Welcome to 2009. Did you even look at the dates of those articles? That is old news.

 

yeah, def a friday car.. sorry mate

 

Rattles-OMG - check!

Crappy hard black plastic everywhere like some bad Chrysler product? - check!

Paint - Venture Shield has saved my *** with that one. I can't even imagine what it would look like now without it:

http://www.ventureshield.com/
I also had custom patterns made for the optional ground effects to protect from road rash.

Poor factory tune running rich? check!

Burning smell after any spirited run? check!

Hood latch still feels like it will break if I use it even after the warranty work? check!

Rockford system lacks ***** and navigation unit is a F$#@ joke - oh yes!

Still love the car though...

 

Hmm i like the RF system, pretty damn good for a factory system and the nav is one of the best in the industry for an OEM device.. Wouldn't you agree?

 

I am, without a doubt, as far from an ICE connoisseur as you can get but I really do like the RF system that came with the SSS package. It's one of my favourite bits of the car, even if it takes away from the already tiny trunk space. It help hide the sound of the rattles .

 

My Fenders aren't chipped, I purchased the Aero Kit... It's the front fascia! Yeap the Camry still looks mint! My Dad's Endeavor looks mints, my girlfriends 97 Escort looks better than my X's air dam and hood! Yes, those links aren't current but 2000 to 2004 is hardly old, all you guys are missing the point! Mitsubishi scams, as do all big companies, however I've only had to fight Mitsubishi "tooth and nail" to fix their defects! The RF system is awesome, the navi is the best in any class and the car is a beauty to look at, but that doesn't excuse Mitsubishi's lack of customer care!

One day you may find yourself in our shoes, you won't be so harsh to the OP's problems?! I've never modified my car, tracked it or abused it rather than taking turns way faster than I should! I still have the stock tires and I'm close to 17k. BTW the GTS failed to start on me and it's paint quality was sub par as well, needless to say it had no fender flares! I could totally rip the car apart, as I could any car... That's not my what I'm trying to do here, all I want is a proper paint job and a good transmission. That's it! Rather than those two issues I could deal with the rest. My case is officially closed!

 

I bought my X to go fast... and it's doing exactly what it's supposed to do. For $35K I wouldn't expect perfection, especially on its maiden year.

If it were double or triple the price, then I'd get pickier. I see stuff in Porsches, Lambo's etc. that would make you cringe.

 

I agree with the paint issues (although my M3 seemed to look like rock chips attacked the front bumper), but the transmission I feel seems to correct itself over time.

 

Maybe you guys make 35-50 bucks an hour and money is no object, however I was making 15 and now unemployed! I guess when I buy a 40k car I expect a little better build quality! Maybe that's my hang up, I drove base model cars all my life and expected the EVO to be a notch above the rest, performance wise it is and yes it also has it's creature comfort which are highly liked; However I never imagined myself going to the garage 2-3 times a month for over a year to have a rocker molding repaired and to be told all the issues I'm having are normal.

 

NO I think most of us are saying that you really are having issue with you car and support you with that. The evo is still just a cheap eco car with a badass suspension, awd and turbo. It still has the same paint and interior as the base lancer models. I guess many of us knew this before buying and some like me had an evo IX... which was as eco baseline as a Kia.

I hate going to the dealer, but keep you hear up... I have found that over time, things have actually gotten better (tranny, clutch) and the crappy tune is easily fixed with some of the free maps on this site.

If you think that the dealer is giving you a run around you can always call mitsubishi and complain or threaten to do it.

 

All cars have problems I'm well aware of that, I knew the EVO was based off the econo car, hence the word EVO. I'm a lover not a fighter lol, I literally hate fighting with people to get them to move! When I go to the garage now the guys act as though I'm some kind of hero, after the Mitsubishi rep told me it was my issue and he didn't have to fix it (which he did have to fix it), I told him his bumpers were made of recycled action figures... The garage tech actually brought his kids actions figures in and gave Mitsubishi's rep his kids action figures (of coarse that upset the rep even further)... They all shake my hand and act like I was the first to stand ground against this guy, they call me by my last now for crying out loud, how sad is that lol! It simply takes one jerk to ruin a companies perception, I just try avoiding confrontation now and deal with the issues!

 

About 7Kish in 1 yr in on the EVO and no problems other than notchy shifter which has gotten better with time and use. I still find the drive by wire rev hand a bit irritating as well when slipping the clutch but that's by design and apparently is found on many cars these days.

My build date is March 08. Out of curiosity I wonder if those saying no problems have mid 08 build dates and late 07 build dates had more "issues".

I will say this. The engine has not burned, within my ability to perceive it, one drop of oil while our VW 2.0 FSI goes through a quart every few thousand miles (even that may be optimistic) with the only possible benefit being that with the VW you can combine trips to get your CEL read while you pick up more oil at autozone and save on gas.

 

I think people expect too much from this car. You're not buying a $40,000 car. You're literally buying a $15,000 car with $25,000 worth of upgrades.

It's still a Lancer in the same way an SRT-4 was still a Neon.

 

Mine came with one of those on it from the dealer. I'm in your boat - I've got almost 8K now with no issues.

 

ditto^^