Considering a 65 Gx4H as a purchase from dealer

[Rustybug]

Hi all. New to the forum and looking for help and guidance please. My journey to work consist of a 16 mile round trip. I am looking at trading in my Vauxhall Insignia Elite 2011 diesel for a PHEV. Not doing it to save the world, just like the though of cheap motoring and a descent 4x4 to chuck my fishing gear in with diesels being frowned upon nowadays. I never drive to London and get lost if i drive out of Norfolk. Local dealer states they can get me a 65 plate with around 7k on for 27k. I have negotiated several extra bits as part of any deal. I will use the car for occasional towing of a caravan. I am aware of the weights and will be inside the allowance. I will also have a run across the water to France once or twice a year to grab my favourite Belgian beer! Max mileage for the year i estimate to be 8-9K very tops. I use solar panels and can utilise this for the free charge at home. May also be able to plug in at work for a fee charge. I have read mostly positive comments, and some negative. I guess the luck is choosing the right vehicle. I like all the goodies of the GX4H offers, the seat is a nice height, i think i will miss the seat memory facility on the insignia. I am not after speed, quite happy to poodle around the slow lanes of Norfolk at a sensible speed! We also don't have any motorways in Norfolk. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. I am guessing i need to be careful i am not buying an ex demonstrator but how do i tell ? Thanks for any advice given.

 

[Steel188]

I am the exact opposite to you in that I am 4 months in and I've already exceeded 10,000 miles. I travel all over the country and regularly drive in London, Manchester, Leeds and other major cities - but I love the car. The free congestion charge and free parking in Westminster are a bonus.

The comfort is superb - it's quiet, smooth, relaxing and a great place to spend an average 4 to 5 hours a day.

I deliberately went for the Gx3h+ as I loath leather seats (my preference only) and find the Alcantara very comfortable and grippy.

A home charger is coming but I am able to use the 16 amp chargers at work (when I'm there) and overall petrol disappears at around 35mpg, which for an 1800Kg brick is more than acceptable.

At the age and price your dealer is talking about, it will either be a ex-demo or management car, why do you feel an ex-demo would be a mistake?

I'd say 'go for it!'

 

[TimH]

Sounds like a good bet to me: £26k for a £39k car that's 6 months old. Can't see what abuse it would have suffered as a demo car that wouldn't be apparent, and you get the remainder of the 3 yr warranty anyway.

We've had our GX4h for 2 months, and are really impressed by it's all-round capabilities. That said, we do low mileage and have only filled it with fuel twice in that time, and charge at our workshop or at home from a 13A outlet which is no problem. If you can charge yours every day easily you'll be laughing.

There are loads of silly software/functional design quirks, but you learn to live with them.

Non memory electric seats is a minor issue..you soon learn the motions needed to adjust it as required!

 

[Rustybug]

Thanks for the replies. Charging is no problem for me. I have a large driveway and can easily plug into the mains. I have a lead running to my caravan which is on charge. I think I will run the lead from that extension cable. How much kW does it draw when charging? I know the cost is roughly £1 everyday albeit I expect mine may well be free with solar panels being used for charging. I don't really know why I am sceptical of buying a demo. The savings are there to be had. Maybe it's just me. I thought the cars came with a 5 year warranty or 60k miles?? I have negotiated a removable tow ball with grey and black socket and the protection pack as part of my deal. I have tried to get a bit more but am
Meeting with a little bit of resistance. I don't want to be greedy but want to obtain the best deal I can. Do you think there is scope for a service bolt on as well? Is servicing expensive? Never had a Mitsubishi before and have no idea of servicing costs. Sorry for all the questions. Just want to make sure I get his right. Thanks.

 

[Kesto]

I bought mine in leeds £ 500 servicing for three years. Car is warrantied for 5 years. I am doing 28-29 miles round trip to work daily on one charge overnight. I have done 2500 in 6 weeks , average mpg is 96mpg over 6 weeks that including the charging cost. I pay 0.095p per kwh and it comes to .85p per day some days.75 if charge is left. There is section in the MMCS - computer, if you put your tarrif in it will tell you the cost after every charge. Also it will tell you monthly cost . In May I charged everyday and cost was £24.
You doing 16 miles round trip you are a winner all the way.

 

[jthspace]

I am the same low milage user, semi-retired and my partner has her car, so I do about 6-8K per year. I drive it mainly between Cambridge and Hunstanton for "long" journeys. I charge at home, nowhere convenient to charge in Hunstanton. I drive it like a car, I do not "eek" out the e-miles.

I bought mine as an ex-demo but it only had 300 miles on it, and it had never been on the demo fleet, so I was lucky. Best thing is that the initial "loss" on the value was taken by someone else.

Car is now one year old and due for its first service. Part of the deal was 3 years servicing, Mitsubishi had just updated warranty from three years to five years, so the dealer arranged that as well.

I had a 16amp charger fitted, but in hindsight, not really needed as I charge overnight and there is little or no difference between 3 hours and 5 hours during the night! Hovever, if I have been out-and-about during the day, I pop it on charge and the quicker charge time is a little more convenient during the day.

Mitsubishi recommend not using extension leads, but a high quality extension lead fully unwound will not be an issue. The charger draws 10amps from memory.

I have been extremely pleased with the car, smooth, quiet and loads of space.

One "blip" since owning it - the battery went flat and I had to call out the Mitsubishi breakdown to "jump start" the car. They came within 30 minutes. I found out that the Mitsubishi recommended connection point for the negative lead on a charger or jump start is not good - it is a plain metal part bolted to a painted surface so not good for conducting electricity. Now know where to connect - positive to the fuse box, negative to the engine. NOTE - this is something that could happen to ANY car, so this should NOT turn you off!!!

With your use / charging etc. you will enjoy the car, I am sure.

Jeff

 

[Rustybug]

Thanks for the replies! It is really helpful. For driving abroad, is there any way to change the lights to driving on the other side of the road rather than have them stick on deflectors on the headlamps? On my current vehicle with adaptive headlights, pull into main beam and turn then ignition changes the lights to driving on the other side of the road. The dealer couldn't answer this one so maybe someone can for me? Thanks again.

 

[jdsx]

Thanks for the replies! It is really helpful. For driving abroad, is there any way to change the lights to driving on the other side of the road rather than have them stick on deflectors on the headlamps? On my current vehicle with adaptive headlights, pull into main beam and turn then ignition changes the lights to driving on the other side of the road. The dealer couldn't answer this one so maybe someone can for me? Thanks again.

I was told that the 4h/4hs with LED headlights does not require any adjustment for driving abroad, and I think the manual confirms this, although I read it a long time ago and I can't be 100% certain :roll:

 

[jaapv]

That is correct.

 

[Rustybug]

Thought I would post an update. Well I have taken the plunge and get the car next Wednesday. Still deciding on a charge point for home but will
Probably go for a charge master unit as on offer for £149 albeit may just get the charger and then a cable from EV so I have the ability to charge up at public points albeit this will be quite rare. Any tips or hints for me? I haven't negotiated a service deal with the company I am buying from. I have the protection pack and a detachable tow bar. I feel I may be able to achieve the servicing included. Any hints or tips are much appreciated. Thanks for all the help so far.
Forgot to add it is a 65 plate with 4400 on clock. Do i still need a battery report as this is also covered for the 5 years?

 

[Albacore]

I was going to say - if you have your caravan plugged in to the mains, why not charge from the 3 pin plug plugged into the caravan. That's what I do. Initially I had it connected to the external power socket, but during a holiday the charger developed a fault - perhaps due to torrential rain. Now I keep the block inside and drop the cable out of the window on night latches. Harder for people to steal the block too - not that I think they would. Just pull up and plug in. It's not possible for me to have a proper charger installed, so for me its the next best thing.

 

[Rustybug]

HI Albacore. Yes i have tried this now for a couple days. I have an external socket 3 pin in one of the wet lockers and have kept it in there. It does nip the cable a bit when closing though. Think i will still go with the home charger on a tethered to save any messing around. Thanks again.