[1thunderace]

hi everyone, we have a new 1600cc (petrol)C Max and the petrol consumption is terrible, 27.9 mpg and thats driving it very carefully, we have done 1000 miles in it now and today we took it back to the ford dealer (Polar Ford) to have it checked over, they say this is normal and there is nothing wrong with the car, where do we go from here ?, i have seen other forums and its the same story there too. This is a motability car so maybe we contact them next to see what they say, all of fords bump says this car will do over 40 mpg.
Thx in advance for any help.

 

[Baz1]

Hi, is the 40 mpg combined, if so as i expect, if you do city driving you will get a lot less than the 40mpg qouted as i have found out on several other cars. I think you would get a nearer figure if you checked the Urban mpg, not good news i know.Probably if you were motorway driving at 50mph on cruize control you would get your 40 mpg

 

[1thunderace]

hi, thx for the reply, at a steady 60mph on motorway driving we are getting just about 40mpg but driving around town its drinks fuel, 27.9mpg which is scary, a big difference to what Ford say this car should do, its cheaper to go by bus almost.
Is this a common fault with this model of C Max ?

 

[Baz1]

I think you will find its a common fault with all car manufactures, i have just ordered a 2.0 automatic Titanium and the salesman said i should get about 34 mpg, i wont hold me breath and i expect to get around 25 to 27 mpg, I dont know who they use for there test drives but i think all makers use the same guy.Lol. Apart from that how do you find the car.

 

[Baz1]

Its a shame the club has so few members as it would be intering to see what other owners get mpg

 

[1thunderace]

good morning, we find the car fantastic in every way bar the fuel consumption, cant find a fault with it (YET), my daughter and myself are severly disabled and this is the only car we could find that is easy to get into and out of, the boot is very big and once all the rear seats are removed the area is huge, it has a low sill so loading is very easy too.
i will let you know of any developments with this fuel consumption prob, we have not finished with fords yet, lol.
thx again for the reply.

 

[taztdci]

this is a bone of contention with all manufactures and has been talked about at length on the other forums.
auto express did a study a couple of month ago into "claimed" mpg figures from the manufactuers and found that all of them are total rubbish. they found that on average you would be looking at fuel economey figures 20% worse than what manufactures claim.
personally i dont think your mpg figures are that bad for a 1.6 petrol moving such a big car, we have a 2.0tdci on a 04 plate and it only does 36ish mpg all week only does 6.5mile aday gets low 40's on a run but have yet to see fords "claimed" figures on nearly 50mpg
oh forgot hello to everyone
andyEdited by: taztdci

 

[1thunderace]

greets, thx for the reply, yea i think you are prob right, the C Max is a fairly big car, poss the 2.0 better on fuel, we'll see what happens next with fords and take it from there.
we have a Mondeo TD and can get 60mpg on motorway runs all the time and this C Max has come as a big shock to us, prob been spoiled by TD mpg lol, i seen in another forum someone has took legal action againt ford for false advertising so i'll try to find out the outcome of that.
thx once again.

 

[Ravenger]

I've got a 1.8TDCi, with approx 13,000 miles on the clock. On a recent holiday in the UK I got on average between 55 and 60mpg on various different legs of the journey, and that was with air con on, the car heavily loaded, and driving mostly on motorways between 50 and 70mph. Travelling around local country lanes on holiday I got around 45mpg.

The best fuel economy I've ever got is on a 250 mile motorway journey, and that was 64.9. I was driving at mostly 60mph on that trip, and had fueled up on the motorway at the start, so the car was warmed up and had no slow roads or stop-start traffic to lower the average.

On my 35 mile journey mixed roads journey to work I get around 50mpg.

However, around town on short trips I'm lucky to get 30mpg. Normally it's around 25mpg. It's even worse when my wife drives the car, as it only gets driven on very short trips where it doesn't warm up.

I know the fuel economy readings on my car are within 1mpg accuracy because I worked it out manually once.

 

[Baz1]

Well there you are then, not good is it, i would probably have gone for a diesel if they made an Automatic for the better MPG, but then Diesel is dearer than petrol and from what i hear is dearer to service, so i suppose it evens itself out.
Edited by: Baz1

 

[Baz1]

Sorry to go on but for such a big car to average 40 mpg i think you are expecting a lot from a petrol engine. I think one way to look at is, that you have got such a fantastic car that a few mpg less is not so bad.

 

[1thunderace]

hi and thx for the post, yes i know all about diesels, we've had diesel cars for 15 years or more and vans for 20 odd years, (turbo and otherwise), i used to be a diesel fitter many moons ago lol, my wife cant get the same mpg as me so our wife's must have something in common or is it all wife's lol, maybe a woman thing lol.
the point i'm getting at with this car is the mpg ford say they will do and what they dont do in real life, this car was bought on Motability scheme on the good points like ease of getting in and out and the good fuel comsumption but the latter is nothing like they print in advertising so the next step is too see what Fords can do to alter this prob, i have left this matter in the hands of Motability so its upto them to sort the prob out, i'll let you know of any news on this matter, thx again.

 

[ramandchips]

Don't be fooled into believing fuel computer output gives you an accurate mpg, t's oly an approximate indication. I've recently purchased a '56' 1.6 Zetec (100) with some 9000 miles on it. Starting with a full tank of petrol, and having done 7 motorway trips totaling 342 miles at the wrong kind of speeds, the computer predicted 35.1 mpg. It took 40.12 Ltrs to refill the tank, and on running the data through a spreadsheet, I had actually achieved 39 MPG.

I'm now having to do a daily trip of some 50 miles along B roads, so I'll update you all later on. I tend to change gear at about 3000 rpm, and find the engine responsive eneough to let me change from 2nd to 4th at 3500 rpm. Don't forget to check your tyre pressures regularly, I run mine at 2.2 bar Front and 2.4 bar rear.

 

[Ravenger]

Manufacturer fuel consumption figures are generated on a rolling road, so they're not 'real world', as air resistance and other factors aren't factored in. I also believe they sometimes remove non-essential bits from the car to lighten it and get better fuel economy figures!

 

[1thunderace]

i think they must have remover the engine on this test

 

[Stewart J]

1.8 TDCI here, and only 44/45 mpg is poor, this backed up by fuel top ups, previous car a Scenic returned much better mpg but not so good to drive!

Stewart

Edited by: Stewart J

 

[Ravenger]

Yeah, seems like you can have economy or performance and not both.

Personally, I love the way the C-Max drives. So comfortable, and excellent for long journeys.

What really impresses me is the suspension - it's such a lovely responsive ride, with no body roll. My children used to complain going around corners or roundabouts in my old Citroen Xsara estate, but don't even notice now. They never complain about being car sick either.

That 1.8TDCi, ok, so it's not as refined an engine as the 1.6 or 2.0, but when going it's really got some acceleration. Lots of torque too. I live in a hilly area and the car eats hills for breakfast (but gulps down a lot of fuel at the same time

).

 

[1thunderace]

hi, it looks as tho we all got probs with fuel consumption one way or another.
on a long run motorway and A roads we getting close to 40mpg and i think thats all we ever gonna get outta this car, thx for the reply anyway.

 

[1thunderace]

hi, thx for the reply, yes they are a really good car and comfy too, we had a Citroen Xsara diesel when they first came out and we thought it was a wonderful car and real good on fuel too but we got no body roll or none we noticed.
another fault i find with the C Max is the blind spot where the B pillar is, right in the way kinda thing but apart from that and greedy fuel its a very good car, but its like someone else has said you cant have everything lol.

 

[ramandchips]

Quick update on my mpg. Now covered 374 miles, and with a struule, managed to slowly get only 40 litres of petrol into the tank, then it started dribbling over the side!
Computer precidted 39mpg, actual 43 mpg, with 123 miles remaining, so it thinks it can do 497 miles on 55 litres of unleaded.
The 374 miles can best be discribbed as "spirited driving", along only B roads, From Abergavenny, via Usk to Chepstow. Have a look on the map, and you'll see it is a winding road, with much stiring of the gears, and due to traffic, all within the speed limit.
Overall, more fun to drive that my V8 Capri, quieter than my SE5A Scimitar GTE, better tarmac road holding than my 2.0L Pinto Rally Escort, and better MPG than my Datsun Cherry.