Widening Takata airbag recall

[jjlink]

So for the TAKATA passenger air bag recall why does the http://www.mitsubishicars.com say "REPAIR NOT YET AVAILABLE" on the recall page?

[jray3]

Dunno why the website claims unavailability- MR BEAN got his new bag on Friday, car got it's much-needed wash too within 45 minutes. Only downside is that the bag only came in basic black, not the 'upgraded' coffee brown of the 2012 SE trim level. Not worth arguing over. BUT, as that brown coating on the armrest is prone to scratching and peeling, I'll keep my eyes peeled for a can of touch-up vinyl paint...

[Don]

Well, good things come to those who wait . . . . and wait . . . . and wait some more. After my dealer in Florida (110 miles away) got with Mitsu corporate in California, they were sounding like they *might* finally be willing to pay to get both my cars to the dealer to have numerous recalls performed - Airbag on one car, inflators on both cars, battery bolts on one car and MCU recall on the other one. I got a call from corporate today and the dealership is going to make arrangements to flatbed tow both cars there, get the recalls done and tow both back home . . . . and Mitsu is footing the bill! Supposedly, this is all going to happen in one day. Pete Moore Mitsu in Pensacola is everything my original dealer (who closed a few years ago) was not. Highly recommend them if anyone in the area ever needs service

Don

[acensor]

Pretty sure I already posted at least part of this:
Here near Medford Oregon , after some nagging from me, Mitsubishi arranged with their FORMER dealer (now just Subaru/Volvo) to be the pickup point for us iMev owners in the valley. About 10 days ago four of us dropped off our EVs there. They trucked them 180miles to Eugene. Did all four bags, trucked down back to us next day. Even washed them all.

Still... us stranded owners wonder what we'll do if we ever have a non warrantied issue that isn't something the local non-Mitsu mechanic or ourselves can handle.

[Don]

Yes, it can be tough when you don't have a local dealer - I've been after them now for almost 2 years trying to get them to do recalls on our cars

It's even tougher down here because we have virtually no charging network to use if we wanted to take a long trip . . . . like to the nearest servicing dealership. We had zero public charging spots 5 years ago (other than at the two Nissan dealerships who do not like to allow anyone but Nissan owners to charge there) and now we have just one - At the bus station, but it's only 5 miles from the house, so we've only used that one once - The only electrons which have ever gone into either of our cars other than the ones we put in our garage. A 110 mile trip to Pensacola would be a three day affair - One day to get there, one day for the service and another day to get back home . . . . plus 2 nights in a motel

The same week we bought our first one brand new from the local dealer that later closed, an elderly couple living in the Armed Forces Retirement Home bought an identical car to ours. Shortly after the dealer folded up his tent, they had an issue where the car would not charge. Mitsu towed it to New Orleans for repair and they got it back about a week later. Not having a local dealer anymore, they completely lost faith in the car and shortly after, they traded it in for a Toyota Corolla. They lost about $20K for the 8,000 miles they drove the car, as the Toyota dealer sold it for less than $9K. We almost bought that one, but later found an even better deal on an SE Premium for less money with even fewer miles

Don

[acensor]

Hi Don.

You wrote ..
"......It's even tougher down here because we have virtually no charging network to use if we wanted to take a long trip ..."

Well, this isn't a great solution , but you COUKD take your charger with you and an extension and plug in anywhere (frieind's house, etc.) there's a 220 volt plug...as long as you could work it into a LONG stopover .
As I bet you know, with appropriate adapters and a little persuasiveness you could charge it up at any place where rV's camp and plug-in

Frankly, we've never thought about EV as a long trip car. We simply don't think of it as an option for any trip that's more than 70 miles round-trip. That's why we kept our 200- Subaru forester running and in good shape.

For our pattern of use that still means about 85% of all the miles are in the EV.

[JoeS]

Frankly, we've never thought about EV as a long trip car. We simply don't think of it as an option for any trip that's more than 70 miles round-trip....

We're kinda drifting off-topic, but let me just butt in that with the available CHAdeMO infrastructure here in the SF Bay Area, we readily do round trips >150miles in the i-MiEV before resorting to the Tesla. Just look at Rick and his Route 66 - that's a long trip! With the electric highway infrastructure well in place in Oregon, you should have no problem at all making long CHAdeMO trips.

[Don]

[Just look at Rick and his Route 66 - that's a long trip!

Yes, it's truly the adventure of a lifetime and I'm sure they're enjoying it immensely and neither of them will ever forget it . . . . or regret it I'm sure. But just because you can find a way to do it doesn't mean it's practical. Their time spent, fuel costs and motel bills would have been a small fraction of what they're spending if they had made the same trip in a Toyota Corolla. You could comfortably do Route 66 in a week with 6 motel stays and spending about $150 for fuel. 'Adventure' is one thing but paying $20 or $25 for $2 worth of electricity is another. I really, really hate it when someone gouges me just because they know I have no other option. That would take much of the fun out of it for me

If Mitsu had been willing to reimburse me for a couple nights in motels in Pensacola, we would have considered driving the cars there and just written off the three days as an 'adventure' . . . . but a 100 mile trip to and from is just completely impractical when looked at solely from a transportation standpoint - This just isn't what these cars were designed for. 2 hours there and two hours back in a regular car, vs 3 days in an around town EV just doesn't make a lick of sense

Fortunately, from the day we bought the first car we knew full well what we were buying and how practical it was. The cars have done at least 95% of all the local miles we've driven over the last 5 years. We never hop in anything else unless we're headed out of state. They're very, very good at what they do, which is transporting up to 4 people and gear around the local area in relative comfort. We wouldn't think of giving up either of our cars and neither would we ever dream of taking a long trip in them. We have another vehicle which is 10X as practical for that job and that's what we use whenever we go out of state

Don

[beespeckled]

I finally had mine done yesterday. My nearest "i" dealer is now in Renton - 41 miles away. This is the one time that long stretches of crawling bumper to bumper traffic is less stressful I started out with a 65 mile range, arrived with 36 miles of range left. On the plus side, they gave her a good wash and let me use the QC at their Nissan dealeship, . First time I've ever used the QC. (Less that 15 minutes, she went from 48% to 85%.)

For those who have to go greater distances with no option of QC much less L2, you have my sympathy