mettech Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 (edited) "...One heavily touted model has the worst quality of any single nameplate in the auto industry's most closely watched index for problems in the first 90 days of ownership, USA TODAY has learned. It's the Ford C-Max, a five-passenger crossover that comes both as a hybrid and a plug-in hybrid, according to three independent sources who have access to the full list of models in J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Study. The C-Max had 222 manufacturing flubs or design flaws per 100 vehicles in the survey, nearly twice the industry average of 113. Getting the C-Max, which starts at $28,365 for the hybrid before delivery charges, out of the quality doghouse may not be easy. J.D. Power says two-thirds of the reported problems in the Initial Quality Study are related to bad design, instead of factory goofs. A manufacturing mistake can usually be fixed, but design problems are much harder to quickly remedy..." http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/06/20/ford-cmax-jd-power-initial-quality-study-iqs/2440589/ Edited June 20, 2013 by mettech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 If these buyers hated so many things about the design, why did they buy the thing in the first place? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmm55 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Ford_C-Max-Hybrid/ Wasn't this the vehicle everyone was praising a couple of months ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twmalonehunter Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Ford_C-Max-Hybrid/ Wasn't this the vehicle everyone was praising a couple of months ago? Don't you remember, they completely changed it mid-year after all of the praise to add in a ton of design flaws, and didn't tell anyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Would really be curious to see what this list of "design flaws" is comprised of, and how it can really possibly differ from ohhh the Escape which basically uses the same cabin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydro Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 I remember the Mini had 218 problems per vehicle a year or two ago. Didn't affect sales or reputation much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTaurus Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 MFT related ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papilgee4evaeva Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 So it's not that it doesn't work... it's that "I don't like how it looks/feels." Yeah, that's solid. :chairshot: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 MFT related ! But it's the same MFT in every other Ford that offers it. Has to be more to it than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTaurus Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 But it's the same MFT in every other Ford that offers it. Has to be more to it than that. I know. As the article said, "waiting for the list". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggs32 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 This is the same survey that put Hummers in the doghouse some years ago because owners were complaining of poor gas mileage. Yes, a very useful index indeed. Link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmm55 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 The only odd design change about our C-Max (vs the Euro wagon) was the floor was raised to accommodate the batteries, if I remember correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTaurus Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Just as J.D. has been ranking Ford/Lincoln overall lower, mainly because of the MFT. I am not surprise the C-Max complain list would be consisted of MFT, buttons, voice, iphone connectability, complicated, not sure how to use, dangerous to look on the screen, and so on, and so on.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 This is the same survey that put Hummers in the doghouse some years ago because owners were complaining of poor gas mileage. Yes, a very useful index indeed. Link I think there was a lot more wrong with Hummer than just the poor fuel economy though. Have you ever been inside one? Egads. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkisler Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 (edited) But it's the same MFT in every other Ford that offers it. Has to be more to it than that. Everything now is speculation, but if customers are really angry about one or two things, then they will score everything else low on the survey whether there is anything wrong or not. In this case, it could be MFT. But what I really think might be going on among early buyers is total disappointment in fuel economy. The label says 47/47/47. Literally everyone is falling short of the EPA cert numbers. If you bought the C-Max thinking that Ford was finally in the game and you were going to be getting this mileage, and instead were in the mid- to high 30's range, you might feel cheated and be seething with anger when it came time to rate the car. Especially since everyone "knows" that the Prius gets 50 mpg. Edited June 20, 2013 by Austin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 So these people bought a car, not understanding how to work MFT and are frustrated by it? Hmm whos fault is that. Although I do recognize that Fords quality has been lacking for about the past 2 years, I'm not saying everything is rosey in any way, but these consumers should have known how to work the system before signing on the dotted line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZanatWork Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Ford is wrestling with the debut of a lot of technologies and this kind of situation is always the result. I'm sad to see this and GMC on top, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papilgee4evaeva Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Ford is wrestling with the debut of a lot of technologies and this kind of situation is always the result. I'm sad to see this and GMC on top, though. As mentioned, GMC introduced nothing new at all during the relevant timeframe. That's how it goes... no new technology, no teething problems, favorable results in these surveys. Check back next year for the '12-'13 results, which will include models equipped with IntelliLink plus a brand new high-volume truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneekr Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 No surprise at all. Fit and finish defects must factor significantly into the subpar IQS scores for both Ford overall and the C-Max in particular. Misaligned body panels, problems with body hardware like windows and latches, poorly fitting trim, etc., seem to be common occurrences with many of Ford's recently introduced models. To provide another data point, TrueDelta reports that MY 2013 Ford C-Max has a higher frequency of repairs than MY 2004 Toyota Prius. Yikes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) I'll be the first to say, I called it a few days ago. I think with the C-Max, in addition to atrocious fit-and-finish and the usual slew of MyFordTouch problems (frequent resets losing paired devices/presets/contacts/locations/settings, getting stuck in rear-view camera mode driving forward, slow response, locking up in ways that completely kill the entertainment system and voice control, etc etc etc), it's been the dying 12-volt batteries, insanely loud AC compressor that Ford insists is "Normal", real-world fuel economy far below EPA, bad GPS modules, rear liftgate not working properly. If it keeps up its sales, I'll say that's proof of the theory that "things gone right" are more important than "things gone wrong". The problems are niggling annoyances (I haven't any undependable battery issues yet, though my voltages are rather low at 12.0-12.2V at startup), but the car is overall an absolute pleasure to drive. Edited June 22, 2013 by Noah Harbinger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 So these people bought a car, not understanding how to work MFT and are frustrated by it? Hmm whos fault is that. I am a techie. I completely understand the system. I love it, in theory, and I hate having to wonder "how's it going to fail me today?" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 The only odd design change about our C-Max (vs the Euro wagon) was the floor was raised to accommodate the batteries, if I remember correctly. I like that they designed it to be even with the fold-down rear seats, to make a large flat area. That works well for me. (Also, that just gave me an idea for how to try to fit my bike better). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKII Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 The only odd design change about our C-Max (vs the Euro wagon) was the floor was raised to accommodate the batteries, if I remember correctly. and it's a Hybrid and has MFT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordtech1 Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 I'll be the first to say, I called it a few days ago. I think with the C-Max, in addition to atrocious fit-and-finish and the usual slew of MyFordTouch problems (frequent resets losing paired devices/presets/contacts/locations/settings, getting stuck in rear-view camera mode driving forward, slow response, locking up in ways that completely kill the entertainment system and voice control, etc etc etc), it's been the dying 12-volt batteries, insanely loud AC compressor that Ford insists is "Normal", real-world fuel economy far below EPA, bad GPS modules, rear liftgate not working properly. If it keeps up its sales, I'll say that's proof of the theory that "things gone right" are more important than "things gone wrong". The problems are niggling annoyances (I haven't any undependable battery issues yet, though my voltages are rather low at 12.0-12.2V at startup), but the car is overall an absolute pleasure to drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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