1989 Mitsubishi Magna GLX 2.8 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Cheap and bland

Faults:

Water pump needed replacing on two occasions.

Clutch was replaced by the previous owner, I had to replace clutch after about 20000 klms.

Gearbox needed replacement. It was always difficult to select reverse.

I ran the car on LPG and petrol. LPG system was cheap to run, but in order to get the car running smoothly the LPG system and the carberettor had to be in perfect sync. This rarely occurred. Most mechanics were inexperienced when servicing cars running on dual fuel systems, so it took a couple of expensive repairs before I found a reliable dual fuel specialist.

It went out with a bang. It exploded into flames about 2 weeks ago. A small crack in the fuel supply and an electrical fault combined to create a truly spectacular finale to my Jap crap experience. The front end was burnt to a crisp and the car was a write off.

General Comments:

Usually reliable.

Some niggling faults, water pump, clutch and gearbox.

Mine was a 5 speed, station wagon. It handled long distance drives surprisingly well.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 8th September, 2003

1989 Mitsubishi Magna Elite 2.6 petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Excellent, but a little conservative

Faults:

The auto transmission got stuck in 2nd gear on two occasions.

General Comments:

This was a fantastic car! Great sound system (controls on steering wheel), power everything, very comfortable seats and excellent rear leg room.

The engine is quite an old design, carried over from the Sigma, but it is reasonably powerful and sometimes gives a bit too much to the front wheels.

Fuel economy wasn't great.

I loved the digital dash readout, in orange (eg. the rev counter was a horizontal bar, kinda like an equalizer on a stereo).

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 26th September, 2002

26th Apr 2006, 08:14

The great thing about dash lights, is on my 1985 L200 express 2-4 ute, the illumination was green, but I took the bulbs out and bought blue bulbs.

1989 Mitsubishi Magna GLX 2.6 litre petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

I still like Magnas, but I don't think they last as long as some other cars

Faults:

The water pump started leaking just after I bought the car.

Not long after, I needed a new exhaust system.

After buying new front tyres, it was almost impossible to balance them properly.

Top radiator hose exploded at 200,000 km.

Had to replace water pump belt at 230,000 km.

Replaced all other belts at 238,000 km.

Motor self-destructed at 245,000 km.

General Comments:

Magnas are nice cars to drive. Mine has air-coditioning and power steering. The motor is very quiet and the car drives very smooth.

I believe that 2.6 litre Magnas have poor fuel economy and the timing chain becomes very noisy.

My car used a lot of oil.

Most of these Magnas seem to have noisy timing chains, but mine got too loose and stuffed the motor up.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 21st June, 2002

12th Oct 2005, 19:51

No body seems to realise that when a timing chain is noisy it is time to replace it. Other cars have timing belts that don't last as long and don't get noisy they just break. But that seems to be acceptable to most people, but a magna with a noisy timing chain is not. When a timing chain is noisy it is trying to tell you something. So when a magna breaks its chain and destroys its motor don't blame the car you were warned.

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1989 Mitsubishi Magna GLX 2.6 petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Nice

Faults:

Seatbelts broke.

Tape deck is a hoe to use.

General Comments:

A conservative vehicle.

The front wheel drive system will shred up grass like you wouldn't believe.

She's a bit unstable at high speeds and sluggish, especially with a carload.

Fuel consumption is respectable

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 10th April, 2002

1989 Mitsubishi Magna 2.6 liter petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Reliable but has little power

Faults:

Nothing to really complain about.

Broken water pump belt at 255000 and noisy tappets.

General Comments:

The car has been extremely reliable for me, I have had no trouble whatsoever. In the 3 years I have owned it the only costs have been on road eg, rego and lots of petrol. This thing gets really poor mileage compared to the amount of power it puts out. But the upside to having little power is tyres last for a long time especially if you run low profiles.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 7th March, 2001

17th Jun 2001, 06:20

Admittedly the economy is not as good as say, a Pulsar, Corolla or the like, but is certainly better than the equivalent Falcon or Commodore. My old 89 GLX 5 speed (carburettored) regularly returned 35 mpg (8.0L/100km) on long country runs. Admittedly, it never had air-conditioning, but as I've found out on my new 3.5 Executive, that makes bugger all difference anyway.

29th Apr 2003, 10:04

Little power? LITTLE? this car pumps out a lot of power for a 4 cyl being 2.6 L, even the carby version has 83 kw where EFI has 93, very good I say.

7th Oct 2004, 06:09

I've had my 1989 Elante for some time now, and I find it reliable, reasonably cheap to run, and I think it looks great. What more would you want of ANY car? I would definitely buy Mitsubishi again!

24th Jan 2006, 22:36

I got a second hand Magna 1989 for $3000 and it goes well, but the fuel gauge does not work most of the time, on occasions that it works its great. don't know how to fix it, perhaps someone can help me. Its nerve recking on long journeys as I don't know how much petrol is in the tank. Thank you.

1989 Mitsubishi Magna GLX 2.6 MPi 4 cyl from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Good all round sophistication

Faults:

Thi timing assembly has always been a problem with Mitsubishi's Astron II engine and mine is no different. Other than this the car has been excellent.

General Comments:

If you want a simple, no fuss family sedan that is of a higher build quality than your average Holden or Ford then go for the Magna. I find the performance and simplicity of the Magna to be the two strongest factors.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 26th September, 2000