Hi Guys :)
Why Does Mitsubishi Have a Bad Reputation? I heard that Mitsubishi has a bad infotainment system but I don't think its enough to warrant all the hate against Mitsubishi?
Thanks
Why Does Mitsubishi Have a Bad Reputation?
devildoge100 on 08/08/2021 - 11:48
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They don't have a bad reputation, they just don't make very good cars. Some of their cars are basically 20 years old.
Dad had 2 Magna before current car, can remember both were money pit after like 100000km
i think that's a lot of brands actually
as much as people seem to love korean shit here i do note that a lot of korean cars over certain age seem to have the same malaise as mitsubishis had
people have long memories and if you see magnas on the road blowing blue smoke then that casts a pall on your brand
holden's reputation eventually killed them and i see mitsubishi ailling from year to year because they cant seem to find their mojo and really, screw 'em… if they go the way of honda or holden then i dont give a shit
if you're not 1st you're last and they're last
my 'brand' is nissan and they go in directions i dont care for but overall, they do things i like… aspirational models like the new 400z and the ariya ev suv
there's none of that from mitsubishi
i suppose i might get someone calling me out about inappropraite aspirational models i guess
if they were v6 probably it was probably the timing belt at 100k the engine bay is very cramped so its pretty labour intensive
Bargain imo
11 yrs ago yrs I read they produced cars that had a 1 in 4 total engine failure under waranty, lots of articles by impartial motor jurnos saying Don't Buy! their trucks are leased by large companies for 3 yrs then replaced as they are the cheapest to lease, most truck drivers I've met say Don't buy!
About 20yrs or more yrs ago customer stisfaction with the conglomerate's truck and motor vehicle section was so low the stock price fell to junk bond levels
Owned a 1999 model Magna owned by an old guy who serviced it regularly, it used a lot of oil but had done less than 100k kilomtres
https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2016/02/top-10-worst-aut…
To all those saying Mitsubishi doesn't have a bad reputation. I have two "words" - TN Magna. I owned one. The sh$$y reputation of that car was well deserved and affected their reputation for years. Maybe not 20+ years later, but there was a reason Magnas at least had terrible resale value. (Not an expert opinion, but that car was baaaaadddddd. )
Most people lost a lot of interest in Mitsubishi once they stopped developing the Evo. I'd say that for 95% of people, the end of the Evo meant that they no longer looked to Mitsu as a serious manufacturer.
Great cars, we have a Challenger to pull a 21.6 van (although we did add a tourque converter) and an ASX.
Happy with both
Meh some good models and some bad models like everyone else. Older magnas from the mid 90s where rubbish at least the 4 bangers, going older some models of the sigma had issues and the older express vans where average. Most models of the lancer where average no worse than a Corolla.
Good cars.
Starion
Cordia
FTO
GTO
EVO
Colt evo?
Pajero evo
All the diesels get exhaust manifold cracks around the EGR pipe connection, you have to over re-engineer them with stainless welding material to fix it. If you don't fix it, you'll constantly get pure diesel exhaust before the dpf/doc sucked into the vehicle when you have the ventilation set to fresh air. It's worth re-facing the manifold surface and using a better gasket. Once it's fixed you'll never need to do it again. Other than this, all diesels should have an oil/air separator with a 1 micron filter from the factory, but car companies don't seem to care for longevity past the warranty, and too many bean counters running things these days.
poor dealer servicing experience mostly.
the cars are fine, right up there as Japanese quality build.
perhaps suffering a little, as is Nissan, from the relationship with Renault.Reputation must be good, an example:
Magna
How can 1000000 pensioners be wrong
Because it is not Toyota. nuff said.
Cause they are ugly, plastic, dull and dated. With the same money, you can buy better.
I think it's because the Magna from the 1990's had reliability issues.
But overall Mitsubishi == quality.- Mitsubishi Pencil Co make great pens.
- My Mitsubishi fridge is doing really well so far.
- A mate has a Mitsubishi Diamondtron from like the 1990's which looks as good as new today.
- I have a Mitsubishi floppy disk from the 90's which still works today.
Mitsubishi Pencil Co is awesome, but not part of the car company.
They are probably one of the most reputable companies out there
Reliability aside, they used to make really nice sedans from a visual aspect - think about those really supped up Lancers in the late 90s (which look ridiculous these days, but there were plenty on the road)
They don't really seem to go after this market anymore, instead boxy SUVs and utes. They changed their target market, so they must not have been going well in that market segment
Mitsubishi have a good reputation and a strong warranty on drivetrain.
Pajero and Verada are quite comfortable. My only gripe was they had timing belts, not chains.
Chains can stretch, snap or become rattly.
I've driven a Holden 3.6 with this problem. Apparently it was a defect but they didn't want to resolve it.
Other cars I've had with chains didn't have this issue, (Pulsar).
I think it depends on the design. I would prefer a chain if it lasts longer.
A timing chain breaking without warning is an incredibly rare event. Usually it will start rattling long before that happens. A timing belt breaking us virtually guaranteed. It has been a major problem with some cars breaking before the recommended service interval. e.g. TS Holden Astra was originally released with 100k timing belt interval but they kept breaking early so Holden revised it down to 60k. They are also fairly expensive to replace, having to do that every 60k is ridiculous. Chains will, in most cases, last the life of the engine. If I could avoid it, I will never buy a car with a belt.
The petrol Pajero has a timing belt. The diesel Pajero has a chain.
The Hyundai i30 has a chain and a belt system. The engine has twin overhead camshafts, but only the exhaust camshaft is driven by the timing belt from the crankshaft. A short timing chain then takes drive from the exhaust camshaft to the intake camshaft.
Peugeot diesels have a belt.
The Fiat Ducato has a timing belt along with others in the brand.
There are many other brands with a timing belt.
Nissan in their wisdom went from a double row chain to a single row in the Nissan Navara. It was a failure as the chains were snapping. A company in England developed a double row replacement for it.
Pretty sure Nissan started using chains because of renault, micra and other cars were based on Renaults which used them. Thats 10 years ago.
Much easier to get the aircon belt tightened every 2-3 years
A lot of their negative reputation is due to what happened in the 80's/90's. A bit like Hyundai from the 90's or Kia from the early 00's.
Most of it is unjustified nowadays, but people remember. They closed up in Oz because they released the 380 about 5 years too late. The market was moving to SUVs by that time.
I have to say though, the Mitsi 3000GT was cool. Got a ride in one of those once. What a rocket.
Why? Because itsashitti!
Showing my age, but the Astron 2.6L was a massive POS. I rebuilt one 3 times.
They have 10 year warranty now though… if they made a car big enough to have my 6'4 son sit behind me at 6'6 then I would consider it :)
My first car was an 89 magna, I still remember reading a review of the engine. "Power of a 4, economy of a 6" it wasn't wrong, and mine was even worse as the choke would get stuck on.
Have a base model 2019 outlander now, very happy with it for the price.
Just my personal opinion, I don't think they're unreliable, I just wouldn't really consider buying any of their models apart from the Patrol.
Pretty much every vehicle class, they would be at the very bottom of my list.Got that "bitsamissing" tag line from the 90's and it's still hanging around in some parts. I guess that's why they came out with the 7 and now 10 year warranty.
I just wouldn't really consider buying any of their models apart from the Patrol.
Pajero ;)
lol, that's the one
It's been a long day!
Their Japanese made cars are as good as any Japanese made cars - reliable. However they are not as reliable as the Japanese made Toyotas.
I think their bad reputation comes from the time where their Australian made Magna always blow black smoke after a couple of years use. These Magnas / 380 tends to disappear from the road completely now. Whereas there are still some Australian made Camrys / Falcodores around even now, depends on which state you are in.
another possible explanation is because of the Mit Zero ?
As good as any*
*Toyota is not included in "any"
lol
Man those Zeros fly! So fast. Pretty bad occupant safety rating though…
If only they had an ANCAP rating and test footage for a Zero…
The frontal collision avoidance actually seemed to be the complete opposite of every other vehicle on the market. It was almost like it would deliberately seek out a collision, rather than avoid it.
Former Magna driver here! Lowest cost car ever! Perfect for the nerd wearing sandals and a cardigan. Never had to buy a dinner for a girl that was willing to sit inside one. Engines are so reliable that Chinese companies still use its design. My Magna was so ugly that no parking warden ever wanted to touch it. Anything I had after cost me a fortune. When I took a Subaru to Fraser I had to drived bogged Pajeros all the time. I miss the Mitsi and the only girl ever to be bold to sit on the passenger seat…
I really liked the verada I drove. Very comfortable.
Very affordable too.
Nope sounds like only you've heard of this poor reputation OP. Mitsubishi are a bit boring and behind some of the other marques in a lot of ways but reliability isn't one of them so perhaps their "reputation" is that they are boring.
Grew up with a family car, Magna (10 years) and my first car was a Lancer for 12 years. They were reliable, cheap and comfy.
I can see why today's market hates Mitsubishi though. They maintain the status quo with a low effort business model so it's a bit boring for consumerism because there's not much innovations. They had the Lancer design since 2006 until now.
I'd say 10 years is a good run for a new model, with upgrades and updates. The parts availability and choice is off the charts because of this, everybody and their mate has an aftermarket part for them.
Had a 90's Mitsubishi Delica for 10 years, it was about 16 years old when I sold it, most reliable car I had and it got hammered off road.
I think at one point it was reported Mits had some thermal event issues, but that was a long time ago.
Nothing wrong with Mitsubishi these days.
They build good reliable carsThe first Magnas (1985-1987) had some automatic gearbox issues but they were first with electronic gearboxes (the solenoids with play up)
Now they all have electronic gearboxes and yes, they have problems.
The 2.6L motor in the early TP Magna (1985-1990) also developed rattling timing chain issues as the adjuster used to wear out after around 200,000kms.
The later TR/TS model with the 3L 6cyl motor developed hardened valve stem seals issues at around 200,000km which led to the motor emitting smokey exhaust fumes whilst idling.
This issue is not limited to Magnas……
But I have seen this with a 5 year old Kia after just 50,000km (good reason to stay away from Kia)
Every car suffers from wear and tear at some stageI think they might be the only manufacturer to be targeted by an atomic bomb. Maybe that has left some lingering doubts?
I’m not sure where you got the bad rep from. So many outlanders out there and I drive one for work it’s really good
The Pajero I regularly drive at work has shitty touch buttons for volume up down rather than a dial, it's incredibly slow, and regardless of the set of tyres on it just lets so much road noise into the cabin. Terrible for long trips, I imagine hearing loss is a prerequisite for towing a caravan with one.
That said, it has never broken down and it has gone to the end of the earth and back.
I'm a triton owner and love it. I believe the hate comes from "love it, or hate it styling" and they seem a few years behind in tech over the competition.
The hate is nothing to do with the reliability or support. I believe this is to be said of the whole range - it's a sad state of affairs where they find themselves over the coming years becoming the red headed step child to Nissan.
Seen more mitsubishis on the side of the road than anything else. That was 20 years ago though.
The Aussie built Magnas and 380s were a bit crap but anything out of Japan was great! Like Nissan, they are going to shit under the Renault banner with what appears to be no funds for RND.
"Anything"?
No, the ASX, Outlander, Mirage, and many other models weren't "great".
Every make of car has the loyal fans, no matter who you talk to they will have their favorite or the car their dad told them to follow just like most sports teams etc
You have to be smart enough to make your own observation from your own experience.
From my experience of owning and driving dozens of cars over the years each make has their good cars and bad cars mate.
Personally I thought the TJ MAGNA model was pretty good for it's time when it came out.
I even think some lancers are nice from CJ onwards and the EVO are a masterpiece of power and handling.
But again the other cars like mirage were okay nothing special the early magna's were pretty bad.
Just poor resale value otherwise, decent cars!
I think the reason Mitsubishi has a bad reputation among "older" people like me is some of the truly woeful junk they produced in the '80s and '90s (admittedly a fair while ago, and I'm not sure it should affect the reputation of their current products).
The 4 cylinder "Astron" engine used in the Sigma and later the Magna was renowned for blowing smoke at a relatively low mileage. The auto transmission in the early Magnas often had solenoids fail and replacement was expensive. The Starion had a reputation for overheating and consequently blown head gaskets. The Cordia Turbo had issues with the turbo overheating.
However, even with all these issues, the Pajero has always been considered a reliable car by most people, no doubt helped by its 6 consecutive wins in Wynn's Safari on the '80s, and several Dakar wins, the first in 1985.
Mitsubishi doesnt have a bad rep ? unless im missing something that are good SUV but i have never owned one
My Mitsubishi is fantastic, provides great air-conditioning all summer long
Mitsubishi doesn't have luxury cars . That's the problem
They did in the 90's along with most other Japanese car makers. The Diamante was their answer to the Lexus LS400. This is what the mid 90's Magna was based on, you can see they copied the LS400 in a lot of ways.
It Doesn't.
Parents brought a Mitsubishi - Not just a few issues but:
* Air Condition Leak
* Thin thin paint
* Rust in seat rails (not a result of water damage)
* Uneven brake rotors (shaking when pressing the brake). Had to get brake rotors even out.
* Weak engine
* Cracking plasticNever again
They shouldn't have a bad reputation, because they're very reliable. Take my story.
In 2009 I bought a 2005 Mitsubishi 380 on LPG for $10,500 and took it to about 355,000kms by 2018. Until this point it had no mechanical issues - but something broke and it wouldn't start. Given the high k's I scrapped it for $300 as opposed to taking it in.
Because the first one was so good, in 2018 I then went and bought another 2006 Mitsubishi 380 on LPG, this time for $4500, from a dealer with a warranty. It had done only 142,000km. It has been perfect ever since and I just use it as a journey to work car.
Both these prices were attained with haggling and a lot of searching.
I have saved so much money buying these Mitsu 380s for cheap, not having mechanical issues and running them on LPG. It's not what I'd call a cool car but I don't care.
If you have a look on product reviews the mitsubishi 380 has some of the most satisfied customers of any car. These are not fake reviews either - no person or organisation has anything to gain by spruiking this car.
Some of their reputation came from their position in the market - as they were cheap n cheerful they were often bought by people that didn't do sufficient/any maintenance which wore out the engine quickly.
The 4B11 & 4B12 engines released in 2006/07 have been used in the Lancer, ASX & Outlander and have shown excellent reliability and low service costs, I consider them the equal of any Toyota engine. Even their Jatco CVT's have been much more reliable than the versions used in Nissans and are known to go 300,000km without issues.
Sadly like Nissan, they gave up on common person, they just want tradies
No real shock they flogged the old ASX for 20k in the run out sale.I rented a long term car over xmas and was initially provided a Hyandai Tucscon, then a Mitsubishi Outlander (it had 10km on the odo) and finally a brand new Corolla. My god, after having the Hyandai for a few months, the brand spanking new Mitsubishi was a P.O.Shyte - terrible engine with no grunt and the infotainment unit was absolutely rubbish. I complained and returned the car within 24 hours - it felt like stepping back in time 10 years from the Hyandai. Such a dinky, plasticy cheap car. The corolla was no better tbh, their infotainment unit didnt even work nor connect to their own toyota app! If I ever bought a car, it would be a Hyandai, they are on a roll and their cars are the best IMO for the middle of the pack brands.
Hyundai have come a very long way in terms of reliability, performance, internal furnishings, entertainment and the "looks". The complete opposite of what they used to be - remember how many Excel's there were on the road? You would be lucky to see one today.
They aren't even priced "cheap" anymore
In the year 2000 Mitsubishi got hit with a bunch of negative press regarding long running cover ups of defects. I remember at the time their reputation took a massive hit. I think it coincided with the closure of the Australian manufacturing plant which just doubled down on the negative Australian press. Here is an article from the time
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2000/aug/23/8
Potentially the perceived bad rep you are talking about are the echos of that. Mitsubishi have done a lot since then to improve their image, I know they introduced one of the longest warranties in the Australian market almost immediately afterwards to help rebuild consumer confidence and I'm sure in the past 20 years they have done a bunch of other things to improve their reputation.
As someone who was more into cars in 2000 than I am now. I know the bad reputation of 2000s Mitsubishi has stuck with me although I think the reality is that they have improved their image and issues and are a better manufacturer these days as a result.
The info nav and entertainment system was a act of pure evil. Has it on the EVO and it was horrible and the only gadget in my life I just gave up on!
Had an 08 lancer about 8 years. ABS pump needed rebuilding twice and about 70% of the paint slowly peeled off (nothing a couple of spray cans couldn't fix). Other than that it's been very reliable. I've read Mitsubishi uses weak auto (CVT) transmissions so I expect that is what will eventually kill it.
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@spackbace: at least he doesnt have long left on this earth
outliving these dropkicks is the best way