[milesperhour]

Hi everyone, my wife and I have justbought a 2004 "04" C-Max 1.6TDCi Zetec in Machine Silver, and so far it seems pretty good.

I keep staring at the mpg readout, and I'm trying to get better numbers, but so far (all on fairly short trips admittedly) it has averaged at 45mpg... I'll see if I can get it a bit higher with practice and patience (my last car was an Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon, 1.8 petrol which struggled to get 28mpg, mainly due to "spirited" driving).

A couple of faults so far (which I hope the supplying garage will be sorting for me tomorrow):
1) Out of the 3 keys supplied with the car - 1 works perfectly, 1 only operates central locking, but not ignition, and 1 operates ignition but not central locking.
2) There are areas of rust at the edge of the rear door sills on each side, looks like it's been caused by excessive stone chips? is this a known problem? Would mudflaps help to stop this?
3) The clock on the stereo won't reset via RDS, and the date is completely wrong... does this need a ford garage to fix? Also - how easy is it to swap the stereo for one of those Sony/Ford MP3ones that I've seen on eBay?
4) The roller-blind-cover on the front 12V socket / ashtray won't stay closed, it's like the catch has broken, but I can't see how it catches?

Apart from that... it seems very good. If anyone has any experience of any of the above, I'd like to hear your views.

Many thanks,

Miles

 

[MetalMicky08]

Hi & welcome,
Mudflaps might help,but get the rust treated first.As for the radio,mine does not work off rds,but you can reset time & date by reading the manual V.carefully & having in with you when you do try.As for the roller blind,mine too was broken at one end,so I glued small piece of plastic to the broken end and when dry,filed it down to right size.It`s been on for months now & even the kids can`t break it

The mpg should improve the more you get used to it.Don`t forget to zero computer though,otherwise it will just average out on current mileage & tank capacity.

 

[Richard G]

try doing the MPG by manual calculation between fills at the same pump
If you get 10 miles per ;itre than that is 45 MPG. If you get 11 then that is just about 50 MPG

The only real problem with the keys is the one that doesn't operate the ignition which probably does need a locksmith (or FORD dealer )to correct. The oowner manual I rhink covers how to get a key to operate the central locking - you WILL HAVE TO re programm all the keys at the same time though

 

[milesperhour]

Thanks for the advice Richard. I have now managed to sync all of the keys to open the central locking (something which the supplying dealer failed to do today), so I now have 2 perfect keys, and one which needs recoding for the ignition.

The supplying dealer (Cars2Citroen in Crosshills) couldn't have been more useless. To solve the rust on the rear sill, they gave me a pot of touch-up paint. They said it would cost me £150 to get the key recoded from Ford (which I'm arguing they should pay for, as it was a problem prior to the sale which they didn't make me aware of), and they have offered no comment on the broken roller-cover thingy. I have managed to set the time and date on the stereo myself now... it was like trying to get the shuttle ready for lift-off, but it's finally worked!

I really like the car itself, it's just their service which has taken the edge off unfortunately.

I'll see about getting the sill done professionally, because a splatty touch-up brush will not make it look any better than the rust that's there at the moment. Just hope it won't cost me an arm and a leg.

 

[Richard G]

THe normal compliment of keys is i believe 1 remote and 1 manual so if you got 2 remote don't cry too loud. i did look at getting a second remote from an indipendent auto locksmith who quoted £95 complete, so I don't think it has to be ford

 

[andy]

Hi there it would appear you could be the owner of our c max which we part exchanged for a Picasso at cars2citroen on 28/8/08. You have 3 keys due to us misplacing them & consequently after getting 2 new onesfinding the lost one!! We only changed the car due to the E.P.B how are you doing with it? The ashtray cover was ok when we traded it in but I must add we will never deal with cars2citroen again. Loved the c max shame about the epb otherwise we would have kept it.

 

[milesperhour]

Hi Andy,
Going ok so far. But I've been away on holiday for past 2 weeks, so only driven it for a week so far. It's going to Skipton Ford tomorrow for the third key to be coded (Cars2Citroen agreed to pay for this). The electric parking brake has been fine up to this evening when it seemed to not want to release when I was attempting to reverse up a hill. Once I came back onto the brake and put the clutch in, it released. I guess I'll have to keep an eye on it.
Crosshills Citroen used to be a decent garage before it rebranded as Cars2Citroen. It just seems to be a trade clearance dealer now. Low prices maybe, but no service.

 

[stevey]

Hi,
To reply to your sill rust problem, the pre-2005 models have poor protection in this area, I have just fitted front mud flaps (2004 model) after grinding off the rust and re-painting (thought those days were gone!)

Would suggest fitting front flaps on day one whether sill area has damage or not.

Other problems have been EGR valve and alternator both need replaced.

Steve

 

[milesperhour]

Well, I've had the C-Max for just over a month now, and I've had the rear sills fixed and repainted (£160), and today it's had a new intercooler pipe (split by bracket, common fault?), work done to drain and seal against the water which seemed to be splashing around the front scuttle panel area when cornering, mudflaps fitted front & rear, and a new coin box / cig lighter for the front (to replace the broken roller blind cover) - total cost was £413.

Hope my C-Max doesn't need much else, cos I'm trying to save up for some 18" ST wheels, a set of Eibachs, tinted windows and some colour-coding of the front and rear lower bumpers and rear upper spoiler...

But that looks like it'll be a long way off after this weeks expenditure!

I have ordered a set of 2007 spec clear side repeaters from Ford though... so that will be nice!

 

[MetalMicky08]

Eibachs are brilliant.As for coin box,cig lighter & cover,I`m sooo glad I was able to repair mine.The wife thought I was daft to try,but it`s still holding & she`s kept quiet since.Major result

 

[milesperhour]

Well done for repairing it - I couldn't seem to get it fixed, so ended up paying £27.49 + VAT for a new complete unit.
I've seen a German C-Max with the front and rear lower bumpers colour coded (leaving the grill shape in the front bumper), and it looks really nice, so I think I'll do that instead of forking out £1000 for the ford bodykit.