How many i-miev's with glove box problems?

[iwatson]

I own two i-miev's. I find it odd that both cars have had problems with the glove box latch. My wife's car is a 2012 Silver ES. It's glove box latch broke and the glove box was stuck shut back about 8 months ago. We took it to the dealer and they had to order the parts to fix it. The order took about 2 weeks to arrive. Since the repair on her car, we've had no further problems with it.

This past summer we bought a 2012 Rasberry SE for my daughter to drive. She had her car about 4 months and her glove box latch broke. Once again the dealer had to order the parts to fix it. The repair on the SE lasted about 2 months, and now it's broke again! Parts ordered again, yesterday!

The dealership yesterday asked if I wanted a price quote to fix it? After I threw a fit they agreed to fix it at no charge, since it was just repaired, but they claim that it wasn't under warranty the first time they fixed it. Dealer claims they just did it as a courtesy. Seems to indicate that they may be unwilling to fix it next time, if it breaks again.

Since I've had 100% of the i-miev's I own have this problem, I'm wondering how many other owners on the forum have had this problem, and what has been your experiences getting this issue resolved. My obvious thought, is that this is a poorly designed part, and I will continue to have this problem.

 

[Carsten]

2012 MiEV, bought 6/2013 & 48,000mi - no issue

 

[JoeS]

No issues at all with any of my three i-MiEVs. Work flawlessly, and used fairly regularly as that's where we store the various charging cards.

iwatson, what are the circumstances surrounding the failure of the glove box latch?

 

[iwatson]

You just go one day to pull on the handle to open the glove box, and it won't open! Stuck shut. There is a plastic rod inside the door that protrudes through holes on each end of the door. Something about this plastic rod where it connects to the handle, just breaks!

 

[kiev]

When you shut the glovebox do you just slam it up or do you use the latch handle to ease it into position?

 

[iwatson]

When you shut the glovebox do you just slam it up or do you use the latch handle to ease it into position?

Can I have a third option?

We don't SLAM it shut! But we don't use the handle when closing it. Just like I don't hold the door handle up when closing the door. Or I don't twist the door knob at my house when closing the house door. The glove box door in my Chevy Volt closes the same way....pull the handle to open, and push the door shut until it latches. Surprisingly it seems to be designed to work properly without failing?

I'm looking for my i-miev owner's manual now! I must have missed the delicate procedure necessary to keep their cheap little glove box door working properly.

 

[tigger19687]

I slam mine Still working. Then again I don't open it but once every few months

 

[kiev]

Third option is fine, just looking at the extremes as a way to gauge where you operate--looks like tigger is on the far end of slamming with extreme prejudice...

With the gb open i noticed that there is a slight taper or ramp facing up in the end of the plastic plunger rail that 'should' help push the plunger back during closing--could your cars have had the plunger installed with the rail facing down?

In my world plastic is an abomination and to be avoided--i've had enough crap break that i try to be easy on the gear and hopefully get some use before it fails. if mine breaks i will rebuild it with something stronger.

 

[jray3]

No problems here- I slam 'er shut and today I'll replace my cabin air filter for the third time. (Noticed an aroma after our weather turned steamy this week...) Any chance something got tweaked when the glovebox was removed for CAF replacement?

 

[iwatson]

Any chance something got tweaked when the glovebox was removed for CAF replacement?

I've never replaced the cabin air filter in either car.

 

[frxdy]

Mine broke last week.....strangely, just after the dealer cleaned my cabin filter as a courtesy. I took it apart & it's now working with one latch. Yup.... IMO. it's WAY cheap and a poor design.

 

[Don]

Two iMiEV's here (one owned for 4+ years) and never a problem with either one. Well, there is one small problem . . . . my wife had both of them overfilled! :lol:

Don

 

[Phximiev]

None here, stuffed also.

 

[phb10186]

A very annoying fault to have happened three times on two cars.

My thoughts would be as follows:

-a part such as this is almost certainly not made by Mitsubishi, but rather sourced from an external supplier.

- If this had happened to me with two cars, I would keep one spare to hand for future occurrences.

- Sometimes, and it is clear that the USDM I-MIEV is different in several ways to the EU and JDM variant, the parts are different. Seeming unlikely in the case for the I-MiEV, but you never know, there are retrofits about like this that fix things like this. So, may be interesting to see if the part is different on the US and JDM cars. My guess is that it could be, as I have a right hand drive and the location is on the opposite side. I'll state for the record that my car is as originally designed (RHD), and not adapted for a left hand drive market.


I just tried to look at my car to post a picture comparison, but noticed the latch is located behind the glove box door cover. My car has 2 black plastic retractable wedge shaped lugs that release it.

I am also ultra gentle with my cars, so I never slam anything - but not suggesting that you do.

B

 

[PV1]

The same glove box is likely used for all LHD models with the vertical climate control knobs. The vertical knob dash style is the same across the markets with LHD. The only difference between the world LHD and the NA i-MiEVs are the spacers on the side of the dash.

Could have been a bad batch. Both of mine seem to be holding up so far with various methods of closing them.