Hi
A couple of us have asked the question about higher Km problems with the car, but have not recieved a reply. My father and I are both concidering purchasing a magna/verada but are concerned about long term problems. Magnas don't hold there value very well and I would think that has more to do with being large quantiitys avaliable through fleet sales than them being a lemon but maybe I am wrong? Are they are car that should be sold before they get too may K's on them? If so how many. Our family has an old GE sigma that is used as a city hack which you cannot kill, if the magna is half as good with reliability than they should last very well indeed. Thanks for any advice on them and any problems you should be looking for when purchasing one, even a low km one. If we purchase a ex lease one from Q fleet for example you don't get to drive the car first which is a bit of a worry.
cheers all

As I drive a lot of hire cars as a result of my job, I can honestly say that the magnas hold up to bad treatment better than a lot of the toyota corollas, nissan pulsars etc. which really start to show the hard life after only 40,000K or so! The magnas hold up well, I bought mine ex rental and have had no problems at all!

As for the price, any car available in large volumes (common*****s, foulcans etc) will be cheap. They are not lemons (with the exception of the AU falcon - all series)

As for long term - they are pretty darned reliable, 200,000K is not an unusual mileage for some, with few issues (a few more rattles, bumps and squeaks than new, of course)

Cheers
Heath Young

Scott,

You are right in that Magnas have poor resale but this has little or nothing to do with questions of reliability. Poor resale is partly due too poor sales and heavy discounting of new vehicles too encourage sales, its a bit of a catch 22.
I think the Magna 3rd Gen Magna is a quality product and more than favourably compares too Commodores and Falcons in terms of performance and refinement, the same goes for overpriced European Cars. This for a car thats been around since 1996. It must be remembered that when the Magna was developed originally in Japan, it was forseen that the car was to be sold in quite a few countries and hence had too be a world class product in order to compete. So even your poverty pack exec models benefit from the same engineering as the top of the line models destined for export.
I have a 1997 exec manual that I got at 2 years old and 15000km. Its now done 135000km without any significant problems. Yeah the oddsqeak and rattle but nothing to cause concern. I would certainly recommend buying a low km example that had been fully checked out.

Good Luck
Nigel

Good insight guys, yep its true the magna is no lemon.
My magna currently has about 144000 k's on the odometer n it runs n performs as if it were a car of half that many k's. Its a TF magna by the way...

As for resale, its true that the magna has the poorest statistics compared to crapadores and falcadores, and yes it is due to the amount of models they bring out + the quantity of magnas on the road.

The only gripe id have to say is with the handling abilities, but this is acceptable due to its suspension/ride height/tyre setup. But then again im probably being hard on it bcoz i also drive a WRX ;)

i agree with all of the above. i have driven few cars, but i must say i am very pleased with the choice i made. (i currently have a 96 TE 3.0L Manual) and it drives like a dream. perfect power (with the large potential) and great drivability. good luck mate and just make sure u get a car wiith some low kms at the right price. try to go on 15,000-20,000 kms per year (eg 1996 should have no more than about 140,000) but id go for way less ( hehe geeedy me)

good luck

Trav

oh and also check out www.redbook.com.au and/or www.rac.com.au

i have tr in the driveway thats done over 330000kms and the new magna seems to be holding up quite nicely (touch wood :P )

i am prity sure mitsu overcompensate with parts and de tune engines so they last longer. they have great quality control.

you will find that the engine holds up excellent over the years and mileage. but you can't say that much abt the rest of the car though. your best bet, a manual 3.5 or 3L V6. the auto trans doesn't like to please ppl.

I'd have to agree there, the engines great and feel bulletproof, but the rest of car is so so.

Mines a 01 model in top condition and has only done 46 thou, but is already starting to feel slightly loose. I doubt the car will fall apart, but eventually may feel really bad to drive.

And regarding resale, Mitsuibishi need to stop discounting their cars so heavily.

Mine was a 'remanufactured' model and cost 22K in April 2003, now they sell the exact same car for approx 19K.

If Mitsubishi want to sell cars they have to stop ripping the buyer off. They should protect the existing buyers so they'll come back at trade in time. I know I won't be. It annoys me to buy a great car at a what I think is a great price only to find a short time later you can get the same thing 3 grand cheaper. Mine is probably worth hardly anything now. I believe that my car is now worth approx half of my loan (incl interest), meaning I can't sell the car without great financial loss. I dont't have a problem with Mitsu cars just the Mitsu dealers.

Eg. The 26,990 runout of the TJ. I feel sorry for whoever bought one at full retail price just before the runout began. Now thats been ripped off! :x

Thanks everyone for the input, looks like it might be best to just purchase an executive 3.5 manual, as they have probably depreciated the most and have the least amount of electronic extras to break down. Even the second hand magnas are still loosing large amounts of value by the sound of it. I thought the autos after 98 had been inproved and gave little trouble, but maybe they haven't. Do the gearbox's fail completey? and if so how much for a replacement gearbox? From the replys, the body of the car doesn't stay very tight, do the doors drop like the old falcons? What type of things happen to the body structure. Do the winscreens start to leak like falcons? Thanks again
Scott

I have one client that went 158000 km without a magor service, ie plugs, cam belt etc. It had the regular oil changes but that was it. Never missed a beat despite this.

I have one client that went 158000 km without a magor service, ie plugs, cam belt etc. It had the regular oil changes but that was it. Never missed a beat despite this.
Whoooooow :shock:
Lucky 4 them huh

Very lucky, goes to show how slack Mitsu service dept can be as some people trust them to know what is going on ie the service book. This one did not have anything in the 100k section as they were away when it was due so mitsu just skipped to the next service

Im wondering what you guys are comparing the build quality of the magna too? In my eyes its quite good, the panels on my car line up pretty well, the paints not bad, it makes the odd squeak inside and the doors close with a solid thunk.

Ive had a 1997 Holden Commodore VT. Now that was awful. Its a pretty good looking car but its awfully built. Absoloutly atrocious.

I feel sorry for the people that paid full price for their magnas. But me, I paid 15k for my TH Advance 5 months ago. Its got a bit 2 many kms but I think its very good value for money. There arent many cars out there for this money......

Have a 1997 KE Verada. Turned over 165000Klms today. Apart from normal by the book servicing has only had an engine pipe and middle muffler replaced. Regularly tow a 1.3Tonne boat with it long distances. Still drives like the day I bought it (New). A well designed quality car which I expect to run 300000Klms before any major repairs.

hehe once again my tf 98 towers over the rest in km's
238000 now :badgrin:
if ya worried bout resale value dont buy a magna if they drop so quick,
i dunno bout every one else but i plan to keep my magna fr a long time,
just LOVE the mean look of it and wen the day comes for a new engine after the nos melts this one, well that day will come,

so i geuss this will be the ultimate test of the magna engine with high km's on a late model engine, a 150hp shot of nos :lol:
then a big mofo turbo in april-july

My mate a 97 VT Berlina and i agree...the build quality was terrible (but very roomy ;) ). It rattled, squeaks, parts of the dash (mainly the climate control) didnt light up and bits fell off. It only had 70 odd on the clock before he sold it for a R33.

I think the Magnas fit and finish is good, but the car itself doesnt feel like it will last as long as say a Toyota Camry. The body doesnt feel very rigid and strong either. I'm basing these comments on my car which has only done 47 thou.