I have had the same issue with my PHEV at 11months, and the response from dealer and Mitsubishi is external forces have been applied to it and it is not a manufacturing issue. Its seems the same external force has found its way to all of our cars! Which is quite funny as the only way the dealer could fix the flap was to exert external forces on it.
It may seem like a little thing but the dealer was quoted £700 to correct the damage to the bodywork from the flap, which they are not willing to carry out without Mitsubishi taking the cost. Therefore its a NO nothing to do with us from dealer, and NO nothing to do with us from Mitsubishi.
Here is my latest email to Mitsubishi customer services,
[email protected] and the dealership.
I have done a quick search on some forums and clearly I am not the only person this is happening to. Clearly Mitsubishi are aware of the problem as dealers are reporting the problem to you.
http://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1180&hilit=electric+charging+door+flap
Your comment regarding the part being fit for purpose at manufacture versus at 9k miles is very niave, the point is that the wear and tear is causing the problem, therefore it will work when the door has only been opened a hand full of times, however when it has been opened and closed a minimum of 365 times in a year and it ceases to be functional on a £40k car with 3 years warranty, this is not acceptable, especially as this seems to be happening anything from 5-6 months onwards.
Clearly from some of these pictures I have caught the issue quite early on before it causes even more damage but it really does not fill me with hope that with the continued use and wear and tare on the flap from electric charging everyday, that this is going to re-occur time and time again on my PHEV, as well as other owners PHEVs. It is also interesting that the dealership way of 'fixing' the problem is to exert external force on the flap and hinge to correct it, rather than make precise adjustments with a tool. When the wear and tear causes the problem again on my PHEV, I will be clear with the dealer and yourselves that the only person who has applied any external force on the flap is the dealer who fixed it the last time.
Were the flaps tested over a reasonable amount of time and climates to ensure wear and tear did not cause this problem? Especially with a door that can be open half its life, and subjected to negative temperatures in the winter and +30C in the summer, and extreme changes in temperature in any 24 hours. That is just in the UK!
Mitsubishi can stick their head in the ground and ignore this but with more and more PHEVs on the road and the poor quality of the electric door flap/hinge solution, the same issue is going to pop up with more and more owners. The question is what is the tipping point when Mitsubishi sits up and does something about this.