mgm14grand

I'm not interested in spending more as I quite like the standard Ghia ones. I was wondering if they'd look good polished though. I've seen the polishing kits in mags, and wondered if you can do any alloys?

I've just thought of one other problem. What's the point of tinting the front windows... how are people going to hear your 15" sub when you drive through the town centre? And the girls won't be able to see who's driving :-)

Presuming I've won a competition in a car mag to get 50k to spend on a car (no cash alternative offered), then I could be tempted by a 535d touring. I don't like the regular 5, the line of the boot lid ontop spoils it. But in the tourer the rear is spot on. Or given that I already have the C-Max as a sensible run around with luggage space, and the wife's car is due to be replaced next, then we could be looking for a Jaguar XK8, but waiting till the new one comes out.

A car would have to be really really really special for me to part with 32k. I want something spacious, reliable and good to drive, that can fit the occasional large load without being a tank to drive. But it doesn't need to be luxurious. It still has to be comfortable. To be honest, the most luxurious car I travel in is the parent in-laws 730d. It's beatifully finished, and everything is just so. I love playing with the rear passenger ashtray release. And the orange glow light strips under the window sills are real class. But the car cost over 40k. That's 2 c-max ghia's with lots of extra'

So you bought a C-Max, but what else were you looking at before you made your choice. After six months of reading road tests, studying the What Car stats, looking round the dealers and some test drives I had it down to the following (in order of preference). C-Max Ghia 2.0 TDCi In MGM with some extra bits The c-max is sharp looking and driving, practical, economic to own and run, only problem is brand snobbery Touran SE 2.0TDi DSG Van ugly and too expensive, (but the best choice if you need 7 seats) Audi A4 Avant SE 2.0TDi DSG The Audi is V. nice and stylish (the new face is cack), bu

Totally agree. Having been in family members 3 series 5 series 7 series, Audi A4. The Ford has almost caught on on build quality. It looks as good, but a few of the lower plastics are not as tactile. So what! My shortlist for a new car was... Audi A4 Avant 320D Touring Mazda 6 Estate Nissan X-Trail Civic Type-R!? Mini(ute) Cooper S !!? Touran (with DSG) C-Max. Henry won becaase of practicality, and cost of ownership. Yes BMW's only lose 40% of value after 3 years. But I keep my cars for 10 years when they will all be worth a big fat £zero. So I prefered to lose £14,000 from an 8 month old

Mmmn, I was wrong, I don't have to move my head - which is why I've never noticed it as a problem. How tall are you folks? I'm 6'0 and from my normal driving position - seat about middle of the height adjust and middle of the front to back slide, I can see the light for the front demist, and half the light for the rear demist. Simon

I'm sorry folks, but this is one I don't agree with. Don't you have moveable heads... i.e. a neck? I've never had trouble seeing the lights to tell whether my windows are being heated. I probably have to move my head about 4 inches to see it, but hey, I also have to turn my head when approaching a round about becuase ford didn't build the car with a 180 degree windscreen. If they put the switches low on the dash (like my old megane) then you'd have cause for compliant. I used to have to fumble around somewhere near the steering column tyring to find the switch.

They would say that wouldn't they. They said the same about mine. I think they means all recall updates, not any potential fault fixes. They wait for you to report them first instead of applying them ****** nilly. I've cut this from another post of mine... "Had exactly the same problem myself, I was gutted when I got the car. I could hardly get above 39 mpg even driving like there was a fuel shortage. Took it in to Ford and let them know the details. There was also a bit of roughness at different points in the rev range, and the throttle was difficult to apply progressively, i.e. it seemed

Only when going under a bridge. But they then stay on a bit before the system decides the levls aren't going back down and it switches them off.

I hope I didn't really cause offence, I use muppet as a mild inoffensive term, "silly boy" sounds rather lame in comparison. I still stand by my point, that tindeted sides [or windscreens] are a safety risk. I agree they look good but so do some sunglasses, and you don't wear them at night. Unless you're a muppet :-). E.g. if it's dark and you can see 100 yards, stick a 10% tint on your window and you'll only be able to see 90 yards. Aha - it's on the side you say. Well what about when you're turning off a round about, or into a juntion, when mainly keeping an eye on the other cars that have

It's fairly obvious isn't it... you can tint the back & side windows becuase that's where you've been, but the front and side? How are you going to see where you are going and what's coming you muppets! How far can you see when its dark... not as as far. Lose 30% of the light you'll see 30% less far, not a good idea! Hey, I though my car would look cool with brushed aluminium windows - with portholes in :-). If that doesn't convince anyone reading this.. From West Yorkshire Police website We are aware that some travelling criminals use vehicles with heavily tinted glass so as not to

Had exactly the same problem myself, I was gutted when I got the car. I could hardly get above 39 mpg even driving like there was a fuel shortage. Took it in to Ford and let them know the details. There was also a bit of roughness at differnt points in the rev range, and the throttle was difficult to apply progressively, i.e. it seemed to be on or off. They updgraded the ECU and the dash computer. I'm now getting around 44-46mpg on my mostly urban commute with normal driving, but see 50+ on a run. The ford technician said there were several service bulletings, and they had to get a mail o

Don't forget most of the people who post on here will be looking for solutions to problems and looking for somewhere to vent their anger. It's the same with most forums about any kind of product. As this is what I'd call the "main" forum for C-Max owners in the UK, a total of 450 odd posts isn't too bad. Don't forget there's thousands of C-Maxes out there now. Me after the intial shock and disappointment of fule economy, found this forum, read up on the problems, took it in for some software updates and now the car is perfect. I just posted about my trip to wales.... http://www.ffoc.co.uk

Thought I ought to do my bit to balance complaints with praises... Just came back from Wales with my wife and sister in law + her 2 kids. They reckoned we wouldn't fit everything in. 2 Large sports bags, my lowpro camera ruck sack, fullsize tripod, my laptop and electronics rucksack, 8 bags of shopping, kids toys, baby sterilizers, cool bag, bedding, 3 adults, 2 kids in child seats, some loose hiking boots under the seats, rain macks under the floor, pencils and crayons, a couple of boxes of tissues. Not bad you think, but get this, 2 push chairs as well. It's not just the length and widt

I've been very impressed with the low noise levels of the C-Max. It was something I was looking for specifically during a test drive. I seem to have noticed the same problem though. The cabin is very hushed apart from some wind noise around the A pillars or possibly the wing mirrors at speeds above 40 mph. I guess there's not a lot can be done about this, but it's not really that intrusive. I don't find myself thinking, I wish I hadn't bought the C-Max becuase of it.

Do you have kids ;-) or maybe it's the wife :o My wife refuses to get in the car after I've had a few real ales the night before.

I've just been rewatching the movie Fight Club and it's The Equation A + B + C = X. Watch the film to see. Personally I think it's very naive to think that car companies would handle things in this way. In accounting terms part of the annual report is something called goodwill. This is how much a company is worth over and above the value of it's assets that a potential purchaser may pay for the brand value. I don't see a company selling death traps would be valued too highly, which means the shares would be lower which means the directors get less bonus and everyone is not happy. Ford wants

Sorry for the confusion. The car (Expedition full size SUV monster) lets you get out by pulling the handle as normal. However the rest of the doors remain locked. So if you've got stuff on the back seats or in the boot, you then have to go back to the front unlock properly and then go back to your stuff. Presumably a real pain if you have kids strapped in the back. I've been looking at some of these products. Which one did you go for? I like the look of the autowatch 68hi. I'd still like to have it linked up to a pound of semtex though, with the ability to trigger it from my mobile :-).

I came across the same kind of comments, when looking into which car to buy. I really wanted an automatic this time, but I wasn't sure the 1.6 would be enough to power it. That said, it all depends on what your used to. I was driving a P-97 megane with a 1.6 8 valve petrol - it still pulled a full load up hills at motorway speeds. You'll also lose a fair bit on the fuel economy, the combined figure ends up just below the 2.0 Tdci. I don't know why - Audi's CVT on the A4 is more economical than the manual. It's a shame ford don't do a 2.0 CVT or a clutchless manual, that would have got my int

As an illustration ... According to Which, The Ultimate driving machine has been having probblems with the latest 320d engine. Went to tell my bother in law as he has one. Guess what - it's failed to start dozens of times and been into the dealers 4 times. The latest failure resulted in a engine failure in the fast lane of the M42, not pleasant. I think the problem is the diesel market is getting rather competitive and manufacturer's are trying too hard to out do each other on refinement, performance and economy. Sometimes they let stuff loose on us as it's good enough, it might just need tw

I'm also in the habit of locking my doors, since a colleague was car jacked in our works car park by local scumbags. I lock the doors even before I start the engine. It worries me that the doors won't open in a crash, even if I don' t have autolocking activated. I'll just have to remember to unlock the doors just as I hit the car in front - before I pass out. Personaly I wouldn't want it on, I drove a car in america and it became a apin to keep unlocking the doors again when I was doing lots of short trips to take photo's. After about 2 weeks I finally remembered to unlock the doors BEFOR

That's a good idea, but I'm not really worred about it going off, just wondered if it's meant to pick up apporaching vehicles to give you a warning, or is it just a co-incidence. I don't actually know what the maximum range of these type of sensors is. Could they, for example, be used to regualte the cruise control like some of the top end Jags, or is that Radar only?

That could well be what I'm hearing, it's due for a service in 1000 miles so I'll also mention it. Like you say the noise is louder than the engine when after it's warmed up, and it definetely sound like an electric motor, or a fan going.

Two things. One: 2.0TDCi. I've noticed its quite noisy on tick over (turned the stereo off for once). It's not a diesel clatter, but more like the radiator fan, or the belts going round. Noticeable enough for me to check to see if the radiator fan is going (with a cold engine). The fan wasn't going. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it time for another trip to Ford? Second: when I'm stuck in traffic my seemax spots motorbikes coming and the beeps the parking sensors at them. Is this a nice safety feature (considering I'm a biker) or just a coincidence. I ask becuase there's at least 4