Ok, I've just cliked over 10,000 kays in the VRX. So far I have absolutely no quality control issues on this vehicle. Tight as a drum, no squeeks/rattles or any warranty issues to speak off.

How about other 380 owners?? Anything to mention yet or things we should be more aware of? 22651

I know a lot of people were concerned at buying the 380 due to it being a brand new model. Most people who were interterested in purchasing a 380 wanted to wait for the series 2 for problems/bugs to be ironed out. So far I havent heard of any (apart from the fuel line recall). I think Mitsu got it right the first time. 22653

My brief drive of a base 380 hire car over 3 days ... I felt deja vu. Everything looked and felt like my TJ VRX. Except my vRX has more gear. 5spd tiptronic felt same.

Cruise is the same, dash the same, mostly. I still think the TH/TJ Climate Control (VRX, Sports and Verada) is a better unit.

The 380 had a lot more torque.. While my VRx feels good hunting up thru the gears... the 380 felt stronger.

So, I expect that 380s are built to the same quality or better than later Magnas. Makes sense. They come from the same factory. My TJ has no rattles and squeaks after 85,000 and nearly four years. Mind you, I don't flog it on dirt roads or use the manual shifting function very often. Not like some members here... :cool: :D

Ok, I've just cliked over 10,000 kays in the VRX. So far I have absolutely no quality control issues on this vehicle. Tight as a drum, no squeeks/rattles or any warranty issues to speak off.

How about other 380 owners?? Anything to mention yet or things we should be more aware of? 22651
That's good news. When my mate bought his brand new Monaro (the first ones out) back in 2002, it didn't take long for the LS1 engine to develop a "rattle" and a door to develop a clunking noise when going over bumps. This was within the first 10 000 kms. It's still a great car (love the look of the first series Monaros) but it's still just a Holden... Good to see Mitsubishi getting it right first time.

so far, i haven't had a single problem in the 3 months since i bought the vrx

I've had mine for 6 weeks, so far only a couple of small things....

1. Trim showing where A pillar meets dash on both sides, I'll get it fixed next service.
2. Sqeaky seat belt plugs (I'm sure that's not the right name). A tiny dab of oil at the base fixed that.

Other than that, very happy with it!!!

1. Trim showing where A pillar meets dash on both sides, I'll get it fixed next service.


I see this on every 380 ive been in bar one. It's obviously been put there to stop squeaks but it looks tacky.




My TJ has no rattles and squeaks after 85,000 and nearly four years. Mind you, I don't flog it on dirt roads or use the manual shifting function very often. Not like some members here... :cool: :D


Our roads dirt, and it has a few ruts in it all year round. Its when you go down bumpy dirt road that you notice the difference between the stiffness of the 380 chassis and the TW series we had previously.

I see this on every 380 ive been in bar one. It's obviously been put there to stop squeaks but it looks tacky.

Yeah same here. Although I looked in a series 2 sx the other night, it was ok. I'm guessing it's fixed in the later builds.

....Our roads dirt, and it has a few ruts in it all year round. Its when you go down bumpy dirt road that you notice the difference between the stiffness of the 380 chassis and the TW series we had previously.

OK.
Sounds like 380 is the goods.

The kiwi motoring press claimed the GT was of a lexus build quality, so the replies here are not unexpected.

Funny how a slightly more independant motoring press with virtually the same competition came to a completely different conclusion.

The kiwi motoring press claimed the GT was of a lexus build quality, so the replies here are not unexpected.

Funny how a slightly more independant motoring press with virtually the same competition came to a completely different conclusion.


When you say different.. show me the Aussie press article that says they are not built well??!

They might say... ugly, outdated, front wheel drive, no folding back seat... no adjustable height steering wheel... etc etc etc.. but they usually say.. nice build.

?

I eat my words.. these goons at NRMA say it suffers interior build quality..

http://www.mynrma.com.au/mitsubishi380.asp

and I found an interesting letter of reply to a motoring website..

http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring/news_reports/letters.htm


23/5/06

I concur with everything said in the [380 VRX] review, although not sure I understand rear end squat. I drive the first release VRX and am very happy with it. Prior to this I had a BA II XR6. The 380 is much better from the drivers perspective. Yes you would expect a sports car to be lower profile. The tyres on the XR6 were more impressive, and even the Aurion, yet to be released will have the market accepted rear wing.

Another niggly thing to me is the rear boot access. It might carry a lot, but will have to limit the dimensions of the cases you try and fit in. Another feature I particularly liked about the XR6 was the automatic light sensors which would turn the headlights on when lighting was too dim. But did I already say, it drives better than my XR6?

Not mentioned in the review is that this is the only one of the three referred to which has climate control as standard. Also I don't know if this is unique or not but the computer screen in the middle console can be used to programme certain preferences e.g. single or double click to unlock all the doors; sound or no sound, as in other security systems, and even how long you want the lights to remain on for after turning the engine off, amongst other options.

The 380 has also been recognised as Australia's most secure locally manufactured car. The 380 scored 74.5 to clearly beat Commodore with 59.5, Falcon with 57.5, Nissan Maxima with 51.5, Camry with 58.0 and Avalon with 57.0.

Thanks for the site. It is very good.

- David S.

Editor's Note: Thanks for the email David. You make a lot of good points about the 380, which in my opinion is an underrated car. Okay, so by rear end squat I mean that the car's rear drops down, and the car's front end pitches up as the car accelerates hard. Put the 380 in first gear, dial in about 3500rpm and ease out the clutch, as you quickly feed in full throttle. Our test car's rear end tended to 'squat' whenever we took off quickly.

and this view... on the above site..



The new Toyota Aurion looks a very fine vehicle - its specifications show it to be equally impressive and it will kill off the reasonable Mitsubishi 380. However I doubt it will be a volume seller: the trend is against large cars. Toyota should have concentrated on the new, much better looking Camry and included a 3.5-litre V6.

Cheers.

- Martin Copelin

and some more stuff..

https://www.aaa.asn.au/roadtests/reports/330.pdf

They might say... ugly, outdated, front wheel drive, no folding back seat... no adjustable height steering wheel... etc etc etc.. but they usually say.. nice build.

?Thats what I was getting at.

Plus there was some whinge by one of the Jurnos comparing the 380 to a territory - not quite as simplified as that, but they were basically trashing the quality of the materials used - hard plastics, mismatching etc.

Thats what I was getting at.

Plus there was some whinge by one of the Jurnos comparing the 380 to a territory - not quite as simplified as that, but they were basically trashing the quality of the materials used - hard plastics, mismatching etc.
Yeah I read that one where some guy says the 380 is as wrong as the Territory is right. I gave this dude an absolute verbal (written) spray with his blatantly obvious anti-380 bias.

Is there anyone out there who, when shopping around for a new car, compare and closely examine the type of interior plastics used?... (silence)

Just imagine the following news report:

"The driver, who miraculously escaped serious injury with minor cuts and bruises, later said that he could not have survived if it weren't for the structural strength of his car's cabin plastics".

I think it's sad that the 380 would be getting better reviews, at least from Holden and Ford-controlled media, if it wore a red lion and was renamed Commodore...:cry:

Yeah I read that one where some guy says the 380 is as wrong as the Territory is right. I gave this dude an absolute verbal (written) spray with his blatantly obvious anti-380 bias.

Is there anyone out there who, when shopping around for a new car, compare and closely examine the type of interior plastics used?... (silence)

Just imagine the following news report:

"The driver, who miraculously escaped serious injury with minor cuts and bruises, later said that he could not have survived if it weren't for the structural strength of his car's cabin plastics".

I think it's sad that the 380 would be getting better reviews, at least from Holden and Ford-controlled media, if it wore a red lion and was renamed Commodore...

Good on you as well. I remember when I first read that review. I though it was a stupid comparison done by someone who honestly shouldn't be reviewing cars (if they are they should only compare Ford's with previous Ford vehicles when an updated model is released).

LOL - love you comment about the interior plastics in the event of a crash.

Before anyone comments about the 380's commodore platics, has any reviewer actually made a direct comparison with the VZ commodore? NO! The reason being is that Australia's number 1 selling car (The Commodore) has horrible plastics throughout the dash (and also the cabin) that are cheap crap which is probably imported from China. I (dare I say it) feel that the VX had better dash quality then the VY did initially. The VT/VX also has a better safety rating (according to some sources) when compared to the VY/VZ. It's just a coincidence that Holden's build quality (which is "crap actually" - quote from Top Gear when reviewing the Vauxhall version of the Monaro) went down-hill when they started importing a greater % of parts to build the cars, which has increased to 45% imported content on the VE (could the VE be worse quality????).

Is there anyone out there who, when shopping around for a new car, compare and closely examine the type of interior plastics used?... (silence)

well, no... but my family have 3 hyundais, and well it's the first thing i notice when i sit in them or drive them... even the materials used in my car are far better than anything hyundai use even if my car is 20 years old. the fabric for the seats and door trim inserts are polyester based, the plastic for the dash, etc is somewhat hard and brittle (my grandpa's '98 excel has a big crack in the dash and the car hasn't been over 100k yet - and it has been garaged for majority of it's life), everything that can be made of plastic, is made of plastic. and crap quality plastic at that.

I read somewhere that the mag wheels (factory) that come with your Falcodore XR6/SV6 are from Asia.

1. Trim showing where A pillar meets dash on both sides, I'll get it fixed next service.



If anyone has this problem, you dealer will replace the A pillar under warranty. (If they give you any problems they are less than $10ea so just buy them.) But Mitsubishi have released modiffied trims to fix the problem.

Yeah I read that one where some guy says the 380 is as wrong as the Territory is right. I gave this dude an absolute verbal (written) spray with his blatantly obvious anti-380 bias.

Is there anyone out there who, when shopping around for a new car, compare and closely examine the type of interior plastics used?... (silence)

Just imagine the following news report:

"The driver, who miraculously escaped serious injury with minor cuts and bruises, later said that he could not have survived if it weren't for the structural strength of his car's cabin plastics".

I think it's sad that the 380 would be getting better reviews, at least from Holden and Ford-controlled media, if it wore a red lion and was renamed Commodore...:cry:

Interior looks/feel is all relative and personal choice. I came out of a VX Commie and can honestly say jumping into the 380 was like jumping into the next century. Have to remember though that the VX type dash set up has been round since the VT (1997).

One other thing I found surprising with the write ups and the 380 dash set up was the comment that the "ice blue" instument back lighting was "gaudy". Sorry, I love the blue back lighting and feel it looks classy.....but.....its all down to personal choice right. lol

[QUOTE=Veearex]Interior looks/feel is all relative and personal choice. I came out of a VX Commie and can honestly say jumping into the 380 was like jumping into the next century. Have to remember though that the VX type dash set up has been round since the VT (1997).

I to also came from a VX Commie Executive. The first thing that I noticed was the handling. It **** over the commodore and with virtually no torque steer. And the gearbox was so much smoother. But the car was also much quieter inside as well. Done 8000ks and no problems yet.

[
I to also came from a VX Commie Executive. The first thing that I noticed was the handling. It **** over the commodore and with virtually no torque steer. And the gearbox was so much smoother. But the car was also much quieter inside as well. Done 8000ks and no problems yet.[/QUOTE]

Mike1100, Cant fully agree with you there regarding the torque steer. We seem to have the same vehicle and the torque steer comes on in bucket loads, especially at WOT from a standing start. Reminds me of my KF Verada, certainly have to be awake when playing around.

That said, my previous VX Commie had 320kw so keeping the rear end anchored to the ground was yet another issue again, one which I havent got time to go into right now.lol

Interior looks/feel is all relative and personal choice. I came out of a VX Commie and can honestly say jumping into the 380 was like jumping into the next century. Have to remember though that the VX type dash set up has been round since the VT (1997).

One other thing I found surprising with the write ups and the 380 dash set up was the comment that the "ice blue" instument back lighting was "gaudy". Sorry, I love the blue back lighting and feel it looks classy.....but.....its all down to personal choice right. lol
Exactly - it's PERSONAL choice, not a technical negative to give critics reason to denigrate and down-mark the car.

[
I to also came from a VX Commie Executive. The first thing that I noticed was the handling. It **** over the commodore and with virtually no torque steer. And the gearbox was so much smoother. But the car was also much quieter inside as well. Done 8000ks and no problems yet.

Mike1100, Cant fully agree with you there regarding the torque steer. We seem to have the same vehicle and the torque steer comes on in bucket loads, especially at WOT from a standing start. Reminds me of my KF Verada, certainly have to be awake when playing around.

That said, my previous VX Commie had 320kw so keeping the rear end anchored to the ground was yet another issue again, one which I havent got time to go into right now.lol[/QUOTE]

Veearex,

Good to hear of your experience so far. My VRX Series 2 will be delivered in three weeks in Brisbane.
I have owned 4 Commodes and although I had a weakness for the 4.2 VB (handling) all were shyte cars, particularly the last one.
Before I laid down an order for this one, I was really set on a XR6 T or XR8. My workplace has quite a few and eventually the high maintenance of these cars killed my enthusiasm. Things like disc machining every 40k and electric window motor failures, compared to the Verada I have now (235 000K) with no problems.
To be fair I drove the work SV6 for a couple of trips but found the crappy rear vision, unresponsive accelerator (only gives power with heavy boot applications) and soggy handling really off-putting.

The VRX handling was a revelation and completely unexpected. I get annoyed by the dolts who make the tired old comments about real cars must have rear wheel drive.

Took Doug's for a drive a few weeks back, is a VRX.

3 things I hated about it,

1. absolutley no rear wiew, the back end is too high to get a good look back. Not bad for some I guess but think of the target audience where they are families with mum driving the kids in carparks etc
2. the triptronic on down shift has a cuppa before it thinks about shifting. I put my fut down and nothing happened for a couple of seconds.
3. the finish on the dash is disgusting. the attempt at texture, dashmat needed.

In general I liked things like the auto locking fuel cap for those rainly days when you forget to open the damn thing. the car was responsive enough but is only a stroked 305 after all. Those motors have more than run the course.

Hey guys/girls.... Just a couple of teathing problems with our 380 VRX in the frist couple of wks of buying the car... Jan 2006

1) The powers steering shat it self when i was going round a corner... just stoped working the thing was like a fcuking tank to drive, so we ended up having it towed to a Mitsubishi dealer once we got it home... Turned out it was a Faulty bearing in the power steering or something... all fixed

2) The car wouldn't start!!!! would be ok one day and then you had to try and turn it over a few times before it would finaly work.... They put in a new battery, had to reprogam the comp and the keys.....

The cars done a bit over 8000ks and no more problems since.... awsome car.... smooth, quiet, gr8 pick up on the hwy and apart form the few issuse when we first bought it its a really well built car!!!