21st Feb 2007, 14:41

I own a 95 Diamante LS, it has almost 140,000 miles on it. Only problem I had was a hard shifting transmission, after a transmission flush the problem went away and it runs great. All the electronics work fine which is remarkable for a 12 year old car. It is holding its paint really well too. Just passed inspection last month with no problems at all. Gas mileage is not that spectacular in city type driving, but does well on the highway. The person who owned it before me (a friend of mine) had problems with it chewing up brakes and rotors...I believe this was due to his driving since I have had no problems in 6,000 miles.

12th Jun 2007, 12:53

I have a 1993 Mitsubishi Diamante and I just got it and 3 months later the water pump went out and the timing Seized, the head gasket was replaced and all the wires and it sill is running like crap... It shakes and makes a strange loud noise. I was wondering if anyone knows anything about this and can help me, I have put over $900 into this thing and I don't make that much money, but is this going to be worth fixing? Email me at Sherbear_kurtz@yahoo.com I am going crazy and I have been without my car for 5 months.

13th Jan 2008, 02:36

I have a 94 diamante es with 172K. Runs great, but has few issues I can live by. Trans is still orig, but once in a while will skip when coming to a stop. The engine has oil leak due to worn gaskets. I've already gotten those fixed. There is one other area where oil leak need to be taken care of and problem will be gone. I would expect a car this age to have little issues. It drives and runs great as far as I can tell. Paint started peeling a couple of months ago so need to get it painted. Few other repairs that were done

1. front struts replaced (rear still orig)

2. control arms replaced

3. idle sensor.

6th Jan 2009, 11:00

Since I'm the most recent post - I purchased my LS with Euro ECS/TCL in 2003 with 170K miles on it. I have observed that this car is very complicated and MOST auto techs have no clue on how to work on them, but will in-fact tell you they do! I have had them tell me at Mitsubishi dealerships that my engine was gone after I had them do the standard maintenance at 180K - timing belt/guides water pump and tensioner 3rd interval, it is required at 60K, because the idiot tech did not time the car correctly.

I had a Pro Japanese performance shop re-time the car after I flat-bedded it there. It has been running perfect ever since. Now has 225K on it!

Smoke, yes they do after high miles - most do! The valve seals go out. Normal wear mine does only after extended idol. I rebuilt the trans at 215K miles. Have replace some electronic parts.

My conclusion is the car is good, but service from Mitsubishi and other techs is terrible, and most have no clue how to fix them, and parts are too expensive. So that is the problem with the car in my opinion

29th Sep 2010, 10:22

I bought my Mitsubishi Diamante not too long ago. I had the timing belt changed costing $500, then my transmission started acting funny. So I changed my transmission fluid hoping that would help. No luck there, it is still doing it. I hate this car, it costs more than it's worth.

I will advise everyone I know not to buy this type of car. I am not satisfied...

22nd Nov 2010, 18:23

I bought a 92 Diamante LS Calif. five years ago. It was sold because the owners mechanics couldn't solve the problem he was having with the car.

It had a bad ECU, which I replaced (very difficult and $$ to find Calif. emissions unit, which is different from federal units).

The engine leaks a bit of oil, which I can live with. The car is now 18 years old, 178,000 miles, of which 40k are mine, and runs great.

I have had to replace the IAC, a known problem, got it at auto wrecking yard for $15.

I recently hit a deep pothole and it bent my strut, so it will need replacing (always replace in pairs) but other than this, all is good.

I love this car so much, I've bought two others. One smoked bad, had the rings redone, all is good now, and the engine has way more power than before having it done.

Common problems I've noticed with early D's;

IAC problems. This will lead to the next common problem.

ECU problems.

Rings/Valves = blowing smoke, an expensive job that you may not want to do. Make sure you want the car before doing this.

Strut/suspension problems.

Trans problems. These are sometimes caused by the TCU. One major note on the trans; never ever use anything than the Mitsubishi trans fluid recommended for this car, it will ruin your tranny, no matter what your mechanic tells you. If you take your car to the Mitsubishi stealership, they will use the proper fluid or you can buy it there and use it yourself.

The issue with the ECU and TCU is that the capacitors used in these units leak out over time, causing problems from starting, idling, running and the units may even catch fire. By the way, capacitor leakage is true of all electronics from early camcorders/VCRs/car stereo units to ECU/TCU's because the technology just wasn't perfected yet. There wasn't enough history behind the use of these type of components to know how they would perform over time in varied environments. A lot of people with older camcorders think that the heads are worn because the picture is warbled, but it may in fact be the caps. There have even been reports of ECU's smoking/catching fire, so be aware. Newer capacitors are made with the benefit of history, and do not leak as commonly as they once did. Many companies will fix your fixable ECU/TCU because they are very good units otherwise; superior design, but inferior parts. A bad IAC could also damage your ECU, so if you have idle problems, which are probably the most common D. problem, start there.

20th Feb 2011, 23:56

I have a 94 Mitsubishi Diamante, bought it about 8 months ago. When I first got it, I thought $850 was a steal! But man I was wrong! This car is a money pit! Oil leaks, smoke pours out of the back (pretty embarrassing) electric problems out the wazoo! Half the time the car won't start without a jump start, and when you use the brakes, the dash lights and head lights get really dim. In the end I would never recommend this car to anyone! I want to sell it, but I don't want to rip off anyone the way I was ripped off!

I do understand that maintenance is needed to keep any car running right, but the parts for this car are at an outrageous price! I'm not willing to give up an arm and leg to fix anything on this car, when I know I'll be replacing the same part in about a month!...

What a piece of crap!

24th Mar 2011, 12:15

Wow! I just bought my 1994 Mitsubishi Diamante a month ago for $800 and I also thought it was a steal. Only to find out this car is a piece of junk! I have spent $2000 on this car between all the problems. Mechanics have no idea about this car, no wonder they stopped selling them.

Now I'm stuck with this car that has more issues than the law allows. I hate this car and I hate myself for buying it.

NEVER buy a Diamante!

6th Jun 2011, 18:53

I have a 1994 Mitsubishi Diamante wagon. It's a fantastic car, and I'd love to buy another in the future.

Mine was built in the Mitsubishi plant in Australia, and even denotes it on the driver;s side door.

My dad bought it in 1995 with 14,000 miles on it, and loved it. He used it hard, so we had to have the whole front suspension rebuilt a few years ago. The main problems with the 92-95 Diamante's are the front joints and the lifters/valves tap when you're within 500 miles of an oil change. You MUST change the oil every 3000 miles or you WILL kill them.

My Diamante has 171,300 miles on it, and it still runs like a champ. We still have the original engine and transmission in, and neither have any issues. The engine has NEVER been rebuilt at all, but when it hits 200,000 miles, I'm definitely rebuilding it. It's the last of a dead and unknown car to most people, but to the hardcore JDM and Mitsubishi fans, these cars are a wonderful and cheap alternative to a BMW or Audi.