Looking at a 2018 PHEV

Hi there,

This vehicle wasn’t originally on my radar when we started our pre-owned vehicle search but it came up at a local dealership and I took it for a drive. I really liked how it felt but don’t know much about hybrid engines.

What is the general thought for a 2018 PHEV with 94,xxx kms in Canada? I am going to take it for a drive next week for an hour in EV mode to see how many kms I get but not sure what would be appropriate or a red flag.

Here’s a video of the vehicle. Dealer says previous owner said it got 20-25 kms on a full charge. I understand there’s no battery degradation warranty in Canada.

Vehicle looks in great shape.

I owned a 2018 and was the 1st to have one in Winnipeg.

I really loved the car. It was GT Trim which I picked up on Feb 18, 2018

I drove it til Sept 2022 and traded in the Lease for a 2022 Gt with a 13.8kWhr Battery.

20 to 25 kms on a full charge is still great for the 94k on the Odometer.

When you go for a test drive, try driving in ECO Mode, B0 and use left Pedal to slow down using Regen before stopping with brake pedal.

I found that I was able to get the greatest Kms per Charge in these modes.

No red flags because the car will automatically turn on the Engine when the Drive Battery SOC is depleted.

Plz keep us updated on your Test drive experience

In Europe, 2018 was the switchover year from the 2.0 to the 2.4 lit model (with slightly bigger battery).
Based on the front Grill and headlights/ foglight configuration it looks like the 2.0 lit model.
That's all right, although the 2.5 is slightly better.

It seems to have the highest spec. level. You even have the 1.5 Kw inverter giving you mains power.

Check for knocking from the back axle (rear motor mounting bracket)
Check for rocking seats - which were a problem on some earlier models.
Check how rusty the exhaust downpipe is coming down from the engine bay (if you can get that far underneath).
Some people have had breaks in the exhaust system just after the catalytic convertor.
(a very good point for these cars in Europe is that the Cat convertor is in behind the engine where thieves cannot reach, in some countries here the convertors are being stolen out from under the cars for the expensive metal that's used in them)

Find out when the Aux battery as last replaced.

Check underside that the drive battery compartment hasn't had any damage (water ingress can be a big problem).
Check all the usual things that you would check on any car.

Looks really nice. Let us know how you get on.

My 60,000 mile 2014 GX4h has yet to need an auxiliary battery replacement (the small, 12v battery under the floor in the rear compartment) although this is possibly more of an issue in very cold countries? In the UK we rarely get below -10 centigrade. I'd make very sure the heater blows jolly hot (The PHEV heating system can be a bit of a nightmare - especially in really cold countries where you need a heater) and that the air conditioning blows jolly cold (we don't often use the word 'jolly' in the UK, even though we all live in stately homes). I'm not sure if the later 2.4 PHEV has an air conditioned main battery or if Mitsubishi came to their senses and changed it to liquid cooled? The earlier UK 2.0 GX4h has air conditioned battery cooling, so the air conditioning really needs to work. Big EV batteries need to be temperature controlled.