2014 FORD C-MAX Complaints

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.

Steering wheel locked up and could not control car. After taking car to repair shop I was informed that the entire power steering rack would have to be replaced. Upon internet research noticed numerous similar complaints of same problem in Ford Cmax and Ford Focus vehicles. Appears to have been a limited recall back in 2014 of several hundred Cmax and Focus cars but Ford gave assurance those were all the cars affected. Not sure if that problem was the same as current problem but there are many reports of power steering failures which can make the cars difficult or impossible to be driven. To repair the car will be approx. $2000 as the entire electronic power steering rack needs replacing. Please see attached PDF for additional information.

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. Consumer would like to withdrawal the complaint, stated consumer's fault.*JB

The contact owns a 2014 Ford C-MAX Energi. The contact stated the front driver’s seat power seat was stuck in the reclined position. The contact took the vehicle to a local dealer to be repaired. The vehicle was returned, and the contact became aware that the rear driver’s side door panel was loose, causing the door to not open properly. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer who diagnosed that the door panel was damaged and need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the parts not being available. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 92,000.

The issue is related to steering. My Ford C-Max steering system would become very stiff and gets locked. The warning "Service Power Steering" would pop up and the steering wheel would become inoperable. This has happened a couple instances and creating a huge panic. When this happens the steering cannot be moved. I have to stop the engine and restart after a couple mins. The issue is intermittent and does not give any warnings before this situation occurs creating anxiety and huge risk to drive. I took the car to Ford Dealership at Georgetown Texas. They investigated the issue and reverted that the problem is with Steering Gear and has to be replaced to fix the issue. Upon checking on internet I see Ford had reported out similar issue in Sep 2014 and had tried to address the issue. Details below. https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2014-ford-focus-c-max-recalled-for-potential-steering-gear-problem.html https://repairpal.com/recall/14V514000 The issue I faced is consistent with the problems highlighted and pose huge risk if this were to happen while driving at high speeds in traffic.

The passenger side rear door plastic panel keeps dislodging from its metal casing, then gets stuck on part of the interior frame, causing the door to not be operational. The plastic overlaps the frame once it is dislodged; the metal part of the door is opening, but the plastic panel holds it back from being able to go past an inch. The door is, essentially, stuck. One must reach in and manually push the plastic panel back into place (sticking fingers in to first dislodge from where it's stuck, then guide it back to where it's supposed to be, then bang on it to get it back in place). There are plastic pegs that are supposed to hold the door panels on, but they don't (and they fall out). There are many message boards, Consumer Reports, and other sites showing this is a common problem for 2013-2014 C Max Hybrid doors. Ford is making consumers pay to replace the panels. They need to change the plastic pegs so that they actually hold, or affix the whole panel is a much more secure way! This is extremely unsafe because we cannot exit the car sometimes, and in an accident that could be dangerous. More importantly, it affects us every day because my children cannot exit our vehicle on the sidewalk side; they must open the driver's side rear door and exit the car into the street, oftentimes into traffic! They need to be able to exit on the SAFE side of the car!! Ford issued a repair for 2013 model cars but not for ours. They know this is a problem. Here is a link to the repair order: https://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/4807-tsb-14-0030-rear-door-trim-panels-loose-built-on-or-before-6282013/ I will put today's date as today was the most recent time my daughter walked into traffic outside school because her door was jammed. But this has happened many, many times over the course of our ownership, and has been getting worse over the last year (if we had driven more often -- like we did pre-pandemic -- I'm sure it would be even worse now).

Sudden loss of power to steering....noted that many others have had this problem.

The contact owns a 2014 Ford C-Max. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer for tire service and was informed they were unable to rotate the tire due to frozen lug nuts. The vehicle was not repaired but was pending repairs. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 43,000.

The contact owns a 2014 Ford C-MAX. The contact stated that the transfer shaft assembly bearing had failed prematurely which caused an abnormal, grinding sound to come from the transmission while driving at various speeds without warning. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer and had the transmission replaced under warranty. Recently, the contact stated that the same failure recurred with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle back to the dealer where they had test driven the vehicle and confirmed that the same transmission defect had recurred. The contact was given an estimate for the repair. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 160,000.