Faults:
Nothing has "gone wrong with the car" but I have inherited some problems from the previous owner.
First off, the subtle screeching sound the engine makes each time I start the car. It is really bad sometimes when I down-shift, or shift at high RPM's. I suspect it to be a pully or belt.
The electronically controlled suspension is broke. It is constantly stuck in sports mode. It's not too bad, but not nearly as comfortable as it could be. My friend at Mitsubishi suspects it to be a bad strut.
My radio has a short in it, and very rarely works. Which is fine, the stock CD player is probably 1 speed, the few times I've gotten it to work it skips very badly. I would have replaced it with a new CD/MP3 player anyway.
The transmission is a little loose, but that should be expected on a 120,000 mile car... which I believe was driven hard. Mechanically it has no problems.
The seal at the top of the windshield has shrunk, and sometimes leaks a little bit.
The seal on top of the back windshield looks very bad, and needs to be replaced. I don't think it leaks though.
My windshield washer fluid cap is missing, and the dealerships want me to buy the entire $40 reservoir just to get the cap... which is pretty annoying.
All the windshield wiper arms were rusted pretty bad. I removed the front ones, sanded them, and repainted them, now they are fine. But the only way to remove the rear wiper arm is to remove the spoiler... I'm not ready for that yet.
General Comments:
I love this car! For the price it is absolutely unbeatable.
I generally drive it around 3000-4000 RPM, and it accelerate so fast... to think that it red-lines at 7000!
It gets excellant gas mileage... for being a V6 sports car.
It is very comfortable, and has a lot of room... again for a sports car.
I do not feel the constant urge to break the speed limit, like I do in most sports cars. The car will drive very fast! But the touring aspect of the car makes it feel just as comfortable cruising around nice and slow.
It is a very easy car to drive. I love the torque that it has! Very easy to shift, and it doesn't demand high RPM's to get good performance.
The steering is very responsive, I can literally stick to a sharp curve at 55MPH! Oh yeah... and that curves caution speed is 20.
In short, if you are looking for a nice reliable car with good gas mileage, reasonable maintenance costs, and has a cheap sticker price... then this is the deal of a lifetime! These cars will be a collectors item one day, get them while you still can!
19th Apr 2005, 19:39
I'm married with 2 kids.There's no need to sell the car, Unless it's for a newer one.