Well after having my 04 S and all the problems i decided to let her go and move on to something else. So i got me an 04 EVO. I wish you all the best on your cars and events.

 

I'll bite - what problems did you have that made decide to dump the MINI?

 

Rough Idle , the biggie was my windows wouldnt roll down sometimes and it rattled like crazy. They couldnt fix my Speakers for some off reason.

I had the car for 6 months and had it in the shop over 14 times. And everytime it came out of the shop it had two more problems.

The dealer flat out told me they cant fix my door panels and would have to have a mini rep come in and look at it. I jsut got tired of all the driving up to the shot to have them "try" to fix it.

 

How many miles did you have?

 

11k

I found it very hard to get rid of the minis. I went from dealer to dealer trying to trade it in and they were offering me 17k for a car i payed 26k 6 moths ago. I wasnt about to loose my *** on this. Lucky i had the car almost paid for owed roughly 6k on it. Then finialy i found a dealer who was wanted one bad and paid me 24,300 for my ride and i jusmped all over it. Everywhere else they said 17 is the going rate on them and i just laughed and left .

 

Wow, must be your local market. I see 2002 MCSs with 50K + miles on them selling for 20K + around here. The 2003s sell for 21-24.

 

Yeah I think the $17K people were smoking something. I sold my $26K car with 30,000 miles for $23K after a year and a half.

Sorry you had trouble with yours. I had the same experience, but I really felt it was a one of set of issues and not indicative of the brand, because you rarely hear anyone complaining about the cars much anymore. I have since test drove an '05 and placed an order. What a huge difference from my '03.

How is the EVO? They look like fun cars, but I got worried because of all the warranty issues and problems people were having. Even the major car magazines are reporting that Mitsubishi is keeping a database of cars from scouring amongst SCCA lists and internet message boards. And if your name is found they are flagging you and pretty much denying all warranty work. They were denying that they were doing this, and at first I thought it was some paranoia, but after reading it in all of the major car magazines this month (i.e. Car and Driver and Road and Track....), I realized it was more real. I also heard a lot of people are having clutch problems, but that may be people trying to get a 0-60 time of 5.0 seconds or less (which basically requires you to rev to 5,000+ rpm and dumping the clutch). It really does look like a fun car, but I don't think I would touch a Mitsubishi with a ten foot pole at least right now.

 

The Evo is SWEET. IT drives so good. Yeah the people that are having clutch probles are the ones who drag there car the strip. This car is not a drag car and some seem to forget that. The power is wicked thought. I love the extra power that is has. I love the AWD feel when taking turns it just pulls you though it.

Yeah i have herd about the stuff like that that is why i dont rag my car out on a track i do it on the street HAHAHAHAHA (where are the cameras now) JUST KIDDING

You wont see my name pop up on any SCCA events or anything. I might take it to a local track wher you pay 50 bux and get 5 laps or so and that is about it. There is no membership fee or where they take your info. They just slap a wrist band on you and let er rip.

 

JustinLewis - I'm sorry it got to the point where you had to sell your MINI. Buy I totally understand. It must have been extremely frustrating for you. Good luck with whatever you motor in - in the future...:smile:

Stop in and say Hey once in a while!

Chow!

Donna

 

I will. Thanks to everyone. this is a very helpful forum.

 

Be aware of the fact that Mitsubishi is a company currently undegoing bankruptcy and this could have an impact in terms of warranty coverage and future resale value. I have never owned a Mitsu but based on what I have read here about some ex-EVO owners, the clutch seems to be a sour point with those cars Among other areas of the vehicle) as well as the lousy service and warranty coverage from the factory. I am sure the car is wicked fast, although I don't like the looks and would never pay $27K+ for what essentially is a souped up Lancer econo sedan.

Also, Mitsubishi cracks down on owners that race or autocross their EVOs, thus denying them from any warranty coverage!.

Best of luck. Sorry to learn about your MINI troubles. My '04 MCS with 12.3K miles has been rock solid and not a single unscheduled warranty repair in 11 months of ownership. No rattles either...built like a bank vault.

 

We have an Evo and know several EVO owners and I don't know of anyone that has had problems with their clutch. But the Evo is definitely not just a souped up Lancer, it really only shares a few body panels, otherwise almost everything else is different and while I love Mini's and am waiting very impatiently for mine, the Evo will kick its butt. But both cars are awesome in their own right

 

Congrats on the EVO. I love my MINI, but you now understand massive power in a four wheel drive, and you'll love it (I don't drive my Stealth TT as much as I should). So, I can understand your decision.

Also, as far as performance is concerned, calling that a souped up lancer is like calling a Corvette a souped up cavalier.

If you do go to the track, maybe take off your tags. Mitsu does watch.

 

although i am very satisfied with my mini, evertime i drive my buddies evo, once the turbo is a spoolin' it just puts a big huge smile on my face.

but i still love my mini


have fun!

 

I don't think it is the same as calling a Corvette a souped up Cavalier. The EVO is a Lancer. It is called a Lancer Evolution VIII. It shares the same frame and underpinnings. Granted a lot has changed, but it isn't too hard to convert a Lancer into a Lancer Evolution. Changing a Cavalier to a Corvette would be nearly impossible.

I wouldn't be suprised if Mitsubishi's auto division just totally folds and gets liquidated. They are the only Japanese automotive manufacture to not be profitable and they have never been profitable on their own. Everyone has pulled out of them for financing, and they have been unsuccessful in getting any new financing from the likes of companies such as Daimler Chrysler. Without more funding soon, I can't see how Mitsushi will continue to fund a division that continually sucks large sums of money from their bottom line.

 

Well guys, I guess the truth hurts. The EVO is a nice Lancer sedan with AWD and a 276HP Turbocharged engine. There is nothing wrong with that, but I am just pointing out the econobox origins of this car, that's all. Ditto for the Neon SRT-4, another tire burning pocket rocket that still is your Avis rental Dodge Neon under the skin.

In the Spanish language we have a saying that goes like this (Approximate translation)..."If you dress a monkey with a fine silk suit, the monkey will still be a monkey"

Absolutely, the Neon SRT-4, EVO, WRX STi, etc, etc will kick MINI's butt any day of the week, but the thing that you have to remember is that MINI does not compete in the AWD, high powered compact sedan segment, in other words, cars that have been derived from Rally WRC competition machines. The current MINI does not even compete officially in any rally events due to many constraints in the suspension, short wheelbase and lack of AWD (And enough engine torque).

The Mitsu EVO and Subaru WRX all are more expensive than your stock bone MCS and the SRT-4 competes with the MINI in price and higher engine performance but falls short in key areas of quality, fit finish, appeal, resale value, engineering, etc to the MINI.

I personally think the EVO is a very cool car, don't care for its looks but don't deny its positives either (Honestly if I were in the market for a WRC Rally derived car my choice would be the WRX STi). I would not dump $27K+ on a product whose manufacturer is in risk of going out of business due to financial distress, a terrible quality record, aweful resale vale, spotty customer service, and a tarnished reputation for mediocre products (The EVO is the only bright spot at Misu showrooms right now). Mitsubishi is the ONLY Japanese automaker (Of the main 6, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Mazda) that does not turn a profit. I just hope that EVO owners don't get stranded with an orphan car, much in the same way owners of such memorable marques as Yugo, Daewoo, Daihatsu, Peugeot, AMC Renault, Alfa Romeo, etc got booted when the parent companies folded the tent and left the US car scene.

 

Mitsubishi got in serious trouble in the USA for 2 basic reasons:

1) Stale, unimpressive products
2) Their financial arm underwrote thousands of cheap 0% loans to high credit risks (Kids, teenagers, losers of all kinds) that seriously defaulted their credit obligations in the end, leaving Mitsubishi with Millions and Millions of dollars in bad unpaid debts.

Mitsubishi is part of the Daimler-Chrysler group and given all the problems at the brass at Daimler, the quality woes at Mercedes Benz, etc, the Mitusbishi situation is a cancer that those folks don't know how to get rid of, they refuse to inject more money and capital to develop new products, fix quality problems, etc, so Juergen Schrempp and his clueless minions want to cut their loses and let Mitsu drift away for ever before the entire ship vessel sinks along with them.

The whole enchilada with the war that Mitsubishi has declared on EVO owners autoXing thier cars by voiding their factory warranties is just another "clever" move to save money on projected warranty costs and minimize the number of claims that affect their bottom line.

Have you guys heard that Mercedes Benz will no longer offer their free maintenance program, beginning with the 2005 model year?? So if you buy a new $80K S-Class sedan you will no longer get free oil changes? So if you want any kind of coverage, you have to pay for it! Sucks eh?

Amazing to think that us "lowly" MINI owners with $20K machines can get full 3 year free maintenace coverage and the folk that pays $80K+ for a new Mercedes will have to pay for its oil changes from the get go?


Daimler is clueless and so it is Mitsubishi.

 

Amen to that! The Cavalier-Corvette comparison is the most ridiculous thing I have ever had the pleasure to read in this site. Compare apples to apples, not apples to pork chops!

The Cavalier rode on GM's infamous J-Body platform which was built from 1981 until 2003. The Corvette has always ridden on a dedicated platform that is not shared with any other GM product known to man. By the way, the new C5 Corvette appears to be a full fledged winner from articles in car mags.

So spare the comparisons between an ancient J-body car to a C5 Corvette because aside from the Chevy bowtie there is no DNA shared between the two!

The Cavalier has been replaced by the new 2005 Cobalt which rides in the new GM Delta small car platform co-designed with thier German subsidiary, Adam Opel AG. So yeah, now Chevy has a very competitive small car entry with German genes in its chassis.

On the other hand, the EVO is derived from the Lancer, hence its Lancer EVO moniker. Nothing wrong with that but you can't ignore the econobox origins of the high performance EVO sedan.

 

Actually the cav platform is called J-Car and is shared with the Sunfire...J-Car is still in production.

 

I don't really think the $80K Mercedes driver is really too concerned about paying for an oil change ...lol !

 

I believe the Corvette shares a frame used by one of the new Cadillac models, I believe it is the XLR.

 

I believe the comment comparing a corvette to a cavalier was only in reference to the performance difference between the two, not platform. Perhaps you took it too literal.

cavalier to lancer
corvette to EVO

 

or the "base" Cooper to Cooper S
Or the Saturn Ion to the Saturn Ion Redline
ETc........................

we can do this all day long with every car almost



"who cares anyway"

 

I agree with cooper4us. Pretty much Mitsubishi is going down the drain unless some big miracle comes up the will save them. Ever since the days of the Starion/Conquest TSi's, Eclipse/Talon Turbo's, and 3000GT/Steath Twin turbos which i have all driven, Mitsubishi hasn't really made a good quality cars that can really attract buyers. Right now they are using the same marketing strategies as is low quality cars companies like Kia, Hyundai, and Daewoo just to get their cars to sell. Its sad to see a company like Mitsubishi, that was once very competive and good, go down to shambles.

 

What mitsu needs right now is a Ghosen.