Not the best written article, I have to say; they don't mention any specific defects in the C-Max, and they make it sound like it's just a poorly designed vehicle. Yet, some testers have been raving about the C-Max. I never considered one; the Prius has been around long enough to iron out the bugs. The C-Max is still pretty new. Give them another year or so to fix the bugs and it'll be a great car.
Sounds like most of the complaints are about myford touch system. Perhaps the reason other ford models rate poorly? I rented a 2013 ford focus titanium last weekend on a business trip, i suspect its a similar layout and system to the c-max. Took me 5 mins before embarking to scroll through all the settings and figure out what i wanted to do( i'm a bit of a tech nerd so I like to fiddle with options and settings, to a degree.). I plugged in my iphone 5 and had my music playing in no time, never figured out how to setup the bluetooth calling though. I could see some getting frustrated/confused with the system, it is a bit complicated, or perhaps just different, compared to the basic toyota display audio/navigation system in my v. That said the focus is not my cup of tea, too much going on in the cabin, big clunky shifter blocking the hvac controls in park, yet it "felt" like a quality car mechanically, nice meaty steering feel, good sound dampening. Same platform as the c-max so i assume it would be similar.
I am a C-Max owner. The car is fantastic - getting 46 MPG this summer, great acceleration, decent handling and no car quality issues. All the complaints relate to Microsoft Synch System - truly an embarrassment for Microsoft and Ford. Ford has an upgrade that apparently fixes many of the issues - getting it later today so we'll see. I stopped using the voice commands as that is where most of the issues are. I blame it more on Microsoft - think Vista and Windows 8. I tried the Prius in test drives before going with the C-Max. You won't get as good mileage with the C-Max - particularly in the winter - but you get more power if that is important. I also liked the styling and interior of the C-Max better but that is a subjective call. Toyota makes good stuff so its hard to go wrong there. One of my other objectives was to buy American.
"Lately, Ford has been dogged by a series of embarrassing recalls, including those involving some of its most important models and its much-advertised EcoBoost turbocharged engines, calling into question its quality reputation." I'd say it's reputation is solidly intact. Sounds like the Fix Or Repair Daily people are running the show. The idea that they need more & bigger knobs to get their stuff to work seems to indicate they are out of touch with the younger generations. Nick, welcome. What's the US content of your C-Max?
It is a rating of initial quality - so essentially it is a measure of gripes over the first 3 months of ownership. To me it is an important measure, but not really a measure of quality which I would define as having a very important long-term component. I had a C-Max as a rental and was very impressed. My 2 big gripes were the Mpg's were far under what was expected and My Ford Touch was way too confusing and overly complex. To me both were pretty significant issues. I'd bet that there 2 issues were on the list of many owners who responded to JD Power and I'd bet that they accounted for a significant piece of why the C-Max rated so low in this study.
What did Ford expect ? MS has always used the first 3 versions of it's software to iron out the alpha release. I just am amazed that Toyota fell for the same garbage.
The first version of Sync was very successful. It seems that Ford just pushed it too far too fast with My Ford Touch. I don't know how much Microsoft is to blame.
Great article on the flaws of the iqs: The Trouble With J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study - Feature - Car and Driver
^^^ Yep. As I posted in another thread about this: Yep. There are no details. For all I know, almost everyone could've complained about "poor" fuel economy and it being impossible or near impossible to get EPA ratings. If everyone complained, that's already 100 complaints out of 100 vehicles. If people had MyFord Touch issues and assuming 50% of the total population of C-Max Hybrid have MFT and had trouble with it, well, that + the other 100 is already 150. Then add to another other "problems" be it actual defects, perceived quality problems or something they consider "difficult" to operate, can push it up even higher. I posted about some of this at JD Powers: General Motors is the car company with the best quality | PriusChat and stuff that can be perceived as "quality" problems.
I never trust JD Power for their ratings. I find their testing methods and results to be suspect in many different categories. My Ford Touch has a huge learning curve. I think that I am fairly comfortable with technology, my other half is a lot better with it than I am, yet when we did rent a 2013 Ford Edge, it took a ridiculous amount of time to figure out the Ford Touch. Sync certainly has its issue with voice recognition. But, I think judging a car model entirely based on that technology is a bit ridiculous. I am happy with the cars as long as I don't use either technology. Has my Dad's C-Max been absolutely perfect, nope. But, it is a worthy competitor with the Prius. None of the recalls have affected the C-Max by the way. Yes, the Ford Escape recalls were pretty embarrassing, but I do like those cars too. It is much roomier than our previous generation model, but we are disappointed that a hybrid version was not offered. There is a C-Max forum with quite a few happy owners, and just as mpg focused as the majority of us here.
