After reading and participating in some of the discussions on evom... thought I'd share some general thoughts about Mitsu... this is my first Mitsu car. I've owned Honda, Nissan, Toyota and BMW... and never saw the general negative image of Mitsu even among us Evo owners... I think the brand suffers problems as follows...

1) A weak / poor brand image - Evo is the only strong offer that has its own legs. All the other cars are decent, but nothing to get excited about
2) Weak marketing - their new ads suck. Advertising is supposed to help a company. I think their new ads make their already ****-poor image even worse
3) Terrible dealer service - although I have yet to deal with this, many of you have. It doesn't help when the closest point of contact to exisiting and potential Mitsu buyers can't handle their **** properly.

What do you think? Chime in!!

 

If some dealership owners weren't such big crooks, then I think Mitsubishi would be seeing things much differently.

 

I think the main problem with mitsubishi is thier products. None of thier cars, except the Evo, is on par with its competition in the segment. They don't perform particually well, aren't as reliable as other japanese manufactures, nor much cheaper. There is hope though, since Mitsubishi is a large corparation and doesn't only make cars, MM will continue to recieve support from the parent company until it sorts itself out.

and btw, we have an imposter warrtalon on the boards. dont bother reading his posts

 

I really like my car, but the local Mitsu dealers here have no desire to handle any kind of issues that are warranty related. I keep getting the "you bought a race car...no warranty", but I bought a fast street car that came with a warranty. If they want to reduce my original purchase price I would be glad to do the repairs myself, but I payed for it so I am going to take advantage of it.

 

Maybe Mitsu should resign itself to the fact that it will always be a small fry in the US market. Perhaps they should try to find a niche here by only offering certain types of cars. Maybe stick to high-performance cars (like the EVO) and maybe very small, cheap econo cars (like the Scion xA and xB). Just a thought. It's clear that they can't compete with Toyota or Honda with mainstream (boring) cars.

 

Didnt know that they were so bad

 

doesn't matter as long as they stay around until i pick up my evo

 

Let me respond to each one of your points:

1. Have you owned several cars from the same manufactuer, simultaneously? Do you desire too? If you did in the past then that's great, but if the Evo is the only Mitsubishi you so desire, does it matter that you don't want anything else they make? There are plenty of people who drive Endeavors, Galants and Eclipses that do not want an Evo. Also, if Toyota, Honda and Nissan have a better image, which of their products compete with the Evo would you have picked had you not gotten a Mitsubishi? I've always found it odd that people who drive a niche car like the Evo complain because they can't get hyped up about a typical sedan, economy car, or SUV. Are Accords and Highlanders and Sentras really that exciting in comparison?

I disagree. The Eclipse has had an exeptional success in its launch, mianly due to the ads. The Raider, hasn't done as well, mainly because I think it compretes in too pricey a segment, but its ads have generated a lot of floor traffic.

You have yet to deal with it, but you've already signed off and accepted as fact and are continuing the stigma as if it were a fact for everyone and anyone that owns a Mitsubishi, Evo or not. Why not wait until you have some experience in this before drawing this conclusion?

 

IT could be worse, we could be driving GM crap...

 

I've never had a problem with service from my dealer. The few people that I talk to, at the dealership that come in for regular scheduled maintenance, that own regular cars are happy with their cars and the service at the dealership ...
The problem is people's perception of ... I mean you have a lot of guys here that mod their car to whazoo and eventually break something, then cry and moan when its not covered under warranty ...

 

I would not even consider owning another Mitsubishi product besides the Evo. Anyone who does their research is going to feel the same for the most part. I can't think of a good reason to buy any other Mitsubishi car besides the Evo. Like the Galant, buy a Sonata, Accord, Mazda6, Legacy, or Camry instead. You can prettymuch do that with every car in Mitsubishi's lineup besides the Evo.

 

Hell no! I would never buy a GM vehicle.

 

+1

Sans the Evo, their lineup has been totally uninspiring for at least 3-5 years now.

 

well DSM has never had a good rep, at least of what i see

the evo is the only car that is attractive in the line up, i agree

the rest of the line up has been... "bleh"

i believe MM is here for the long run still

 

i have been a mitsu driver since i turned 16 i started with a mirage which i did some engine work 2 and now i am looking to get a lancer or evo money being the real issue i am a supporte of the company and i will prolly be a loyal counsuner