Gwyn

Well, it's already been back once after they didn't get the paint colour right, or align the door quite right. I was hoping this was more of a minor thing I could sort out myself with no more hassle. Has no one had a squeaky support arm? Can they be lubricated easily?

Having had some minor damage repaired after the wife reversed into the house :roll: , the rear hatch now squeaks a little when opening. This may be due to some slight realignment having been necessary, but to avoid having to go back to the garage, I was hoping it might be something I can remedy myself simply. It sounds like it's coming from the right side cylinder-arm thing (don't know correct term). Might that just need a bit of lubrication, say a squirt of oil on the metal shaft?

Interesting to know. We've never been happy with the performance of our C-Max aircon since new. It's not nearly as cold as our old 2000 Focus, even allowing for the larger interior area to be cooled. I wonder if it's always needed a recharge for some reason?

I had this, and also thought it was due to my son kicking the tray. During a routine service, I told the dealer about it and they cured it it by tightening something up apparently.

Did you try these Matt? Since my darling wife has managed to damage the back of our C-Max twice in the past month, I think we're in the market for some... :roll: Both times it was the house she reversed into - not exactly something difficult to spot... :shock: Local Ford dealer here in Galway says they don't fit them and can't even order the parts!

We had a Jané brand pram that did that too. I agree it is great to be able to put the pram part on the back seat, but I was never convinced they were that safe. In a bad accident, I can't see how just the strap round the baby's middle could hold it as well as a proper multi-point harness in a baby seat.

Need 2 front tyres to replace the originals: Conti SportContact 2 Based on info in this thread, I went for the Conti PremiumContact 2 from eiretyres.com which is the Irish version of mytyres.co.uk which stocks a huge variety at good prices. Couldn't find the Marshals, so went for RTV's recommendation. They were couriered to me - just need to pay a few quid to get them fitted locally now. One thing I noticed which got me thinking: Like the SportContacts, they have an asymmetrical tread pattern, so are marked with "outside" and "inside" so that they're fitted the right way round. While tha

Maybe if the 90PS 1.6 saves a bit of money over a 1.8, (or even a 110PS 1.6) you could also buy an aftermarket diesel tuning box from one of the reputable manufacturers? They're supposed to work quite well, and would be worth considering on a used model. Now that my 110PS 1.6 is out of warranty, I'm tempted to get one. For around £350 it could improve performance to almost the level of the 2.0 TDCi ! 8)

When I test drove a brand new Honda Civic VTi back in 1993 (the 1.6 twin-cam V-tec 160 bhp engine) I noticed it only had 6 miles on the clock (never test-driven before) and I asked the salesman if I should take it easy. He said, "Nah, if you do that, you won't appreciate the performance" which was the complete opposite of the Renault salesman I hed dealt with the week before. The Honda guy got me to change down into 2nd as I left a roundabout to join the motorway and told to me to floor it and not change up until the 8,000 rpm red line! Whooosh! :shock: I ended up getting one through wo

I'll have to tell that to my old mate who thinks I sold out getting a MPV, but who waited for years after the Corrado had been discontinued before buying one of the final limited edition "Storm" models at a bargain price! :wink: To be honest, it was looking at the newly launched Peugeot 407 that introduced me to the the 1.6 TDCi engine. I was intrigued that they'd fitted such a small diesel engine in a "big" car, but was impressed by the figures. Then I found out Ford were using of derivative of that engine, which led me to the C-Max! 8) I've been very happy with the performance for tha

Yes, it's shocking that Ford-owned Mazda use the same platforms and share many components, but come out near the top of reliability and satisfaction surveys, while Fords come near the bottom!

Yes, as a fellow 1.6 TDCi owner, I was hoping we would be excluded from all this EGR hassle :( Does anyone know if Peugeots/Citroens using the same engines suffer from the same problems, or is it a Ford-specific EGR issue? How many miles have you done Andy? We've got a March 2005 build on about 20,000 miles. So far no major problems, and I was hoping to keep it that way... :wink:

Well the new C-Max is just a mid-life facelift. Mostly cosmetic changes for the better (check out pics in threads here), so if you were to test-drive a current model, it's going to show you what it's like. I have been impressed by the new C4 Picasso (the extra seats would come in handy), but while the styling and practicality are very good, it supposedly doesn't drive as well as the C-Max or bigger S-Max.

UPDATE: Had to take the car in to fix a malfunctioning rear hatch release. I figured it was the well-known water ingress fault, and they replaced it under warranty. I also got them to look at the remote locking, just telling them it stopped working, despite a new battery (didn't mention my wife's washing machine accident) Well they replaced the key fob under warranty! Result! 8)

On top of our remote locking not working since my wife got the key wet, the tailgate release has now started playing up. Seems to randomly unlock itself, which is not good for security... :shock: I guess this is the standard faulty switch due to water ingress, and I can get it fixed under warranty? Does anyone have an official TSB no. I can quote when taking it to my dealer? I've had a search with no luck. I just don't want them fobbing me off with an excuse of ignorance - or do I just say it's a well-known problem? I will attempt to pretend that the key fob has just mysteriously stopped

UPDATE: After my initial surprise at my key starting to work again, it became more intermittent and now doesn't work at all. I can still unlock manually and start the car, but remote locking doesn't work. :( I enquired at my local dealer who said it would likely cost around €140 (£90ish) for a completely new key. :shock: The car is 2 years old in May - does anyone know if I can get one under warranty, or is this kind of thing only covered by the 1-year warranty like trim is?

On a similar note: Last Thursday, my wife put our C-Max key in the washing machine in her jeans pocket (God bless her... :roll: ) only for a few minutes mind, before she realised and rescued it. She didn't tell me initially, but sneakily tried to dry it out on the radiator! To our surprise, come Friday morning, it was actually working! However, over the weekend it stopped doing so and upon investigation I found that the battery was all corroded and leaking, so it must have got wet. Tried cleaning it all out and putting in a new battery, but no joy :cry: and reprogramming didn't help. So I

Yes, I recall having it occasionally on our Mk 1 Focus, also with rear drums. But never severe enough to affect take-off, just a mild clunk sound. Our C-Max has discs on the rear though!

I've noticed in the past a bit of a clunking noise when pulling off after releasing the handbrake when the car has been left for a day or two, particularly in damp weather. I always assumed it was something "slightly siezed" but not serious. This morning, after a particularly stormy night, when pulling off, there was quite a big clunk and the car lurched forward, almost stalling. The only way I can describe it is that the handbrake was siezed in place and only freed properly on moving forward. Anyone else noticed this? (Manual handbrake)

It's hard to tell then if I had the same problem. The driver's side noise was overly loud IMO, and once I'd worked out the passenger side was less noisy, I was convinced it was a problem. TBH, I wasn't expecting my dealer to be able to fix it but they did! If both sides sound the same for you, it could be that both sides are mis-aligned or that both are OK, and it's just your expectation that the wind noise should be less. The only way to be sure would be to have a go in another C-Max!

Matt, glad you're enjoying the new addition to the family! We've got the same model as you, in standard spec. What colour did you go for? I too was very impressed with the 1.6 engine, also my dirst diesel. It has noticeably more pull than our 1.6 petrol Focus. BTW, the windows not clearing against the rubber strip is by design. :roll: Rather annoying.... As for wind noise, I had the same problem - it was obviously worse on driver's side than passenger's. I got it fixed under warranty by my local dealer - something about "rectified mis-aligned door". Whatever, it did the trick, so get it l

I had excessive wind noise from around the driver's door (not "through" it...) Was noticeably worse than passenger side. Had it fixed under warranty - something about "door alignment corrected".

When we bought ours, the 115bhp 1.6 wasn't available and I thought the 100bhp model was underpowered when I tested it. I was used to that engine from our Mk.1 Focus, but it struggled in the C-Max IMO. Therefore, I forked out the extra for the 1.6 TDCi which I've never regretted for a moment. Although it's probably no faster than our Focus, it is much easier to drive because of the much higher torque. So overtaking is much better, to the extent that I've given myself some scary moments when trying similar manouvers when I occasionally drive the Focus. :shock: The 115bhp petrol in a C-Max ma

Oh - so you went darker at the back then? Why was that - and can you see out OK via the rear-view mirror? What about in the dark?

Andy - why did you get less tint on the back window? I'm getting ours done next week and have yet to decide on the tint to go for. They are also set to do my front side windows too, as it's not illegal here in Ireland, but I'm thinking I might go for a fairly light one on those. Still not decided about those TBH - would prefer to be able to see out the sides! We're mainly getting it done to keep the sun off the babies, so will probably go for a dark tint in back. Is 30 pretty dark then?