Used 2013 Ford C-Max Energi Consumer Reviews
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Rear main seal leak ($1700 repair) & Low gearissue
ItsB, 04/11/2017
2013 Ford C-Max Energi SEL 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
Since there are not a lot of cmax energi vehicles on the road compared to other models I feel this review will inform a lot of used and possibly new car buyers of potential costly problems with the cmax energi. I need a $1700 rear main seal replaced to stop an oil leak and $100 software update to stop the car engine turning on when the battery is full in L gear. Also I recently spent $500 on tires and alignment because we had really bad wear. GET THE CAR INSPECTED before you buy used. Have a mechanic pull back the plastic cover under the engine and inspect for leaks. Also test the car in Low gear immediately after recharging the EV battery to full and let it regen going down hill (more on that below). Check the wear on the tires! POSITIVE NOTE: I will say that outside of these issues, I do like the car. My wife likes it a lot too. Lots of upgrades and features in the car. I bought my 2013 cmax energi used with 98kmiles in 2015 for ~$11k. I have had electric, plug in hybrid and gas. The benefits of an electrified powertrain is lower maintenance costs and longer lasting. I figured this plug in should last longer than a conventional hybrid (like a prius taxi) with less major repairs if any at all. To my future self: don’t buy first year a car model is made. I get the feeling Ford slapped this together without a lot of testing or R&D. My Cmax odometer says 116k miles but the car display says 82k gas engine and 34k miles electric. I guess the rear main seal started leaking a lot earlier. This to me is a design flaw. Google cmax rear main seal leak and find the cmax forums and you will see many posts with rear main seal leaks at 28k, 48k miles, and even after repair leaking again 5k miles later! Thank you reviewer who posted at 160k miles his transmission went out and repair cost $7000! I realized that my leak could become a major problem if not fixed! But since I am out of warranty if I pay $1700 and it leaks again after 2 years, unlimited mile repair warranty I have to pay $1700 again. Also what if the reason that reviewers trans went out was not the seal!? It probably was though, oil leaks out, transmission breaks. FYI My car is only worth about $8000 on kbb.com with 116,000 miles. Ford did offer me a $300 discount on the repair after calling them many times and reminding them of all the Ford’s I have owned (4) in my lifetime. I also mentioned this would be the last Ford I buy if they can’t recognize this as a design flaw or help me with the cost of repair. $1400 is still a lot of money. Ford HQ made me take my vehicle back for an inspection before even trying to work out a discount (inspection was free with $30 oil change at a Ford dealer). I can’t afford the $1400 but will consider doing it soon. They only gave me 30 days to take their discounted offer. On to the tires briefly…Get an alignment! And rotate your tires. I’ve seen uneven wear in two of these cmax so I think its something you should pay attention to in order to avoid buying new tires before you need to. Not a biggie but something to pay attention to. We had tow in and tow out on our wheels and the tires were bumpy. Could have been the last owner not paying attention. Rides much better now. The engine turning on when the battery has been fully charged only happens in Low gear when I pull out of the garage and coast immediately down a slight hill incline the engine kicks on and revs pretty loud. I now never put the car in Low gear until the battery has depleted a little. When it’s fully charged I leave it in Drive not Low. A dealer told me it’s ~$100 to fix apparently it’s a software issue. Ford has no recall on this that fixes it. I have experienced this in another cmax energy as well as mine recently. If you pull over turn car off then on again the engine won’t go back on and it will run on Electric as designed. I hope this has helped. I hope Ford stands behind their products and stop just sending me to the dealer to pad their pockets when this is not a common issue in any other hybrid that I know of. I also hope that this car can get permanently fixed and I can drive it with no other issues for years until I purchase my next car. And to Ford’s credit I do respect they never took a bail out in 2008 but if the car buying public keeps getting penalized for their poor designs with expensive repairs I will not buy a Ford product again. I cannot understand why a 100+ year old company that has engineered and built 400 million cars cannot design a car that has a better crucial seal!
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Seven plus of ownership with no problems.
basilc, 04/23/2013
updated 10/26/2020
2013 Ford C-Max Energi SEL 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
14 of 18 people found this review helpful
The Ford C-Max Energi continued to perform flawlessly, well over seven 1/2 years. The average lifetime mpg-e for the car was about 65 mpge, which included several long trips using all gas. Besides the great mileage, the car was still fun to drive and the Energi’s comfort and efficiency make it a great way to travel. The car is well made, has great visibility, a quiet cabin, and lots of appointments that made the driving experience easy and fun. We have since sold the C-Max to our daughter in California where it can be driven in the HOV lanes and have replaced it with a Tesla Model Y. We hope it continues the tradition of reliability of our Ford.
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2013 Ford C-Max Energi for sale near you
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this must have been a lemon- had high hopes
Ashley B, 12/03/2018
updated 06/08/2020
2013 Ford C-Max Energi SEL 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
I had high hopes for this car and I am certain it was a dud or lemon in it's class and I need to try another or different electric type car, but the whole experience has left a bad taste in my mouth. This car does however have some great pros: -Gas mileage is awesome. I can go 4 weeks without getting gas if I am only driving in town and using the battery that I charge over night. sleek design and the charing port was great and easy to use. -I can see out of all the windows and have minimal blind spots. -voice activated commands for turning on music, calling people/ answering calls. music/phone controls on steering to help keep eyes on the road. cons: -doors not working -over 9 manufature recalls. -no software updates -makes odd sounds and gives you the feeling is it broken -different procedures to jump, but doable Below are my experiences if you are interested or have had similar issues: purchased car 3/20/17. 24 hours after leaving the lot, this car broke down. The dealership fixed it for free after not being able to diagnose the problem for 2 weeks and shipped it off to a different ford dealer. 4/2017: car still not working right and simple look over by a mechanic found hoses were switched in a working part of the engine. fixed and on our way 9/2017: software update needed but customer service on MyFordTouch says the software by Ford is not longer supported. Cannot use sirius XM or get vehicle reports or use GPS, go-timers, or diagnostics. 12/2017: transmission leak and 480.00 repair after mechanics say the problem was there for a long period of time and not caught by previous service. Regular oil changes commence throughout our ownership. 2/2018: Doors won't open. The back passenger and drivers doors malfunction and do not open. Door panel simple pops off and door will not open. The door clips may be bad according to googling. After taking in to get tips from the dealer, we tightened the screws in the door panels, however both of them pop off when you try to open the door. 6/2018: tail light replacement does not work and is out during the day, but illuminates at night. numerous traffic stops and numerous light replacements and still is "burnt out' in the daytime. 8/2018:When turning the vehicle on, the car alerts that the key is not inside the vehicle when in reality, it is. 9/2018: when turning the vehicle on, the system warns that the key is not detected and will not engage. After resetting the software, it is not turning on. Placing the key in the signal inlet will only turn vehicle on. and it continues to state the key is not in the vehicle as your are traveling down the road. 11/2018: car no longer starts unless jumped or plugged into battery for long periods of time 12/2018 car has been towed to dealership from whence it came. 2/2019 battery for regular engine is dead. Nee one purchased but drains. Getting the battery out of this vehicle is a nightmare. Be prepared with rachey sets with multiple sizes and the batter is in the back of the car behind bumper. 3-5 2019 battery continues to drain. Took in to fix and says nothing is wrong. 8/2019 wheels squeal 9/2019 undercarriage pops off for no reason. This vehicle is not driven hard to merit body style to fall off 10/2019 new battery purchased again 11/2019 larger electric battery only only charges to 16 mi roundtrip instead of usually 28. 2/2020 wheels still squeal 4/2020 undercarriage next to wheels fell off 6/2020 when driving emergency message to "pull over and stop safely pops up on the dash. When taken in for diagnostic it gives error cod P3E1E and they have no idea what that means. (Ford dealer...have no idea what that code is..) DO NOT BUY THIS CAR!
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Just got mine
cgold13702, 03/27/2013
2013 Ford C-Max Energi SEL 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
I am generally happy with the car. I realize it is the first generation, but Ford could have done better. I ordered it with every electric option and yet I do not have memory seat, daytime running lights or blind spot alert. I requested all of the above, and apparently it is not yet available. I the stated electric range of 20 miles is not even close. I drive very conservatively and I do not get 15 miles on a charge. The ride and handling are excellent. The road noise is non existent.
Buyers remorse, 5 years left to pay.
james, 07/04/2016
2013 Ford C-Max Energi SEL 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid CVT)
7 of 10 people found this review helpful
First off, this car gets great gas mileage, especially if you plug it in every night. It's comfortable, easy to get into and quiet. Problem is the sync system by microsoft. Big fail. it also has myFord touch, a system that you can see how you car is doing and program some of the features for the car using your cell phone. It does not even start to work. It was one of the reasons I wanted the car, because I thought it would be neat to program the charging times, see the charging, start the climate control before leaving home or work. It operates on the obsolete 2G cell system, that is currently being dismantled by At&t. because of this many of the advertised features of this car do NOT work. It also failes to sync with my phone properly. If you just looking for great gas mileage and do not care about the advertised technology available thru myford touch, then it's a good car. If you have any expectations that the info-entertainment system will do any thing other than play the radio, you will be highly frustrated and disappointed. This keeps me from loving the car, and makes me feel like Ford lied to me by saying these features worked. I'm going to drive it a couple of years, but this will be the last Ford or Microsoft product for me.
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