Good price for a 2016 i-MiEV?

Mitsubishi i-MiEV Forum

Help Support Mitsubishi i-MiEV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

javensbukan

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
6
Hey all!

I've been patiently waiting for my current ICE car to be paid off, and that day has finally come!

I've found a lightly used 2016 i-MiEV in a nearby province with only 35000 km (21000 mi), asking 12000 CAD (about 8700 USD).

Here's the listing: https://www.langevinautomobiles.com...t-eustache/qc/47442186/?sale_class=d'occasion

There are very few of them locally to compare prices to, is this a reasonable ask considering the age and distance?

Currently, I drive a Mitsubishi Mirage, so i'm already a fan of small efficient cars, and I drive a 2012 LEAF at work since it was new, so I'm very familiar with EVs.

Are there certain weak spots to look out for on a used i-MiEV?

Is there an easy way to tell battery SOH like there is in the LEAF (The bars to the right of the GOM).
 
javensbukan, welcome to the forum. Good for you doing your homework ahead of time!

I won't bother with the usual things to look for in used cars, but will focus on the i-MiEV and its features.

The car you are looking at is more desirable than the usual 2012 i-MiEV because, in late 2012, Mitsubishi introduced a "new improved" LEV50N battery with better longevity than the original.

The other feature that is desirable in this model year is that it has CHAdeMO DCFC as standard equipment. As you know from your Leaf experience, a small battery pack with DCFC greatly improves the utility of such a BEV for the occasional times you make a longer excursion, especially as CHAdeMO is widely available in your area. CHAdeMO includes automatic forced-air cooling and heating of the battery pack if needed, and a simple mod can manually duct cabin air into the battery if desired.

The price is not bad for the mileage and this model, although a bit high as might be expected from a dealer and perhaps in Canada(?). Perhaps some of our Canadian forum members might comment?

The battery State of Health is not available on the car's display (like on the Leaf); however, there are a number of apps available which, when coupled with a genuine OBDLink LX or MX Bluetooth OBDII scanner, can provide you with an insight into many of the car's parameters, especially the battery. I believe the hobdrive app will provide you with Ah capacity, as the original Android app (CaniOn), which works well for everything else ,evidently has a problem with extracting the Ah number from the 2016 i-MiEV. An alternate is a Mitsubishi-specific iCarSoft i909 instrument with its built-in OBDII cable connector.

The Achilles' heel of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV has proven to be the on-board charger (OBC) which also contains the dc-dc converter for charging the 12v battery. The OBC contains a design flaw which only starts showing up (occasionally) after about seven years and results in the inability to charge the car using the J1772 port. Very expensive, although repair of the OBC is possible. In the US, Mitsubishi has extended the warranty of the OBC to ten years, but I don't know about Canada. In any event, perhaps the 2016 i-MiEV contains an improved design (? anyone). Another problem that occurred in a few 2012 i-MiEVs in colder climates had to do with the air conditioning compressor, but I haven't heard of that issue for years. If the car has the original 12v battery, then it might be a good idea to replace it with a new one in the next couple of years, as a low 12v results in lots of strange and varying symptoms. It's a good idea to put the car on a 12v float charger if it's not being used for a few weeks.

Other than that, the i-MiEV has proven to be an incredibly reliable and totally dependable workhorse with negligible maintenance - tires being the only item as the LRR OEMs seem to last about 25K miles (40K km). It's delightful to drive, turns on a dime, has easy ingress/egress, has a huge flat floor in the back with the rear seats down, and performs well on snow.

Wish you well in pursuing this car and feel free to pelt us with specific questions. Otherwise, you might peruse some of the threads on this subforum where you posted your question for further things to look for.
 
For a 2016 iMiEv, the mileage is a bit high, IMO (the 3rd 2012 we bought only has 27K on it) but that could be a good thing as it means it's been regularly driven. I don't know much about Canadian prices either, but $8,700 US for a 2016 with all it's advantages sounds like a pretty good deal to me - If the car was totaled, I suspect the battery pack alone would bring close to $4K, US

Of course, you always want to dicker the price down a bit, especially if it's from a dealer - These cars *usually* are not fast movers on a dealer lot, so if it's sat there for a month or two10% or so off should be easy, so that would bring it to about $8K US . . . . I'd pay that for it if it was close by

Don
 
One more thing: don't forget to enquire about the Remote, which is a handheld gadget that allows you to remotely pre-heat or pre-cool the car as well as control the ac charging start and stop times.

If they don't have it with the car (not unusual with used cars) then ask them to knock off at least CDN$1000 as that's what it would probably cost to replace it and have it programmed.
 
Thanks all!

Oddly enough, apparently my local Mitsu dealer has a 2016 that is apparently *new*?!

Not sure how that's possible, but they're asking $13900 CAD for it.

Will update with anything I find out!
 
New cars become used cars when they are 'Put into Service' - Usually this happens when the first owner buys the car and titles it . . . . but, it can also happen if the dealer wants to use the car as a demo. They have to insure it differently because it's going to be driven and they must also put it into service . . . . and that's when all phases of the factory warranty begin too. So, if this car was put into service, it's not technically 'new' any more and depending on when it was put into service, some portions of the warranty may already be gone

If it's never been put into service and all the warranty would start when you bought it, and if it only has a few miles on it (say 100 or fewer) then IMO, it *is* still 'new' and that's a bargain waiting for someone to snap it up. That's gotta be less than 1/3rd of the window sticker price, so if you were buying it to drive for several years, you probably couldn't do better than that!

Don
 
Agree with Don but add a few caveats -

1. The 12v battery, unless it was kept on a float charger for all these years, undoubtedly needs replacement. The reason being that the car, if just sitting there, undoubtedly significantly depleted that battery many times and had to be externally recharged. I would bet that it's badly sulfated, and I would ask for a new one.
2. The main battery, if it was kept around 40%-50% SoC for all these years is probably ok, but, unfortunately, dealerships are not EV-aware and probably charged it fully and just left it there. If paying anywhere close to their asking price I would try to obtain a battery % degradation warranty for ten years - degradation down to 70% would be reasonable, with battery replacement if under that.
3. Ensure that the OBC/dc-dc module warranty is also ten years from your date of purchase. In writing!
4. Ensure that the basic warranty on everything else is still in effect, as perhaps some rubber components and seals will be beginning to experience age degradation.

Given the above, you'll be set for ten years!
 
Is this the car?

Saw this 2016 Mitsubishi i-MiEV on autoTRADER.ca's iPhone app
http://www.autotrader.ca/go/5-48899496
 
Back
Top