Ford Grand C-MAX MPV Owner Reviews: MPG, Problems & Reliability

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I've had the car from new and for for 2 years and its now covered 78000 miles. The engine is spot on and has plenty of pull, at about 50,000 miles onwards the mpg got a bit better and is now at 45.7 - have never reset any of the mileage / mpg tools so that reflective of the 78,000 miles. Seats are still comfy and interior looks like new. Had the family pack installed along with the upgraded Sony DAB stereo. Nothing has gone wrong with this car electrically or mechanically and the paintwork is as tough as nails. Pros Surprisingly good to drive considering its as aerodynamic as a brick. Engine and handling has got better with mileage. Plenty of room in the boot when using as a 5 seater option. Sliding rear doors with 2 kids is a dream No back ache after 3 hous of driving. Cons Upgraded stereo was really worth the money as the Sat Nav screen is no bigger than a medium portable unit. System itself was slow at times. 12500 miles service intervals seemed a bit soon when doing alot of miles.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Love this car, very spacious, well made. Excellent to drive. Obviously not as quick at pulling off as my previous car (2009 corsa) but brilliant car! Economical and very comfortable for all the family. We upgraded to this as expecting our 3rd child so this is perfect for us.

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Yes Green thumbs up

Would you recommend the car to a friend?

Yes Green thumbs up

Would you recommend the car to a friend?

Yes Green thumbs up

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Iv'e had the car eleven months done just over 9,000 miles,one electrical fault on the audio unit.sorted under warranty.

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Starts first time. Good Handling. Easy to drive. More economical on longer journeys. Warms up quickly. Defrosts quickly.

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Electronic key can be a problem sometimes and you have to leave the car to get the key out of range.

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No problems with it.

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I've had this car now for 3 months from new. I wanted an occasional 6-7 seater and this seemed to check all the boxes. Chose the 1.5 diesel as I do mixed mileage of motorway and short runs. To be honest I'm a bit disappointed with the fuel consumption .The salesperson told me it can easily get 60 to the gallon and I've seen nowhere near that. I'm averaging just under 45. The car itself is practical for a family of 5 with occasional friends or family in the car. You can get adults in the 3rd row but only at a push and for short journeys. We found when our children used the 3rd row they claimed it was stuffy with no air and they often felt sick. It could do with its own air supply somehow. And talking of the boot I wasn't impressed with the height of the boot, the width and depth are OK but it seems very shallow when the seats are down and the flooring isn't entirely flat as there is a step where the jack kit is. The car drives smoothly though with minimum roll in corners but a bit sluggish up hills. Our biggest gripe is the centre seat belt it goes across the seat headrest next to it ,so can get in the face if the person next to it. We had to tuck it behind their seat rest which is nowhere near ideal. If looking for one I suggest you test drive to check you get on with it first.

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I chose this car as it offered seating for all children, seemed to offer a good power/mpg ratio and was easily affordable on my company car scheme. I chose a few extras such as a tow bar, roof bars, and the family pack and I am generally happy with my choice. I've now put 15,000 miles on it, mainly motorway and A road miles, which it eats up with little or no fuss. It is a little more noisy than expected at higher speeds but it is a large open car. It rides very nicely, and handles well too. The brakes, suspension and gearbox feel quite sporty and it can really hustle down the county lanes. Accelerating at motorway speeds is always a disappointment though, it seems to lack torque at lower revs in the higher gears, where as it goes like stink in 2nd and 3rd. I am disappointed in the economy though, I struggle to reach 41mpg when driven normally, and if I really really try it is possible to get 47mpg. A little tip is too use the cruise control to increase the mpg, but it also accelerates faster on the motorway rather when using the cruise when compared to simply using your foot. Problems for me include a faulty passenger mirror that will not adjust or retract, and intermittent problems with the passenger door locking system. I have also found that paint is very prone to stone chips at the front, and that the interior trim is a little fragile at the rear. Another niggle is that the 12v power socket stays live when the engine is turned off so an external sat nav can and will drain the battery if left plugged in. There is a knack to getting the stereo to play from an iPhone, and the text message reader is only adequate. But top marks for the voice controls, never really had an issue, even with my strong accent. I have had 7 adults in the car, it is a squeeze but its OK for short journeys - suspension and brakes are more than up to the job. I've also loaded it up with bikes and roof boxes and again no issues.

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Battery died in first year

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I drive a relative's mobility Grand C-Max 1.5TDCi Powershift very regularly. Honestly one of the worst cars I've ever driven. Putting the lack of power from this engine to one side, I regularly read that the Powershift box is excellent. My experience is anything but. It's absolutely dim-witted and completely unintuitive. It will refuse to change down a gear leaving you with no power or acceleration until you find your foot all of the way down to the floor, at which point it will change down 2 or 3 gears and promptly redline itself and dither about changing into the gear it should've picked in the first place. At other times the merest depression of the accelerator results in a shift down when you only wanted slight acceleration without the shift. Baffling and impossible to get it to do what you want it to. That's only half the fun, because when you combine it with the stop/start system things get even more dodgy. At roundabouts or busy junctions were you need response, I frequently find myself lifting of the brake and depressing the accelerator only to find that the engine isn't actually running yet. After a second or two waiting for the engine to start you then need to wait another couple of seconds for the "excellent" Powershift box to remember it's a gearbox and decide what gear to give you and build enough revs to provide any forward movement. The number of times this delay has resulted in either a risky or aborted manoeuvre isn't funny. Horrible car. My advice is avoid this underpowered engine and definitely avoid the Powershift boxes. I can't believe someone at Ford signed off on this engine and box.

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Fine so far

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Rattles. Electric boot failed already. Usb stereo very choosy over what it plays from

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The car hesitates occasionally when pulling away from stationary.

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It has not let me down yet

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Yes Green thumbs up

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I Bought this car car new from a main dealer and have been very disappointed with the build quality, fault after fault after fault, heavy MPG, being a 1.6 tdci we are getting at best 38-42 MPG , our previous 2.0 petrol skoda octavia gave better MPG, also seats are really uncomfortable on long distances , The DAB radio hasn't worked properly since day one, Ford have never managed to fix the problem, central locking works when it wants, boot lock broke twice, new disc and pads at 9000 mies! Interior is not wearing well considering its under 3 years old , hesitant when pulling away (flat spot) never fixed, never ending !

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Completely let down by the poor MPG and minor faults. 57.7 claimed on combined cycle. I wasn't expecting 57.7 but I was expecting more than 46mpg even when driven frugally.

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Woeful on fuel around town, i'm lucky to get 35mpg – on the motorway at 60mph you can get 50mpg at a push. The computer displays how much fuel range remains, It can say 50 miles when you park and the change to 42 after a few minutes. The car has plenty of power, The PowerShift automatic gearbox works faultlessly. There's no boot space when all seven seats are in use. The front paintwork is chipped as if I've been rallying, could be because of thin paint. The DAB Radio takes ages to change channels, you can face up to 20 seconds of silence at a time. The voice control works ok, the sat nav is fine. Biggest disappointment is the fuel economy. Stay away if you're expecting over 50mpg because you wont get it. Despite the car giving me 'eco awards' the fuel economy never impresses.

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TMS issue from day one, was bought from Lookers main dealer as Ford Direct car. Also it never knows how much fuel is in it - gauge is up and down.

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Its a useful vehicle in terms of the variations possible on seating configuration. MPG is poor at average of 42 mpg and performance can only be described as sluggish. Had a few minor problems with battery and central locking. Clutch pedal is stiff which Ford seem unable or unwilling to remedy. Driver seating not very comfortable. All in all I would not recommend. My previous vehicle Renault Scenic (54 Reg) was much much better.

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Noisy on motorway, can be slow and sluggish, heavy on fuel around town and extremely uncomfortable back seats not as spacious as first told, nowhere near as big as a Mondeo boot and had lots of trouble to find roof bars because of the sliding doors.

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No Red thumbs down

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No Red thumbs down

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No Red thumbs down

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Car gone into limp mode 3 times without warning. Also, audio system packed up. Dealer cannot fix the limp mode issue, so have handed the car back to dealer for replacement vehicle - Ford UK now involved.

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Only a year old so nothing wrong. Seems much better built than old fords were

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No problems to report

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No Red thumbs down

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No Red thumbs down

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Yes Green thumbs up

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No problems so far

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No Red thumbs down

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Do NOT buy a Grand C-Max with an EcoBoost engine - At 78,000 miles the cambelt broke, wrapped itself around the engine and killed it. I had a long battle with Ford who offered me about £3,500 towards the £9k repair bill, but that didn't really cut the mustard. I had missed one mileage-based service two years ago - I am told by others if I had a complete service history, Ford would have eventually backed down and covered it, because (I am told by mechanics who repair Fords) that they know that the EcoBoost engine puts a strain on the cambelt and this happens all the time. One mechanic I spoke to said that he had just been paid to replace a whole fleet of EcoBoost engine cambelts before they go. I liked the car before this happened, and I did sell if for about £2.5k for reconditioning, but I would strongly recommend you steer clear of awful EcoBoost engines.

What's the one thing you like most about your car?

Size and sliding doors

If you could improve one thing, what would it be?

Not having bought it

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No Red thumbs down

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Took delivery of our Grand C-Max in December 2016 and it is the best car I've ever driven! It has an automatic gearbox.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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I love the layout, the space and the comfort, however some things just seem disappointing. In 50,000 miles over three years, mostly light local commuting I've experienced a list of issues. Two sets of brake disks all round, a new Clutch and a new dual mass flywheel – an additional cost of ownership of £1700 to date. I bought a regular servicing plan with the car, but Ford failed to pick up on some issues. My request for an update to the Ford Sync frequently fell on deaf ears. One thing I will say is that the car is twitchy in cold slippery weather. so much so that I didn't let my partner drive the car in cold icy weather. A shame because – all that aside – the car is practical, roomy and nice to drive.

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No Red thumbs down