What 228 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Ford Cmax Energi

The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-Max Energi. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, a message appeared on the screen indicating an unknown fault. The contact stated that while driving, the check engine warning light intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic however, the mechanic declined to diagnose the vehicle and advised the contact to take the vehicle to a dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. VIN tool confirms part not available. The failure mileage was unavailable.

NHTSA ODI 11489265

The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-Max. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, a loud whining noise was present coming from the engine compartment and the vehicle would not properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be serviced. No additional information was available. The vehicle was not repaired. The local dealer was also notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 86,000.

NHTSA ODI 11486343

Vehicle engine light remain on forcing the vehicle to only operate in engine mode. Vehicle is a plug in hybrid vehicle and because of the engine light will not switch back to plug in or hybrid mode. Vehicle is available to inspection upon request.

NHTSA ODI 11485402

This Vehicle has given us numerous numerous issues and left us stranded it has been a safety issue for my family we recently had to have law enforcement involved to try to save us from where we got stranded due to the unreliability of this vehicle and after already having a transmission replacement and having the car right now in the shop for approaching one month and they still cannot find the issue There has been one problem after another forward keeps giving me the run around when I contact them directly and the dealership Is just giving me extremely generic responses and telling me that their staff is not available this week and that they have many other customers to have to worry about and that I basically can go rent a car if I have a problem with not having a vehicle, I do not want to continue to have to risk my life or the life of my wife or children because of the lack of ownership from the dealership and the manufacturer in this situation I keep losing out and being told to just wait and wait, please help! There is a current safety recall also, butbi feel like this entire vehicle is a safety concern at this point for my family and myself.

NHTSA ODI 11477476

In addition to the recall gears of not staying in park the transmission also shifts to early or too late. And also a few years ago before the transmission recalls and problems came to surface one time I noticed car was accelerating all by itself with the foot off of the gas. Once foot was off break it was automatically driving. Once I pulled over stopped turned off the problem went away and hasn’t occurred.

NHTSA ODI 11476235

The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-Max. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI 11475789

The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-MAX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI 11474681

The backup camera image is intermittently reversed, or it sends an error message telling me to contact the dealership, or it simply displays a black screen and is it available for inspection upon request. My safety and the safety of others is put at risk, because it is nauseating and disorientating if I glance at the screen while trying to back up and it is easy to hit anyone or anything behind me as I back up as my brain tries to process the upsidedown image. The problem has been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer and an independent service center. The vehicle, or camera image has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. The car was parked for 2.5 weeks while I was on vacation and it first appeared on my first drive upon returning.

NHTSA ODI 11470003

Im considering buying this car, does Ford still have an obligation to inspect and repair this car if there is a problem? The recall states is from Sept 2014, is there a time period in which they no longer have to honor doing the inspection and or repair if needed?

NHTSA ODI 11465579

The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-MAX Energi. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, a message to Stop Safely was displayed. The contact stated that the vehicle would slow independently and lose motive power. The contact stated that the failure occurred approximately every 6-months. The contact stated that during the failure, the contact would pull over and restart the vehicle after a few minutes before resuming normal driving. The contact took her vehicle to the dealer and was informed that the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and the contact was referred to the NHTSA for assistance. The failure mileage was 121,000.

NHTSA ODI 11457182

The backup camera randomly works or doesn't work, or it will quit working midway thru using it. The screen will glitch out, or turn blue or gray or black, sometimes the camera image will be upside down.

NHTSA ODI 11454426

I started my car & put in reverse the service power steering light came on & my steering wheel locked so I put it back in park turned the car off waited a moment & started it again the problem stopped. I then got online to troubleshoot & see that there is many complaints about this happening but it worse situations when they were actually driving & almost had an accident due to not being able to steer the vehicle. Now I'm scared it will happen when I'm driving next time. This is a life threatening problem & the fact that its a know issue should be fixed by ford at no charge or you will end up with class action lawsuits for putting peoples lives in danger !!!!!

NHTSA ODI 11454274

The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-Max. The contact received a recall notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V592000 (Equipment); however, the dealer informed the contact that the parts for the recall repair were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that the parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ODI 11452397

12 volt battery had been drained of all power and would not start. Bought new battery, same thing happened. Jump started several times. 3 batteries later, Ford said it was a cooling fan fuse. Radio and window worked sporadically.

NHTSA ODI 11452265

2013 Ford C-Max Energi Rear Door Interior Trim Panel detaches due to a faulty retainer clip and interferes with rear door closure. My door appeared closed, but during a right hand turn, the rear passenger door opened unexpectedly and ejected passenger contents onto the carriageway. Ford TSB-14-0030 "Rear Door Trim Panels Loose" describes a retainer clip that causes the rear door trim panel to detach (and interfere with safe operation of the passenger doors).

NHTSA ODI 11450062

Lift gate opens randomly when vehicle is off.

NHTSA ODI 11446674

The message to service the power steering suddenly appeared and the steering wheel could not be rotated, when we were at our drive way. I felt to be very lucky for not being on the road when the loss of power steering occurred. After I turned off the engine and restarted the car one minute later, the power steering problem disappeared and I was able to drive the car again. About one week later, I sent the car to a Ford dealer for inspection. The test result showed the error code U300-49:08 and the internal electronic failure type. The dealer recommended replacing the steering gear at a cost of over $3000. We have just completed a 7-year service contract with the same dealer. Thus, the car should have been well maintained.

NHTSA ODI 11445775

While driving, the Cmax displayed a red hazard, STOP SAFELY NOW, and lost all propulsion. The car was unable to be moved and is stranded in the driving lane.

NHTSA ODI 11445246

Was driving my 2013 Ford CMax and heard a noise in the front. I took it to the local Belle Tire and they replaced the upper inner front tirod. Still had issues and heard noise. Took it to a repair facility and they claimed they heard no noise. Two weeks later my Steering assist warning light came on and I lost all steering capabilities. Luckily I was not injured. Ford has recalls for this same issue on other years and models. Due to the severity of this problem and possible casuality Ford should issue a recall for this part. I had to pay $2100.00 to repair this problem

NHTSA ODI 11443946

The plug on the charging cord partially melted (see photo). I took the cord to my Ford Dealership (Sayville Ford, Sayville, NY) and was told that the cord was not eligible for replacement but they could sell me a new one for $420.! I subsequently looked up the Ford recall number (18S24) and called Ford and was told that because the cord had previously been brought in to the dealer (2019?) and found to be undamaged, it was not eligible for replacement.

NHTSA ODI 11436886

Car will not turn off. There’s a recall for this for 2015 models but it needs to be expanded. This also affects the gas gauge, which has been frozen at the same level near full even though the gas tank is almost empty. I now have to guess if I need gas or not.

NHTSA ODI 11436708

While driving to work the car started to accerlate on its own. My foot was not on the gas and I had put my foot on the brake pedal to slow the car down. My work is only 3 miles away but for that 3 miles I had to ride the brake because the car wanted to speed up. The highest it got to was over 35 mph until I applied the brake harder. I even took my foot off of the pedals completely to make sure I wasn’t accidentally pressing both pedals. There were not obstructions or floor mats bunched up under the pedal.

NHTSA ODI 11433461

While my son was driving his / my 2013 C-Max Energi (on gasoline, the "battery only" range had been depleted), the vehicle lost power and shut down completely, and could only be coasted to the side of the road and not restarted or moved. Fortunately it was not on the highway at the time. The CEL was on, and unfortunately I do not still have the 3 codes which appeared, however the three codes were all for systems in the hybrid propulsion. When I did a google search on the three codes together, for the C-Max, I located a service bulletin from Ford showing that there are two low voltage wires which were improperly routed and insulated, in the back of the car behind the rear seat and under the steel cover over the Energi additional battery. Since the vehicle is a 2103, I had it brought to my home rather than the dealer, and I was able to remove the rear seat, rear carpet, rear seat belts, side panels and battery cover to get to the defective wiring. The "Ford Fix" involved replacing part of the wiring harness and rerouting the new harness, but with about 4 hours of my own labor, I was able to disassemble the rear interior of the vehicle, insulate the 2 defective wires and zip tie to another harness next to them so that they would not rub the steel housing over the Energi additional battery again. After thinking about this, after the fact, I realized that this should absolutely be a recall by Ford. **** Ford knows of the problem, Ford issued a Service Bulletin for the repair, and most importantly, the issue is incredibly unsafe because when the vehicle stops, it will only coast to a stop wherever it is, whether it is on a parking lot of the fast lane on the interstate, and cannot be moved under its own power. ****.

NHTSA ODI 11432929

After making a stop at a rest stop traveling from Portland, OR to The Dalles, OR, when we got back into the car and started it, a warning light came on saying “service power steering. See your dealer.” From that point forward, we had no power steering and had to drive home that way. We know after doing research that Ford has a recall (15S18) for this exact problem but because there weren’t as many CMax vehicles sold, they did not include it. We had to drive home almost 60 miles at highway speed to get home.

NHTSA ODI 11430558

We have a recall notice relating to the door latch that may come open while driving and the Ford dealer in Longmont, CO says they don't have parts to replace the defective door latch part. We have been waiting for several months now and the Ford dealer doesn't have the parts. We don't feel safe driving the car until this recall can be fixed.

NHTSA ODI 11428874