Roland

....and Alpine have also been promising for a year and a month ago said on the phone "I guess the CMax is more difficult to sort out than we thought".

Hi all, Just thought I'd put in a good word for Lifestyle Ford in Tunbridge Wells. This place was also recommended to me by a memeber on this forum. I went out of my way to get my car there for the work and I have no regrets. (Don't work for Ford either :wink: ) They did a very good job on my first year service, including a number of warranty issues. Also upgraded my software. The service manager also drives C-Max which I'm sure helps.

Gavin When you hear the gass noise after turning the engine off, would you have had the air-con on? In my case it does it for a few seconds when the air con has been on.

I bought a pre reg 1.8 petrol Zetec in December for £12k so you are getting good value too. Admittendly mine had 25 miles on the clock only. Also no problems with the car other than a faulty radio.

Daz - I have 1.8 petrol Zetec with the same Rom level and no problems at all.

Mine does it too, as another one I saw recently. Two square dry patches when it's wet.

I also have a 1.8 petrol Zetec. Registered in March 2004 with the old version software and have none of the proplems mentioned on this site. Admittendly the radio was faulty and I have a quality issue I've not seen mentioned - that the gap at the top of the tailgate is much bigger on one side than the other. Compared my previous car, a new shape Honda Civic 1.6 it is roomier and much quieter. The driving/comfort is just as good and it handles much better.

Do we think we can get a list of recommended places for servicing? Could be useful.

Gwyn Thanks for that smile you put my face. At least you were brave enough to admit it. You've got the gist of it. There's no coil, so feel free to leave the fan off and forget where the temp is set. Does it take longer to warm up in the morning? Now you are getting scientific! Have a good weekend!

I just paid £12k for a Zetec 1.8 petrol with 20 miles on it. Also a demo that was never used as a demo! So you are getting a very good price. I can't compare boot sizes but I can tell you that we find the amount of stuff we can fit in it is amazing.

I think the effect of air con on MPG is very small in relation to the benefits. The heat is "free", so the issue of them counteracting each other isn't a huge problem. That's my opinion anyway.

By the way, my radio was (very) faulty on my new car. I was told that Ford only have two loan units and they are both out. They kindly offered to send the radio for repair while leaving a hole in my dash over Christmas. Eventually I opted for an aftermarket unit and still wrangling with the dealer for compensation.

There is a reason guys. I no longer have the standard radio, but if you read the instructions carefully there is a setting on the radio that controls this. I can't remember what it is called, but it automatically reduces the volume when there is a blip in the reception.

Also you can still put the heat up to counteract it. It's normal in most new cars now.

Alpine sad they will produce one in "the first quarter of the year". So do the after-market people (can't remember what they are called now - Audio someting).