, including the person who entered this into the system incorrectly, that I never use the parking brake. The problem I reported to them was that occasionally, after the vehicle has been parked for awhile (no parking brake used), the car would not move in reverse. It acted as if the tires were locked to the pavement. The only way I could get the car to move again was to put it into Drive, move ahead about a foot or so, and then I could move it in Reverse. Lucky for me, I never had a solid object close enough to the front of the car to prevent me from moving forward. I don't blame the technician for not finding this issue, I blame the inaccurate entry of the issue. In a future post, I will report that after many phone calls, capturing this phenomenon on video and sharing that with Ford Customer Service, Ford admitted to me that this was a known issue and that a Technical Service Bulletin was being issued. So sad that they only admit a problem after multiple people report it, and a video is submitted. I am writing this blog entry long after the fact, so I can tell you that this issue has STILL not been resolved as of 3/11/2013.
4) DRIVABILITY
CUSTOMER STATES THE MESSAGE SHOWS S/D CARD IS MISSING BUT THE SD CARD IS IN PLACE
04:14D212
UNABLE TO DUPLICATE CONCERN. RAN SELF TEST ON APIM. NO CODES. RAN NETWORK TEST. ALL PASS. RAN OASIS. FOUND NO MESSAGES PERTAINING TO ISSUE OR SYNC IN GENERAL. RAN SYSTEM TO INSPECT FOR UPDATES, FOUND NO UPDATES AVAILABLE FOR THIS SYSTEM. AT CURRENT SOFTWARE LEVEL. PERFORMED MASTER RESET AND HARD APIM RESET
Once again, they could not duplicate the issue. This had to do with the navigation system, and occasionally, this message about the SD card missing would appear and I would have no navigation capabilities. To work around the issue myself, I simply removed the SD card, waited a few seconds, and reinserted the SD card. The system would then recognize it again, and things would work normally. Since the technician performed the reset(s) described, I have not seen this issue reappear. I have seen more than one SYNC update since then, so perhaps a bug was discovered and fixed. Regardless, it currently is operating fine.
5) CK ENGINE LITE ON
CUSTOMER STATES THE FUEL ECONOMY IS POOR. OWNER HAS NOT GOTTEN PAST 38 MPG AND IT IS RATED AT 47 MPG
NOTE: I must interject my anger here. I NEVER stated I obtained 38 MPG. I repeatedly stated, to at least 3 people present at this dealership, and 2 others at another dealership, that I was very disappointed that I never obtained a fuel economy greater than 35 MPG during fall weather with temperatures in the 50s to 70s. That's 25% below the EPA estimates listed on the sticker (47/47/47), and that EPA estimate is used by Ford as a major selling point fro this vehicle.
DIAG
CONFIRMED CONCERN. FOUND TO BE NORMAL CONDITIONS FOR WINTER DRIVING. EXTENDED WINTER WARM UP DROPS FUEL ECONOMY, LOW TEMPERATURES IN THE TRACTION BATTERY WILL CAUSE LONGER THAN NORMAL RUN TIME OF GAS ENGINE. HIGHER SPEED DRIVING ROAD AND WEATHER CONDITIONS. RAN FUEL ECONOMY TEST. IN TOWN AVERAGED 41.7 AND HIGHWAY (HIGHER SPEED DRIVING) AVERAGED 37.9MPG. INSPECT TRANSMISSION FLUID LEVEL. ALL OKAY. MONITOR LONG FUEL TRIM VALUES. WITHIN SPECIFICATION. VERIFIED ENGINE OPERATES WITHIN NORMAL ENGINE COOLANT TEMPERATURE. THE PURGE VALVE STICKING OPEN CAN CAUSE POSSIBLE ISSUE WITH FUEL ECONOMY, BUT UNABLE TO DETERMINE THIS ON ROAD TEST. NORMAL CHARACTERISTIC OF VEHICLE
Much of what the technician states is quite reasonable FOR WINTER DRIVING. That said, the inaccurate entry of fuel economy, and the absence of the fact that the MPG I reported was based upon the lifetime of the vehicle during fall weather conditions, really pissed me off. After MULTIPLE phone calls and physical visits, Ford continues to refuse to correct this within their database system. Had I been allowed to review the service issue list prior to submission of the service order, I would have caught this error (and the other one) so that the record would be accurate. The Customer Service Manager assigned to my case even stated that the record could be amended, but after attempting to have the dealership do so, she later called me to state that she never told me that the record itself could be amended; just that her case file would contain this information. It was at this point that I decided I would need to start recording our phone conversations so I would have an irrefutable record of what was stated via phone calls. At this point, it was my word (memory) versus hers. My stress levels began to increase, and my anger about all of this increased.
I became obsessed with trying to prove to Ford that these issues were real. I started logging everything I could, and began using my cell phone to capture videos every time I started my car, or backed it up, or saw something unusual in a display with the hope that I would catch it on video as proof. My efforts have begun to pay off. In upcoming blog entries, I will begin posting videos, pictures, and sound files so you may see/hear some of these anomalies for yourself.
I am entering the exact text from the service report created on 1/21/2013 after describing them all to the Service Manager, the person who entered them into the system, and a third person who sat between these two men listening as I described the issues. Please understand that any typos are not mine; they are from the person who entered them in to Ford's service order system. The text in italics is the service technician's response/explanation/recommendation. You will note that I continue to avoid listing any names as I do not feel the names of the persons involved are relevant or necessary to reveal at this time. The fact that there were 3 people present (and listening) at the time I described the issues is relevant, however, because they witnessed my actual descriptions TWICE before data entry took place.
2013 Ford CMax Hybrid
1) Driveability/Electric - Warranty
CUSTOMER STATES THIS AM THE REMOTE STARTER WORKED BUT ENGINE TURNED OFF AFTER 10 MIN. THEN WOULD NOT START BY PUSHING THE START BUTTON. A MESSAGE COME UP THAT SAID "SEE OWNERS MANUAL" LET CAR SIT FOR 15 MIN AND THEN THE CAR STARTED
WHEN THE REMOTE STARTER SHUTS OFF WHEN A DOOR IS OPENED IS A NORMAL FUNCTION OF A FORD REMOTE STARTER. ALSO, WHEN THE REMOTE STARTER TURNS THE VEHICLE ON, THE PCM CONTROLS IF THE ENGINE IS ON OR IF THE VEHICLE IS IN ELECTRIC MODE. AND IF THE STARTER SHUTS OFF AFTER THE TIMER HAS EXPIRED, THE BRAKE PEDAL MUST BE PRESSED FIRST BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO START VEHICLE AGAIN. THIS ACTION WILL TURN OFF THE REMOTE STARTER ACCESSORY POWER WHICH IS STILL ACTIVE AFTER THE VEHICLE SHUTS OFF.
I had already been informed at the time the remote starter was finally fixed that the car would shut off as soon as I opened a door if I had used the remote starter, so this was nothing new, and I had already explained to them that I knew this was considered "normal". I had, however, mentioned that I felt that Ford should consider a modification that would keep the car running if the person opening the door was in possession of the "keys". I did not consider this part of the problem at all. The part that was a problem, was that when I got in the vehicle, and tried to start it again, it failed to start and displayed an unusual, and useless, message. The response to that part of the issue listed above was insulting to me. They stated that I had to place my foot on the brake before attempting to start the vehicle. How stupid do they think I am? I ALWAYS have to place my foot on the brake to start the vehicle. I've known that since the day I obtained the car, and it has become a natural habit. In a future post, I will include a video I made when attempting to capture this issue so that I could prove to them that it wasn't something I just made up. The video proves this.
2) ELECTRICAL SYS. BODY
CUSTOMER STATES THE LIGHT FOR THE CK GAS CAP COMES ON INTERMITTENTLY
42:9C915
TEST EEC. FOUND CODE P0457, GROSS EMISSION EVAP LEAK. RAN PINPOINT TEST HX, FOUND CANISTER PURGE VALVE STUCK OPEN. NEED CANISTER PURGE VALVE. FOUND VALVE ON BACKORDER WITH NO EXPECTED ARRIVAL DATE. EMERGENCY ORDERED
At least this one they could identify. While they had no idea how long it would be until the part became available, I was assured that I could drive the car until they were able to replace the part.
3) REPAIR IGNITION SYS
CUSTOMER STATES THE PARKING BRAKE SEEMS TO STICK. VEHICLE WILL NOT MOVE IN REVERSE UNLESS YOU GO FORWARD FIRST.
NPF
UNABLE TO DUPLICATE CONCERN. ACTUATED PARKING BRAKE IN NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, ALSO RAISED VEHICLE ON HOIST AND VISUAL INSPECT ANY PARKING BRAKE COMPONENT DAMAGE. ALL OKAY UNABLE TO FEEL ANY DRAMATIC CHANGES IN PARKING BRAKE ACTUATION THAT WOULD FEEL OR SHOW ANYTHING WRONG WITH SYSTEM. RAN OASIS. NO REPORTED CONCERNS FOUND, UNABLE TO FEEL OR FIND ANYTHING VISUALLY EVIDENT WRONG WITH SYSTEM. OPERATING NORMAL AT THIS TIME.
Here is their first data entry mistake. I clearly told 3 people, including the person who entered this into the system incorrectly, that I never use the parking brake. The problem I reported to them was that occasionally, after the vehicle has been parked for awhile (no parking brake used), the car would not move in reverse. It acted as if the tires were locked to the pavement. The only way I could get the car to move again was to put it into Drive, move ahead about a foot or so, and then I could move it in Reverse. Lucky for me, I never had a solid object close enough to the front of the car to prevent me from moving forward. I don't blame the technician for not finding this issue, I blame the inaccurate entry of the issue. In a future post, I will report that after many phone calls, capturing this phenomenon on video and sharing that with Ford Customer Service, Ford admitted to me that this was a known issue and that a Technical Service Bulletin was being issued. So sad that they only admit a problem after multiple people report it, and a video is submitted. I am writing this blog entry long after the fact, so I can tell you that this issue has STILL not been resolved as of 3/11/2013.
4) DRIVABILITY
CUSTOMER STATES THE MESSAGE SHOWS S/D CARD IS MISSING BUT THE SD CARD IS IN PLACE
04:14D212
UNABLE TO DUPLICATE CONCERN. RAN SELF TEST ON APIM. NO CODES. RAN NETWORK TEST. ALL PASS. RAN OASIS. FOUND NO MESSAGES PERTAINING TO ISSUE OR SYNC IN GENERAL. RAN SYSTEM TO INSPECT FOR UPDATES, FOUND NO UPDATES AVAILABLE FOR THIS SYSTEM. AT CURRENT SOFTWARE LEVEL. PERFORMED MASTER RESET AND HARD APIM RESET
Once again, they could not duplicate the issue. This had to do with the navigation system, and occasionally, this message about the SD card missing would appear and I would have no navigation capabilities. To work around the issue myself, I simply removed the SD card, waited a few seconds, and reinserted the SD card. The system would then recognize it again, and things would work normally. Since the technician performed the reset(s) described, I have not seen this issue reappear. I have seen more than one SYNC update since then, so perhaps a bug was discovered and fixed. Regardless, it currently is operating fine.
5) CK ENGINE LITE ON
CUSTOMER STATES THE FUEL ECONOMY IS POOR. OWNER HAS NOT GOTTEN PAST 38 MPG AND IT IS RATED AT 47 MPG
NOTE: I must interject my anger here. I NEVER stated I obtained 38 MPG. I repeatedly stated, to at least 3 people present at this dealership, and 2 others at another dealership, that I was very disappointed that I never obtained a fuel economy greater than 35 MPG during fall weather with temperatures in the 50s to 70s. That's 25% below the EPA estimates listed on the sticker (47/47/47), and that EPA estimate is used by Ford as a major selling point fro this vehicle.
DIAG
CONFIRMED CONCERN. FOUND TO BE NORMAL CONDITIONS FOR WINTER DRIVING. EXTENDED WINTER WARM UP DROPS FUEL ECONOMY, LOW TEMPERATURES IN THE TRACTION BATTERY WILL CAUSE LONGER THAN NORMAL RUN TIME OF GAS ENGINE. HIGHER SPEED DRIVING ROAD AND WEATHER CONDITIONS. RAN FUEL ECONOMY TEST. IN TOWN AVERAGED 41.7 AND HIGHWAY (HIGHER SPEED DRIVING) AVERAGED 37.9MPG. INSPECT TRANSMISSION FLUID LEVEL. ALL OKAY. MONITOR LONG FUEL TRIM VALUES. WITHIN SPECIFICATION. VERIFIED ENGINE OPERATES WITHIN NORMAL ENGINE COOLANT TEMPERATURE. THE PURGE VALVE STICKING OPEN CAN CAUSE POSSIBLE ISSUE WITH FUEL ECONOMY, BUT UNABLE TO DETERMINE THIS ON ROAD TEST. NORMAL CHARACTERISTIC OF VEHICLE
Much of what the technician states is quite reasonable FOR WINTER DRIVING. That said, the inaccurate entry of fuel economy, and the absence of the fact that the MPG I reported was based upon the lifetime of the vehicle during fall weather conditions, really pissed me off. After MULTIPLE phone calls and physical visits, Ford continues to refuse to correct this within their database system. Had I been allowed to review the service issue list prior to submission of the service order, I would have caught this error (and the other one) so that the record would be accurate. The Customer Service Manager assigned to my case even stated that the record could be amended, but after attempting to have the dealership do so, she later called me to state that she never told me that the record itself could be amended; just that her case file would contain this information. It was at this point that I decided I would need to start recording our phone conversations so I would have an irrefutable record of what was stated via phone calls. At this point, it was my word (memory) versus hers. My stress levels began to increase, and my anger about all of this increased.
I became obsessed with trying to prove to Ford that these issues were real. I started logging everything I could, and began using my cell phone to capture videos every time I started my car, or backed it up, or saw something unusual in a display with the hope that I would catch it on video as proof. My efforts have begun to pay off. In upcoming blog entries, I will begin posting videos, pictures, and sound files so you may see/hear some of these anomalies for yourself.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
01-2013 Service Visit from Hell - 2013 Ford CMax Hybrid
Still not caught up with all events. I can only post periodically, so I hope to get up to date very soon. Today I will describe my service visit from hell. In case you did not read my previous post, I am working with a Customer Service Manager (CSM) from Ford Motor Company because I have been experiencing several different problems with my 2013 Ford CMax Hybrid, and she helped arrange for me to bring my car in to a local Ford Dealership for service on Monday, January 21st. Please read my previous post for the list of items I asked Ford to investigate.
I received a phone call about 9:20am on the 22nd from my CSM. She informed me that she had spoken with the service manager and he informed her that they were working on each issue, one at a time. The CSM stated to me that she wanted all issues fixed before returning the car to me, but that it may take several days. She told me she would call me again on Friday, or sooner if the car had been fixed by then.
I called the service guy that same day (the 22nd) at about 4pm for a status update since I figured they probably managed to get through the list by then. He didn't answer the phone, so I left a voicemail with my name and phone number asking him to call me back.
On the 23rd, at 9:10am I called the service guy again. Again, he did not answer the phone so I left another voicemail with my name and phone number.
At 9:15 am, I called the main number and asked to speak with the service manager. He wasn't available, but I was redirected to some other service guy who immediately placed me on hold. After waiting a long time, I hung up and called again. I got that same service guy, but this time he told me he would check with the service guy assigned to my car. I was placed on hold for a few minutes, but eventually he came back and informed me that my guy was with another customer and could not talk right now. He did say that he wanted to speak with me though, so I was placed back on hold. At 9:25am, my service guy picked up my call, and began to go through the list of items and results of their diagnostics.
In a nutshell, the technicians were unable to reproduce the majority of issues I had reported. One item they were able to confirm involved the check gas cap warning, but alas, the part necessary to repair it was on back order, and they had no idea when it would become available. When pressed for a guess, I was told that it might become available in March but even that was just a guess.
He ran down the rest of the list, and as he did so, I became more and more unhappy. They could not reproduce any of the other issues, and it appeared that the response they had for each was that it was either "normal behavior", or "perhaps I hadn't done something "just right"". I became rather insulted by this, so I simply asked when I could pick up the car, and he said as soon as possible because he wanted it off his lot. (If they were so hot to get it off their lot, why didn't they call ME instead of waiting for me to call THEM?)
I picked up the car that afternoon, and the very first thing I noticed was that the User Guide had been left prominently on the passenger seat. Whether this was done on purpose or not, I was immediately insulted by the notion that perhaps I should just read the manual (or perhaps, the technicians were so ignorant of how the car worked, THEY needed the manual to help them out and simply forgot to put it back in the glove box?). I read the manual cover-to-cover the first week I had the car, and I am no idiot, so this really pissed me off.
I next noticed that all my saved "Favorites" for navigation destinations were no longer saved within the car's computer system, and that all my phone contacts had also been wiped out. I was pretty sure this was a side effect of something they did, but since I hadn't read the entire report yet, I wasn't certain. I just wanted to get out of there. I knew those two things were things I could remedy myself simply by synching my phone, and re-entering the addresses of the places I wanted to keep in my list of Favorites.
It just so happened that this day, the 23rd, was also my son's birthday, and he and his girlfriend had invited me over for dinner, so I was very happy I no longer had to drive the rental Yaris with the Cyclops dashboard. The temperature was beginning to drop again, and the wind was picking up. I used the remote start to warm up the car before heading to his new home. My little girl and I went out to the car which had stopped running at this point due to the remote start timer, got in, I placed my foot on the brake, pressed the start button, and ONCE AGAIN THE CAR DID NOT START. Funny how I have no trouble reproducing this problem, but the technicians just can't seem to do it. I tried starting the car again and, thankfully, this time it started.
While driving off to my son's home for dinner, I decided that I needed to review everything the technician's had listed they had done, and then call my CSM again to determine what steps we could take next. One of those, I determined, was going to be for me to start keeping a log of everything that went wrong as I experienced it, and also log discussions I had with people during phone calls.....
I received a phone call about 9:20am on the 22nd from my CSM. She informed me that she had spoken with the service manager and he informed her that they were working on each issue, one at a time. The CSM stated to me that she wanted all issues fixed before returning the car to me, but that it may take several days. She told me she would call me again on Friday, or sooner if the car had been fixed by then.
I called the service guy that same day (the 22nd) at about 4pm for a status update since I figured they probably managed to get through the list by then. He didn't answer the phone, so I left a voicemail with my name and phone number asking him to call me back.
On the 23rd, at 9:10am I called the service guy again. Again, he did not answer the phone so I left another voicemail with my name and phone number.
At 9:15 am, I called the main number and asked to speak with the service manager. He wasn't available, but I was redirected to some other service guy who immediately placed me on hold. After waiting a long time, I hung up and called again. I got that same service guy, but this time he told me he would check with the service guy assigned to my car. I was placed on hold for a few minutes, but eventually he came back and informed me that my guy was with another customer and could not talk right now. He did say that he wanted to speak with me though, so I was placed back on hold. At 9:25am, my service guy picked up my call, and began to go through the list of items and results of their diagnostics.
In a nutshell, the technicians were unable to reproduce the majority of issues I had reported. One item they were able to confirm involved the check gas cap warning, but alas, the part necessary to repair it was on back order, and they had no idea when it would become available. When pressed for a guess, I was told that it might become available in March but even that was just a guess.
He ran down the rest of the list, and as he did so, I became more and more unhappy. They could not reproduce any of the other issues, and it appeared that the response they had for each was that it was either "normal behavior", or "perhaps I hadn't done something "just right"". I became rather insulted by this, so I simply asked when I could pick up the car, and he said as soon as possible because he wanted it off his lot. (If they were so hot to get it off their lot, why didn't they call ME instead of waiting for me to call THEM?)
I picked up the car that afternoon, and the very first thing I noticed was that the User Guide had been left prominently on the passenger seat. Whether this was done on purpose or not, I was immediately insulted by the notion that perhaps I should just read the manual (or perhaps, the technicians were so ignorant of how the car worked, THEY needed the manual to help them out and simply forgot to put it back in the glove box?). I read the manual cover-to-cover the first week I had the car, and I am no idiot, so this really pissed me off.
I next noticed that all my saved "Favorites" for navigation destinations were no longer saved within the car's computer system, and that all my phone contacts had also been wiped out. I was pretty sure this was a side effect of something they did, but since I hadn't read the entire report yet, I wasn't certain. I just wanted to get out of there. I knew those two things were things I could remedy myself simply by synching my phone, and re-entering the addresses of the places I wanted to keep in my list of Favorites.
It just so happened that this day, the 23rd, was also my son's birthday, and he and his girlfriend had invited me over for dinner, so I was very happy I no longer had to drive the rental Yaris with the Cyclops dashboard. The temperature was beginning to drop again, and the wind was picking up. I used the remote start to warm up the car before heading to his new home. My little girl and I went out to the car which had stopped running at this point due to the remote start timer, got in, I placed my foot on the brake, pressed the start button, and ONCE AGAIN THE CAR DID NOT START. Funny how I have no trouble reproducing this problem, but the technicians just can't seem to do it. I tried starting the car again and, thankfully, this time it started.
While driving off to my son's home for dinner, I decided that I needed to review everything the technician's had listed they had done, and then call my CSM again to determine what steps we could take next. One of those, I determined, was going to be for me to start keeping a log of everything that went wrong as I experienced it, and also log discussions I had with people during phone calls.....
Thursday, February 14, 2013
01-2013 Ford 2013 CMax Ghost in the Machine?
Hello again! I am still bringing this blog up to date, so I apologize for the post date not matching the actual dates of events I am writing about.
Up to this point I have focused on 2 main issues with my 2013 Ford CMax: 1) The disparity between the EPA fuel economy estimate printed on the vehicle sticker (and used prominently within Ford advertisements for this car) and real life fuel economy, and 2) the fact that the remote start feature of the car did not work.
Item 2 has essentially been corrected at this point, after 3 attempts. Item 1 remains my primary complaint because my car average fuel economy has never exceeded 35 MPG, and the EPA estimate on the sticker is 47MPG. Now I'm not naive enough to believe that I was actually going to achieve an average of 47 MPG. I did, however, expect to achieve something within 10% of that (about 42 MPG during non-winter driving conditions). During winter driving conditions I expect a new car to achieve an average fuel economy within 20% of the EPA estimate, or in this case, about 37 MPG.
REALITY CHECK: My best average fuel economy did not exceed 35 MPG during non-winter driving conditions. That is 25.5% lower than the EPA estimate listed on the sticker. During winter driving conditions, I have been averaging 31 MPG. That is 34% lower than the EPA estimate.
Ford has no solution to this other than to state repeatedly that mileages will vary from driver to driver, and road conditions, winter fuel mixes, and tire air pressure will all affect the average fuel economy. Those are true statements, but still do not explain such a large disparity between the EPA estimate and actual fuel economy. I will leave this discussion alone for a little while now because I get rather upset when I think that I chose this particular car over many others because it had the right mix between features and fuel economy, and the fuel economy I expected is what tipped the scales when making my final decision about which car to buy. I could very well have purchased a gas-only vehicle that achieved the same, or better fuel economy for far less money.
So, what does any of that have to do with the "ghost in the machine" mentioned in the title of this post? Nothing, except I was so focused on those two items that I neglected to start tracking all the other little electrical issues I was experiencing.
Here is the beginning of the list of issues that were intermittent and/or appeared to be electrical issues that I noticed between 10/20/2012 and January 21, 2013:
The CSM informed me that she had spoken with the service manager at a local Ford Dealership, and that I could bring the car in immediately for them to check out. I did just that. When I arrived, I asked for the service manager, and eventually he showed up. I listed off the concerns (list above) while he quietly sat back with a slight smirk on his face and listened. There were 2 other service people standing within 3 feet of me as I described all of these "ghosts", one of whom I eventually was told I could have collect my information (again) and then he would get a technician to start working on the car. I was told I would need another car rental because they expected to have the car for awhile. Again, Ford graciously picked up the tab for the rental, but not whatever gas I used. I left to get the rental, and hoped they could figure out what was going on with this car.
So, get this. The rental car I got this time (3rd rental car now) was a Toyota Yaris sedan. This thing was the strangest car I have ever driven. There were no bells and whistles at all. In fact, I'm surprised it even had a heater in it. The dashboard with the speedometer and other information was not located in front of the driver, it was shifted to the CENTER of the dashboard. Now, I suppose if I were the type of person who slumped down in my seat and leaned halfway over to the passenger side of the car while driving, this would have been ideal. For a regular guy like me, it was really hard to tell how fast I was going or see any other information. Truly the strangest car I have ever driven, and I would never choose to do so on purpose again! As luck would have it, I was stuck driving this thing for 2 and a half days...
Up to this point I have focused on 2 main issues with my 2013 Ford CMax: 1) The disparity between the EPA fuel economy estimate printed on the vehicle sticker (and used prominently within Ford advertisements for this car) and real life fuel economy, and 2) the fact that the remote start feature of the car did not work.
Item 2 has essentially been corrected at this point, after 3 attempts. Item 1 remains my primary complaint because my car average fuel economy has never exceeded 35 MPG, and the EPA estimate on the sticker is 47MPG. Now I'm not naive enough to believe that I was actually going to achieve an average of 47 MPG. I did, however, expect to achieve something within 10% of that (about 42 MPG during non-winter driving conditions). During winter driving conditions I expect a new car to achieve an average fuel economy within 20% of the EPA estimate, or in this case, about 37 MPG.
REALITY CHECK: My best average fuel economy did not exceed 35 MPG during non-winter driving conditions. That is 25.5% lower than the EPA estimate listed on the sticker. During winter driving conditions, I have been averaging 31 MPG. That is 34% lower than the EPA estimate.
Ford has no solution to this other than to state repeatedly that mileages will vary from driver to driver, and road conditions, winter fuel mixes, and tire air pressure will all affect the average fuel economy. Those are true statements, but still do not explain such a large disparity between the EPA estimate and actual fuel economy. I will leave this discussion alone for a little while now because I get rather upset when I think that I chose this particular car over many others because it had the right mix between features and fuel economy, and the fuel economy I expected is what tipped the scales when making my final decision about which car to buy. I could very well have purchased a gas-only vehicle that achieved the same, or better fuel economy for far less money.
So, what does any of that have to do with the "ghost in the machine" mentioned in the title of this post? Nothing, except I was so focused on those two items that I neglected to start tracking all the other little electrical issues I was experiencing.
Here is the beginning of the list of issues that were intermittent and/or appeared to be electrical issues that I noticed between 10/20/2012 and January 21, 2013:
- When starting the car, a warning would appear periodically telling me to check the fuel inlet. Whenever I did check it, I saw nothing wrong with it so I simply cleared the error message until the next time it appeared.
- The automatic parking brake would "stick" periodically even though I was not using the parking brake/handbrake. This did not happen all the time, but I would get in the car, start it up, buckle up, put the car into Reverse, press my foot on the gas pedal, and the car would "try" to move backwards, but acted like the tires were glued to the pavement. To work around this, I have to put the car into Drive, move ahead about 6 to 12 inches, and then place it in Reverse and then it will move freely.
- The car has a rear view camera to help when backing up, which is great. Sadly, once in a while, the screen "rolls". For those of you old enough to remember, this phenomenon occurred rather frequently with older television sets. The picture appears to move up the screen while a new version of the picture appears below it.
- Periodically, when I start the car and start driving, I will notice an error on the screen telling me that the navigation SD Card is not inserted into the slot. When I check on it, the card is fully-seated within the slot. I remove the card, wait a few seconds, then re-insert the card and suddenly the problem goes away. So occasionally, the car's computer is not detecting this card or the port it is inserted into.
- The remote start feature in this car works fine now, but every time I open the door to get in, the car stops if it is still running. (Sometimes I wait 15 minutes and the remote start feature "times out" and shuts the car down before I get in.) I have been informed that this is normal behavior, and that it is a security feature. Personally, I am not convinced that it is intentional since the car unlocks itself when the key is within 3 feet and your hand is on the door handle, so why do they need to shut the car off if the key is present? Where is the threat or danger?
- Periodically, after using the remote start feature, I will get in the car to start it, and when I press the Start button with my foot on the brake as required, the car doesn't start. The first time this happened, I got an error message that stated I should read the manual. I tried several times to start the car, but it would not start so I had to use my wife's car to bring my daughter to school. When I returned, I got back into my car (about 15 minutes after the failure) and this time it started up.
The CSM informed me that she had spoken with the service manager at a local Ford Dealership, and that I could bring the car in immediately for them to check out. I did just that. When I arrived, I asked for the service manager, and eventually he showed up. I listed off the concerns (list above) while he quietly sat back with a slight smirk on his face and listened. There were 2 other service people standing within 3 feet of me as I described all of these "ghosts", one of whom I eventually was told I could have collect my information (again) and then he would get a technician to start working on the car. I was told I would need another car rental because they expected to have the car for awhile. Again, Ford graciously picked up the tab for the rental, but not whatever gas I used. I left to get the rental, and hoped they could figure out what was going on with this car.
So, get this. The rental car I got this time (3rd rental car now) was a Toyota Yaris sedan. This thing was the strangest car I have ever driven. There were no bells and whistles at all. In fact, I'm surprised it even had a heater in it. The dashboard with the speedometer and other information was not located in front of the driver, it was shifted to the CENTER of the dashboard. Now, I suppose if I were the type of person who slumped down in my seat and leaned halfway over to the passenger side of the car while driving, this would have been ideal. For a regular guy like me, it was really hard to tell how fast I was going or see any other information. Truly the strangest car I have ever driven, and I would never choose to do so on purpose again! As luck would have it, I was stuck driving this thing for 2 and a half days...
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