mitsuxtwo

When my wife and I bought our 2010 Sportback we began to notice a "clunk" noise when backing out of the driveway. We took it to the dealership because this is not something you should hear from a new car.
Let me digress and say that in Indiana, there is a LEMON LAW. If you have purchased a NEW VEHICLE and have to bring it to the dealership they of course have to fix it because of the warranty. If you continue to have the same issue you are protectedy the state of Indiana. The law states that if you have brought your vehicle to the dealership with the same issue THREE times within 18,000 miles, you are covered under the lemon law. The dealership has no choice but to replace your vehicle with a new one. Check with your state as these laws will differ.
With that said, we knew our rights previous to bringing the vehicle in for the front end "clunking". After having the same issue twice my wifes' frustration was at its peak. She informed the dealership of her knowledge of the lemon law and would not hesitate to invoke her rights covered under it. They, needless to say, put us in a complimentary loaner car and would not give our car back until they were absolutely certain they fixed this issue. What they found was the factory grease on the steering knuckle was inadequate. This sounds off the wall to me but we haven't had this issue since. I have heard of other vehicles having the same problem. Mitsubishi knows this is an issue and as long as you know your rights, they've no choice but to accomidate. Don't be concerned with hurting their feelings or ruining your relationship with the personnel behind the counter at service desk. They will probably send a Mitsubishi rep. to take care of your vehicle. I hope this helped with anyone having this issue.

Labrie

iTrader: (1)

Could you describe the sound a bit more and maybe how you were able to (if at all) reproduce it? I just bought a 2012 gt and there is a noise in the front end drivers side that I hear every morning going down the mountain. It seems to only happen on a really steep incline and sounds more of like a squeak than a clunk. It almost sounds like its bottoming out but only on the drivers side. The dealership can't find anything wrong and they think I'm bull****ting them. I've looked myself and can't find anything loose either. My 2009 gt didn't have this but no one can figure out what it is.

mitsuxtwo

Our issues occurred when backing out of our driveway. It only occurred in reverse when the wheel was turned. A clunk is the only way I know how to describe it. We've also experienced situations when we could not duplicate the noise for the tech. What our dealership did was allowed a manager or tech take the car home for a couple days to a week and put us in a rental vehicle. This is what it took for them to reproduce the problem. You may have to go to the exact same road that the problem occurs on to duplicate it. Kidnap the tech. on the ride along if you have to. You have to be persistent. Every time you bring your car in to get looked at, ask for a copy of the service write up. Make a paper trail. This will be your only proof if you need to go to arbitration. I don't know about Canada but in the U.S. it's unlawful to refuse to give you paperwork on a service of your vehicle. This is where knowing your rights under the law is key. We made Chrysler buy back a 1998 Intrepid under lemon law. It was not pleasant dealing with the dealership on this but once you start to get factory reps involved things start to roll. They don't want to deal with difficult problems but those are covered under the factory warranty also. Let them know you aren't going anywhere til your car is fixed.

CamShaft

if they cannot produce the sound then they can't fix it. It will take them three times of producing the sound and replacing/adjusting a part to get the lemon law. You can take it in 20 times, but if they can't verify the complaint or find a part to replace, then you have no grounds for a lemon law.

mitsuxtwo

True. Hopefully if they drive it for a couple days they will experience too. More than likely they will.

nexusone

I had a similar noise on my mother's car. She has the same exact car. The noise went away. I used to hear it when I backed up. I agree with you it's very hard to explain. They could not find anything. The noise however, went away.

ninjacoco

I had the same noise when I backed out of my driveway for a while. I haven't heard it since, gosh, this summer, so whatever they tightened up/serviced since then must've fixed mine. I know I had a loosened suspension piece that they had to tighten.