Yes changing the oil yourself will save you $$$$$$$$. The very same oil is available at Pep Boys for example for about $2.50 cheaper per qt than the dealer. The OEM filter is your best bet, priced right and gets the job done.

 

I wouldn't take my car to a Mitsu dealership unless I had no other choice.

 

Mike is correct. However, most of us do not have the time and/or money to fight it in court and they seem to know that and use it against their customers sometimes.

Do a search here and you'll find numerous posts about refused warranty claims over the silliest things.

 

Yes, Mobil 1 10W30 is the factory oil and is what is recommended..

 

I guy I know on here and another evo board works for mitsu. He has worked for mitsu for quite some time in various positions. Anyway he had a post on the other board about the real deal about mitsubishi service. In this post it was stated as to what is supposed to happen when your car comes in for service. If mods are found they are to be fotographed with vin number and sent to district rep for them to void your warranty. Once they do this any dealership will have you redflagged even if you take the mods off before you try to get warrranty work done. I have a stock evo and with all the horror storys I hear I do all my maintnence myself. Im not saying all dealerships do this but its what they are supposed to do. At one local dealer around here I was told that the new rep is denying warrantys on stock evos. The service advisor that told me about this said if you have any warranty work over $500 to go to a dealer out of this reps district. ANy work under $500 can be handled without the rep but anything over this amount a rep must be called to look @ the car.

 

lol geezus...too funny

 

dont bother with the hassle , do the maintenance work yourself

 

+2 on the diy...its not that hard...i have a easier time changing oil in my evo than my old integra...

 

This has probrobly already been beaten to death but....I really dont get why the dealers care about mods. The dealer makes money off of warranty work, it should be easy money.
I once had a 93 Toyota truck. In 97 at the advice of a mechanic friend, I went to the closest dealer because of a blown headgasket at 124Kmiles. That dealer told me it would be $400 just to take a look. I took it to a dealer a little further away and they warrantied a new shortblock because of a Technical Service Bullitin on the V6's for a headgasket. I got a brand new motor for the cost of the labor.
Fact is the checks and balances between dealer and owner are easy but how does the manufacturer know if the car has mods? because of what the dealer tells them?
The dealer should just do the work, make their money, and not worry about mods.

 

Damn!! Fresno Mitsubishi charges $13 for the filter and the crush washer. I need to shop around.

You don't have to do it yourself. Just buy the oil at WalMart, the filter from somewhere and then pay some lube n' tune place $15 to change it for you. It's worth $15 to me to not have to buy ramps/jacks, filter wrench, and deal with oil disposal. You'll still save money this way over taking it to the dealership.

 

it depends on the dealership. i lived and bought my car in jacksonville, fl and they didn't care what mods i had, and actually encouraged it. in the military and just moved to the gayest ****ing town....Omaha, NE. went to the dealership and the head mechanic was a dick and said that my whole car warranty was voided. i pretty much got into a fight with him and called customer service. pretty much voided the engine and drivetrain warranty, but the rest of the car is still under warranty though

 

Sure Mr Money Bags! Most people dont have the time or money to up Mega Corporations Like MMC.

 

Nothing like taking a point WAY too literally.

The idea is that people need to stop assuming that anyone has the right to void a vehicle's warranty.

Legally, a vehicle's warranty cannot be voided. If ANYONE allows a dealership, regional rep., or MMC void they're warranty, they fully deserve to have to pay for everything out of pocket from then on.

There is NO justification for anyone allowing MMC or their employees to bully them into submission over a denied warranty claim. Like I said, get a backbone (or a lawyer, whichever you can afford ) and stand up for yourself.

As was also mentioned, a dealership would be utterly stupid not to honor warranty work as they get paid to do it. Don't ever think it comes out of the dealership's pocket.

Furthermore, it has nothing to do with having enough money to hire a lawyer, and on top of that, it's pretty well understood that any legal battles would result in legal fees being paid by MMC either through a settlement or with whatever is awarded in the suit. Believe me, I'm not rolling in money to have a lawyer on tap either.

Again, the laws exist to protect the consumer and the likelihood that Mitsubishi wouldn't settle the claim before going to court, where they would undoubtedly lose, is pretty slim.

If you sit on your butt and LET them think they have any legal standing to void your warranty, you deserve having it "voided".

 

This is going to be a long post - and I apologize in advance...

While I agree with your assertion that people should stand up for your rights, I actually started down the road to M-M litigation but stopped - I will explain why in a bit.

I had my prior car's power train warranty completely voided by BMW. They tagged my VIN at two track events. The dealer was sent a notification to begin tracking any mods to my car - which they did. They dutifully took care of an AC issue, a faulty glove box and other odds and ends.

Then an issue arose with my engine wiring harness. This was an issue so well known that BMW/NA issued a 6 page TSB on it recommending full wiring harness replacement in all reported cases.

The dealer regretfully refused to do the work under warranty, stating that the manufacturer had voided my powertrain warranty for the reasons listed above. I said fine, let's take it to court.

I am one of the principal shareholders of one of the top 25 heavy contractor /engineering firms in North America and as such, have access to our corporate lawyers. They referred me to a locally prominant consumer attorney who agreed to work completely pro-bono - for a while.

We proceeded with following due course and simultaneously filing a M-M violation lawsuit and also opening a direct line of contact with the manufacturer. The corporate attorneys for BMW are a private firm who fight hard and they immediately fought back stating that my car was being used in competitive timed racing events (BS) and that my modifications had resulted in stresses to the powertrain over and above what the warranty was intended to cover.

We immediately disproved that the events that the car was noted at were timed competetive events and my lawyers tore apart their contention regarding hp gains, challenging them to quantify the gains and at the same time pointing at that the issue was electrical and was a well know issue - they cited incidence rates etc.

When it appeared that we would be heading to a hearing (after over 6 months of sparring), the bad guys filed a request that my car be held at a storage facility to prevent me from modifying it back to stock - the argument being that the car was now evidence and further driving or tampering of it needed to be stopped until experts could inspect it and counsel them further on what impact my mods would have on the powertrain or the electrical system.

To make a long story short, I pulled the plug on the suit. I was becoming seriously angry and stressed by the constant crap being thrown back and forth and on top of that, the wheels of M-M justice roll very slow - all over a stupid $1,200.00 repair.

The moral of the story? The M-M litigation is a long and laborious process. Rates of successful litigation are low, mainly because once you get to a hearing, the odds of getting a judge or mediator who understand the affect of mods on cars is low.

Additionally, the law does not give you carte blance to mod away. The law was not implemented solely for the automobile industry. I had it explained to me this way - the law was passed to prevent a lamp maker like sylvania from requiring you to use only sylvania bulbs in your fixture. The law does not protect you from putting a 100 watt bulb in a fixture rated for 60 watts and maintaining your warranty when the thing explodes.

I agree that most dealers do not balk at performing warranty repairs - they balk when they think that the manufacturer will find out that the car is modded/raced and balk at reimbursing them for the work. Threatening a dealership who is truly in this position is fruitless.

MMC and other manufacturers know that the M-M Act exists, but they also know that the process is long and potentially expensive. Not all lawyers will be willing to work on a retainer on a case that could potentially drag out for the better part of a year.

I'm not trying to discourage anyone from standing up for their rights, but understand that the M-M Act is a paper tiger and needs serious retooling. Do some research on the success rates that these types of cases have in regard to performance modifications - it's pretty dismal.

The bottom lines is that while the law supports the consumer, the process favors the manufacturer. My advice is this (1) Stand up for your rights. (2) Hire a lawyer if you must. Don't threaten - do it. Most M-M Act issues, if resolved, are settled rather quickly and most likely on irregular issues. In other words, Mitsu has a high incidence of tranny problems (for whatever reason). They will be much less likely to settle on a tranny issue than one that is not as prevalent (3) See if the initial reaction from the manufacturer is fight or flight (4) If it's fight, understand in advance that the Act is not a silver bullet. Resign yourself to a lot of grief and frustration.

I have modded my Evo. I have saved all of the stock parts. If the need arises, I will revert my car back to stock before I deal with this brand of crap again.

 

do it your self