buying highmile with recent battery 'birthday'

[martian]

I'm dying to buy a PHEV GX4 for sure

I found one I like the look of - ie price..

but its not low mileage - 93k

I talk to the owner and found they have the PHEVwatchdog app

battery looks fantastic! 95%

but then I notice the battery birthday cake is saying 97 days..

I ask if the battery is new - they say no - then they admit they have done some DIY battery resetting as suggested on youtube

OK now I'm a bit unsure if this is the car for me..

what does the Hive mind think?

what does this battry reset do- it appears to improve range. but is it doing long term damage? by causing the car yo delve deeper into the reserves than it should?

will it invalidate warranty on the battery ( is 8 years? ) or has it already past that due to mileage?

thanks

 

[ThudnBlundr]

It depends how old the car is. High mileage on a young car means that most of the driving will have been using the ICE, so degradation should be less of an issue. But the fact that they've done a reset means that they were worried about the SOH.

 

[jaapv]

The mileage is no problem The car can easily handle double or more. As for the BMU reset, there is some doubt whether it is wise to do so, as it may well increase stress on the battery in future.
It would make me look for another example.

 

[Mitch]

I wouldn't buy a model which has done this stupid reset.

And BTW, I think they just wanted to show you a high number for SOH and did this for selling.
I would not buy from people like this.

Just my 5 cents

 

[yardbird88]

At least the seller was honest by telling you the reset of battery but still I won't buy it.

 

[michael8554]

My 20K miles PHEV was down to 31Ah before I reset to 38Ah.

I'm pretty sure that was because of the poor BMU software, not because the battery was down that much in 20K miles.

But a high miler might really be down in capacity, so a tricky situation.

I believe with Watchdog you could see older data from before the reset ?

In which case you might haggle a lower price based on the "true" SOH.

 

[jaapv]

Poor BMU software, or smart BMU software, based on usage, to give the battery extra protection long-term? My bet is on the latter.
I think the BMU will bring the capacity down when it has detected regular use that might shorten battery life. And that will occur quite often in the daily give-and-take of a car used normally.

 

[martian]

thanks - yes I did wonder.

So the search continues...

I've seen other high mileage vehicles. but from a dealer

seems most dealers plead ignorance and dont comment on Battery health, or SOH

is there any way to find it out in the vehicle? other than measuring how much charge the battery is taking? or only thru PHEV watchdog?

I've bought a dongle OBD with bluetooth - just need an android phone...

 

[jaapv]

Any dealer should provide an official battery health report with a used car. If they don't, walk away. No way should it be up to the buyer being forced to check for himself.

 

[Steel188]

Over its life, my car has been serviced by 3 dealers. At the first visit to each one, I have asked for a battery condition report and each time the answer has been a very firm no, not something we do!

Have others in the UK faired better? I do hope so, but unless forced to (and paid) I suspect not, but would love to be proved wrong.

 

[jaapv]

Mine has been serviced by two dealers over its life and both measured the battery condition unasked (and included in the service price) at each service. On request, they simply told me the value.
Is this a Mitsubishi UK policy?

 

[Steel188]

I suspect it is. Dealers here are very thin on the ground, have really long waits for service work and really can’t cope with the success of the car.

 

[elm70]

...

battery looks fantastic! 95%

but then I notice the battery birthday cake is saying 97 days..

...

After the "tricky" reset the battery is 60 days old and 100% SOH

So, this PHEV lost 5% SOH in 37 days ,,, that means the battery is relative bad.

How you can check real SOH on a PHEV ?

Not trivial .. it is needed to have the WatchDogApp, drive at least 50% of the EV range from full battery (or almost full) ... let the car rest unused for over 2h ... and check SOC before and after the rest ... a huge jump down in SOC, it means SOH reported by the Dog is very optimistic.

Already find somebody that let you drive the car over 20/30 km could be a challenge ... be able to check before and after the 2h rest ... possibly it is impossible.

So .. there is no practical way to check battery helth .. unless the car got a recent DBCAM / Cell smoothing procedure

PS: When looking for a 2nd hand PHEV .. maybe don't focus too much on battery health .. check other aspect of the car first

 

[martian]

thanks Elm - some great info there.

another dealer has offered me a long test drive if I want.

I can also plug in the watchdog he says..

so feasibly I could ask him to fully charge it?

confirm its fully charged and then hit the dual carriageway for 20 mins?

what style of driving do you think appropriate?

whats the best driving to do make sure best battery condition?

I am planning to keep car for ten years hopefully - I don't do many miles - at most 10k per year

so would buying 9o - 93k mile be a bad idea?

price is good tho - only £10K

 

[KWh]

Mine has been serviced by two dealers over its life and both measured the battery condition unasked (and included in the service price) at each service. On request, they simply told me the value.
Is this a Mitsubishi UK policy?

Could you share which dealers those were? I would like to have this checked at the service

 

[jaapv]

Try Mekenkamp in Bunnik. Tell them I sent you

 

[KWh]

I will, thanks!