[Closed] Ford C Max: diesel or petrol?

Petrol. Doesn't sound like you'll be doing over 12k a year (previously though of as the tipping point) but nowadays with dual mass flywheels and other similar problems that cost a lot on diesels and doubly so with a particulate filter and a diet of short journeys petrol is the only way.
You'll also get a lot more for your money.

I agree with steveh. 1.6 TDCI can be a turbo eater if not looked after.

2.0 Titanium diesel with all the trimmings. 50 + mpg on a run. Bags of power. Been very happy with it and boot is much bigger than it looks.
52 mile round trip each day 40 on dual carriageway , rest on back roads returns about 45 MPG

At your price point I would say 1.8 125bhp petrol. To cheap for a diesel with mileage left in it. The petrols are very reliable.

Steveh +1

As I own a 2 litre petrol focus I would say go for the diesel. Ford petrol engines are rubbish on fuel. And don't really have much power. Even my 2 litre is slow. And only 30mpg. We only do 10k a year but I wouldn't buy a petrol ford again. Better economy would mean less power which would be a real ball ache on the a roads round Suffolk.

The 1.8 diesel is basic but reliable and gives good fuel economy.

Ford zetec petrol engines are some of the most reliable engines around.

Best thing to do is go to the honest John website for all the info on any car make/model you are interested in buying. Lots of info available there.

Petrol. Speaking as a diesel owner who's not unhappy with his choice, but probably would have gone for a petrol if there had been any availability of petrol models which met my requirements. Which does raise the issue that it depends what's actually available - no idea about C Maxs, but for some models there are a lot more s/h diesels on the market.

1.8 diesel and 1.6 petrol Fords in the family here (though the 1.6 is so old it probably has very little in common with current versions, but it's a perfectly fine engine and reliability is certainly good).

we had an 08 plate 1,8 petrol for a few yrs. Bought it ex-demo and sold it when it was 4 yrs old. Was wife's car so did short trips with kids etc. We did about 25k miles in it and the average mpg was only 28 over all of that. It had a heap of repairs under warranty - water pumps, electrics. It was actually more unreliable and less economic than the 04 Scenic it replaced.

we traded it in for an ex-demo 11 plate 1.6 petrol Kia Soul which has been better in every way and for same journey profile sits at 34 mpg.

Ford petrol engines are rubbish on fuel. And don't really have much power. Even my 2 litre is slow. And only 30mpg

Depends how you drive I guess, I get 39mpg from a 1.8 Mondeo. Nobody could call it brisk but it's got more than enough power for everyday use and cruises fine on the motorway.

"primarily for short urban trips" sound like ideal small petrol engine territory to me.

I love driving diesels, and I'm not worried about dmfs and such, but if you are only doing short trips then you are likely to have dpf issues UNLESS you take specific precautions.

Ignore the 12k a year breakeven thing. It's based on flawed ideas.

Petrol, avoid the 1.8 as its a different engine entirely to the 1.6, much thirstier for no apreciable increase in power.

I've got the 1.6 petrol Cmax, towed my boat and a car full of shit 250 miles so far this weekend without complaint and will happily out accelerate anyone pulling away from tge lights normaly, how much more power fo dome people want? Only faults so far in 45,000 miles (75000 total) ive had it are a power steering hose (bizzarely common on c-maxes despite it being a fairly generic goodrich hose) and an air conditioning pipe which the garage broke during a service but was fatigued/perished and about to fail anyway.

I originally planned to sell it and get a diesel estate fairly quickly as it was only bought as a quick fix and was just what the local dealer had in stock. But I reckon ill keep it and run it into the ground now as itsgot nothing really to fault it (not exactly exciting or great at anything either mind you).

Does 40ish mpg at an indicated 70 on the motorway. Front tyres last 25000 miles, although im expecting the new eco ones to last longer as the rears barely look touched in 15000. Major cambelt/brakefluid/everything service cost £500 and is 8 years/100000 miles so check any you look at as itll be arround now. Other than that it just needs an oil and filter change (£50 for both from the dealership parts desk and very easy to DIY) and the spark plugs& air filter every 3 years (but its only £20 again for the Oem bits so I just replace them rather than inspecting and putting the old ones back).

We've got a 2.0l 136bhp Focus diesel from 07.
It's fun to drive, engine is reasonably powerful. It only does mid 30s mpg on short local trips, 50ish on long runs.
DMF went at 35000 miles and it's needed a new alternator in the time we've had it, goes through front tyres pretty quick too.

Will be used primarily for short urban trips, but not commuting.

= sad diesel. Get the petrol one!

UNLESS you take specific precautions

which are?

Taking it on long trips when it asks for it. This might mean taking it for a drive when it asks, and you have no other reason.

Also you have to be aware of any maintenance it needs - like special fluid etc.

as above i would avoid diesel for short trips.
have you actually driven a c max?, i have and i didnt like it, it suffered from body roll in corners, even at modest speeds. also, there was a sizeable blind spot which could hide a car/bike quite easily.
for a point of reference, i was coming from a mk3 mondeo 2.0tdci, which felt better, didnt have a blind spot, and had considerably more power.
thats just my 2p, you might love it.

I know what you mean about the blind spot, but once you know it's there you compensate for it.
Never had a problem with body roll on mine. It's a high car , but it just feels quite tight.
Not sure if suspension setup is improved on the higher spec models ?

My wife had a 2005 C-Max 1.8 petrol for a few years up to a couple of years ago. I really liked it, but she wanted a smaller car.

Good:
- space for passengers
- big, deep boot
- nice to drive (in my opinion).
- comfy seats
- Ghia model so cruise, aircon, rear built-in blinds etc
- pretty reliable. Just the alternator (I believe they all broke) and hatch lock needed replacing
- three seperate seats across the back, so good for kids

Bad:
- rear seats don't fold flat. You can fold the backrests down, and then fold the bases so the seat is against the front seat. To get a very big space, you need to remove the back seats
- don't think it was especially economical, but didn't actually check
- low geared, so a bit buzzy on the motorway
- wife really didn't like the electric handbrake we had on ours. It didn't auto-release, so was a bit pointless

Speaking as a 1.6 petrol 180bhp ecoboost engine grand c max owner I'd echo above and say don't expect particularly good mpg figures from the petrol. The official figures for my car were 45ish mpg and I drive carefully and am lucky to get 33 without doddling at 56mph on the motorway. Doing 70mph seriously destroys mpg. I'm sure I heard that in the USA owners of the ecoboost engines there were compensated because the theoretical and real life mpg figures were so far apart. To be honest I'd not buy a petrol Ford again due to the fact it certainly doesn't feel like 180bhp, economy is craps and I feel a wee bit deceived by the ecoboost marketing, no better than a normal engine as far as I can tell. Lovely car inside though.

I had a 54 plate cmax 2.0 tdci and it was the most unreliable car I've ever had. It ate tyres and by the time it had done 100k miles it had a new egr vakve a new dpf and the dpf fluid, new dm flywheel.

I used to do 25k a year in it to so it wasn't down to doing enough miles.

It was economical though.

I now have a smax 2.0 ecoboost with 203 bhp. It doesn't feel as fast as the cmax and gives half the economy @ 27mpg

Some great food for thought here, still no closer to deciding though...

If I did decide to go with diesel, how often are you supposed to take it on longer trips at a constant speed for?

And is this only to regenerate the dpf build up or are there other issues?

I tried a 1.6TDCi and a 1.8 zetec petrol yesterday. Both were fine to drive, difficult to chose between the two. I'm not too bothered about the driving experience tbh, just getting from A to B.

Overall economy of the car is prob the most important factor I'd say.

Please stay away from the 1.6tdci as it has to be the worst engine ever made and will at some point destroy its turbo

Don't bother with the cmax, get a focus estate. A much nicer car to drive plus it is easier to get bikes in the bigger boot. Plus you don't have to drive around in an MPV.

We had the current shape cmax and while it is a nice place to sit and reasonably economic with the 115 bhp 1.6 diesel and cruised along the motorway nicely it was just white goods on wheels. I now had a focus estate and it is better in every way, apart from the economy but that's because I choose the powerful petrol engine so not really a fair comparison. My old 07 1.6 petrol focus hatch was better to drive and plenty big enough for 4 of us on holiday to France, including needing a travel cot and a double buggy.

Family's don't need massive cars.

To those saying that their petrols aren't economical for short urban journeys. Well diesels aren't either, since they take longer to warm up. To the OP - sounds like petrol is the way to go for you, with lots of short urban journeys and less to go wrong with a normally aspirated engine.

@revs the one i drove was a base spec model.
tbh, it was probably just the difference in height (compared to mondeo) that made me feel that way.
my dad has a 06 plate focus with the 1.6tdci engine, no issues at all in 80k so far, my mondeo (2.0 tdci)was on 163k when i sold it, and is still driving round dunfermline.
i am not a habitual clutch dropper though, neither is my dad.

Speaking as a 1.6 petrol 180bhp ecoboost engine grand c max owner I'd echo above and say don't expect particularly good mpg figures from the petrol.

You bought a 180bhp car and complained about the mpg?

FWIW my normal 1.6 actualy beats the stated mpg figures (low to mid 50s) if you stay in the slow lane with the trucks at 56mph. Found that out after a puncture and having to crawl home on the space saver. Got 42 last night towing the boat behind it and sticking to the speedlimit.

Tony,
My petrol isn't economical for any length of journey. Tap the accelerator and watch the mpg plummet!!

Spoon.
I knew it wouldn't get fantastic mpg but the fact it is a good 10mpg lower than claimed is what annoyed me.

As above the 1.6 diesel is a peugeot citroen designed unit and the oil feed from the engine to the turbo is too small and blocks up killign the turbo. This happens on so many of them it's a guaranteed 1k plus bill when it goes (process to clean engine properly is 12 hours or something).
Don't think of economy as how much you spend filling it up but on total cost (or potential cost) of ownership.

I've had both diesel and petrol fords. One was the 2.0 tdci mondeo and a 1.8 petrol focus, both estates. Both superb cars. The petrol was the lower powered 110bhp engine not that quick or economical but very reliable with just a waterpump and standard consumables. Did 85k in the focus no probs at all. The mondeo was lovely but ultimately ate it's injectors. So that was sold as spares or repairs. I would only buy a modern diesel at the start of its life and get shot at 50K. I would probably say go for the 115bhp petrol VCT engine. It will do everything you want it to do. Focus is the best handling sweetest estate to drive bar none. MPG is just one of the things that you should consider with a whole host of other factors in ownership. Reliability and how it drives being in my mind the most important.

We've got an 04 1.8 petrol cmax,50,000 miles, boot lock,alternator and 2 pencil coils replaced in last 12 months,does 33 mpg according to the trip,drives nicely, quite nippy,and itake out the centre seat for bike duties

33mpg for a 1.8 focus estate?? Our 1.8tdci focus estate has got real world 53mpg over 4 years, whilst our 2.5v6 petrol Bongo camper gets 26mpg, and I find that painful.

I got 35mpg out of my 1.6 tivct focus hatch over about 110,000 miles. I now get 28-30mpg on my focus st estate that has more than twice the power and is a 2.0 turbo.

The mpg isnt the be all and end all about a car. I would much rather drive a petrol engine with worse economy than a diesel engine with the equivalent horsepower.

I'd buy a petrol Mondeo instead.
Economy will be about the same.
Ours is a rattly old TDCi with 175k on the clock, & it's still a lovely car to drive & be driven in.
I think it's a nicer place to be than a Focus.
Plus the boot will swallow all the baby kit you'll ever need.