be sure you follow the arbitration process. If the dealership says no, go to the district rep and then corporate. I believe you agreed to this when you signed your sales contract, I know I had to.

 

Yes, it was part of the lemon law contract. Basically it says you will try their chain of command before seeking outside legal help. But since it might take a while to go up that ladder, you might want to inform them that any potential lawsuit will include the cost of a rental car for the time you were without your Lancer.

 

truedat!

 

but i bought the car used from a friend...so i didnt sign anything for mitsu but thanks for the heads up

 

Darn, then the lemon law doesn't even apply for you. Sorry, I forgot you bought it used. The lemon law only applies to new cars. Hopefully they still consider it a safety issue worth fixing.

 

they should seeing that i would have died in about 3 more minutes or i could have gotten suverely hurt on a turn...thankfully i was going straight at about 25

 

Whats so bad about dying?

 

try it and let me know fruitcake

 

heh heh
So what are the laws involving used car owners then. I bought mine new but I just want to know out of curiousity.

 

You have to keep in mind that what caused the part to fail is under question, especially with it being a used car. Just because you almost died while a part broke doesn't mean the manufacturer is automatically to blame. Unfortunately for you, since you can not testify to the car's entire livelyhood, you then have to prove that the part was defective and not broken (there is a difference). Since proving that the car was never damaged (bottomed out, curbed, etc.) is virtually impossible, you need to get off your high horse and accept the fact that you are mainly at the mercy of Mitsibishi's judgement. Throwing out accusations to them will make them want to make an example out of you, while being respectful will most likely get them to want to help you. But your best leverage against them is simply rapport. Nothin more, sorry to say.

For the question on the law regarding used cars, the law plainly states "buyer beware" meaning that you buy a used car as-is with no implied warranty unless the seller offers it in writing. The only amendments to that are that it must pass smog and have working seatbelts, and a dealership must have at least 50% tread on the tires and 50% brakes (this probably varies between states). Other than that, the engine block could be cracked, the frame could be bent, it could be leaking oil, and you can't complain.

The original manufacturer is only required to offer the following, whether the car was bought new or used: they must offer replacement parts for a minimum of 10 years from the model year (notice price is not restricted so you could still get raped there), and I believe seatbelts can be recalled indefinitely (I actually got brand new seatbelt latches on a 13 year old car once because of a recal... it was nice to have shiny plastic when it was previously weathered )

Personally, I have no problem with dying. It's how slow and/or painful the death is that concerns me.

 

the guy i bought it from was a friend of my fathers...he was an older man who drove like a grandma, there never was any hard driving done to the car...and when i bought the car i brought it to the dealership to have them check it over to make sure nothing was wrong with it and they said they found nothing to be wrong.....and i dont care what anybody says, the controller arm SHOULD NEVER have broken...especially with a break as clean as that one, it HAS to be a defective part....if it was because of rough driving the break would have been more jagged and uneven....the break in it now is almost perfectly straight... and if i did get hurt because of that i could have sued them for more money than you could belive (i know i sound like a dick now but oh well) people sue homeowners for tripping on the cracks on the sidewalk in front of theyre houses....i just want them to fix my car because it is theyre responsibility due to the defective part and im going to do what it takes for them to fix it so either it gets done the easy way or the hard way.....

 

mitsu always biases about the warranty, they will never cover it

 

they gave my cousin a new tranny because his auto eclipse kept slipping and his car was over the warranty due to time not miles but ill see what they do for me, if anything

 

bummer

 

Ouch, sounds like your family has a bad car curse or something. But you're right, Mitsubishi will most likely try to work with you, but they also know you can't prove their fault in the incident either. So you will probably get something like I did when they failed to fix my radiator 3 times and then the engine overheated and cracked... they gave me a new engine & radiator for half price. But yeah, go for free replacement and see what they will do for you.