Wow, still defending your choice? What is wrong with these people? All the sudden the anti-vdubbers came out the boonies, with 'hate, hate, hate'. All I have to say is wait till your in his shoes and you have to put up with mitsubishi madness, than yall won't be saying ****. I was the same way, was in hail for mitsubishi and thought highly off them, than my car went into the dealership for warranty work and had a nightmare of a problem.

Sure VW isn't the greatest, but they are alooooot better than mitsu. I rather take a VW for warranty work than take an evo in for warranty work. As you drive into the lot, the service techs, salesman and owners are laughing at you.

 

Funny huh. Thanks for seeing my point.

 

Well, I can most definitely understand your reasoning for not wanting to give your hard-earned cash to a company that did you wrong. Automobiles are a lot of money. Honestly, you will probably run into the same thing with Volkswagen. They are notorious for not wanting to honor warranties, the same as Mitsubishi and especially Chrysler.

I have heard a lot of complaints about GM, but in all honesty, I've lived in 2 different states (while owning a GM vehicle under warranty) and I have really never had to argue anything regarding warranties on any of those vehicles. The problems were always fixed, no questions asked. Now,there are some incompetent GM dealerships that I will NEVER take my car to, but that's not GM's fault, but I do believe that GM should step in and shut them down, because when a company has dealerships providing poor service, those types of things chase consumers away to other dealerships or even other makes of vehicles.

For the record, I prefer to buy American. In fact, if America built a car that I aspired to own, I probably wouldn't have even given Subaru or Mitsubishi a serious thought. If there was a 2005 Camaro Z28, the odds are that I'd be driving one instead of a 2005 STi.

But, I'm glad that I gave the Japanese imports a whirl, because I've found that I really like my AWD and the car is very intoxicating to drive. No, it's not the fastest car I've ever owned, but it is the most well-rounded, and I can't say that I have come home from a drive feeling as high as I do after driving the STi. When I go out on a spirited drive in the STi I feel very intoxicated when I get home, and feel like Cookie Monster with his eyes rolling around in his head....Don't get me wrong, I've gotten quite "intoxicated" while blasting down the freeway in the Camaro and my old 1971 402ci Big Block El Camino, but the STi....damn. It does everything. I just feel giddy as all hell after a good drive....giggling like a school-girl.

If Mitsubishi does it for you, great. Maybe you should write a CERTIFIED letter to the CEO and let him know what your situation is. You can't expect the "people who matter" to really know about everything going on. You may find that this person sympathizes with your situation and tries to make it right. CEOs don't like to have pissed off customers, especially when the company's financial situations are not in the best of shape. Every dollar counts.

Today, customer service is very important to a lot of people, and a service provided for them. "Service" is the business to be in....anything from detailing cars, assisting people with purchasing cars, cleaning their homes, mowing lawns, etc. Americans like to pay people for doing things.

But, if you buy something, just make sure it provides the same intoxicating feelings for you, because nothing sucks more than looking out your window and finding that you're paying $300+ for something that you really don't want. You'll just hate it in the end, and have nothing but feelings of animosity for it......

 

Also keep in mind here that this was notpurely just a "we will not honor or warranty" problem. Their attitude, their rudeness, their sheer lack of any ability to even return my calls AND their behavior relative to the warranty was unforgiveable. I have no doubt cars are expensive, they do break and there may be warranty issues...but in this case Mitsu and the dealer do not deserve my hard earned cash. I'll take my chances elsewhere with a car only 2 years into a 4 year warranty...and yes the certified letter is in the mail to MMNA.


So far the R32 has been a lot of fun to drive and I can also have a relaxing ride to work without all the harsh characteristics I had in the Evo. I like that luxury and if the STI had a sunroof back in 2003 I would have probably bought the STI. Both are fun cars. I learned long ago that the better a car is for racing the worse it is in the street. I've been lucky enough to position myself to not have to make my street car my race car also. With that said I DO need a fun car on the road and I DO need AWD. I'm sure in a pure performance environment the Evo and STI outrun the R32 on a track (assuming equal drivers). But in my real world I'd be hard pressed to find a better AWD sports car for the price. Sure I could have paid way more for a used S4 or R32 but the prospect of getting 13MPG wasn't attractive. The current BMW AWD cars are anemic and the S60R has all sorts of issues. I don't see a better AWD car out there for me that has the AWD, the fun and the creature comforts like a sunroof, cruise control, 30MPG and heated seats that make the car liveable as a daily driver.

I really didn't intend to make this thread about defending the choice of cars. I expected to defend the choice to sell my Evo BUT I'm certainly comfortable defending the R32. It is a great car and anyone who thinks differently probably hasn't driven one. On an un-related note it will be interesting to see if they bring the 2007 280HP R36 to the US especially if it has SMG...now that may be a fun car....assuming Lexus doesn't work out a 300HP IS AWD car....we'll see. In any case I'll be shopping a car as soon as the VW approaches end of warranty too.

 

I definitely like the MKIV Golf bodystyle the best out of the bunch, even though it is a bit heavier than previous generations.

I like the R32 but for the weight of 3400 lbs I think it's a little bit short on hp, especially for the same ballpark price of the STi and the Evo. Volkswagen claims that the R32 wasn't designed to compete with the two, but comparisons were bound to happen- $28,000 and AWD. If the R32 had 300 hp stock I would've definitely considered one. However, I felt that for the money, and my preferences leading more towards performance than luxury, I wouldn't be happy with it at the end of the day.

Undoubtedly the R32 is the most well-rounded and most comfortable daily driver of the bunch, but I felt that it just fell short in the overall performance arena. I really liked my 02 GTI's more upscale interior and the quietness of it, but I just felt that it was very limited with its FWD layout. One thing is for sure, I do miss the overall refinement and comfort of my GTI, but not enough to trade in the overall brutish performance of the STi.

I just hope everything works out much better for you with a new car and a new company.

 

I agree...and I'll ALWAYS want more HP. The R32 did pretty favorable in the Tire Rack tests against the Evo and STI, especially considering the stock tires they each run on. The weight comes out of the added goodies so I'm OK with that and I agree the MKIV looks better than the MKV so far. With the 280HP engine it would even be more interesting. I thin the bonus will be resale value also. With only 5000 in the US the R32 has held its value really well. Time will tell when I sell it in 2 years. I like the performance end of things also but either I'm enjoying the track time enough to get that out of my system RO getting old...not sure which....perhaps I just lean more toward refinement than raw power and handling....not sure.

SO far it's been a great move and who knows what the future will bring. I can honestly say VW would have to work really hard to treat me worse than Mitsu ultimately did.

 

I seen an R32 with a turbo setup that I think the guy spent like $7500 on or something and I think the guy said that he was making about 375 hp at the wheels. That's definitely a stout ride, but for $7500 I'd expect more. R32s can be real animals with turbo setups on them.

As for resale, the R32 was selling used in 2005 for as much as they were when new in 2004. They most definitely hold their value.

 

ive had both.. r32 doesnt compare to the evo, it feels top heavy with a lot of body roll. Plus the costs to make it faster are insane. Give the r32 a few years and youll have problems cuz like i said, one problem causes another in VW's . I honestly think VW engineers design their cars to break down around the time that the warranty is up as a marketing strategy.

 

Yes....we'll see what happens if the 2007 R comes to the US but I'm sure it will have a good resale value in 2 years.

 

You haven't been reading the thread....and believe me I can't believe anyone would read it all now. It's a street car and I don't plan to modify it at all. I appreciate the good wishes for mechanical good luck in the future...

All cars break. I won't own it after the warranty is up.

OK guys ....WHAT SHOULD I HAVE DONE? Stayed with Mitsu after they boned me? Left Mitsu and bought WHAT? What is a better AWD car with some of the luxuries (sunroof, cruise) and good power and handling for about the same price?? Show me....I'm LISTENING!

 

325Xi

 

Goodbye Evom?......LOL...you're still online!

 

Nice car but anemic on power....even the 330xi is down on power, especially given the price of even a 2-year old BMW.

 

I know....actually I leave my work computer on all the time and it's still logged in so it show on-line.

 

OK guys ....WHAT SHOULD I HAVE DONE? Stayed with Mitsu after they boned me? Left Mitsu and bought WHAT? What is a better AWD car with some of the luxuries (sunroof, cruise) and good power and handling for about the same price?? Show me....I'm LISTENING![/QUOTE]

This will be fun. What should I have done or what would YOU have done????