New owner from Chicago, IL of a 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV SE :)

[davidricardo86]

It came in on April 10th, 2015! I'm so happy to be an owner and look forward to many years of electric driving. I purchased it from Lambert Buick GMC in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and had it delivered to me in Chicago. The 'out-the-door' price was $11,108.50 shipped. I put down $1,000, and financing $10,108.50 at 4.99% for 60 months. I am going to pay it off within 2-3 years, and refinance when it will benefit me. The only cons so far have been that it isn't new, the paint isn't perfect, its missing the MiEV Remote and I'm still trying to get a second key! All in all, I am pretty happy with the purchase and I love my EV! It fits my daily commutes perfectly and I am paying pennies to get around. In those rare cases I need to go over 450 miles, I still own my 2001 Toyota Echo sedan which average 45 MPG the last time I filled the tank. The i-MiEV is such a great car, I have not even driven my ICE in 7 days!

 

[tigger19687]

aww pics didn't come out.
congrats !!!

 

[DougC]

Is that the one from Lambert?

Very nice car! Congratulations!

 

[sandange]

Congratulations

Many safe miles with smiles

 

[Daox]

Congrats David!

 

[BenBrown]

Absolutely Congrats!! You will so love your car!

 

[JoeS]

It came in on April 10th, 2015! I'm so happy to be an owner and look forward to many years of electric driving. How do I resize these pictures? Sorry about the giant resolution!

Congratulations on your new iMiEV, and that's a great photo of your car on the trailer! To answer your question, using just about any image processing program, resize and save your photo to your server. A size that works well for both computers and tablets is a width of 640 pixels at 72pixels/inch. I think you broke the record for oversized images! :twisted:

 

[davidricardo86]

Thanks everyone, I'm glad to join the rest of ya'll. After one week of driving over 200 electric miles, I am very satisfied with my i-MiEV. First, some quick comments:

1. I corrected the overly-large pictures.
2. Yes, this car came from Lambert BUICK GMC in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
3. Driving my i-MiEV definitely puts a smile on my face as does the general public. It gets a lot of looks and pointing! ha ha
4. I love my electric vehicle, best car I've ever owned!
5. I almost wish I didn't have to put miles on it, but then how would I get to enjoy driving it? ha ha I'm OCD

In related news, I am currently typing this from my local Continental Mitsubishi dealership in Countryside, IL during my free 27-point inspection. I wanted them to go over the car and check to see if it would need anything that is of concern. I wanted to make sure that the inspection is added to its repair history in order to keep my i-MiEV in tip-top shape.

During my conversation with the service writer, he managed to give me the full Vehicle Warranty Coverage printout. The printout showed that my In Service Date is 02/13/2013, so all but the 12 month "Adjustment Warranty" and "A/C Refrigerant Charge" warranties are still In Warranty! Excellent!

Another very interesting piece of information the service writer was able to find from the service history was that at one point the previous customer had made a complaint about the Main-Drive Lithium Battery only charging to 45% on 06/27/2013! He asked me, "does the battery charge to 100% now?" I said, "yes, absolutely." He said, "then by that logic and going by what it states in the service history the Main-Drive Lithium Battery was replaced under warranty by Skyland Automotive Mitsubishi in Asheville, North Carolina. Now, that is very good news! That might explain why this past week after unplugging the EVSE the RR read 95 miles and why this car had 594 miles on the odometer. I thought, "man, that is quite good for a nearly three year old battery!" Now I know its a new battery and it also explains why my headliner is missing clips and some of the paneling clips were broken. Although I'm upset about broken and missing trim clips, I'm happier to know I have a new battery!

 

[JoeS]

davidrecardo, thanks for fixing the photos (but you substituted for the really cool one) and congratulations on getting a used car with a new battery - eek, the battery was originally replaced four months after its purchase! With so few miles on it and from North Carolina, one has to wonder if the darn thing was perhaps left sitting in a dealer's lot fully fully charged throughout the summer of 2012?

The RR=95 is a tribute to how conservatively the car was driven for the 15 miles preceding its charging, tacked on to how conservatively it had been driven prior to that.

Headliner and paneling missing/broken clips has nothing to do with battery replacement. Was any gadgetry added inside the car? Perhaps the previous owner had installed a dashcam or gps?

 

[davidricardo86]

davidrecardo, thanks for fixing the photos (but you substituted for the really cool one) and congratulations on getting a used car with a new battery - eek, the battery was originally replaced four months after its purchase! With so few miles on it and from North Carolina, one has to wonder if the darn thing was perhaps left sitting in a dealer's lot fully fully charged throughout the summer of 2012?

David:
That makes a lot of sense. I've read that a few i-MiEV owners here have had faulty factory batteries, all which were replaced under warranty by Mitsubishi. The chassis is in great shape, many bolts, suspension and brake components still very shiny and or almost surface rust free. My coworker, master Acura tech, described the rotors as having 'lot rust' before I had him cut a clean surface. It's likely it sat for a while, hopefully indoors of course.

The RR=95 is a tribute to how conservatively the car was driven for the 15 miles preceding its charging, tacked on to how conservatively it had been driven prior to that.

David:
I have been driving the car conservatively, employing 'hypermilling' techniques I know. I was happy to see that number for sure.

Headliner and paneling missing/broken clips has nothing to do with battery replacement. Was any gadgetry added inside the car? Perhaps the previous owner had installed a dashcam or gps?

David:
It has the rear park assist sensors and Bluetooth 8 speaker sound system. I noticed the little rectangular box in the rear left corner adjusts the rear park assist sensor speaker, raising and lowering the volume or shutting it off altogether when selecting Reverse drive mode. It is attached to the plastic trim with double-sided sticky tape. It appears like a wireless module but I assume there's a wire routed behind through there.

From what I do know, these Mitsubishi part numbers show up on the repair history:

http://www.discountmitsubishiparts.com/OEMParts/mitsubishi-141/4/4641A032.html
VACUUM PUMPEV BRAKE BO - [4641A032]
VACUUM PUMPEV BRAKE BO
Make : Mitsubishi
Part#: 4641A032
List Price : $ 819.72
Your Price : $ 655.78
$762.21

http://www.discountmitsubishiparts.com/OEMParts/mitsubishi-141/5/5370B704.html
BOLT KITUNDER BATTERY - [5370B704]
BOLT KITUNDER BATTERY
Make : Mitsubishi
Part#: 5370B704
List Price : $ 2.08
Your Price : $ 1.66
$149.80

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/datafiles/FOI_FMTXB_COMMON_APP_UPD_R00.PDF
9499D400
'15MY
01.00.00 PART NUMBERS for EV
01.01.00 Parts List
Test Group : FMTXV00.0EAT (i-MiEV 50-States Model )
Engine Code 00NS
Parts Name
Main battery
With warmer
Parts No.
9499D400
$1,472.50
$1,027.31


I was thinking, since the OEM dual-din GPS system doesn't list EV stations, is there a newer OEM dual-din GPS system that does? Say from another vehicle, possibly the new Outlander PHEV?

 

[jray3]

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/datafiles/FOI_FMTXB_COMMON_APP_UPD_R00.PDF
9499D400
'15MY
01.00.00 PART NUMBERS for EV
01.01.00 Parts List
Test Group : FMTXV00.0EAT (i-MiEV 50-States Model )
Engine Code 00NS
Parts Name
Main battery
With warmer
Parts No.
9499D400
$1,472.50
$1,027.31

That's the first time I recall seeing a price on our main battery. An MSRP of $1472 seems crazy low, though...

 

[PV1]

I managed to get a quote of ~$13,000 from the dealer out in Ohio, but I can't remember if that included the installation or not.

 

[tigger19687]

Dave .............. How's the ride so far ?

Do you love it more and more every day ?

 

[davidricardo86]

Dave .............. How's the ride so far ?

Do you love it more and more every day ?

I absolutely love it!

I just realized its been over a month since I took delivery of my i-MiEV! Time sure does fly when you're having fun (driving an i-MiEV that is). :mrgreen: The ride has been wonderful, and I look forward to driving it as much as I can. I do love it more and more everyday but I'm racking up the miles since I use it for my daily work commutes. As of today, I have 1,591 miles on the odometer and I find it very incredible that I've driven nearly 1,000 electric miles already! I wish i didn't have to put miles on it but its so hard to resist driving it for most of my trips. It just doesn't make sense to fire up my ICE when an EV is just so darn practical for the majority of my local trips!

I haven't yet had to pay for the electric bill and I haven't yet paid for a public EV charging station either. As of now, I've been using free J1772 and Chademo EVSEs I've found using the PlugShare app on my Moto X within short distances from home. I do charge at home but sometimes I charge at a Chevrolet dealership across the street from my gym for free while I workout for a couple hours! I also can charge at work if i need too but haven't had the need to yet. I now also have accounts with Blink, NRG evGO, and ChargePoint if I need to use a public charger. The most common charger here in Chicago are L2 J1772 ChargePoint. I plan on signing up with some other EV charging companies just in case, but so far I haven't actually paid for electricity!

I did drive my Echo for a couple weekends when I had to travel out of state, so it was nice to give the i-MiEV a rest. It also made me realize how valuable my ICE Echo actually is as a second car. I've been driving 99% EV, and 1% ICE (rough guestimation lol). I filled up my Echo's fuel tank once since begining to use my EV full-time. $29.


tigger19687, thanks for asking! I see that you finally pulled the trigger on your i-MiEV too! Congrats friend, I hope you are as happy with it as I am with mine. I saw that yours also didn't come with a spare remote key and the i-MiEV Remote. I managed to get Lambert Buick GMC to compensate me $175.00 towards the cost of a spare remote key, which they did and I greatly appreciated it. I work at a dealership myself so I am able to get i-MiEV parts at cost so I have a bit of an advantage. The next thing I plan on getting is the i-MiEV Remote, for about $600.

 

[tigger19687]

Great driving !

I don't mind not having the remote. But the extra Key would be nice just in case.
I hear it it like $300 for the key !

 

[davidricardo86]

Is a high pitch whine sound normal during operation of an i-MiEV? My car makes this sound and it sounds electrical mechanical and I wasn't sure if my i-MiEV has an issue or not. Do you hear that noise at all?

 

[tigger19687]

Yes, I hear it. It changes a little with speed.

I know it is the motor, and I think I am more prone to "hear every little thing" since I come from driving a Big Diesel truck

 

[jray3]

Is a high pitch whine sound normal during operation of an i-MiEV? My car makes this sound and it sounds electrical mechanical and I wasn't sure if my i-MiEV has an issue or not. Do you hear that noise at all?

Yep that's a normal sound and I'm pretty sure it is mostly the gearbox. You should hear how much racket comes from a brand new (but old school) manual transmission that's been converted to electric!
http://www.karmanneclectric.blogspot.com/2012/02/ever-wonder-why-they-dont-make-gasless.html
oh... wait...that was tire noise.

must've meant to post this one.
http://www.karmanneclectric.blogspot.com/2010/05/now-were-laying-rubber.html

 

[RobbW]

Congrats, David, on your iMiEV purchase! And a hardy "Welcome!" to a fellow Chicagoland iMiEV owner! Are you in Chicago proper, or the suburbs? I'm out in Elgin. During the entire time I've owned my "Meepster" (will be 2 years exactly on July 11), I have only seen as many other iMiEVs on the street as can be counted on one hand. Surprisingly, one of those sightings was an exact duplicate of my own!

My Meepster is in the Biggers Mitsu service department today to have a couple recalls taken care of. Other than that, I have not taken in it or been contacted for any sort of regular maintenance or checkup. In fact, when I dropped it off at the dealership last night, I specifically asked if there was any sort of recommended or warranty-required maintenance I need to bring the i in for. They told me "None" as far as they're aware of since basically the only regular maintenance it needs is refilling the washer fluid and checking the tire pressure. I'll see what they have to say when they call me later today with an update.

 

[JoeS]

Hey, RobbW, long time no hear! - thought you'd dropped off the face of the earth. See you survived the winter. :roll: