Safety Recall SR-14-007

[BillThompsonMIEV]

Looks like all I-MiEV's sold in the USA through March 2014 are affected by this recall, which involves the brake vacuum pump. This recall just issued in the last few days.

 

[jray3]

According to the following NHTSA letter, Mitsubishi had 60 days after informing NHTSA to inform all owners.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/UCM463582/RCAK-14V522-9617.pdf
The Mistubishi notice to NHTSA was on August 29th, which would give until October 29th. It's now October 24th and I've seen nothing, and no response to an email inquiry to my dealer over a week ago.
Has anyone received notice from MMNA or their dealer?

 

[sandange]

Yesterday I was at my dealer to have snow tires installed and to look at some minor warranty work.

I presented them a copy from the above mentioned recall.

They just looked into their computer and told me that there was no recall issued for my 2014.
:?:

 

[HumbleTurtle]

I just went in for service Saturday and was told about the recall...

( I have a 2012 imiev )

 

[BillThompsonMIEV]

Updated information-- Received in US mail today the recall notice for SR-14-007. Interestingly, the notice does not reference SR-14-007 in the body of the notice, but it is in fact SR-14-007. Further, the notice also includes a "Satisfaction Campaign" SC-14-003, which is in regard to rusty bolts securing the Main Drive Lithium Ion battery. In summary, there are now two new recalls published in the month of October which apply to my car. SR 14-007 applies to all I-MiEV's manufactured from 2010 through Oct 14. SC-14-003 applies to all MiEV's manufactured from 10/28/2012 through 05/28/2012.

 

[Vike]

Got my recall notice this weekend, taking the Weeble in tomorrow for the recall and coincidentally annual service. They said they're ready to do the software update, and I figure this being the desert (and with me not traveling on dirt roads), I'm not going to have the brake pump drainage/corrosion issue. We'll see. I'll report on how it goes.

 

[alohart]

Received my recall notice today (mail is slow to reach the islands). I would like to have my brake vacuum pump replaced because it wasn't included in the earlier recall that replaced these pumps. Mine remains the loud original pump. It's louder than the pedestrian warning sound. But with no salty or muddy roads to drive on, I doubt that the pump exhaust is plugged, so my pump will almost certainly not be replaced.

I will be interested in learning about the condition of the battery pack bolts. Although I don't drive on salty roads, we do have saltier than average air that is quite humid, so rust could be a problem.

I'll be making my recall appointment soon.

 

[JoeS]

...They said they're ready to do the software update...

Do let us know if that software update has any noticeable effect on anything 'else', as I'm always leery that such updates may affect the driveability or battery usability of our i-MiEV. I don't know if the manufacturers are allowed to slip in changes for things other than the exact recall issue. What is prompting me to ask this is, for example, my Gen1 Honda Insight programming which diminished the car's effective battery capacity.

 

[Vike]

Had the car into the dealer today for the recall and everything went well - software updated and brake pump inspected. Since this car has never left the high desert, there was never much chance of brake pump or under chassis corrosion.

Interesting point about vehicle behavior changes, but I noticed nothing on the drive back from the dealer (considerably longer than my 3 mile commute home), which included a bit of freeway driving and lots of suburban commercial corridor stop and go (ABQ doesn't have suburbs per se, but most of the city itself is at about that density). Given that, I guess it couldn't have been all that dramatic a change. I'll watch it with a keener eye this weekend, and mention here if I perceive (or imagine :roll any newish behavior.

In conversation with the service folks, the dealership's about as frustrated with Mitsu as we are regarding the Outlander PHEV's no-show this year, since "We could sure sell 'em." They're across the street from their group's Chevy dealership and are well aware of how well the Outlander PHEV stacks up against the Volt. As for the i-MiEV, even if Mitsu does resolve battery issues and starts making vehicles available, the dealer will accept orders but has no intention of stocking them, though they're maintaining their certification for servicing the existing handful of i-MiEVs and future Outlander PHEVs (unsurprisingly, it's the same certification). They have kept one 2012 i-MiEV in raspberry that they use as a shuttle, so prospective buyers could at least get a sense of the car's general appearance and configuration.

Overall, MMNA has treated the dealers at least as badly as us, and I don't think they're going to stick their necks out again unless Mitsu provides some support. As I've said so often, customers won't buy what the manufacturer won't even try to sell.

 

[jray3]

I finally got my letter yesterday- right on the deadline day. My dealer seemed ignorant of the recall and said they'd call me back after 'the parts come in'. Must mean they'll have a pump on hand and be ready to replace rather than wax over any corroded bolts.
;-p

 

[BillThompsonMIEV]

Had Recall SR14-007 and Service Campaign SC14-003 applied today at dealer. SR14-007 had a "re-flash" of the ECU done and SC14-003 had a "bolt-kit" applied along with rustproofing wax. Total cost billed to manufacturer was $214. Interestingly, about 10 miles of range was consumed in the re-flash, but no loss of bars. On the drive home RR decreased and increased as expected for the roads I was traversing. Will continue to monitor the RR as time goes on. When I brought the car in the service advisor knew I was there for the recall, but then asked me how the "gas mileage" was for the car; obviously, dealership personnel have a long way to go, along with management.

 

[iwatson]

Quite coincidentally, we had the same recall done today.

Our invoice was $206.80.

After getting the car back the RR guage was reading the same as when we took it in as was the SOC guage.

 

[Archsteve]

I live 250 miles from nearest qualified service dealer. Mitsubishi allowed me to use my roadside assistance to get the car to the dealer (in Albuquerque), but I have to get it towed back. It's unfortunate the dealers in El Paso texas are not certified! Do you think I should demand they tow it back?

 

[beespeckled]

My recall work was supposed to be done today.
I didn't happen. The dealership left a message yesterday that they had to have parts and just ordered the parts yesterday. The parts may be in sometime next week.

Not very efficient of them to give me an appointment over a week ago, when they didn't have the materials to fulfill the warranty work. hmmmm

 

[Vike]

I live 250 miles from nearest qualified service dealer. Mitsubishi allowed me to use my roadside assistance to get the car to the dealer (in Albuquerque), but I have to get it towed back. It's unfortunate the dealers in El Paso texas are not certified! Do you think I should demand they tow it back?

It depends on the circumstances. If you bought your i-MiEV from a dealer in El Paso who subsequently dropped certification, then yes, I think you should demand that Mitsubishi provide transportation for your car when a recall is required; indeed, you shouldn't have to ask if Mitsu has the slightest interest in maintaining a shred of reputation. If you bought the car from a dealer in Albuquerque and had it transported to El Paso to start with, then in all fairness I think that's a choice you made, along with the attendant costs, somewhat like EV enthusiasts who insisted on buying RAV4 EVs and shipping them out of California.

 

[Archsteve]

I live 250 miles from nearest qualified service dealer. Mitsubishi allowed me to use my roadside assistance to get the car to the dealer (in Albuquerque), but I have to get it towed back. It's unfortunate the dealers in El Paso texas are not certified! Do you think I should demand they tow it back?

It depends on the circumstances. If you bought your i-MiEV from a dealer in El Paso who subsequently dropped certification, then yes, I think you should demand that Mitsubishi provide transportation for your car when a recall is required; indeed, you shouldn't have to ask if Mitsu has the slightest interest in maintaining a shred of reputation. If you bought the car from a dealer in Albuquerque and had it transported to El Paso to start with, then in all fairness I think that's a choice you made, along with the attendant costs, somewhat like EV enthusiasts who insisted on buying RAV4 EVs and shipping them out of California.

Yes, I suppose you are right. Unfortunately, the dealer in Albuq where I bought it said all dealerships would be certified with 6 months when I bought it. That never happened. It's too bad the market is so weak in a place like Él Paso.

 

[dniemeyer99]

I had the same problem with my brake recall. I am over 300 km away from my nearest dealer. What I did was call the towing company as to the cost of bringing the car to and from the dealership. The return trip was half the price as two separate. Then I made sure the dealership was ready (having the parts in stock as well as the technician ready) when the car arrive. The recall work took no more than 45 minutes which was acceptable with the towing company as they would get an extra fee for doing no real work.

The dealership than call the roadside assistant that they have a choice. Pay for the return trip at half the cost or have the customer drive the car as far as he could and than pay for a road side pick-up and bring my car to my home under another provision of the contract. This would have added an addition 400 dollars to the total bill.

Needless to say they choose the less expensive option.

Dave

 

[Don]

Looks like we'll be getting this done early next week

I live 15 miles from the dealership where we bought the car (Gulfport Mississippi) but that dealership folded up it's tents about 6 months ago, so no more local dealer

I called MMNA and advised them of the situation and at first, they hinted it was my responsibility to deliver it to 'my local dealer' but when I advised them mine was no longer there, they told me they'd have to confer with management and get back with me

I told them they could either truck it to and from, *or* if they would pay me $100 for a motel and meals, I would drive it the 100 miles to New Orleans and get it done there. Checked with the Nissan dealership in Slidell LA and they said no problem for me to recharge on the trip to and from. With 3 recharges going to and from, there's no way this could be done in one day, even if the dealer doing the work only took as much time as the recharge would take, so it's definitely an overnight trip for me

Got 2 return cals from MMNA in the interim advising me that still had not heard from 'management' as to what they were going to do. Got a call today telling me they wanted to pick up the car today and truck it to Pensacola to have it done. P'Cola is about 15 miles further than New Orleans, but their computer (using nothing more than my ZIP code) says it's actually 10 miles closer, so despite my insistence that it's further, Pensacola it is

Before I allowed them to take it today, I *insisted* that they check with the dealership to ensure that they had the necessary parts and it could be done tomorrow, so the lack of parts or personnel won't turn this into a two week affair. A return call later informed me that they do have the parts on hand, but the lone tech who can do it is on leave now, so they're going to get to it Monday

When I questioned them about the cost of towing vs paying me the $100 to drive it, they said 'management has decided to tow it'. They are using a local company to me to get it there and who knows what company to get it back. This has got to be costing them upwards of $500 for both trips - I'll know more when I ask the guy Monday what he's charging them. I'm assuming he's taking it the 115 miles there and then he's coming back home and not waiting there 2 or 3 days to being it back

We'll see how long we're without our car - Safe to say it will be about a week less than if I'd let them take it today

Don

 

[Rocky49]

So have any of the Canadian owners received any information on a I-MIEV recall yet? I bought my car 3rd hand in Texas with only 80 miles on it and trucked it to Canada. What kind of effort does Mitusibishi make to contact owners if they are registered with corporate headquarters? There are only 3 Mitsubishi dealers near where I live and the I-miev certified dealer could not care less about selling them because we tried to test drive one before we bought ours. Their response was have not got any, won't be getting any, and don't want any!!!\\

SO I am curious what Canadian recalls have been issued against there cars? Is any? I suspect my car should have the recall done since the original selling dealer was in Long Island NY. What is it about hybrid electric cars and brakes and software, my 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid used to have random brake failures, and they were all software related. Turn the car off and the brakes would work again. If was like micrsnot windrows engineers designed the system.

Rocky

 

[Don]

So have any of the Canadian owners received any information on a I-MIEV recall yet?

The post just above mine is from a Canadian owner. Pretty sure this round of recalls are for all North American 2012's

Don