^ Actually, the entire lancer lineup is made in Japan, so I highly doubt you are correct about that. Believing what your dealership says is the first step to knowing absolutely nothing about what you're driving.

 

Just a thought but I hear in other forums that cars built in Japan are generally more reliable then those made in the USA (I read some of that with the RSX vs current gen Civic SI). Where the RSX is made in the former and the Civic SI is in the latter. Anybody else here this? Were the previous gen lancers built in Japan because if so I believe consumer reports rate them pretty low.

 

If so, it was probably b/c Mitsu was going through tough times. Maintenance gets put off, corners get cut, etc. I believe they were then taken private by a financial group with close historical ties to the company that injected a bunch of cash. Things have been going pretty well since then.

 

That sounds reassuring considering the fact that I am hyped on the RA which may end up as my next car. I'll probably get the 2nd year release so they can work out the bugs and hopefully the sportback RA will be out by then too. My first car was a DSM and I really liked it so hopefully I can come back to the fold.

 

your dealership is full of ****.

 

Thought I would pass along some info I heard from a dealer today. According to him, and please take this as speculation only, the RA will start at $25.5k for a base model and peak at $32k for a fully loaded model. The $25.5 is a better number than the $27k we were getting from the magazine reviews so hopefully it's true. The $32k still sounds a little inflated though. Also he said that the release date will be sometime in early August.

 

I talked to two of my dealer as well and both speculated speculated mid-late august...

But speculation is speculation, haha I just hope to get the timing right finding someone to buy my car...

 

Edmunds said early september, and motor trend said october. So, somewhere in between must be for sure!

 

Yeah, couldn't just be to increase interest and sell magazines... they'd never stretch the truth to do that.

 

I´ll say patience is the key.

The car will arrive whether on august, early september or late september.

For all us really interested on this car, and that we are gonna buy it, its all about patience.

I already see myself enjoying so so much driving it!

 

Well, my dealer was told late September, so early October isn't out of the question -- I already ordered one, so the dealer has no reason to lie to me, but manufacturers are rarely realistic about actual delivery dates on new specialty models such as the Lancer Ralliart. Being completely realistic would be bad for business: announcing a slightly earlier date lets them sell a few basic models to buyers who get impatient.

 

I just talked again to my dealer and he said the same thing. Late September. He also told me that the cars that he saw on his list weren't even manufactured yet so we can assume there is no chance to see these any earlier than late september anyways. So we must wait

 

I spoke with my dealer over the weekend too and he said Mitsu's production is behind so no one really knows when the RA will show up. Not like the dealer really knows anything but it's still dissapointing to hear.

 

There is a "Going, Going, Gone" ad in the 50th anniversary Autoweek with the Evo X, Ralliart and Lancer. It just says the Ralliart is coming Fall 2008. My local dealership (Upstate NY) said September.

 

I'm in Upstate NY too (Albany area) and I've heard several different answers from several different dealers, from late August all the way through till November/December. Hopefully what you've heard is accurate 'cause I'm itching for this car.