Maintenance and Dealers

[mdbuilder]

Dealers can be hilarious.

I purchased my used 2012 about 6 weeks ago. Yesterday I get a call, which I did not pick up, and an e-mail from the dealer. "Happy you purchased a vehicle from us, yada yada". We've set up a personal web page for you!

OK, so I go and click the link. I need the VIN # to set up an ID, you would think if was was personally setup for me I wouldn't need that!

Once in, there are what, 5 or 6 recalls listed? No info as to whether they were complied with. Clicking through to Nitsa and entering the VIN again says they were.

The page says at the top, your estimated mileage is 13,093 which is past the 12,000 mile service level, click here for an appointment. Not really interested in that but I did click on the service schedule to see what is involved. What do you know - "OIL AND FILTER CHANGE!!!!" Inspect the fluids, inspect the brakes. LOL!

I felt like responding to the e-mail, "Didn't you people change the oil and filter before you sold me the car?

 

[JoeS]

Perhaps we should change the title of this thread - anyone have any suggestions?

Sad, really, and another argument for Tesla's model, even if it is monopolistic (like Apple).

I personally would like to see BEV-only dealerships which sell all brands. Won't make much (if any) money on service/maintenance.

I'm more concerned that future BEVs will have increased useless maintenance requirements in order to appease dealerships.

 

[mdbuilder]

I did spend some time looking over the maintenance schedule supplied by Mitsubishi last night. It is pretty amazing how little actual maintenance is there, unless I missed something it consists of:

A lot of "inspections" which can be done by the most oblivious owner.

Some "inspections" which might be better done by the shop with the car on the lift - examine the HV wiring for "Damage or loosness" for instance.

VERY frequent cabin air filter changes - doable by the owner.

Every maintenance interval says to check the gearbox for oil level and quality. I'll have to look and see where the fill hole is.

Change the brake fluid @ 45K miles or 3 years - finally something for the shop to do <g>.

Change the coolant after 240 months - That is TWENTY YEARS!!

I don't think I missed anything else, and I do not think they repeated the brake fluid change after the 45K listing which seems odd. Oh yes, there are battery tests listed once a year but I believe that was superseded by the orange insert that tells the owner to just discharge it below 2 bars and recharge once a year...

 

[JoeS]

Reminded me of this InsideEVs discussion a couple of years ago:

http://insideevs.com/heres-nissan-recommends-changing-leaf-brake-fluid-annually/

BTW, my vote for topic title change would be Dealers, Maintenance, and EVs
(I toned down from using words such as clueless and hilarious or even sad)

 

[PV1]

Cabin air filters are easy profit, hence why it's listed in every visit. As far as I know, I'm still on the factory air filter (I've pulled it once and removed debris at the year and a half mark). Since then, I look ahead for smoke, dirt, or other pollution and activate the recirculator and close the windows until it passes. Hard for the filter to get dirty when it doesn't need to filter out much.

My gearbox oil has been changed once, so it should be good for quite a while. I initially didn't want it changed (although that didn't make a difference as it was already done by the time I was told about it :roll: ), but I suppose it is good to get the initial fill out now that the gears have been polished by driving.

I wonder if the brake fluid needs replaced from sitting for so long or if it's listed as it is for ICE vehicles. Our brakes hardly get used.

Really, most of the stuff they list is supposed to be looked at during State inspections if your state has them.

Joe, That chat definitely sounds like an upsell attempt to me. Most of the comments are disappointing, too.

 

[mdbuilder]

I checked again, brake fluid change is listed every 45,000 miles or three years. That isn't unreasonable, it is dot 3 which can pick up moisture readily.

So basically, that and the constant cabin filter changes are the only non check or inspect actual maintenance items until you hit 20 years and need to change the coolant.

Our state btw, has an inspection at purchase and never again. When I lived in NY it was annual, not Md...

 

[Don]

I checked again, brake fluid change is listed every 45,000 miles or three years. That isn't unreasonable, it is dot 3 which can pick up moisture readily.

I think it usually picks up moisture due to repeated high temperature cycles caused by hard braking. I usually flush the brake fluid in my ICE's when I install new pads, regardless of the miles or the years and it always comes out pretty clean and clear . . . . I'm not hard on the brakes of any car I drive. I think I'll put off the 45K or 3 years for my iMiEV's for another 10 years or so - Pretty sure if I waited till I needed new pads the car would be a rust heap in the junkyard by then :lol:

Don

 

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