10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 37,363 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
Power steering went out while in motion in a parking lot. Car was less than 2,000 miles outside of warranty. Poor design of column that had been recalled on similar vehicles caused shorts throughout the electrical system. This resulted in three pages worth of system errors when checked. $2,000 to repair. No shorts since replacement of faulty part.
- St. Louis, MO, USA
I charger was recalled in August 2018. The replacement part is noy available. I cannot charge my car without risking a fire.
- Benicia, CA, USA
2013 Ford C-max energi. Consumer writes in regards to failed charging cable. Consumer is seeking reimbursement for cable purchased prior to recall.
- Tacoma, WA, USA
The car is completely dead. No lights and will not start. This is the forth time and the dealer does not know how to fix the problem
- San Jose, CA, USA
Stereo system fails into an unresponsive state. The radio will remain on and emit sound even when car is shut off. This puts a drains the battery and will make it impossible to start after sitting for a day or two.
- Oxnard, CA, USA
Hello my 12V battery is discharging suddenly and without reason. The battery has been replaced and the fault returns. According to tsb 15-0089, when replacing the battery in the 2013 car, the electronic module should be replaced. The dealer never performed this step, the Ford Motor Company does not take responsibility for the dealer. I'm afraid that eventually my car will burn. This faulty electronic module (modem or telemetrics) is located near the high voltage lion battery. Please help. I mention that Ford recommends not to connect the charging cable due to the possibility of fire. Greetings (xxxx) parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Saint Petersburg, FL, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-max energi. The contact stated that the convenience charge cord overheated. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 18V592000 (equipment); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. Hansel Ford (3075 corby ave, santa rosa, ca 95407, (707) 623-1426) was contacted and confirmed that the part was not available for the recall remedy. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure by the dealer. The failure mileage was 50,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
- Santa Rosa, CA, USA
We have used the supplied utility 120V charging cable since we acquired the car to charge it at home. Recently, I noticed that the utility cable plug was melted and the weatherproof socket fixture plastic housing was burnt I changed the unit to a different outdoor outlet. It burned that outlet so badly that it's gfci was tripped and could not be reset. Fearing a possible house fire, I stopped using the cord. I reported it to our Ford dealer as a hazardous product defect. Out of warranty was the reply. I do not know where the electrical rate limiting circuitry is in the system, but I strongly suspect that during charging, the car now draws more wattage (1600-1700W, less than a powerful hairdryer) than the cable unit is rated at (1440W, per it's labeling), and this discrepancy over many many hours of continuous load has led to the failure. The service manager at the dealership said this was the third such failure he has personally seen. That is one dealership out of the nationwide Ford network, implying 1000's of these failures may have occurred. It is a very serious condition, which could lead to a house fire and should be investigated and recalled, in my view.
- Concord, MA, USA
2013 Ford C-max energi. Consumer writes in regards to the charging unit for vehicle overheating. The consumer stated the charging unit began burning sockets to the point of discoloration.
- San Diego, CA, USA
Push to start / stop button fails to shut off vehicle. Vehicle is stationary and in park. Unable to secure vehicle, unable to lock doors unable to turn off lights, unable to shut vehicle down. Each time push to stop pressed vehicle starts again, dash flashes Ford logo. If you walk away the car honks horn. Vehicle located at parking garage lloyd center. Problem similar to recall 15V436000 and Ford recall 15C06. Car shut off has happened several times in the past.
- Portland, OR, USA
Car will not start after being parked. Automatic door opener does not work to open car. Only valet key will open car. All electrical systems are dead, this has happened more than 10 times since I purchased the car in 2014. Supposedly this problem has been repaired by the dealership each time by replacing the battery, replacing relay systems, etc. But it continues to recur. There is no pattern to its occurrence but is well known to fmc.
- Washington, DC, USA
Car goes dead and 12-volt battery is being drained because faulty computer programming leaves electrical modules on even when the car is turned "off." Unclear if items that remain electrically "hot" pose direct safety problems, but consumers risk being unable to start/restart the car in emergency or normal situations. Ford declines to pay for reprogramming this faulty design beyond the normal warranty time (even when the car is covered by a Ford extended "premium" warranty). In my case, the car was parked at my home and the battery failed - twice in a few weeks - overnight in warm summer weather. I urge you to examine what systems are being left on and to urge or require Ford to correct its design deficiencies. Thanks.
- Seattle, WA, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-max energi. When charging the vehicle, the outlet located in the wall melted and the side of the cord used to charge the vehicle, which plugged into the wall, also melted. The vehicle was unable to be charged. The dealer was informed of the failure, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 93,000.
- Stockhome, NJ, USA
The 120 volt, 12 amp charge cord that came with my car (Ford part no. FM58-10B706ac) is overheating creating a fire hazard. The end of the cord that plugs into the wall has melted and the plug has left burn marks on three different electrical outlets on my house where I plug the car in to charge. Photos of the melted cord and outlet burn marks are attached. There is a design flaw in that the control unit built into the cord is too heavy and pulls the prongs from the outlet and if a prong is only partially plugged into the outlet it draws more current than the cord can handle. Ford is aware of the problem and advised (Ford ev help line 1-800-392-3673) that the cord should not be left hanging in mid-air and needs to be propped up when plugged in. Those instructions are not in the owners manual or on the cord, nor were they communicated to cmax energi owners. Ford asserts that the cord is not covered by its extended 8-year, 80,000 mile warranty for electrical components for the cmax energi, so this part is now out of warranty. It is very expensive (I was quoted $975 by Ford to replace the cord). Thus it is highly likely that owners will defer replacing the cord and keep using it, because it still works even though the plug is partially melted. This cord is highly likely to result in fires and may be responsible for the two cmax energi garage fires in Florida I read about in the press last month. I am happy to provide more information if you want to contact me.
- Arlington, VA, USA
While driving on an interstate at night at 70mph the car turned off its propulsion system without warning. A red warning indicator came on staying stop safely now. My wife was able to pull to the side of the interstate. She turned the car off and it restarted. The next day she drove it to the supermarket. On the 2 mile drive home it stopped multiple times while the car was in motion just like it had on the interstate. This seems very similar to the problems that led to a recall on the Ford Focus electric, which was made in the same plant at the same time in 2013: insideevs.com/Ford-Focus-electric-shutdown-problems-while-driving-get-official-as-nhsta-investigates/.
- Merritt Island, FL, USA
To whom it may concern, somewhat normally on long car rides(normally on the highway) the car has a electrical short, causing the car to use up all the ev miles it has stored. Mean while the car starts to smell like burning electrical, no smoke is seen but smell is there. When the car is parked after the accidents, the car goes back to normal. These accidents has happen over 10 times, over the past 2 years. We have token the car to the dealer at least 4 times for this problem and nothing gets fixed. I think all that is done it resetting the electrical, yet the problem continues and been having more electrical issues. Problems with my Ford mobile, radio not turning off and screens blinking.
- Colton, CA, USA
My car failed to start for 2 consecutive days after non-operation overnight and when I took the dealership they said they need to perform a tsb 15-0089, since my car was out of warranty less than 2 months, Ford said I need to pay $1500 to fix this issue. Based on research this issues seems to affect multiple vehicles in this category and Ford is not owning up to fixing this issue that is affecting these cars.
- Pittsburg, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-max premium. The contact stated that after repairs for NHTSA campaign number 14V237000 (air bags) were performed. The contact stated that the electrical system was damaged causing the phone system to only allow incoming calls. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 25,100 and the current mileage was 28,500.
- Santa Clara, CA, USA
- Roswell, NM, USA