First the bad news - managed to side-swipe a parking bollard dropping my son off at school just 2 days after picking up our B-Max - put a nice dent in the wheel arch, but thankfully restricted to the one panel. At least I know how far round the parking sensors won't work. Will get round to a proper repair in due course, but currently have other priorities with a new baby in the house (the sliding doors make getting the baby seat in and out sooo much easier, and opening the whole side up when my wife gets in and out has made it easier for her too)
I also really like the engine response and noise, ease of driving and the SYNC system, all working pretty much flawlessly. Stereos have come along way in the last few years - good clarity, plenty of distortion-free volume and surprisingly good DAB reception even in deepest Cornwall. IMO it sounds better than the Audi Bose upgrade I had in an A3 just a few years ago. Had thought about getting a subwoofer installed before hearing it properly, but don't think I'll be needing that now.
Life-Shine applied last week and it's already staying cleaner as the white colour really picks up the dirt. A friend of mine runs a car detailing business and is an authorised Life Shine applicator and doesn't charge as much as the dealers do. Going to get the front 3M'ed as well - stone-chip phobic. Mats purchased from Ford Parts Online, saving a bit on dealer price and am also going to look to get the sill protectors - repeated entry/egress by a 5 year old will take its toll on the plastic, I fear.
Problems? Minor stuff. Rear window anti-crush sensitivity causes the window to keep lowering if operated whilst moving. Have do do the complicated button press procedure to reset it, but it never seems to remember. 'Driver Door' frequently fails to shut properly, requiring a second or third slam. Might be an adjustment issue, as described elsewhere on this forum. Kid Mirror seems to be better at letting them look at you, rather than the other way round. It's too close to your head to allow easy use during driving, where your eyes have to work quite hard to adjust to the focussing distance. I prefer to have my attention on the road ahead (parking bollards excepted..). USB Socket is very slow at charging my iphone 5 - believe this is a function of the phone (which is very power-hungry), not the car but makes me think it's only a 1 amp socket so would struggle to charge an iPad, for example.
Indicated fuel consumption (1.0 100ps ecoboost) fairly steady at 32.9 mpg over 600 miles of driving (living in Cornwall, it's fairly hilly). Lower than expected, perhaps, but the engine is still tight and should improve when my wife resumes full-time ownership. Not bothered with the Eco-mode thingy yet, although I do try and catch the up shift arrow more and more. Would like to see it nearer to 40mpg.
I also really like the engine response and noise, ease of driving and the SYNC system, all working pretty much flawlessly. Stereos have come along way in the last few years - good clarity, plenty of distortion-free volume and surprisingly good DAB reception even in deepest Cornwall. IMO it sounds better than the Audi Bose upgrade I had in an A3 just a few years ago. Had thought about getting a subwoofer installed before hearing it properly, but don't think I'll be needing that now.
Life-Shine applied last week and it's already staying cleaner as the white colour really picks up the dirt. A friend of mine runs a car detailing business and is an authorised Life Shine applicator and doesn't charge as much as the dealers do. Going to get the front 3M'ed as well - stone-chip phobic. Mats purchased from Ford Parts Online, saving a bit on dealer price and am also going to look to get the sill protectors - repeated entry/egress by a 5 year old will take its toll on the plastic, I fear.
Problems? Minor stuff. Rear window anti-crush sensitivity causes the window to keep lowering if operated whilst moving. Have do do the complicated button press procedure to reset it, but it never seems to remember. 'Driver Door' frequently fails to shut properly, requiring a second or third slam. Might be an adjustment issue, as described elsewhere on this forum. Kid Mirror seems to be better at letting them look at you, rather than the other way round. It's too close to your head to allow easy use during driving, where your eyes have to work quite hard to adjust to the focussing distance. I prefer to have my attention on the road ahead (parking bollards excepted..). USB Socket is very slow at charging my iphone 5 - believe this is a function of the phone (which is very power-hungry), not the car but makes me think it's only a 1 amp socket so would struggle to charge an iPad, for example.
Indicated fuel consumption (1.0 100ps ecoboost) fairly steady at 32.9 mpg over 600 miles of driving (living in Cornwall, it's fairly hilly). Lower than expected, perhaps, but the engine is still tight and should improve when my wife resumes full-time ownership. Not bothered with the Eco-mode thingy yet, although I do try and catch the up shift arrow more and more. Would like to see it nearer to 40mpg.
