A 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross owner took TikTok in a last-ditch effort for recommendations on what to do with his car.
TikTok account Chicago Ridge Adventures (@chicagoridgeadventures) posted a clip that’s garnered a little over 6,400 views. In it, the user recounts all the times his fairly new vehicle left him and his family stranded.
According to the TikToker, it has “died” several times. What’s even more frustrating? Mitsubishi auto techs can’t seem to get to the bottom of why his vehicle is effectively bricked.
The car that just keeps dying
The TikToker writes in a text overlay of his video, which begins with him standing in front of his vehicle parked in his driveway: “Countryside Mitsubishi can’t fix and won’t replace our faulty 2022 Eclipse Cross.”
He then speaks into the camera with a plea. Seeming down on his luck, he asks anyone for any advice. According to the TikToker, the Eclipse Cross is “completely dead” and “doesn’t start.” He states he’s had the car towed on eight separate occasions. This includes the phone call he says he just made to Mitsubishi’s roadside assistance.
To say the least, it’s been a frustrating experience so far for the TikToker and his family. According to him, the car has died at extremely inopportune times. This includes road trips, vacations, and “going to school” or “going to work.”
He continues, “It just will not stop dying. Everything we do is literally just a problem. Every couple weeks it just dies on us. Every couple months.”
Mitsubishi mechanics are at a loss
The recurring car death, the TikToker says, has been the bane of his family’s existence for more than a year.
“We don’t know what to do anymore,” he says. “We talked to the dealership, they’ve done everything they can.”
He says the technicians have checked the wiring, battery systems, transmission, and more.
“And all we get is no answers. The last time we brought it in, they basically said well we figured out what the problem is. They fixed it, it’s not gonna be a problem anymore,” he says.
That wasn’t the case, the TikToker says, as just two and half weeks after Mitsubishi technicians claimed to have fixed the vehicle, it died again.
He says he attempted to get rid of the vehicle. However, this isn’t a viable solution as the dealer was offering less than what they owed on the car. Adding insult to injury, he says the business suggested his family buy a new car from them.
“That would be the only way that they would help us if we just buy something else from them,” the TikToker says. “We would still end up under, owing money, and having to start all over again with a whole new car payment. Which makes no sense at all.”
@chicagoridgeadventures We’ve had our 2022 eclipse cross with only 29k miles towed 9x now. They have done everything they can. Held on to to it for over a week a couple times to dignose. Mitsubishi tech has assisted. And 5x they found the issue and fixed it. 1x they claimed it was our own fault and wouldnt initiate a buy back. 1 time they were 100% sure they fixed it, only for it to die on us yet again for a 9th time. We are over this vehicle. And the best they can offer is a trade in for less than we owe and we have to buy a new car from them to do it. #mitsubishi #mitsubishieclipse #help #carproblems #lemonlaw #lawyer #lawyersoftiktok @supercarblondie @Producer Michael @Emma Newman @Jason car repair #chicago #countrysidemitsubishi ♬ original sound – Chicago ridge adventures
What good is a warranty if the repairs don’t stick?
In a caption for the post, the TikToker writes that the vehicle is a 2022 model with 29,000 miles. According to Marketwatch, this particular make and model comes with a 5-year / 60,000-mile basic and 10-year / 100,000-mile powertrain warranty.
The creator’s car falls well under these mileage limits. He doesn’t mention any requests for payment from the dealership for the work provided. But it just seems like it’s only a matter of time before he’s out of warranty, leaving him with an expensive paperweight in his driveway.
Is it a lemon?
The creator’s assessment of the Eclipse Cross isn’t all fire and brimstone—he does call the car beautiful. That beauty, the TikToker states, is effectively meaningless because the car simply “doesn’t work.”
The frustrated Mitsubishi owner says that “beyond the Illinois lemon law” he and his family are at a loss on how to rid themselves of this car. According to an online resource provided by the Better Business Bureau, a “reasonable number of repair attempts” must be conducted for a car to be considered a lemon. The issue with the vehicle must be a recurring one. Plus, these issues must pop up within the first year, or 12,000 miles of ownership, whichever comes first.
As per this resource, it appears that the creator’s situation falls outside the scope of Illinois Lemon Law. If the majority of his problems with the vehicle occurred after he went over 12,000 miles, then they’ll have to rely on a warranty for repairs.
Toward the end of his clip, he shows his vehicle being lifted onto a flatbed tow truck. Another overlay populates the screen, reading, “Tik Tok we need your help!!”
Viewers have suggestions
Although one user writes that “lemon law[s] ha[ve] time limits,” several TikTokers suggested he try to get it labeled anyway.
One said putting the dealership in an embarrassing position was one way to get them to work out a better deal.
“Sit on the public easement of the dealership with a sign,” they suggested. “Usually they don’t like the negative look and are alot more willing to work with you.”
Someone else thinks that the issue has to do with the car’s model year: “Folks need to quit buying things after 2019.”
Several others mention it’s better for the creator to simply cut his losses and get his family in a better vehicle.
“Trade it in, take a couple of grand upside down and get a new car,” one wrote.
Update 9:40am CT, Aug. 12: The TikToker, Tony Medina, told the Daily Dot that Mitsubishi has gotten in touch with him.
“They ‘think; it is actually the gps unit causing the issues which when disconnected bricks all gps, emergency services and all the features of the Mitsubishi connect app such as remote start, window opening, car tracking etc.. (waiting to hear back on that,” he shared.
He continued, “But still no word on the vehicle buy back. They are sending me a refund for the $100 they made us pay for a new battery we didn’t need. llinois Lemmon law only applies for a year. So that doesn’t help us but they can determine it is bad and bypass that through corporate procedures. We have not gone to another dealer as they have been in direct contact with the makers engineers and have been working together on finding the problem numerous times.”
Medina said he will also be posting a follow-up video soon.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Mitsubishi via email.
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