ANY reports of really expensive repairs problems with MiEVs?

Earlier, in April, I posted a topic
http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1436&p=8864&hilit=extended#p8864
"Is the $1800 extended warrenty worth it? Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 2:03 pm "

In a way this should maybe go there.

Reason it's connected is this:
I have about 3 weeks left during which I can cancel the $1800 10 year 100,000 mile third party extended warrenty I let the dealer talk me into taking.
Normally I'm not at all a fan of these.... only took it because she said in effect ... "you have nothing to lose... look it over and if you don't like it you can cancel it with full refund within 60 days."

When I mentioned to her recently I was going to cancel she mentioned that at least one of their customer's MiEVs had had serious enough problems that Japanese engineers flew in from Japan to deal with it. That it was fixed and covered under warrenty but to consider what that might've cost had the car been out of warrenty.

Some MiEVs have been on the road since 2009 if I understand right.

So I'm inclined to cancel but I'm a bit torn about cancelling and fishing to see if there's any evidence or hints that there's much chance of getting hit with a repair much over $2000 or $3000 in 10 years of MiEV use.
Seems to me the one really high ticket item is the battery pack and (aside from "normal" degradation, which no one covers.. certainly not this optional coverage) that's already covered out to 8 years.

Our traction battery is covered for 8 years, no? If it were defective or degraded more than 20%, MM would make good. Why the need for an extra warranty?

I view an extended warranty as a very expensive insurance policy that can be difficult to collect upon. If having one makes you sleep more soundly, then maybe it's worthwhile to you. However, I'd rather spend the extended warranty cost on something more useful.

acensor said:

When I mentioned to her recently I was going to cancel she mentioned that at least one of their customer's MiEVs had had serious enough problems that Japanese engineers flew in from Japan to deal with it. That it was fixed and covered under warrenty but to consider what that might've cost had the car been out of warrenty.

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My experience with most electronics is . . . . whatever is going to happen, usually does so in the first year - I've never paid anything to extend the warranty beyond what the manufacturer offers. Personally, I think your $1800 expenditure has about a 1% chance of working out in your favor and a 99% chance it will be a great deal for whoever talked you into buying it

Don

fjpod said:

Our traction battery is covered for 8 years, no? If it were defective or degraded more than 20%, MM would make good. Why the need for an extra warranty?

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Is this 20% degradation guarantee true? :? I did not think that our packs were actually warranted against lost capacity, only failure to function due to a blown main fuse, burned connection, zortched BMS, etc...

jray3.

My warranty states I should have no more than 20% capacity loss at 5 years or 50K miles, and no more than 30% capacity loss at 8 years or 100k miles. I had to sign it.

Frankly, at 8 years/100k miles, if I've still got 70% of starting capacity, i'll be very happy.

iDriver said:

j
My warranty states I should have no more than 20% capacity loss at 5 years or 50K miles, and no more than 30% capacity loss at 8 years or 100k miles. I had to sign it.

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Interesting. The customer disclosure that I had to sign says the following:

D. Gradual Capacity Loss:
The capacity of the Main Drive Lithium-ion Battery on your “i”, like other commonly used Li-ion batteries, will decrease according to time and usage. This type of decrease in battery capacity is normal, and is not indicative of any defect or failure in your Main Drive Lithium-ion Battery. As the Main Drive Lithium-ion Battery capacity decreases, the initial cruising range of the vehicle will similarly decrease.
Mitsubishi Motors estimates that after 5 years, the capacity of the Main Drive Lithium-ion Battery provided with your vehicle will be approximately 80% of the original capacity. After 10 years, the capacity should be approximately 70% of the original capacity. These are only estimates, and the actual capacity of your vehicle battery over time will depend on a variety of factors including how your vehicle is used, stored and charged. Factors that can adversely affect battery capacity over time include frequent driving using aggressive acceleration/deceleration, repeated frequent use of the quick charger, and operation/storage in extreme temperature environments.
The Main Drive Lithium-ion Battery has a limited service life, and when its charging capacity falls, owners should bring their vehicle to a certified Mitsubishi “i” dealership for inspection and possible battery replacement.
This kind of gradual capacity loss of the Main Drive Lithium-ion Battery based on time and usage is not covered by the Warranty.

Same thing we signed - Basically a statement that capacity loss is normal and whatever amount of loss your car experiences is NOT covered by the battery warranty

I walked out of that meeting vowing to take extremely good care of my battery and knowing there would be many others who use their car harder and more frequently than we will do, we'd see the handwriting on the wall long before it actually affects us. Eventually, there will be someone who will at some point experience a major battery problem - It will be interesting to see how Mitsu handles this, so we'll watch with much interest . . . . assuming of course that the 'guinea pig' isn't us! :shock:

Don

jray3 said:

.......This kind of gradual capacity loss of the Main Drive Lithium-ion Battery based on time and usage is not covered by the Warranty.

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And if the Leaf owner's experience is any cautionary tale, don't even count on Mitsubishi covering loss of capacity faster than they mention. Nissan's latest line with the Leaf owners who are getting earlier and faster than the stated expected loss of capacity is at the moment "well we think you've been driving it too fast too far too often. Tough luck."

acensor said:

And if the Leaf owner's experience is any cautionary tale, don't even count on Mitsubishi covering loss of capacity faster than they mention. Nissan's latest line with the Leaf owners who are getting earlier and faster than the stated expected loss of capacity is at the moment "well we think you've been driving it too fast too far too often. Tough luck."

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As aptly demonstrated by this recent piece on Seattle TV news. It's about the failure of Ecotality to deploy as many CHAdeMO stations as was promised in the EV Project, and focuses on a LEAF commuter who does a DCQC every day (after apparently not charging at work)!

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Electric-car-fast-charging-network-hits-road-bumps-208230431.html

An interesting news article - I grew up in Bellevue, was stationed in Tacoma for a couple years and my mom lives in Issaquah, my sister near Green Lake downtown and one brother near Woodinville, so I try to keep track of the happenings up there, even though none of them own an EV

This reminds me that there are at least two distinctly different types of EV owners and probably lots who fall somewhere in between - Those who need a daily charge to get where they're going (and maybe even a quick charge in there somewhere just to get back home) and those of us who charge only at home, some of us every 3rd or 4th day. I guess public charging stations can be both a blessing and a curse . . . . I'll know better when the first one eventually shows up here :lol:

As I mentioned earlier, when it comes to battery lifespan and range degradation, there are enough of the former to let those of us in the other camp know what we're (eventually) in store for

Don

I made sure that my commute is shorter than 70% of the original range, and feel OK taking the risk of the gradual degradation of the battery.

Hopefully there will be replacement cells available 10, 12, 15 years down the road. Otherwise, having the car as a short range grocery getter / Sunday morning church mobile is still worthwhile by the time 15 years roll along.

The relatively expensive tires seem to be the only other things. Both eventualities are reasonable.

If Ally Bank negotiates with me on the final value of the i-MiEV at the end of my lease, I may keep her. Given that I'm one of those "charge every 3rd or 4th day" kind of people for my daily drive, battery degradation isn't a significant issue. With Mitsubishi handing out $10K rebates, the value of my i-MiEV isn't what the lease says anymore.

The tires aren't that expensive. Cheaper than the tires on my Mazda 3.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?tireIndex=0&autoMake=Mitsubishi&autoYear=2012&autoModel=i&autoModClar=ES&frontWidth=145%2F&frontRatio=65&frontDiameter=15&frontSortCode=37145&rearWidth=175%2F&rearRatio=60&rearDiameter=15&rearSortCode=33090&tab=All

There haven't been that many reports of problems with the i-MiEV. It's a relatively simple car without all of the doo-dads and whiz-bang gizmo's of the other electrics. Part of its appeal to many. I'm 30 days shy of my one year anniversary, and have had no problems with my vehicle at all. Unlike my previous car, a Nissan Versa ICE - it always started and drove but I had hiccups with that and eventually those led to some pretty expensive repairs that were not covered by warranty like the exhaust was rotted out after three years.

I'm also ensured by some forum members that have 2009 and 2010 models that are doing just fine.

Another fact that lets me sleep peaceful at night, is that our batteries are a common form factor that we could eventually replace ourselves if need be. Again, unlike the other electrics.

Consumer Reports has come out with their list of most reliable new cars.
http://www.autonews.com/assets/PDF/CA915411028.PDF

The i-MiEV did not make the report. The minimum sample size was 100 vehicles.
The Nissan Leaf did very well.
The Tesla Model S also did well, but has some problems with body construction quality reported.
The Chevy Volt did better than average, which is good considering the Volt is a complicated vehicle.
The Toyota Prius got one of the top scores in the survey.
The Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid received the worst score in the survey.

Ford doesn't seem to be very good a producing electric vehicles.
Ford just recalled 2,618 Ford Focus Electric's due to a software problem that causes the car to lose power to the wheels while driving.
I test drove a Ford Focus Electric, but had to wait for the dealership to charge the 12V battery so the vehicle would start.

I think It wouldn't be a part of that because the Imiev is a 2012 car and that is a report on new cars.


Kurt

Previously, we had the entire saga of tonymil's battery problem in this thread. Since it ultimately cost him nothing for the battery pack that Mitsubishi replaced, I moved that entire discussion over to the Battery Failure? thread.

Back on topic and updating this thread - it seems to me that, to date, the most expensive repair item (not covered by warranty) with the North American i-MiEV has been replacement of the little Remote controller after it has been lost or its display has been damaged (about $900 with mandatory reprogramming). After two years, Remote and key replacement/programming are the only two out-of-pocket expensive things I can recall reading on this forum.

Well that may leave this thread a bit bare for some time since, in Oz at least, the I has a 5year warranty so there should be no at owners expense repairs.
The remote control is covered under any reasonable insurance policy, less excess maybe, so that is not a expense either.
Front and rear bumpers and a headlight have been replaced under insurance AFAIK in Oz.