New member, PHEV company car ordered.

[DrSlackBladder]

Hi.

Just wanted to say hello; I've used this forum extensively, in addition to reading just about everything on the PHEV in the last few months, and finally took the decision to order the Outlander PHEV as a company car a few weeks ago. The info on this forum has been invaluable.

So far I've had a demo drive for a couple of hours, and today picked up a demo car for the weekend. My car is due November 4th. It replaces my BMW 520d Tourer. Decided that the tax benefits are too good to ignore.

Just had a good hour or so drive this evening, all seeming good and as expected so far. Got it on charge at home now; had British Gas install the charge point a few weeks ago when it was free, and EVENTUALLY got in contact with ChargeMaster and got access to charge energy usage data online for me to be able to claim on my expenses. By the way, British Gas were absolutely clueless about how to get charge energy details from the unit THEY installed! Anyway, seems to be working well and the ChargeMaster site access is working.

Only question I have on the car so far is regarding the remote boot opener; seems erratic. And what exactly does the little "active" boot button by the cigarette lighter do?!

Cheers!

 

[Wakeyashbourne]

Hi

I'm like you, done exactly the same ordered mine last week. £230 a month better off so my young girls are having that in premium bonds.

I've ordered pearl white, saw one today and looks well. Interested to know more about charge master if you have time to share.

Regards

Ian

 

[maddogsetc]

Welcome DSB, if I may shorten your username!

The switch you mention turns off (ie. isolates) the power tailgate. It also resets it should someone unintentionally attempt to manually open or close the tailgate (turn it off and back on again).

It took me a while to get used to how it all functions. The button on the keyfob must be pushed twice to open or close the tailgate but will only work once it has been unlocked. The button on the RHS of the steering wheel needs to be pushed and held until you hear the beeps. Close button on the edge of the tailgate works quite intuitively and I long ago gave up trying to find and operate the correct button above the number plate!

HTH :ugeek:

 

[Sharky]

I have also ordered my Outlander GX4h today in Atlantic Grey and have been told it will arrive mid October. I have at the moment a E250 Merc Estate as a company car and I am paying £470 a month (with fuel benefit) I will miss my Merc but like many of you the drop down to £100 a month is just too tempting. For the price you get a lot of car, but I am disappointed that none of the models on offer come with a auto dim rear view mirror. Having had one on the last three cars it makes night driving less tiring, but for £370 a month I think I can live without.

 

[thegurio]

Close button on the edge of the tailgate works quite intuitively and I long ago gave up trying to find and operate the correct button above the number plate!

HTH :ugeek:

Good to see I'm not the only one... I can't find it for the life of me!

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. Looks like a lot of company car drivers will be thinking with head rather than heart and taking the Outlander PHEV!

The ChargeMaster saga was like this for me; I phoned BG to order installation of the free home charging point. That all went smoothly, but the installation guy said there was no way of getting a separate bill for the charger and for my usual household electricity usage. So I phoned BG and over three phone calls on three separate days to about six different people, I came away being told that it could not yet be done. A colleague of mine has had a similar unit installed via ChargeMaster; he was also told it couldn't be itemised. He told them to uninstall the unit, then they gave him online access to the usage account for the unit only. I phoned ChargeMaster directly (since they supply the units for BG), told him the story, and the guy straight away took my email address, sent an email to me asking for the serial number, I sent it back, within two days he had set up my account and sent me a login username and password. Tried it tonight, all worked perfectly, with first charge this evening already registered. So don't bother with BG, go straight to ChargeMaster (who are still offering free installation!).

Thanks for the boot operating tips!

I'm not bothered about the auto dim rear view mirror - haven't had to dim it manually for many years but no big deal. I'm more eager to get my album art showing on the MMCS; after reading horror stories on here about people not being able to play their music, I was so pleased to plug a standard USB stick in and for my music to be searchable intuitively and play without a problem, songs in right orders in albums with artist, album and track names showing fine. But I did notice that the volume doesn't go down automatically when the satnav speaks, and no album art (embedded into MP4 files via iTunes).

Was worried about the reports of non-intuitive satnav, in fact the whole MMCS system, but after 20 minutes playing with all menus tonight I reckon it's reasonable. Maybe not quite BMW iDrive, but good enough and not slow as some people have reported.

Also struggling a little with the adaptive cruise control, got it working, just don't understand the little bottom with distance markers to car in front. And how to get rid of graphic between dials when ACC is cancelled? It just stays there…..

Anyway, early days for me with the PHEV yet, and overall very impressed! Will be making a 250 mile round trip test drive this weekend fully loaded with family, so will report back on Monday with news!

I'll miss the BMW 5, but sure I'll enjoy the PHEV and the huge tax saving per month!

PS - I ordered Atlantic Grey GX4Hs too, with protection pack, front sensors and dog guard!

 

[Poins]

Can you let us all know how you get on with the front parking sensors, DrSlackBladder. Several other users have been rubbishing them and I'm wondering whether i should cancel them on the car I'm expecting in September.

 

[DrSlackBladder]

I don't have front parking sensors on the demo vehicle. I've ordered them for my car, but won't get it until early November (due to BMW lease end date). So you'll have to let me know how you get on with yours, I've also read people saying the two sensors can miss a post between them! :shock:

 

[jaapv]

ACC: the button at the bottom with stripes controls the distance the car keeps to the next car. You can cancel the display by pushing the ACC button. (once if deactivated, twice if active)

 

[Graham]

I have had my GX4h with front parking sensors for 4 weeks now. I am currently asking my dealer to either upgrade the front parking sensors or take the cost off the contract hire monthly rental! The sensors cover an area off to the side the bumper both left and right. If you pull into a parking space between two cars the sensor on the outside of the turn in will bleep, but neither will bleep if you approach an object in front of the number plate. The dealer has passed the problem to "Technical".

My advcie do not buy the FPS in their current form.

PS Rear camera great, currently about 510 miles on 1/4 of a tank of petrol! 510/2.5=200+mpg

 

[jaapv]

Close button on the edge of the tailgate works quite intuitively and I long ago gave up trying to find and operate the correct button above the number plate!

HTH :ugeek:

Good to see I'm not the only one... I can't find it for the life of me!

Exactly under the lower left petal of the Mitsubishi logo.

 

[thegurio]

Close button on the edge of the tailgate works quite intuitively and I long ago gave up trying to find and operate the correct button above the number plate!

HTH :ugeek:

Good to see I'm not the only one... I can't find it for the life of me!

Exactly under the lower left petal of the Mitsubishi logo.

Hmmmm.... I'll have to test that in the morning... Might be as difficult as other spots SWMBO asks me to find...

 

[user 258]

Close button on the edge of the tailgate works quite intuitively and I long ago gave up trying to find and operate the correct button above the number plate!

HTH :ugeek:

Good to see I'm not the only one... I can't find it for the life of me!

Exactly under the lower left petal of the Mitsubishi logo.

I actually use this little button quite often after closing the boot to lock the car instead of using the key if it is in my pocket.
Kings regards,
Mark

 

[jdsx]

Are we not talking about two different buttons here?? The one under the left part of the Mitsi logo is for opening the tailgate, the small round one under the right part of the logo is for locking the car in the same way as the small button near the front door locks....

 

[jaapv]

Correct, they are side by side in the same indentation, one large and ribbed for operating the boot on the left, one protruding and small for locking the vehicle on the right. On my car the small one is somewhat unreliable in operation, producing a series of "not understood" beeps.

 

[Hypermiler]

I didn't realise that I could lock the car from there. Will have a ferret in the boots nether regions later. Thanks!
H

 

[jdsx]

Scope for a Frankie Howerd comment here, I feel....

 

[Hypermiler]

Eureka! Ribbed on left, nipple on right, under petals of logo. Just need to teach that to the other half.... :lol:
Thanks for that tip
H

 

[maddogsetc]

Frankie Howerd again....

 

[thegurio]

Close button on the edge of the tailgate works quite intuitively and I long ago gave up trying to find and operate the correct button above the number plate!

HTH :ugeek:

Good to see I'm not the only one... I can't find it for the life of me!

Exactly under the lower left petal of the Mitsubishi logo.

I actually use this little button quite often after closing the boot to lock the car instead of using the key if it is in my pocket.
Kings regards,
Mark[/quote]

You little ripper! It works like a charm! Worst thing was I was looking on the wrong end of the boot lol