Failed traction battery. How many weeks does Mitsubishi make you wait?

[obrother]

You can add me to the list of imiev's with a failed battery. Cell 81of my 2012 took a big dive in voltage at 49700 km's. Mitsubishi is making me wait for their decision to approve the warranty claim. The car to me is totally unreliable for use and they will not supply a loaner car until the replacement is approved. I have already been waiting one week. So how many weeks is typical that Mitsubishi makes you pay for a rental car before they approve the replacement traction battery?

 

[Don]

I don't know . . . . but I would bet you that it varies some from location to location - Not all dealers are equally (in)efficient :lol:

It appears at least you were easily able to get your car to a dealer who can fix it - That's a 110 mile trip for me. Thankfully, Mitsubishi has paid to have them towed there when they needed recalls - Somehow I doubt that will happen when one of our batteries goes south

Don

 

[obrother]

It was cold when I brought it to the dealer. I didn't use electric heat at all. I doubt I would have made it using electric heat. My dash was lit up with the amber exclamation light and traction control lights as well. The dealer offered me my car back to use as I wait for approval... but it's not them driving it with the 'crap your pants' feeling the way it is. Each time I charge it the range is significantly less. And the range quickly drops as you start driving it after a charge. I will be calling Mitsubishi Service tomorrow (monday) to see if I can speed up the process or at least find out how long I need a rental car. Weekly rates are cheaper if you know how long you need the car. It shouldn't be my problem getting a loaner car...they should be providing it. I should have had approval the same day I brought my car into the dealer. Two days at the very most Mitsubishi should have approved the replacement of the traction battery. It's not my dealer that's the problem... it's Mitsubishi corporate. Seeing how 2012's are failing we might as well all know what to expect and get the story out for other forum members.

 

[phb10186]

It was cold when I brought it back. I didn't use electric heat at all. I doubt I would have made it using electric heat. My dash was lit up with the amber exclamation light and traction control lights as well. The dealer offered me my car back to use as I wait for approval... but it's not them driving it with the 'crap your pants' feeling the way it is. Each time I charge it the range is significantly less. And the range quickly drops as you start driving it after a charge. I will be calling Mitsubishi Service tomorrow (monday) to see if I can speed up the process or at least find out how long I need a rental car. Weekly rates are cheaper if you know how long you need the car. It shouldn't be my problem getting a loaner car...they should be providing it. I should have had approval the same day I brought my car into the dealer. Two days at the very most Mitsubishi should have approved the replacement of the traction battery. It's not my dealer that's the problem... it's Mitsubishi corporate. Seeing how 2012's are failing we might as well all know what to expect and get the story out for other forum members.

Sorry to hear about this. I hope that you get your replacement pack that you deserve. It is still a pretty uncommon event to have a failed pack, as we only really hear about the failed ones, not all the cars that are fine, which sort of skews the perception - however, it is true there have been a few '12 pack failures recently...

Would love to have the failure rate data from Mitsubishi - though that's never going to get out...

I had a similar issue with my wife's Insight, where the CVT transmission failed under warranty, and though I won't dwell on it too much - it's really the inconvenience and uncertainty that's the worst of it all. Though I did have the transmission replaced after a fight. So my advice to you is stick up for what you know you should be getting.

Get in touch with Mitsubishi directly, if you fear the dealership isn't pulling their weight - and better still, take it to the best dealer you can find earlier rather than later. I am starting to believe that where there is any possible doubt, the dealer that sells a lot of cars for the manufacturer is likely to get a better outcome than one that doesn't.... so from now on, I take my cars to the largest and best reviewed dealerships I can find, and I am sure there is a difference there.

Couldn't get anywhere with my local Honda dealer with the Insight, took it to the largest Honda dealership in Europe (which is not too far from me in London), and suffice to say, there is a massive difference in what can be decided.

 

[adam]

I had the same issue recently on my 2012 i-miev. I had to wait 5 weeks total before we got Japan team's approval.

more details here: http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3877&start=12

 

[obrother]

I just got off the phone with Mitsubishi Canada customer service... they gave me the runaround. They said they can't help me and that I can only be helped by the dealership. The dealership can't tell me anything because they are waiting for approval from Mitsubishi engineering in Japan. No one can tell me anything but wait... and that's it. I'm fairly confident the battery will be replaced but leaving me hanging waiting for who knows how long without a car is just not right. The 'waiting for approval' is a tactic they are using. It was very clear to me in the way the customer service rep. kept telling me "again... I would ask you to refer to your dealership"... he kept saying it for everything I said. I'm guessing the replacement traction battery is on order... but no one can tell you that for sure. So for anyone who will need a replacement traction battery replacement under warranty be prepared to provide your own transport while you wait. And while I wait... anyone know if these replacement batteries are the newer lev50n brand new packs or repaired/refurbished ones? It looks like it will cost me around $1000 for a rental car for the 'warranty' repair. I can't remember now what is the point of owning an electric car anymore!

My thanks to member "adam" for letting us know you had to wait 5 weeks.

 

[adam]

I had to do a few round trips but Mitsubishi St-Eustache always provided me a loaner car, I only had to pay for the gas.

 

[ed5000]

It took Mitsubishi about a week to analyze my battery and make a decision and then two weeks and a day to do all the work of the change out itself. This was last March and I think being in Northern California probably helped speed things up. The service manager also said that Mitsubishi had to send them a "battery dolly" (as well as the battery itself) and that there was only one available in the USA. So I believe anything less than a month is doing good.

I think the only thing anyone can do under the circumstances is try to be positive and try to help the dealer in any way you can. Also think about public transportation if you can. I did and I ended up liking it.

 

[RobbW]

I just got my 2012 back from the dealership last night following a main battery replacement. It took them three weeks to the day from when I first dropped my Meepster off at the dealership to being able to pick her back up. I'm guessing I got lucky, and my Mitsu dealership is one of the better ones. It is Bigger's Mitsubishi in Elgin, IL. They gave me absolutely no trouble whatsoever with any part of the repair. I didn't have to do anything other than drop it off.

It took the service department about two days of charging/discharging the battery to determine they had duplicated my complaint and that there really was an issue. They contacted the Tech Engineers at Mitsubishi, who advised a "smoothing" procedure. That didn't work. So, Mitsubishi authorized the warranty replacement of the battery. Took about a week to get the new battery pack delivered, and then another week to get the specialized lift and tools, of which there are only 5 sets in all off the USA that Mitsu just ships around to the different dealerships when they need them.

I have no complaints about the work my dealership did. They kept me in the loop and took care of everything including providing a loaner vehicle the whole time. After my experience, I am surprised that other dealerships would give owners such a hard time and make it so difficult to get a warranty replacement. I don't understand why they would make it so complicated and difficult for the owner. The only thing I can guess at is that dealerships aren't so keen on iMiEV owners because they make absolutely no revenue off them after the initial sale of the vehicle. Our service and regular maintenance needs are next to zero. So, the only time they ever see us is when there is a recall or something is seriously wrong with the vehicle and is likely a warranty issue.

 

[obrother]

Just an update. The dealer contacted my last week while I was away on vacation. I just spoke with them today and now they are saying that because of my diesel parking heater mitsubishi may not cover my battery warranty claim. Mitsubishi requires 5 more hours of testing to see if t my diesel heater is what is the cause of my failing cell 81 on the battery pack. The 5 hours of further testing is at my cost. This must me a joke right? Not... the electric heater uses what 5or 6kw of power and my little heater uses almost nothing. This situation may be heading in the direction of a lawsuit... anyone know of an engineer in the electric car field that can testify in court in the Toronto Ontario Canada area? So the question ... Does Mitsubishi show kindness to early adopters/enthusiasts of its electric vehicles? or will they find any way to they can to get out of any warranties ...advertised to persuade consumers to purchase their vehicles?

 

[jray3]

David Patterson was the US Mitsu Engineer who brought the car here and was a regular at the EV Roadmap Conference in 2012-14, but hasn't been in the last few years. I'm not sure he's still with the company, but would be a great inside contact if we could coaxe him out of the shadows.
https://insideevs.com/mitsubishi-chief-engineer-talks-future-electric-drive-us-videos/

 

[JoeS]

Oh for goodness sake! This is the first instance that I am aware of in North America that Mitsubishi has balked at the replacement of a defective battery pack.

Of course, the negligible 12v power draw of the diesel heater has nothing to do with the main pack, as any competent professional engineer can attest to!

Any additional battery testing should be covered by Mitsubishi as part of their battery functionality investigation.

You have the advantage of knowing what the cell readings are.

If it were me, I would attempt to escalate this matter within the Mitsubishi chain of command. Also, I'd start off by having the dealer provide a written statement regarding their reason for not honoring the battery warranty and their insisting that you pay for the additional battery testing.

obrother, I find your situation very disturbing, as up until now Mitsubishi has been stellar about standing behind the battery warranty.

Perhaps some of our Canadian owners can offer some advice, as Canadian consumer protections are different than US?

obrother, please keep us advised of your progress, and wish you all the best.

 

[phb10186]

Do the battery warranty terms state 'vehicle not covered if modified in any way' - or words to that effect?

This is a common wriggle-out clause.

 

[sandange]

If anything, the diesel heater would take some stress off of the traction battery allowing fewer
charging / discharging cycles.

 

[obrother]

I called Mitsubishi Motors Canada customer service yesterday. It was the same guy trying to give me the runaround and again telling me to talk to the dealer. I kept pushing hard that I have been without a car for six weeks...and that I will have to pay 6 hours of diagnostics which is about 900 cdn dollars when I was able to diagnose the car in 2 minutes...and that I am having to rent a car as well. Finally he caved and said he will contact the dealer. About 2 hours later he called me back and told me the dealer service advisor apologizes for the delay...and then he went on mentioning the bad weather, holidays, only one service tech, engineering is in japan etc etc. Then he told me that because I made a modification to the electrical system by installing a diesel parking heater that they need to do the 5 additional hours of diagnostics to determine if it caused damage to the cell. He left me no room for discussion he just rambled off what he need to and told me that there should be a determination by the middle of next week.

Thanks for all the interest guys... the irony is that I was trying to extend the life of the traction battery by adding the diesel heater...and did so because of the pack had already lost range...probably due to the failing of cell 81. I was also not wanting to freeze my ass off in the winter when it gets below -20c with the cars ****** little electric heater... nor did I want to get stranded in a snow storm due to an empty battery or failure. There you go guys... touch the electric system on your car and when you bring your car in the dealer together with mitsubishi will try to burn your ass!!! :shock:

 

[kiev]

Such a shame that they know so little about how the car systems work. Hopefully they will realize it after they examine the cabin heater, and will charge it off against the warranty work when replacing the pack.

If they don't offer as much i would press and ask them to do that as goodwill especially since there is not a credible link between a diesel heater and a bad cell. No need for you to pay for them to learn about electric cars, they have training classes for that.

 

[sandange]

So with the dealers reasoning anything drawing power off of the 12v battery risks your traction battery guarantee. What's next you can't do, plug in your cell phone , electric blanket, seat heater cushion?
6 weeks without a diagnosis or your car is irresponsible .
Sorry this is a sore spot for me having experienced similar neglect with my first I miev

 

[JoeS]

obrother, can you find a way past the customer service representative in order to escalate the matter within the Mitsubishi organization? Surely there is someone there who understands the pseudo-technical nonsense that is being spewed and will realize what the outcome will be if it's taken to court.

This is potentially a big-ticket item so you rightfully need to tread carefully. Before turning the car over to the dealer, here's the approach I would take -

1. Obtain written statement from the dealer explaining the rationale for the additional testing required and their assessment of what they believe the impact of this accessory (the diesel heater) has had on the battery pack, and why YOU have to pay for the testing. If they don't want to put it into writing, pull out a camera or smart phone and insist that they give you that reasoning on-camera.

2. Insist on a presentation and analysis from the dealer of all the possible results of this testing and why those results would not be covered by the battery warranty. It would be good to record and also have someone technically knowledgeable with you for this discussion.

3. If you are required to pay for this additional testing, obtain, in writing, a statement from them stating that they will refund your testing costs as part of the warranty coverage. I would be very reluctant to go this way because I challenge that in (2) above they can show that the cell failure was caused by anything external to the pack.

Before turning the car over to them I would be inclined to challenge them in small claims court over the cost of this additional battery testing.

Is there not a consumer protection agency in Canada? I would contact them for advice as to how you should proceed.

In the US we have the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. For example, extracting from the following link:

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro...termarket-part-void-my-car-warranty/index.htm

The Federal Trade Commission says, “The manufacturer or dealer must show that the aftermarket or recycled part caused the need for repairs before denying warranty coverage.”

Just out of curiosity, how much 12v current does that diesel heater draw?

All this is beginning to leave a bad taste in my mouth regarding Mitsubishi (only Mitsubishi Canada?); I still have to believe it's the result of technically un-knowledgeable individuals in the decision-making chain.

 

[obrother]

Oversized tires or wrong size tires can get you in trouble with the dealer/mitsubishi with a traction battery failure?

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3877&start=20#p34751

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3877&start=20#p34870

 

[obrother]

Just finished talking to the dealer...another week has gone by... the dealer requested a mitsubishi electric car specialist to examine to the car. The specialist is expected to come this tuesday and hopefully then they can give me an answer on how Mitsubishi will handle my warranty claim and how to proceed.