Second - hand PHEV, Phantom Power Loss, SOLVED!

Hi people,

I've bought a second-hand PHEV Aspire (2015), it's an ex-lease car (leased for 12 months, with only 8,700 km on the clock) by Mistsubishi for their own staff here in Australia.

I'd been wondering why the car seemed to be losing charge overnight, with this especially visible after three days of no usage...

Turns out that the previous owner/user had set up the timer software in the car to run the heater every night at 7 pm!

Posting here just in case anyone else runs into the same issue.

Andy.

PS. I'm soooo glad I found this before going back to the dealer in "grumpy mode". That would have been very embarrassing.

Something to add to a list of instructions when purchasing a 2nd hand car, reset the software to factory conditions?

At least this was not my PHEV that went back to MMC. It had just over 10000km, and the heater had never been on a timer.

Yes, resetting everything to factory settings would be a good idea.

I may be unfairly pointing the finger at the previous owner/user here. It's possible that someone from the dealership was taking the car home at night, and wanted it pre-warmed...

If not, I wonder if they noticed the battery going down, and just hoped it would go away?

The GPS settings is another one to watch out for.

The car had an address set as its home address on the GPS.

The plus side of these things, means that I'm quickly getting to know how to use these features myself.

AndyInOz said:

bought a second-hand PHEV Aspire (2015), it's an ex-lease car (leased for 12 months, with only 8,700 km on the clock)

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What did you pay for that, if you don't mind me asking?

Hi J.

$40k (including stamp duty).

Andy

AndyInOz said:

The car had an address set as its home address on the GPS.

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This allows the charge timer to only activate in certain locations, eg I have mine set to only charge from 11pm - 6am when the car is parked at home location only, so I can charge @10c/kWh. Would be very frustrating plugging it in at the shops etc only to find it was waiting till 11pm, lol.

AndyInOz said:

$40k (including stamp duty).

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Phew, I was worried they might give the last few away in cereal boxes.

You'll love the PHEV, where abouts do you live in Oz?

I live in the suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia.

A six kilometer commute, and currently charging the car twice per week (if I drive in all five days).

Running the engine, and the air-conditioner a little each week (as per the manual's recommendations) and so far, have consumed approximately $20 worth of petrol.

Seriously, it's a lovely car.

Only drawback... I used to ride my bicycle to work every day, now I'm using every excuse to take the car. :lol:

AndyInOz said:

Only drawback... I used to ride my bicycle to work every day, now I'm using every excuse to take the car. :lol:

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Slightly longer commute in London but my current regime is to ride in 3 or 4 days a week and drive the other 1 or 2. I used the underground - which people who have suffered London public transport at commuter times will know is hell - for the first time in just under two months yesterday. Urgh. The perfect encouragement to continue the cycle / drive through the coming autumn and winter.