Equipment Problems of Ford C-max - part 1

The rear impact bar is completely disintegrated and is falling off of the subframe due to extreme rust. There is either no or very little amount of rust on the entirety of the rest of the vehicle. The impact bar is either manufactured with incorrect materials or is otherwise defective. The impact absorber is attached to the impact bar and due to the integrity of the impact bar being destroyed, the crumple zone in the rear of the vehicle will not work as intended and the safety systems would not perform as intended. The impact absorber is not sitting correctly as attached to the impact bar and major portions of the impact bar are missing due to extreme rust. This is currently available for inspection but is going to be repaired soon. A review of forums, like reddit, online reveal that other owners of this generation of cmax have had rusted out impact bars in the rear and have failed state safety inspection. This vehicle was never in an accident.

See all problems of the 2013 Ford C-max 🔎.

On 1/16/2026, while operating my 2017 Ford C-max hybrid in the bay area, the vehicle displayed a low tire pressure warning. Shortly thereafter, the vehicle experienced a rapid mechanical or electrical failure that required me to safely pull over and exit the vehicle. Upon exiting, I observed smoke followed by open flames originating from the vehicle. Emergency services were contacted immediately, and the fire department responded and extinguished the fire. The vehicle sustained catastrophic damage and was declared a total loss. The vehicle was towed to a storage facility following the incident. No injuries were sustained. The vehicle had not undergone any recent mechanical repairs or modifications beyond routine maintenance, including an oil change approximately two weeks prior to the incident and a state smog inspection approximately one week prior. The vehicle had been operating normally prior to the warning and failure. All physical documentation stored within the vehicle, including the title, registration, and passport, was destroyed in the fire. Photographic and video documentation of the incident and damage, along with contemporaneous incident records, are available upon request.

See all problems of the 2017 Ford C-max 🔎.

While car shopping, I found a Ford hybrid listed with ~40,760 miles. Its public history shows a severe, unexplained odometer discrepancy. In September 2022, mileage was ~38,353. By may 2023, it spiked to 392,484. The current title shows 40,760 miles marked with a † (dagger), indicating "mileage discrepancy" or "not actual mileage. " the seller is marketing it as a low-mileage vehicle. This misrepresentation poses a serious safety risk. A car with potentially 400,000+ miles of wear is being sold as having only ~40,000. Critical safety components like brakes, suspension, tires, and the hybrid battery system degrade with use. Concealing this extreme wear risks mechanical failure, endangering the buyer and others on the road. The problem is documented in the vehicle history report. I did not purchase the car. This appears to be odometer fraud and title washing, turning a high-mileage vehicle into a deceptively "low-mileage" sale, creating a significant safety hazard.

See all problems of the 2014 Ford C-max 🔎.

The backup camera always quits working while in the middle of reversing. It will work for a second, but then the display will flip upside down or go completely black and display a message saying "camera unavailable. Please contact your dealership. " it started doing this about a year ago, but was intermittent. It started happening more often over time, and now it always happens. It makes reversing dangerous, as the camera will quit working while the vehicle is still moving. This is especially dangerous in parking lots where there are pedestrians around. It is available for inspection upon request. It has not been inspected by anyone yet.

My 2014 Ford cmax energi is unable to exceed 80 mph. This is due to Ford mykey systems not allowing other keys to be made for the vehicle without restrictions being applied. Because I had to get a new key made, my car now is unable to go over 80mph. In arizona, the flow of traffic is quick and intense. I am unable to reliably drive on the freeway because of how my car is restricted. Ford refuses to do anything about it.

Backup camera nonfunctional. Will occasionally work or be upside down.

Swollen lugnuts.

2 issues 1) back-up camera has started to intermittently fail. Sometimes it displays when you start to back up then goes blank. 2) the driver side rear door is stuck shut. The inside panel binds against the door jam and prevents it from opening.

See all problems of the 2015 Ford C-max 🔎.

The airbags did not deploy upon collision.

The rear drivers side door opened unexpectedly going around a turn and did not re-latch after it was closed. The door opened and slammed closed going around a turn and injured my son sitting in the back seat. The child locks on the door were still engaged during the incident and after. This is the second time it has happened. Both days were close to 100 degrees in temperature. The door intermittently does not latch.

The component that failed is the lug nuts. They are swollen. Had them replaced when I got new tires in December, 2022 because mechanic could not use the ones that came with the previous tires. He said I would be driving on broken lug nuts because of how he had to take off the lug nuts that came with my Ford. On may 17/2023, took my car to a Ford dealership for an oil change and inspection. They could not rotate the tire because of the swollen lug nuts.

I wanted to file a complaint about a recall notice. I received a notice that there was a safety recall on my car, the notice is dated July 2022. It states parts should be available by the fourth quarter of 2022 which is now. I just checked on the NHTSA website and it states there are parts available. I have yet to receive a notice to contact someone to get my car repaired. This recall involves the shifter. October 29th we were out running errands. I got back into my car, turned it on, and put it into drive and nothing happened when I put my foot on the gas. I tried reverse and the other drive positions and nothing. I had to turn my car off and then back on again and it finally went into drive. Since this recall involves the shifter, I am worried that my car might not shift into gear when I need it to. Am I able to just contact a Ford dealership to get this repair done, or do I have to wait for the letter? thank you for your help.

Rear-view camera sporadically freezes, turns upside down - will see people walking behind, and then suddenly the image will freeze. This is a major major safety issue and I suspect people may even be killed due to this camera failure. I had numerous situations where the camera would (mid backup) freeze the image, resulting in the driver (myself) thinking that nobody was walking behind my vehicle! this needs to be investigated and perhaps the rear-view camera systems recalled on all Ford C-maxes as I am seeing many other reports of this happening as well.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? I have a 2013 Ford C-max se that is having terrible white noise and static from the speakers. I see that this is common with the sync system and not limited to C-max models how was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? I have not had a diagnostic run but I have seen so many listservs with the speaker issue. The car will be quiet and then blast static to the point of having to pull over to get the car over to get it to stop. It's so loud sometimes that it is hard to drive. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? I am taking the car in on November 10th for an inspection. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? I am taking the car in on November 10th for an inspection. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? no, this has gradually be increasing in severity over the last few months.

I own a 2017 Ford C-max and share it with my husband. It is our only car so the past few weeks have been tough. Since I received my recall (22s43) in the mail, my car has been struggling to start. I believe this is due to the recall as the car is not in the correct gear to start the engine (even though I’ve been putting it in park & engaging the emergency parking brake). Yesterday, on our way home from the grocery store, our car gave us the “stop safely now” display; luckily we were close to home but it was still pretty scary. The engine had shut off. Also, I missed a doctors appointment last week because my car wouldn’t start. I almost missed my appointment for the rmv as well. Not only that but I had to cancel my trip to lake george because the car feels unsafe to drive. I did not get a refund so the financial burden Ford is causing me for their negligence is frustrating to say the least. I bought the car a year and a half ago (Jan 2021). I have called Ford in beverly, framingham, westborough, and marlborough. None of the service departments could help me. They said that they won’t have the parts until the 4th quarter of this year. I’m not sure what to do at this point but would appreciate your help. My VIN is 1fadp5eu8hl119243. I am currently only using the car for “necessary” trips, though half of the time the car won’t start. Thanks, emily braun.

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.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford C-max energi. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the charging cord overheated and became inoperable. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 18v592000 (equipment). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.

See all problems of the 2016 Ford C-max 🔎.

There is clearly an open recall on my car since June of 2022, I have yet to receive any information from Ford about checking my car to see if it’s affected by this recall. I drive with my 3 year old in this car everyday and I would feel a lot safer if someone was able to look at my vehicle.

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.

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?.

I noticed the car hasn’t honked upon locking it with the key fob for about the last 1,000 miles. Today is the first time I needed to use my horn to warn someone about pulling in front of me while I was also braking. I tried the next 3 miles to get the horn to honk and nothing happened. Once I got home & turned the car off, I could hear there was a clicking noise, but no horn honking sound was produced.

The rearview camera is usually upside down. Occasionally, a blank, black screen is displayed. Infrequently, it appears normal. A few times, a message is displayed saying it needs to be replaced. In view of the fact many models have a recall notice for this very problem, I elected to report it.

I was driving slowly leaving a supermarket parking lot. There was no one else around. There was a sudden loud bang, the car lurched upward and to the right, coming to rest over a curb hanging down a ditch. The front end started to smoke and then caught fire. The car was a total loss. There had been no impact. I was able to escape down the ditch with the help of police and the fire department put out the fire. The first 2 pictures are on the scene; the remainder in the tow lot. Friends have suggested that perhaps the hybrid battery exploded.

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.

The contact owns a 2014 Ford C-max hybrid. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 mph, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the service power steering message was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was 177,842.

The vehicle was entered while parked and locked with the security system active. A panel was removed from the lower left side of the housing beneath the steering wheel. All four windows had been lowered to the maximum extent possible, apparently without breaking them. Debris was strewn across front and rear seats. Spare floor mats stored in the trunk/hatch area (normally out of view due to a cover over the hatch and the rear seat backs) were deposited on the rear seat.

The inside door panels become loose. Doors affected are the driver's door and both rear passenger doors. When the panels come loose, it can make the doors impossible to open from the inside and outside door handles. Attempts have been made to correct this issue with new clips to attach the door panels with but the issue keeps happening. These door panels have been an issue since December 2017. It's a safety hazard if you have young children in the rear passenger seats who do not have the strength to push on the doors with either their feet or arms. In the case of an accident/fire they would be trapped.

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.

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.

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.

Ford cmax energi tire punctured by a nail. Took the car to a tire dealer who was unable to remove the tire because the lug nuts use a cap that slips when the correct socket was used. Took the car to a mechanic who had to fight with the lug nuts to remove them. The orignal Ford lug nuts were then replaced with solid nuts to prevent this from happening in the future. This added an additional $92 (cost of the lug nuts plus labor) to the cost of the tire replacement. Ford said this is not covered even with my extended warranty.

Rear backup camera intermittently does not show any image on the screen. When this happens the screen is either blue or black and camera image either flashes in and out or never shows up at all. This happens approximately 10% of the time the vehicle is put in reverse - the rest of the time the camera works normally.

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.

The car was parked and turned off, I came out to the car and found the electrical charging cord had caught on fire at the base of the handle that inserts into the car. The area melted/disintegrated. It was covered in soot. The charger had been plugged into the car for about 1 hour. Fortunately my car or home did not catch on fire. This charger was a replacement from the recall in 2018.

Government vehicle was parked and unoccupied when caught fire. Damaged another government vehicle parked next to it. Both total losses. State fire marshal was at the scene stated that it appeared the fire started around the engine compartment.