Dr Evo,

I would have to agree with you. After 26K miles, my EVO is working well also.

I did a hand full of hard launches (5000 - 6000 RPM launches) between 600 and 1500 miles on the odo and the clutch was starting to show signs of heat damage. For the last 1000 miles or so, I have limited my launch RPM to 3500. The clutch seems to work much better. I only lose .1-.2 sec when compared to a painful 6000-RPM launch. Which mean I'll still kick the cr*p out of a $52K Porsche Boxster S to 60 and to the 1/4 mi, out brake and out turn it, and only for a little over 1/2 the money.

I think we need to remember the EVO was not design as a drag racer and its clutch was not over design to handle repeated high RPM launches from a small turbocharged engine. Also please keep in mind the amount of energy that the clutch had to absorb is proportional to the SQUARE of the speed differences between the flywheel and the clutch. Launching the car at a little lower RPM will significantly reduce the heat load on the clutch. That is why I lowered my max launch RPM closer to the torque peak.

Additionally, I see the car for what it is. It is a $30K streetcar that is near race ready. This means we get a car with properly seam welded and strengthen chassis, with limited road, sound, vibration isolation to save weight and improve feedback, with lots of factory installed high quality name brand performance parts. Knowing that it will require a little additional TLC from us when compared to typical street cars.

The clear coat on the EVO's carbon fiber rear wing is not as tough as I'd like. But I've had problems with bird sh*t damage on my Honda CRX's paint as well. So even Honda is not bird proof. Therefore, just like any other car you want to keep nice for years, use a high quality wax and wax the cr*p out of it.

Personally, I have been reasonably happy with my dealer (Alhambra Mitsubishi). I may try a dealership closer to my house in the future.

 

Mitsubishi is the worst company I've seen at customer service. Its like they are purposely trying to screw customers. They hunt up and down trying to void warranties on EVOs. The stock EVO clutches suck, and if u drive them with just normal everyday driving it will still wear out bc it slips. They should of designed a decent clutch, as if we don't pay enough for the car in the first place? Then with the dealer mark ups too? I swear I feel like Mitsu and their dealers are punishing the EVO owners instead of rewarding them for buying EVOs. I would think since the big scandal of Mitsu hiding company defects that resulted in deaths, they would change their whole attitude towards the customer. I mean it is a performance car and if u drive it like one they void your warranty. But I guess thats why they are about to go out of business...

 

Their business problems may be related to poor customer service in some areas of North America but alot of them are related to mismanagement of money (particulary Mitsubishi Credit)

I've got 17.5k miles on my clutch, and drive my car hard (I've been told by friends in the right seat: "ok, thats enough" and "no more 6g turns please") I have no clutch slippage. I have however only done maybe 3 hard launches and none of them until after I had 3,000miles on the clock. If you are going to hard launch, double clutch and otherwise shall we say, push the stock clutch, best to add it to your list of mods. I drive my car, like a performance car, I don't treat it like a race car, mostly because its not a race car.

The dealership I got my Evo from did not mark up a single Evo. This dealership has gone out of its way to fix little nit issues on my car that most other dealerships would have said, "deal with it or write us a check".

For example:

• they spent hours and hours trying find a squeak in my passenger side front door, it turned out to be that stupid little bushing that prevents the trailing door edge from touching the frame when your 16 year old son slams the door too hard (*grrrrrr*). A quick adjustment and off I go, no charge
• I had a turbo sound change, they checked everything even remotely related to the turbo. Turns out I had changed my air filter and not got the box lid seated correctly (a few weeks ago, more than a year after I took delivery on the Evo) No charge. If I hear a noise I don't like, I take it in, they check, typically find nothing and send me on my way. I take better care of this car than I do myself, they know it. They also know that I drive it very hard.
• I thought my right HID was constantly slipping down, they kept adjusting it for me and eventually could not crank it up any further ... guess what, it turns out that I had a defective left HID assembly that was causing the left light to creep up, it could not be adjusted down. They had a few problems getting the correct HID assembly in from Mitsu, I never heard a single excuse, all I got was "Mr. Raymer, we f'ed up, we are very sorry for the inconvenience."
• The dealership pays for oil changes for my Evo, not on some program out of Mitsubishi, but because I've been dealing with them since 1990. (Since 1987 I personally have not driven anything as my daily drive that was not a Mitsu).

I'm truly sorry that some of you are having bad experiences with dealerships and a few people (ok, $%!holes in district/regional offices). However, it sounds to me like a lot of you are "confusing" bad dealerships and a few butt heads in a regional/district office with Mitsubishi "required" standards of behavior and practices.

By the way, I deal with Huggins Mitsubishi near Ft. Worth. They are by far the best car dealership I've ever dealt with in 22 years of owning cars. At this point, I will not purchase a car from anywhere else, from any other manufacturer. The entire staff from the guy in parts to the babe that answers the phone in the showroom , from the "greenest" mechanic to the guy that owns the place, are consumate professionals.

Don't get me started on Honda or Nissan or Ford or Chevy. Why can't wives just drive the car you want them to drive? This is perhaps one of the greatest mysteries of the universe and proof that God has a sense of humor.

best regards.

 

everybody b*tched about the same thing when the turbo eclipse came out in the 90's. this is the 1st evo released in the US it will have kinks too work out. Mostly, turbo cars will fall victim to warranty issues quicker than a N/A car. I have a 2003 Lancer OZ n/a and its been back to dealer about 6 times.

 

Whoever started that "OMG t3rhe W4TCHING US AT THE TRAXXX!!" should really be beaten, or at least should have said more specifically of what was/is (POSSIBILY) going on.

The actual corporation has not done anything like this, and did not hire ppl to watch them/research customers, etc. that is crazy. The DEALERS however MAY HAVE gotten people to look at LOCAL tracks and watch for ppl in Evolutions.

It just was blown way out of porportion, and getting people a clouded vision.

 

Hey guys,

im pretty tight with my local dealer and they said mitsubishi is having corporate changes to get themselves out of their ****ty situation. they said they are a lot more relaxed about their warranty, but i agree that they should treat people who buy their halo car with respect. Evo is a cult car and we are their cult following. If not for us, the evo would not be alive in America. But on the other hand they should tell people up front the quirks of the warranty. And if people want to do things that void it, they should have to pay the extra.

Neal

 

None of the choices reflect my opinion.

IMHO I will never buy a mitsubishi unless its an EVO and my view of the compnay has only become worse due to all the poor customer service I see. The EVO is the only car they make worth getting and even without a warentee its worth the money. Mitsubishi makes cheap *** cars and the evo is an exception, however any car that is abused will break. I am just glad I didn't get a lemon Evo

 

I understand that Mitsu is in a financial crisis but by taking an overly harsh position on warranty issues on the EVO, they're just digging themselves into a deeper hole. I understand that the EVO accounts for a small portion of their sales but it is their technical flagship. The fact that they create such an affordable "semi-exotic" (high bang for the buck) car creates a lot of buzz for them which is great marketing for them.

By voiding warranties for no reason, they're cutting themselves off from future new car sales. Anyone interested in modding the EVO (the majority of people who'd even considering buying one in the first place) will forgo buying a new one and just buy one used so they can just mod the heck out of it.

If I remember the stats correctly, turbo Eclipses from 90 to 99 accounted for about 5% total sales and the AWD model an even smaller portion of that 5%. I had spoken to a manager of long range product strategy at Mitsu before the EVO came to the US and we were talking about DSMs (Eclipse, Talon and Laser) and Mitsu's decision to pull out of the market for turbo AWD cars. They concluded that the majority of turbo AWD buyers (who are actually the minority of what new car buyers look for) would normally buy used cars so Mitsu was not too concerned about abandoning that market.

Mitsu's negative public relations and poor customer service will cause people to primarily purchase EVOs used (as soon as more model years have passed and there is more supply). Mitsu is going to be like the Mazda of the mid 90s. Everyone loved the RX-7 but because Mazda techs did not know the product well enough and even simple problems like a loose vacuum hose caused problems they could not fix immediately. They kept replacing random parts hoping it would solve the problem (which is the opposite of Mitsu since Mitsu won't replace any parts because they'll blame everything on abuse). People the loved the car bought they used and would avoid the dealer like the plague and would only go to independent specialist shops. My prediction is that the EVO will soon run the same couse.

 

mitsubishi product is good...their warranty sucksass!!

 

LOL @ Mitsubishi's newest ad campaign ... "the best backed cars in America"

I was victimized by my "district manager" as well. They denied my warranty claims on my 2nd trans repair in the first 4,000 miles. The first one happened at 900 miles, the 2nd at 4,000. I had to pay $1,500.00+ for the 2nd repair. They cited customer abuse. I did launch the car twice between the 1st and 2nd repairs, but did not drive it hard on a daily basis. And was overall very gentle on the car during break in. Ironically, while I was on hold for a half hour waiting for my claim to be denied, they played their Evo propaganda on-hold message citing our car as a "race-bred rally rocket" with "a 4.59 second 0-60". Ever tried to accomplish that without driving it hard?
What happened was it would eat the 1st and 2nd gear synchros if you drove at hi-speed for an extended period of time in 5th gear, like on the turnpike where the speed limit is 70-75 and I am therefore going faster than that. I know it doesn't make sense, but neither does that fact that they mailed the pictures to the district manager, which is how he made his decision, and now no one can produce them for my attorney.

Since the 2nd repair I have really driven the car hard. Not abusive, but definitely harder than before since I was breaking it in. It now has 9,500 miles and no new problems. Whatever they did the 2nd time appears to have worked. Oddly, it was much more expensive than the first (since I was the one paying for it).

Well let me just say that Mitsubishi shot themselves in the foot. I happen to work at one of the largest independent Custom Home Theater stores in Florida. I also happen to be our resident video expert and therefore make the lion's share of our purchasing recommendations. Aside from the fact that they are making it easy by producing legitimately sub-par product, I have pretty much shut them out of our store. I believe we have bought 4 or 5 Mitsubishi TV's since my warranty issue. And about 60-70 Sony, Marantz and Pioneer TV's. They will pay for screwing me ... waaaay more than $1,500.00.

I would suggest similar action to all of my legitimately disconcerted brethren. Boycott Mitsubishi. They are one of the largest corporations in the world, so it's easy to buy things from their competition. TVs and cars are just a few things they make, you can also avoid their Air Conditioners, Computer Monitors, and Cell Phones, just to name a few.

 

Not only is Mitsubishi not honoring valid warrenty work but now all 04+ models get FREE maint. for the 36,000 miles. That is great for them but sucks for the 03 people. Why should this be any different? I just took my car in for the 6000 maint. and it cost $93.00 which I am willing to pay but still sucks knowing that if I would have waited all this would be free maint. Don't get me wrong, I love the EVO and have been waiting for 6 years for it to come to the States. I just think Mitsubishi is screwing their customers. Subaru is offering staged upgrades that are coverd under factory warrenty as long as Subaru installs them. Two of my friends have STI's and the dealer is always trying to get them to upgrade.

 

my sales guy told me that my evo would be getting 4 years.. but the oil changes are at like 4,500 miles apart.. i'd imagine that could be bad for the engine/turbo. i figure tranny fuild and tire rotations i would do at the dealership and ask them to just give me the bottles of engine oil so i can do it myself, haha.

 

I don't give a rats azz about Mitsu USA. I said it before and I'll say it again. I bought a car, not stock in a car co. All car companies are hell to deal with once you buy their product. I was in a collision (not my fault) in my Audi S4. Broadsided on the driver's side of the car. Broken left hand and injury to right shoulder rotator cuff. Side air bag in driver's seat did not open. Everyone who has seen the damage thought it should have opened, including body shop and Audi dealer used car manager. Audi USA has been ignoring my complaints for months.

I owned 4 new BMWs since 1988. That co. is a pain to deal with too. At least Mitsu makes this great car called an EVO, and sells it at a fair price. Stop complaining.

 

Mitsu does suck to deal with no questions asked and Richard has a good point most car companies are and mitsu does make a really fun car at an affordable price. But on the other hand so does Subbie and they take better care of their customers afterwards I think that the Evo is just as good as the STi and for about 3 grand less which makes it a better buy however due to my experience with Mitsu if I had it to do all over again I would probably have spent the extra couple of grand for the STi.

I plan on trading my Evo in when the 2007 model year cars come out. Not sure what I'm going to get yet but its probably not going to be the Evo 9 like I had originally planned soley due to the fact that mitsu doesn't take care of their customers at all, and to me if you drop 30k+ into a car you deserve good service.

 

Guys,

You have a choice; Get the poor service from Mitsu, Honda, Toyota, Ford, GM and other "regular" brands. Or pay through the a$$ for a "premium" brand vehicle and even more $ for the service.

In my personal experience, my Mitsu dealer (Alhambra Mitsu) is no worst, maybe a little better, then the three Honda dealers I’ve dealt with.

Below are my experiences with each within the past 2 years:

Alhambra Mitsu (CA):
Took my EVO 8 with 150 miles back for deep paint scratches from the dealer.
Problem was totally taken care of. The dealer had the bumper completely repainted, the work was perfect.
Took my EVO 8 with 1.5K back for the tranny giving me problems with quick high rpm 1-2 shifts. The service manager calls me back telling me they couldn't reproduce the problem. I walk them through over the phone, they try it again, still no problem. I don't know what they did, but it now shifts a little better.

Scott Robinson Honda (Torrance, CA)
Took my wife's Honda Odyssey @ 2.9K in to fix a missing hinge from the storage bin on the Left side of the 3rd row seats. The service attendant asked if I wanted an oil change for $69. I told him no. They fix the hinge pin and charged me for an unauthorized oil change.
- I will never go back to Scott Robinson Honda -

Harbor City Honda (CA)
Took the Honda in @ 18K for a leaking rear shock, a wheel alignment and uneven idle. Replaced the shocks under warranty, charge me for the alignment even thought the worn shocks made my rear tire wear unevenly; therefore, they were unable to properly align the van. They thought the idle was fine.

Gardena Honda (CA)
Took the Honda in @ 22K for oxidized weather striping, front pass door adjustment and rough idle. Replaced weather striping, adjusted the front pass door, but scratched the paint next to the latch and the paint next to the door handle, the mechanic tried to touch the outside up without telling anyone, did an extremely poor job of it. The dealer had the car for 3 days to respray the area. I would rate the paint job below average. They also thought the idle was normal.

Therefore, if you think switching to some other make of vehicle will on it’s own totally take care of all of your dealer woes; I have some exceptional wetlands in Florida you might be interested in.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my EVO. The car is not perfect, but for a car that cost me less then 30G’s out the door, it can sure kick some blue blood a$$. So far, the list reads like this: two late model Porsche Boxsters, a late model Mustang GT, both the 02 and the 04 Honda S2000, (the 02 was very easy), a couple of Nissan 350Z’s , a Buick Grand National, a Chevy Corvette (auto tranny C5); Mazda RX-8 (Easy); many stock and modified Acura RSX and Type S’s (mostly easy), modified Honda Civic’s (mostly easy). I’ve only been beaten by a Z06 Vette, (by less then a car length), and tied a late model Porsche Carrera. I haven’t met up with a Sti yet, my guess is that I’ll be a car length back in the straights but will be much faster in the twisties. I’ve done all this without doing 6000 RPM launches.

The EVO handles great, stops excellent, has exceptional components where it counts and gets plenty of looks. I’m still in love with mine!