Seriously the only issue that concerns me about the car is the thin paint. I will buy a touch up paint and try to fill the chips but I'm still sceptical about this issue because thin paint is thin paint, nothing will change that and the paint will chip again.

 

I talked to my dealer and he said that some people find ways to age the paint at a SUPER fast rate therefore forcing mitsu to redo the paint job. Their methods...i don't know. But i am interested in finding out haha. I'm not a big fan of cheaters but hey... we already got cheated with thin paint.

 

If you want to age the paint, heat will do it. Set up some of those super bright spot lights in your garage and just aim them at your car. This will chew at your electric bill though lol There's probably some other methods out there to age the paint. Im just gonna wait, I think i saw like the first chip the other day and its barely noticable. Once it gets bad enough, I'll see if i can get the dealer to paint my GTS blue...gray was my second choice

 

Yay, got my trunk and bumper painted due to the trunk lip being too close to the bumper. They aligned it and a month later, when we were sure it wasn't scratching anymore it was painted!!!

Took the ugly scratch someone gave me in a parking lot away

I am happy...

 

Here's my updated on my thin paint situation after calling head office and complaining about the issues with the car and their customer service...tuesday I called, the guy from head office told me to go to the Mitsubishi dealership near my house and that he would call them in advance to let them know Id be coming by and to have someone check out the paint. So I did exactly as instructed, went over all the chips and stuff, got alot of exuses from the guy, but in the end he said he would call the guy from head office to report back to him what he saw and he'd call me back the next day. I even asked him to please make sure to call me asap over this issue to give me an update, he even went as far as to say he'd "fight tooth and nail" for me.

Fast forward two days later and nobody has contacted me, not the guy from the dealership nor somebody from head office...pathetic really cause I expected this from the dealership but not head office. After venting my frustrations to the guy from head office over the problems I had experienced with my dealership and the car, right down to them screwing up paper work in the sale of my car, they couldn't even give me a call...not a free oil change for my troubles, a Mitsubishi key chain, air freshener, NOTHING! Heck, i must be stupid to expect that when I bought the car and couldn't even get it cleaned like it should when you purchase a brand new car...stupid me.

Im going to wait until noon tommorow, if I hear from nobody Im either going to head offices front door or letting loose over the phone to somebody. This is pathetic coming from a company that has struggled in Canada to sell cars...you'd think they would atleast offer one of the best services but not even that, obviously winning over customers isn't their goal as a company. You'd think they would take a lesson from companies like Honda or Toyota that have customers loyal to the brand because of their cars or service, but Mitsubishi can't even get something as simple as this right. Then they have the courage to say they have the best backed warrenty in the business...how so? Im dying to see if they've made any improvements or refinements to the 09 lancers, because if not and they still have the same problems as the 08, that says it all.

 

Finally gave my car a good cleaning after the winter and OMFG!!!! my skirts are Blasted!!!
I've already been given the run around about the car pulling to the left issue and i am quite certain this will be the same story. It is clearly a fault in the design. As far as the excuse that its the road conditions causing the problem...welll im pretty sure Mitsu knew they would be selling cars in places that got snowed on, and that cars would be driven on highways, so maybe they should have taken that into consideration...so now we the customers who forked out the extra cash to purchase a new car are left with the bill. Not only will we be wasting money in the end but time and frustration.
I've read about a few people that are just going to repaint the car with a custom job and a couple people who are actually going to see if they can strike a trade in deal with another car company. Mitsubishi is blind and stupid if they think they will continue to keep customers coming in while not dealing with current issues. word of mouth is a powerful thing and we have a bunch of crap to tell the other potential mitsu customers.
and thats my rant

 

Here's something that just jogged into my memory. I remember when I was at makin the final deals on my car, they went through this huge long list of extra insurance for this and that. One of those was for this paint protector system thats suppose to cover all the paint on the car from road debris, tree sap and any other possible imagining that could do damage to the paint. Figures that they were probably sellin this well knowing most people would decline...and now they really don't have to worry about fixing our paint. In hind sight, this may have been worth purchasing...

 

I agree that in hind sight it would have been worth it. and honestly if i saw these chisp 2 years after i got the car i would blame myself for not getting the paint insurance...but less than year after i got the car...its just absurd.
anyone remember what the cost of the paint protection was?

 

i bought the paint protection, but i remember specifically it still doesn't cover paint chips, etc. only oxidization or fading of the paint from road salts, UV, etc...

don't remember how much i paid for it though... i think it was 400... retail was 700 but they reduced it for me...

 

exactly...what I felt like telling the guy at the dealership that head office sent me too. He started giving me the bull**** excuses that the car looks to be highway driven alot and its natural for a car to get paint chips. Well last time I checked a car does get paint chips from highway driving and such, but not as bad as my car is and any other persons 08 lancer, especially when the car is not even a year old. The guy seemed to have his eyes fixed on the obvious place a car would get paint chips, but had nothing to say about the chips on the side of my car, roof, hood, trunk, and skirts. Lets not forget the rust that forms as soon as there is a paint chip and the clear coat that seems to be coming off. Does Mitsubishi build cars to be driven or to sit all pretty inside a garage or a driveway?

Im at a loss for words at how people working for Mitsubishi continue to play stupid when it comes to the obvious issues the 08 lancers have. Anytime you mention the alignment and starting problem they look at you as if your making it up, like you've smacked the car or forgot how to start up a car. My stupid suspension creeks, sqeaks, etc but "its normal" according to them at the dealership, especially in cold temperatures...wtf is that all about? Do they think everyone is that stupid, I mean they fooled me once by buying this piece of crap but now to tell me its normal for a factory suspension to make noise on a brand new car they have to be joking right? The service managers are a joke and some of the technicians they have there look like they belong detailing cars.

 

sooo I am pretty fed up with this sh !t so i sent an email to a major newspaper in my city and asked if i gathered some comments and wrote a short review about the lancers if they would put it in the automotive section.

If the agree i think we can all come together to have our voices heard in a professional way. This might give mitsu a kick in the a$$ and get them working for us instead of against us. Also if they agree i think everyone who knows of a major newspaper in a large city should make the same request...essentially we could have newspapers print the same story across north america. Not sure if they will agree as i have never made a request like this to a newspaper before.

 

sway-bar bushings probably need to be lubricated... don't bother taking it to the dealer to get that fixed b/c i had the same problem with them not being able to understand why and saying that it was normal... just do it yourself at home.

 

let us know what they say!

 

Update on my paint situation: Called Mitsubishi Canada and vented over them sending me too another dealership to have the car looked at by a service manager and then give head quarters a report on what he saw. Well it looks like the service manager didn't call them and never bothered calling me either. Fast forward to Monday, made the call and let them have it...finally the guy from head quarters asked which dealership was best for me to leave my car at somebody from head quarters could come in and inspected the paint and the rest of the car. I told him I wanted to be there to talk to the guy and point out everything on the car but he said its not possible...I guess they don't wanna deal with the customers head on. But I plan on taking the day off from work, going in with the car, but waiting until the guy comes in to see the car. I have to make sure he see's everything wrong and I get my point out about how unhappy I am with Mitsubishi service since buying the car.

They have contacted the dealership the car will be going to, now Im waiting for the call when to bring it in, but I highly suggest you guys do the same thing. They know its an issue, they know there is many other issues as well, but unless people begin to hassle them over their lack of concern nothing will happen. I've repeated myself over and over on the phone with them, I know I sound stupid doing so but I don't care. The car is less than a year old and these issues shouldn't even come into effect until years down the road, when a car is actually old and has seen alot of km's...I don't care for their exuses over highway driving and such, a car has to be built to with stand atleast those kind of conditions.

 

I see a class-action lawsuit brewing ... we should start gathering evidences now. And I haven't even pick up my car yet.