I have been agonizing over which car I was gonna get, the Evo or the STi, and I was leaning towards the Evo, but all this talk about the way Mitsu is handling the carbon fiber imperfections and the tranny noise problems has got me strongly leaning towards the STi. Now don't misunderstand me, it is not the problems themselves that concern me (any new car can have "teething" problems, nor do I think that these problems are really widespread), but rather, the way Mitsu is responding to them. It is just like the 2G DSM crankwalk issue- everyone knew there was a problem, but Mitsu officially refused to acknowledge it. Mine went 2000 miles out of warranty, but I was on my own. Other people were denied repairs if they had even the most minor of mods. Mitsu tried hard to avoid responsibility, and they managed to do it. The same think happened with the soft rims from the 97-up GSX and 2000 Eclipse- there was a lawsuit about that one, but I don't know how it was resolved. It seems that they are going to do it again (nice TSB on the CF wing!). Most of you will probably be OK, but for the few of you that have problems, you will clearly be hung out to dry! Sorry Mitsubishi, as much as I loved my GSX, I think I am gonna have to try my luck with Subaru...

 

subaru is just as bad on warranty just as mitsu... my friend has a 2.5 rs and they voided his warranty just because he put an exhaust

 

Yeah I was sorta thinking Subie would suck also, but there is the whole"once bitten, twice shy" thing, and it seems like Mitsu is starting with their denials really early!

 

that's because the STi hasn't been out for mot people to even rack up 2000 miles yet. If warrenty concerns are your decidiing factor, I would suggest waiting untill you can evenly evaluate the two cars. Remember the 2.5 leter motor is brand new, and even thought there should be mo design flaws, I would wait and see about it.

 

It is not "warranty concerns" per se, but rather, 's corporate policy of denying the problems even exist. I really haven't heard other car companies doing it to this extent.

 

Wasn't Subaru the company that advertised supporting SCCA competition, then voided the warranties of anyone spotted actually racing their car?

I know sucks for warranty issues as well, and begin to think that we are paying for performance cars with the understanding that its either "You bought em, you fix em" or "You gots to pay to play".

 

I have a Subaru and would likley not buy another one. I have never had so many issues with a car. It has been one thing after another with the car. Prior to the subaru were 5 moded Hondas including a 2000 Integra Type R... I have had the best luck with Honda as they were all very reliable......

This is my first Mitsubishi... So far so good...

 

just make sure you drive the car you purchase... the noise should be evident immediatley... it seems that everyone that has the problem has had it since day 1...

and just check the CF wing beforehand...

my tranny makes some noise, but it's nothing that has me worried... nothing sounds out of the ordinary...

to be safe, don't mod the car until after you have 5000 miles or so on in... any bugs should poke their head out long before then...

 

Actually, I got an evo, partly because of the way handled a problem for me. I had a 95 eclipse that had a tensioner pulley on the timing belt go out 2500 miles after the warranty expired. It wasn't pretty considering it happened at 70 mph. But agreed to pay for labor and I covered parts. Only cost a little over $500 to get head completely rebuilt, and timing belt changed. Also included leaking water pump. This impressed me and gave me confidence to buy another , and I couldn't be happier. I also agree though, give the car a good look-over before signing papers. Mine had a paint ding in it and was corrected within a week. No problems.

 

hmm.. wat tranny problems???? since this is the first year they brought the evo to the us .... it is most likely going to have a few minor problems.. and if mitsu in the end does not want to fix it as a recall... all of us evo owners on this forum should get together a petition and make those bastards fix our **** for free like they should be doing... agreed?

 

there is no widespread tranny problem... it looks like we've had 4 or 5 guys have this problem, one of which had the tranny replaced and he still has the problem...

so what's that tell you...?

 

I feel Mitsubishi has responded well to owner concerns. Sometimes it is hard to gauge their ( ) reponse as owners will post in real time without giving service departments and Mitsy engineers an opportunity to respond. A number of owners have reported the service manager meeting them at the door after phone conversations. Owner reports that "a lady" at the MMNA phone desk didn't answer my question and solve my problem are naive. The dealerships will start and finish the process.

Concerning Mitsubishi playing hide the customer complaints, so did Subaru which tends to suggest Japanese Corporate culture and governance issues. Of course our very own Enron trumped them both. I'm curious how many owners have issues that Mitsubishi has refused to address? And of those how many are actually pending issues they are thinking about but not yet responded?

Speedlimit......

 

You know.. the judging between any problems between the Sti and the Evo should come when the STI is out.. no one knows anything about the American Sti until its bought and driven for awhile.

 

I had a trans problem w/ my 2001 eclipse. It was shifting funny from 3rd to 4th (auto).I was afraid of taking it in cause I have some mild mods on my car. Well I was almost on 36k miles so I figured I would give it a shot. They found the problem and rebuilt the tranny for free. And all that time I was worried they would deny my warranty cause of my mods. They didn't even mention it. Runs fine now. I really think that is getting better at customer service IMO. But like every car company you will hear the good and the bad. I think it depends on the dealer also. Some are jerks and others are cool about fixing the problem.

So to the person that started this thread. Don't let a few bad stories about Mitsu service deter you from getting the car you want. If anything wait for a few more months and see if some of these problems persist or more show up w/the Evo.

 

My WRX had multiple serious problems (alignment, brakes, rear diff) and the dealer fixed none of them after several tries. I don't think or sub. are that great with their quality (although I was very pleased at the rock solid feel of the EVO chassis, since anything less and it woud be a rattle trap in a couple thousand miles). At least now I have a car that rocks, so if it screws up, I'll live with it.