Okay people! I haven't been around for a while, but I need to get your opinion and vent.

I have an '03 Lancer ('02 US year). I had the 3 year bumper-bumper and 5 year powertrain. It's expired for 3 months now. I recently went in for my 96K servicing ( the big $1200 one), and they found that I needed: Clutch, rear bushings, parts for my heater (broke off knob and need new heater), both struts are leaking, my tie rods need replacing, and my transmission is leaking (probably seal). So all in total just under $5000. First of all I was mighty pissed with this news, considering we were the first people to get these things when they came available. And now all this stuff? I can see the clutch, but everything else? I don't drive it hard, and I service it religiously.

I love the new Mistu's and the look/feel of them, but my big thing is reliability and further servicing. Obviously mistu has the new plan (5 year bumper to bumper, 10 year powertrain), and the clutch obviously goes with wear, but the other stuff? Friends and family keep calling the car a lemon and swear never to get mitsu again. They suggest the new Corolla XRS or Sentra Spec V. Which I'm not really into as the new GTS is looking mighty fine.

My question is how is everyone's 02/03 holding up? Does this stuff sound familiar? I was checking the troubleshooting forums but it's a little clogged and tough to read and haven't heard people having lots of problems... So can you help a guy out?

Thanks everyone!

 

only about 65k miles on my 2002 (purchased 2001) and the only thing thats needed replacing was o2 sensor, which was covered.

 

Intresting..... I should mention I'm at just over 110K. (kilometres, I'm in Canada, and yes I know it's a US forum where I posted but still).

I haven't had a lot of problems, but it sort of pisses me off that it is all happening right now. lol.

 

Sorry to hear that man. Mine is running perfect with 110K. (Knocks on wood)

Maybe they should show you the leaking struts...
rear bushings (I believe you can replace those yourself for cheap),

parts for my heater (broke off knob and need new heater, I can believe that. There was a problem with the knobs with dirt gettin gbehind them and making them hard to turn thus breaking. I think there was a recall but not anymore

both struts are leaking They need to show you this

my tie rods need replacing, They also need to show you this

and my transmission is leaking Possibly, but it wouldn't hurt to look yourself. Probly seal, and when you get the clutch replaced you should change that any way.

Most dealers try and gank you with crazy stuff if you don't know what is going on. Its like completing the sale at a retail store. If you are silly enough to fall for it what's to stop them? If you can; do the work yourself. Most of it you should be able to do If your lacking the confidence let them do the timing belt + water pump (If you needed that) Otherwise what the hell would bump the price up to $1200?

I got my water pump+timing belt changed with new other belts for around $700. Where is the other $500 coming from? Please don't tell me they are going to do the "15 point inspection" to see if your blinkers are working!

T. Belt, Water pump, replace clutch and that is all they should be doing. Don't let them take an hour to put in a new air filter!

 

I have a '03 with only 54kms, only major problem was the crankshaft sensor bracket that collected sludge and stalled the car. Everything seems to be good.

Dealership garages are there to make money and not necessary in the interest of the car owner or Mitsubishi North America for that matter.

Bring your car to another garage for a second option.

 

ive got 153,000 on my 02 es and ive replaces both wheel bearings, brakes and rotors and one o 2 sensor,and a timing belt and water pump...so all in all i must say thats not too bad given the age and the miles it gets every day,i drive 120 miles round trip a day for work...

 

Well, I'm at about 110k, I've had to replace my engine (my fault, cold air intake + big puddle = hydrolock.. badly..), i replaced the master cylinder as the seals went bad when i was swapping out the engines, clutch, but thats normal and it actually lasted me about 80k miles.. but other than that nothing as far as everyday wear and tear goes, although the suspension is on its way out and im gonna have to replace some components soon..

 

These are all things that are possibilities, but just remember to talk with the mechanic that checked your car out and have him show you why he recommended the services. The struts and tie rods are a good possibility (you should be able to feel play in the steering when you drive and car should be a little bouncy). Also, the transmission leak was probably diagnosed by a small ammount of oil around the pan (this would just be a pan gasket) or oil where the trans meets the engine (this could possibly be a rear main seal as well) either way, if you don't see a puddle in your driveway, it's not that big of a deal.

 

Here have been my problems with my 03 Lancer ES.

Weel bearings - replaced at 32,000 miles.

Pulls to the left - tried everything. Aligned, tierods, drive axels, tires, wheel balance, etc. none will correct the problem. Mitsubishi says everthing is "normal".

Dash shorted out - They covered this, but it was a hell of an ordeal. Also, when they replaced the gauge cluster, it has the wrong variable resistor for the fuel gauge and my fuel gauge will sit at full until I get to near a half a tank then drop to empty over a period of about 15 miles (about a half gallon). They then tried to tell me that I need a sending unit to fix this problem.

Valve chatter -

This is what I can think of now, if I think of anything else, I will post again.

 

Is the valve chatter the thing around 2500-3k rpm? but doesn't do it when its in neutral?

 

No, this is a constant valve chatter, very noticable at idle

 

the valve chatter sound like the rockers ticking every half second? if so i got that too! 03 with 62,000 nothing broken yet. need rear struts and throwout bearing down the line. but i also already did my timing belt and all other maint. ahead of sched as im kind of picky with it. the heater cold to hot is getting stuck but you can pop it out and lube it which im going to do. this is my 2nd lancer first one 02 had 50,000 too totaled it though but never had a problem and got another one. do the work yourself. buy the manual and take a shot at it too much money to spend on a dealership to do it for ya. if u make a mistake on a strut worse will be it making noise cuz u didnt tighten it up enough.