Ford Archives - Jen is on a Journey

We are a Ford family. We have had 2 for years and recently acquired a third vehicle and have had wonderful luck with them overall. I got my feet wet in some of the newer Fords and test drove a Ford C-Max Hybrid up and down the central coast and was eager to try out the 2013 Ford Flex for a week last month!

The long rectangular profile is sleek and elegant. It immediately made me thing of a SUV-limo and it had a ton of room inside! I’ve mentioned it time and time again in my car reviews, our family of 5 needs space! The gorgeous 2013 For Flex in deep impact blue was a 6 passenger vehicle with leather trimmed seats (the two in the center were autofolding) and having enough captain chairs for everyone was a true treat! Comfortable and with plenty of legroom that impressed friends and family, all our road trips were 100% complaint free! The two seats in the middle row have access to car chargers for electronics plus climate control, plus plenty of room for backpacks and dance bags on the floor by their feet during afterschool carpool when the kids must endure about an hour in the car round trip.Headrests in the third row are tall and when up offer a diminished view out the back window, they are easily tucked down flush into the seat without discomfort to the passenger, or when the passenger is tiny like my youngest.As the driver I love all the perks of the Flex like:

keyless entry
folding side mirrors, great for when you’re parking a second car in the garage and have limited space
the power liftgate when you have your hands full with luggage, children, or groceries
10-way power drivers seat-I’m short so I love that it raises the seat as well as having a lumbar support for my lower back!
The option of power-folding the 3rd row seats to flat for groceries or to tailgate seats

Check out some of these perks in action:

blind spot light is perfect day or night and is just another safety feature I love about the Flex

It’s no surprise that my husband was shocked at the power behind the pedal with the Flex’s 3.5 L V6 Ecoboost engine. I took a roadtrip to Napa alone in the Flex and found myself hitting 80 mph on the highway without really “feeling” it and had to use the cruise control so I wouldn’t get pulled over!

The navigation system, Sony audio, and Sirius radio got me to and from my roadtrip with ease. I set up the bluetooth to my iPhone in no time, plugged in the destination and was directed to the event without issue and that is so important when I’m driving alone. On my return trip, I unfortunately found myself at prime commute time and the navigation alerted me to traffic backups and allowed me alternate routes. At one point on the ride home, I found myself taking an early exit. The navigation rerouted me almost immediately and got me back to where I needed to be.The front center console is deep and has electronic connections including USB that is great for passengers. The middle row center console has something I’ve never seen in a vehicle! A refrigerated compartment that can be set to freeze or refrigerate! The kids got a kick out of this and tried it out with a fast-food treat! This is great for family road trips for snacks and even for parents of babies that need to keep milk/formula/baby food cool! The Flex averages 18 mpg combined city/hwy with about 5.6 gallons per 100 miles with an approximate fuel cost of $2,950. I made it to Napa and back (256 miles), plus a 94 mile round-trip shopping adventure with some gas to spare. I love when the digital reading on the dash tells me how many miles left I have before empty to save me from any awkward predicaments.

I notice every Ford Flex on the road now that I’ve test-driven one and I really love it. The Ford Flex carries a hefty price tag at $50,105 for the model we drove, and for our one-income family it would be a pretty big investment. We haven’t had a car payment in nearly 10 years, but this car could be something we could make happen. The car is worth a test-drive and I bet you’ll really enjoy it, we sure did!

We received this car loan for one week, all opinions are 100% ours.

I believe that I live in one of the most beautiful spots in the world. Okay, so I haven’t been outside of the US, but few would argue that the central coast of California is mighty lovely. Just this last weekend, I had the opportunity to join Emily from Clever Housewife on a road trip to test out the new Ford C-Max Hybrid.

Our trip would begin in San Francisco and bounce over to Half Moon Bay, past Santa Cruz, Capitola, Monterey, Carmel, then onto Pebble Beach. If there is a better one-day cruise, please let me know, because this was superb and the October weather was near perfect. During a short briefing, we learned the Ford C-MAX is the first-ever hybrid-only vehicle line from Ford in North America. The C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi Plug-in Hybrid offer the sporty style and performance of a Ford vehicle with the added benefit of leaving a smaller carbon footprint. My family and I own 3 Ford vehicles, with the newest being a 2005 without bells and whistles let alone much energy-saving additions so I was eager to try this car out!

Immediately I was impressed with the trunk function that allows you to air kick beneath the back of the car and the trunk lifts open. This allows moms holding babies or groceries or luggage to do this hands free which can be a lifesaver. The key fob can be in your hand, pocket, or purse to enable the function, which is generally the case. Emily and I began our trip and I was first driver. With the car on (keyless allows for a push button start), you see an icon that tells you the car is ready to drive. This is basically necessary to check because there is no sound when the car is on. It’s different and something you need to get used to, I generally don’t know what silence is but when in battery mode the C-MAX is oddly quiet. C-MAX offers 5 passenger seating with a lot of headroom, yet in the above photo you see the leg room is tight. The drivers seat is about as far back as my husband would need it and when Emily climbed in it was snug for an adult. Small children in car seats would be fine, my guess 2 would be comfortable in the back.

The C-MAX drives incredibly smoothly, controls are at your fingertips for all the efficiency modes in the dash as well as the battery/fuel gauges. The C-MAX Hybrid delivers class-leading 43 mpg (41 hwy) combined and can travel up to 85 miles per hour in all all-electric mode. It’s interesting to learn that braking is really good for the car and it recharges the battery with each brake as to why it does better in the city (45 mpg) than on the highway! This is such a smart choice for a commuter vehicle, my husband’s workday consists of 60 miles round trip and we’d be saving so much money!

The dual-LCD next- gen SmartGauge with EcoGuide Efficiency Coach screens interact but don’t distract you as you road trip. Watch the display grow leaves when you drive efficiently. Or watch them fade when you don’t. When Emily drove she was happy with a full set of leaves, it makes you feel good as you’re using the car at it’s potential!

So as we drove we hit a bit of traffic, again the constant braking was good for the car so we relaxed, hit Half Moon Bay and cruised down and reached a beautiful spot, Pompanio State Beach, to check out the ocean!

Arriving in Capitola for lunch near the Esplanade, parking is tight and there are people walking everywhere but the compactness of the C-MAX had no problems getting around.

In addition to the drive, our stop in Monterey had us behind the scenes at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Having visited this popular area attraction with over 40,000 species of plants and animals on site since my kids were little, it was fun to be a VIP!

We arrived at our destination for the evening, Casa Palmero in iconic Pebble Beach. The weather was an amazing 86 degrees with a warm wind and basically October is there best time of year! I live nearby so I took in the warmth as a great sign and we enjoyed the classy accommodations. Rainfall shower heads, private patio jacuzzis…need I say more?Cocktails, appetizers, then dinner with the Ford team and the fabulous group of bloggers led us to The Bench where champagne was flowing and food was plentiful and wonderfully flavored! Driving home the next day, I partnered with Deanna from Mommy Gaga and we took a slightly different route but we did explore more of 17-Mile Drive and some local produce from the biggest salad bowl of the world!The C-MAX Hybrid was a fun car to drive. The Hybrid SEL sells for about $28,365. The C-MAX Energi is like a “hybrid-plus” with its plug-in capability. Using the external charge port, you can charge it in just 2.5 hours, and it starts at $32,950. Thank you to Ford and Clever Girls for the great opportunity!

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 171,000 employees and 65 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln.

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, however all content and opinions expressed here are my own.