That's why I was wondering about the 5 speed. I'm thinking about picking up a new car in a few months and I was hoping it would come in a 5 speed and I'd just wait for the ralliart to come out, if it was not then I'm thinking about just getting the 09 GTS.

 

I hear that the the single canadian trim is coming in at around 35K, that is only 2K less than the Lexus 250AWD. I am not sure the wait is going to be worth it?

 

Where are you hearing this number? If that's true, it wouldn't be very smart of Mitsubishi Canada since it'll be 2k above the base WRX. Let's hope they'll keep it 33k or less to better compete with Subaru.

 

See, that could be about the right price with taxes included for the 2009 Lancer Ralliart, while you're comparing it to the pre-tax price of the 2008 Lexus, which they just discounted by $5000 (they call it a reduced MSRP, but it's really just a dressed-up $5000 cash back offer on last year's model). I suspect you'll find the 2009 Lexus going for about $42,000 (base) + tax, while the fully-loaded Ralliart is likely about $35,000 with tax included (about $31k before tax).

[all pricing Canadian]

Incidentally, if you just want 250hp+ V4, then the GM Cobalt SS starts at a mere $25,000 (before tax), and who knows, Kia and Daewoo may have some even cheaper options.

You can't seriously compare a V6 Lexus driving car to the turbo-V4 Ralliart performance car, that makes no sense.

 

I was told 35K before taxes and freight, I know it is not a valid comparison technically but I am also looking at resale, the lexus will retain atleast 50% after 4 years? At 31-33K the argument is different?

 

And 37K is the base MSRP (no leather/moonroof) of a 2008 Lexus but will likely apply to 2009, a la Toyota?

 

The price for this segment is pretty much set by the WRX, so it's more or less going to be in that range (30-35k). The IS250 isn't a direct competitor of the Ralliart/WRX (turbocharged AWD). I don't see Mitsubishi really setting the price below that of the WRX because they probably can't handle the excess demand (look at the Lancer GTS shortages), but hopefully they'll set it close enough so they can take a decent chunk of that market.

It's a no win for the Ralliart (or any Mitsu, really) comparing the resale against a Lexus. The most financially prudent thing to do (IMO of course) is to take advantage of the lower resale and pick up a relatively new used Ralliart a little later down the road.

 

question about the SST, how hard would it be to change the clutches when they go out?

 

^ afaik it cant be serviced, the whole thing has to be replaced

 

Thanks bud, I agree, don't think a RA will be available for resale for atleast 6-12M though..

 

I'm naturally curious who told you that, given that Mitsubishi is apparently not even taking dealer orders yet -- sounds suspicious.

You can't seriously be thinking of a Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart in terms of resale value -- really??

 

The WRX is $33,000 in Canada (before taxes), but historically Mitsubishi has priced everything except the Evo at a narrower margin (with respect to the US) than Subaru. The existing spread in prices of 36% between the US WRX and the Canadian one is far in excess of the norm for Mitsubishi (the Evolution GSR has a spread just under 24%, and that's about as bad as Mitsubishi's get). My guess is that, following Mitsubishi's past pattern, the Ralliart will be slightly overpriced in the US ($25-26k) and slightly underpriced in Canada ($31-32k).

Note that all of this still leaves Canadians getting ripped off to the tune of 20-30% (the two dollars are almost exactly at par, and have been for some time now).

 

What steve said... whole thing is replaced... EXPENSIVE.

 

31-32K will clinch it for me, I was quoting a local dealer who will call me the first time he hears about an official release. He did confirm that RA will have the same warranty as GTS, and not like EVO GSR. He also said MR will be rolled out before RA, I don't think Mitsu is sharing any specific details right now.

What about the dealers in TO, they were taking deposits at the Car show in Feb, would they have anything more?

 

This thing needs a $10,000 price different with evo.. or mitsu will have problems..