Sweet Jesus you people are picky. Never buy a Ferrari if those things are enough to make everyone start crying lemon law.

If the dealership is trying to pull a fast one... well thats different. Get a second and third opinion on problems with your car from different repair facilities. Document EVERY time you take the car in for ANYTHING. I don't care if all you did was bring it in for the techs to drive and verify. Have them sign it that you were there and what went on. They have to by law.

My take on those problems though.

Clunky noise while hard turning... that rear limited slip is an awesome unit. Awesome units make noise.

Alignment issues. Your alignment is fine. Seriously. Your ultra sharp steering and super sticky tires are going to play havok on highway rides. It can be as easy as uneven wear on one of your front tires that can cause swaying, shudder or in the case of some tires "lane changing" tram lining (when the tires like to follow the road grooves or shape of the crown). These are quirks of your car.

I would have your tires and wheels checked out just in case. Somebody could have been doing burnouts or drift fun in your car before you got it and loppsided a tire, gently bent a rim and possibly put too much pressure on your brakes before they could be broken in correctly.

The important thing here is to document ALL issues and get the dealer to document each and every time you bring the car in. If the problem persists, for the love of jello, don't go back to the same dealership. Take the car to a different repair facility to find out if any wrong doing took place at the dealership.

The biggest thing about dealing with all issues with a car like this though is not to be an ***, know your rights, and document everything. Also be honest about any driving that you may have done that could have been causing any issues you might be experiencing. As a consumer you are protected from dealers screwing you... but the reverse is also true.

Long post? Its getting longer: Story time

The S4 that wouldn't Lemon. By DistantTea

My last car was a 2001 Audi S4 avant. It had three ECU issues, twice the rotors warped, had a blocked catalitic converter, had electronic problems for lighting and cruise control, the airbag electrnoics and the seatbelt pretensioner bolts went out twice and then the seat stopped working. It was in the shop for 27 days, the mechanics failed to fix two completely different deadly issues. I went through dealer agreements, arbitration and lemon law issues with paid lawyer in hand one after another. The car was never agreed upon by Audi to be a problem case and they held up proceedings for so long that it became a huge issue for me on a daily basis. My legal war ended when I sold the car off (it was all fixed and had a clean bill of health) and took a $1500 loss (not bad at all) because I could not go another year with that bull****. Lemon laws are very specific and require actual legal action. Arbitration requires the manufacturer's cooperation... it all sucks.

BTW that car tramlined like a ***** and required too hands on the wheel at all times... its an AWD thing.

My new car for this race season is a Mazdaspeed Protege. My LSD makes clunking nosies under slow hard turning, my suspension makes all kinds of cracks and squeeks, my engine makes about 25 different sounds letting you know when every damn thing happens (I swear I can hear my wastegate spring open). I love the car... it does exactly what it was designed for.

My evo arrives in November, after I'm done with this season.

 

If you want something done right you gotta do it yourself. Warranty work is free. You get what you pay for. Pay out of pocket for an expert mechanic and you'll get a lot better service and an unbiased opinion too.

 

i was going to say, i hope you guys never have enough money to own an exotic car, cause you'll be ***ing whinning until the cows some home...

told you it was something stupid... probably a bent wheel, and they tech couldn't see that when they were re-balancing them...?

 

diesel - you are completely missing the point. would you whine if you owned a ferrari and the engine was ****ing up? YES cuz thats what the ferrari is known for, its engine. would i "whine" because the drivetrain in my evo seemed to be ****ing up, YES cuz thats what the evo is known for. as well as the breaks and handling.....do you get it? shiet. so what ur telling me is that a slight wobble in the steering wheel of a 200mph ferrari would be nothing in a ferrari owners eyes. it would be an okay tolerance????? they would let that slide????? wow, i dunno man.

damn you know what, if i could get my warrante work done online by diesel and all the others that think like that, it would be great. my car would be in tip top shape! yeah diesel, why dont you work on the car for me? shiet. when i get my own practice as well y dont you work on my ferraris for me? it'll be great, you can dish out all the sarcastic irrelevant un-helpful comments you want while taking all of my "special customer" comments and bs'ing me and you would fix the car immediately because you know best and you know the EVO inside and out right? you are a certified tech right and are of authority to determine whether or not work will be covered by the warrantee right? diesel, do you have your own dealer? your dealer would be the best - you would take in customers, ask them whats the problem and then say, "what the fock, you brought the car in for that? get the fock outtta here you ol' cry baby *** mofocker. just drive the car and if the noise or the wobble increases then bring it back in. you should be fine the way it is now, ITS NORMAL" wow, your dealer's motto would be "dont worry, ITS NORMAL" LOL. wow, this shiet is like therapy for me too

 

ADMstunna, seriously, I really hope you get whatever it is fixed. And no I dont think your an *******, take it easy partner. Its just so many fools out there that are a bit too **** for there own good that I tend to get fired up. Maybe you're ****, maybe you're not, I really dont care. As a tech I forgive the majority of quirks from my car. We tend to weed out the big concerns from the small ones, and fix whatever needs fixing. I will not ever let anyone touch my car unless i've diagnosed the problem. I then go to my fellow tech, tell him what I need replacing and bang- its done. but that's just me.

 

dude, why are you getting all ***** hurt...? hell you already found the reason for the shake, which was your MAIN concern...

when you get your Ferrari bring it over and i'll fix it...

 

I have to agree with the other side on this one ... you seem to be a problem customer ...

you should NEVER buy a Lotus ... I can tell you that much ... I had to realign and repaint my roof, replace the clutch slave cylinder, realign my door .... The exhaust melted a large swath of paint the first time I went to the track .... all sorts of strange clunks and squeeks .... the right front tire rubbed and wore through the fender liner .... oh and the real gem: One of the cam gears was misaligned by several degrees ..... all in the first 4000 miles ... oh but I loved that car ... I would easily buy another one

Back to the point: there are always a few customers that nitpick every last thing to death ... yes you should solve the problems ... but the more low volume and specialized a car, the more likely you are to have little issues ...

A slight clunk at low speeds is not a problem until the axle falls off ... a shake is a problem, but a lot of people experience "phantom shakes" ... most roads are a bit uneven .. and firmer cars are more likely to exxagerate those shakes... see if they can swap a set of wheels for you and test it out ... a shake isn't a real problem until the wheel falls off ... I had a friend whose wheel sheared of at 60 mph .. now that's fun

The best thing to do is to drive another Evo and see if it acts the same way ... if it does ... then I say no problem ... There was no point in me buying another Lotus that didn't clunk and squeek .. because they ALL clunked and squeeked ... see what I mean?

If you get lemons you make lemonade ... but if you get shiet you can't make shietade

Okay ... I don't know where I'm going with this ... but the point being is that there are minor niggles and then there are real problems .. for me .. if it doesn't prevent me from turning a faster lap time .. then it isn't a real problem.

 

This is likely part of the reason that didn't bring this car to America in the past... look at the ads and press anouncements they did on the EVO. They tried in every possible way to WARN the average Joe that will get a hard-on for this car that IT IS NOT A DAILY DRIVING APPLIANCE !! It's a freakin' street legalized racecar that will require alot of attention and require sacrifices too, not a daily driver and grocery getter. The magazine writers also did another fine job trying to warn the readers that THIS IS NOT LIKE YOUR ACCORD OR CAMRY... they clearly recommend the STi to folks that are going to whine about such stuff and be more concerned with commuting and daily driving than heading to the track or your favorite mountain road.

I think that a huge number of people are going to read the magazine reviews and see that the EVO wins pretty much every one of them and then rush out and buy it up with no thought as to what the car really is and the consequences of driving a racecar on the street. They want it for the prestige and WOW factor that it will provide them, to impress the neighbors and their coworkers.

These are the folks that are going to ***** and OBSESS and FREAK OUT over the racecar characteristics of the car - > squeaky brakes, rock hard suspension, engine and drivetrain noises and clunks, twitchy (almost bizzerk) steering on rough or grooved roads, lack of power down low, sudden burst of power up high. Anybody that has a history or experience with true high performance cars KNOWS that this stuff comes with the territory... if you want a silent and cushy daily driver, get a Lexus GS300, if you want a track terror that will show a Vette Z06 it's *** on a tight curvy road (for almost half the price!), well then get the EVO.

I'm not saying that this is what is happening with "ADMstunna", but I am saying that people that come from Accords and Civics and other driving appliances are more likely to nit-pick the EVO to death. And that this is likely to be a serious problem for Mitsubishi in the long run... probably almost as bad as the guys that are going to modify and race the snot out of the EVO yet still expect warranty coverage the entire time. I wonder which they consider the bigger nightmare?? Both are going to cost alot of dealer mechanic time and replacement parts and effort and they are the ones footing the bill.

 

your right, and i havent complained about any of those characteristics you mentioned. i havent complained about transmision clunks, i havent complained about brake noises or brake dust or the wheels are hard to clean or static shock or paint or cheap interior or harsh ride or any of those BULL**** complaints. lets stay on topic. a wobble at high speed is not a characteristic of twitchy and super quick steering. repeated clicking definitely doesnt count as a drivetrain noise and clunk. yall seem to think i was hoping for this car to be an accord or camry? i was the guy defending the evo as a true drivers car months before the STI came out when all the STI bandwagoneers were talking smack. i was saying that it had nothing on the evo's rough and uncompromising suspension as well as the super quick steering ratio. what the hell are yall talking about? believe me, well actualy, you dont have to believe ****, im not trying to prove anything, but i know about inconviences and clunks and noises and steering shakes and vibrations. this isnt new to me, thats y im pushing to get them fix cuz i know they arent normal. anyways, this is just good conversation. the more insight the better

 

yall are gettin on me pretty good. did yall get on the guy that figured out his recaros could recline this good too? lol or the guy who said the wheels were hard to clean? or the guy that said the brakes squeak? or all the guys who ask "who do i launch" or the guy complaining about price hikes????... all im sayin is that with these minor problems and mitsubishi not being able to tell my why they are happening and taking so long to fix them has lead to a sub par owner ship experience.

 

Like I think has been mentioned several times before, if you REALLY want this fixed and to stop wasting valuable time on it - take the car to a speed shop that specifically works on suspension setups for SCCA autocross or roadracing. They will surely diagnose, and probably fix, whatever issue the car is having.

While you are there, have them mount up a set of Konis too

I learned LONG ago to not use the dealership for "feel" stuff such as this. They are a bunch of trained monkeys for the most part, you need to take an "enthusiast car" like the EVO to a fellow enthusiast and mechanical artiscan when you are complaing about the "feel" of a car. A trained monkey can't fix that kinda stuff, a "mechanical artist" can!

 

Ok heres what im thinking the **** should be fine from the dealership he shouldnt have to worry about taking it to a damn speed **** to fix **** that shouldnt happen in the first damn place and being that it did the dealership should fix the **** for freee!!! He shouldnt have to spend anymore money!! Damn i dont know where most of you get your reasoning behind half this bs.... You guys are just trying to defend your cars too damn much....So what if he got a car that has a few problems off the lot god every damn manufacturer is gonna have them!

Oh yeah and i would buy the wheels but i have my heart set on some p1 Racing qf's (buddy club wheels) god they are dead sexy lol!! Hope Your car works out man and hey i dont blame you what so ever for making the move you did lol sorry your having probs with it though...Man they gave me a great deal on your car lol thanks again!!

 

I feel for yah ADMstunna, but I think your probably just victim of what everyone has fell victim too. The lack of text messages ability to accurately relay your temperment, attitude etc. Eventually you'll end up letting ingnorant statements just roll and ignore them

Here's my take:
From what I am reading you seemed pretty willing to accept noises if they are proven to be normal. You may have come off strong but who wouldn't when they dropped a large portion of thier income on a car. I believe it's reasonable to expect that new stuff shouldn't have problems. It's also reasonable to realize unfortunate reality that you may have bought one of the low percentile of cards that come off the factory line with problems. Go to NHTSA and find the top ten cars then read customers reports. You'll find horror stories with every make and model. A lot of them are dealerships mishandling a normal/typical situation.

Also:
I don't believe for a second that a Japanese held back a vehicle because in-experienced buyers would complain of lack of quality. Anyone who's been to Japan or had to interact with Japanese in a customer support capacity (me), knows Japanese people demand quality. They of course go about it very politely and persistantly. This is one of the things that IMHO makes Japan an awesome place. Try going to a Japanese Dunkin Donuts, McDonald's, or Starbucks. It will make you thing these business were started in Japan and lower quality version were exported to the US. Sorry I went on a bit too much on Japan there.


I usually don't comment on threads that go on like this. I limit myself to once a month tops. The best thing to do when people say things that may be ignorant is to ignore them. Everyone else that posts will see unfair comments as what they are. Responding to them just create threads that only Jerry Springer fans want to read. Sometimes you just have to call out something, give it one good response and leave it alone after that.

That's my 2 cents.

 

I agree with this. Sorry to heard your bad luck, but sounds like you got a lemon...

 

I had a POS Audi too. I followed all the way through though, and had them end the lease early and give me $2500 in arbitration. I will never buy another Audi/VW product again. Their national customer service was dreadful.