8.0
pretty bad- Typical Repair Cost:
- No data
- Average Mileage:
- 38,550 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 4 complaints
Most common solutions:
- not sure (2 reports)
- nothing done as yet (1 reports)
- replace the 12v starter battery (1 reports)
This problem may be covered under warranty. Ask your Ford dealer.
The main battery went dead after 3 months, 1900 miles. The dealer recharged the battery but could not find what caused the problem. The battery held charge, alternator is working, nothing draining the battery. I'm afraid to take any trips with the car now.
- hmorgan, Palmyra, PA, US
This is the second time in a week it was in a ford repair shop. Was told it is an ongoing problem. Ford engineers have no idea how to fix this problem.
Update from Feb 17, 2015: We have had Cmax for eight months. We have seventeen thousand miles on it. It has failed to start now ten times. Ford service has no idea how to fix it. We have had the car in three different Ford service centers, and each of the service centers has said "they have no idea how to fix the car as yet".
The first nine times it failed to start, it happened in two weeks intervals. The last time it didn't start it went three months between the previous time that it didn't start.
We hired an attorney to return the vehicle under the lemon law.
- Bruce F., Sheridan, MO, US
Are you joking??? We have owned this car for less than 14 days (and it wasn't even ready when they told us to come and pick it up) and after a weekend away, 3 days, it wouldn't start. First I couldn't get the key remote to unlock the doors, so I used the key to manually unlock the driver's door. Then, pushing the unlock button inside the car didn't unlock any other doors. I had to manually open them from the inside of the car. I could not open the trunk at all.
Putting the key in the ignition and turning it completely resulted in nothing. Not a sound, a glimmer of a light, no headlights, no dashboard, no nothing. The headlight control was in the off position. Nothing appeared to have been left on in the car. Clearly the battery was completely dead.
My fiance came down, and couldn't figure anything particular out. So he called the Ford Road Side Assistance and the dealership's service department for help. Someone came and jumped the car, then told my fiance to let the engine sit at idle for 20 minutes. Is that going to help a hybrid car?
And by the way, once I got the driver's door open with the key and manually opened the other passenger doors from the inside, there was no way to lock them again with the battery dead since we only had the key to use to lock the car.
My fiance drove it to work, and noticed the battery sign was low. During lunch, he sat in the parking lot revving the engine until the battery sign was full. After work, he drove it to the Ford dealership where they did a diagnostic test on the battery, determined it was "bad," with no explanation of why, and replaced it. This was the 12V starter battery, not the big huge batteries for the hybrid system.
Shouldn't they have done a diagnostic test on the whole dang car before they sold it to us?
I'm counting the days on the lemon law on this one....
- Annoyed D., Arlington, VA, US
Doors will unlock correctly, but the key won't turn in the ignition. Tried 2 keys.
- Tom H., Saint Paul, MN, US