2015 Mirage warranty rear axle (alignment)

[R.I.D.E.]

I knew this was an issue an was not happy about how Mitsubishi addressed it until today. I took the car to the dealership in Hampton and had them do two recalls, one for additional protection for the air bag wiring where it could be corroded by salt from winter roads. The second for a noise on cold starts where the mixture is slightly too rich.

30.5k miles on the original tires, the rear axle alignment was not in specs, so I told them there was a problem. COSTCO will not honor a tire warranty if the car is not properly aligned, obviously due to excessive wear. The people were fantastic and I found out that the selling dealership had not submitted the alignment information where it was checked in August 2015, 3 months after I bought the car, to Mitsubishi for consideration in a replacement.

The new axle will be in on Tuesday and be replaced the next day. Retail the job would easily be over $1k.

[R.I.D.E.]

I'm on the last few thousand miles on the tires. It will be VERY interesting to see how high the MPG will go on the original tires, with the wheels actually pointed in the right direction. Almost like Christmas when I was a kid, LOL.

[LDB]

I fine it amazing you are showing 58.1 as is.

[R.I.D.E.]

Last tank 425 miles, 7.089 gallons, $15.02, 59.95 MPG. If anyone here is ever in the area, I invite them to observe how I do it. The other day I changed the oil after driving 20 miles with a stop for lunch. The oil I drained was barely warmer than my skin. Used to be almost hot enough to burn me, before hypermiling. I got 53 driving home from the dealership where I got it with 18 miles on the ODO. I lived in Houston, worked at the Benz dealership north of the beltway, Intercontinental Motors, 1982.

PS would be nice if I could lose the "vehicle not found" It's sold.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

[LDB]

I have family in Spring so I know right where that is.

[R.I.D.E.]

All readings well within specs now, drives like a different car. I wish they could get every one right, a lot of negative press on the handling of this car. Drove it 30.5k (odometer reading) before it got fixed.

I'm not one to dwell on the past, today was the first time I drove my car with it in proper alignment. Driving back through the construction on I64 with pavement changes that would have caused yaw tendency in the old rear axle, now it's rock solid. I find myself making minute corrections that are no longer needed and I drove a route today and averaged 75 mpg for close to 15 miles including a stop for lunch. Coasting distance seem better by up to 10%. This is going to be fun.

Asked him to set the front toe to 0, better mileage.

[Matt715]

It does make a huge difference. I had a '01 Escort that must have went into the ditch or was lifted incorrectly because both rear trailing arms were bent causing the rear alignment to be off. The car didn't feel quite right on dry pavement but when you drove it in the snow, hold on! The worst handling was when you transitioned from dry pavement to snow and back. I ended up straightening the arms then selling it, telling the new owner to get it aligned. They did and now it's fine.

[luv2spd]

30.5k miles on original tires is not too bad. Manufacturers tend to put soft tires that are quiet and don't last long on their cars initially so that people think the car is quieter during the test drive.

My rear summer tires last 7,500 miles and my front summer tires last 20,000 miles. There is nothing wrong with my car, on the forum most AMG cars get the same tire mileage. The tires are also max performance summer tires and the rear wheel has -1.8 camber in the back and -0.8 camber in the front (factory setting). Car handles great, tire budget..not so much.

[Jcp385]

I'm glad they look like they finally came through for you!

Truth be told, I'm with luv2sps, factory tires seem to suck in terms of wear generally.

[R.I.D.E.]

The tires they put on the Mirage are some of the lowest rolling resistance around, comparable to the RE92s they used on the 1st gen Insight. Both of those two tires have tread depth at around 8/32nds new, giving you about 6/32nds useable tread until the wear indicators are flush with the rest of the tread.

The Ecopias I have to replace the Ensaves are 11/32nds tread depth, giving you 9/32nds to worn out. Their tread wear rating is 640 compared to the Ensaves 340, which is higher than the OE Bridgestones.

A lot of trash talk about the OE tires was actually the fact that most of the rear axles were not aligned properly when built. Some OE tires were ate up long before 20k miles. If I push mine to the point where the tread wear indicators are flush they will go about 40k miles. Front tire wear is twice the rate of rear tire wear. I rotated them at 16k miles and now approaching 31k they are all worn evenly.

This is the point where the rolling resistance as well as tire weight is lowest, with peak MPGs reached just before the tires are legally bald. Mine are at 4.32nds on all 4 tires, with less than a 1/32nd variation on every tread. Running 50 psi helps them last the longest possible time.