Article says it all.



http://carsguide.news.com.au/story/0,20384,21197162-21822,00.html

thanks diamante81, that confirms what I suspected. I was at the dealership yesterday and almost signed away on a platinum 380 but I might sit tight for a few months and see what pans out.

Thank god they're changing that interior, not my taste at all, the 380 dash looks as though it was designed for a van/suv. A new flowing dash should increase appeal IMO. Would also like to see the engine hit 200kw area and turn into a RWD with part time AWD. wouldn't think it would be to hard, but i guess money in the bank would be usefull.

don't have to tell me i'm dreamin, but just imagine...

i hope they sell this one, cause i think it looks good, and it will go hard, it must be hard to be in the position, causethey have to work up so much **** to try and get the 380 selling but its pretty hard the market sigh,

this tmr hopefully will create some sort of buzz, and people will start taking notice of the 380, but its hard breaking the hard heads

Thank god they're changing that interior, not my taste at all, the 380 dash looks as though it was designed for a van/suv. A new flowing dash should increase appeal IMO. Would also like to see the engine hit 200kw area and turn into a RWD with part time AWD. wouldn't think it would be to hard, but i guess money in the bank would be usefull.

don't have to tell me i'm dreamin, but just imagine...

I don't think they'll change the dash at all, it doesn't state anything like that in the article, (although like yourself I hope they do), it seems just a trim upgrade as far as the interior is concerned that is on the cards.

I also doubt a dash change would be on the cards; most series increment changes tend to be minor exterior touch-ups, like shape of head/tail lights, etc - but who knows.
While a big change like FWD to RWD is unlikely, a new line-up of bigger and better rims would be nice!

Hmm... Galant Grunder dash anyone? lol

Mitsu always give us the shabby interiors on all models - the overseas versions always seem to have more upmarket looking interiors. It's great that they are finally starting to change their ways.

I don't think they'll change the dash at all, it doesn't state anything like that in the article, (although like yourself I hope they do), it seems just a trim upgrade as far as the interior is concerned that is on the cards.



Fletcher says there will be some "minor" cosmetic changes to the overall look of the cars but the facelift will concentrate on the interior and review of the specification levels.

fingures crossed his talking bout the dash lol

Hmm.. the dash idea sounds nice. Perhaps they may change the plastics used for the dash or the colour combination.

Thanks for posting this link.. good read !! :)

Most likely another case of too little too late, but I'm hopeful.
This certainly does spell bad resale for current owners, though.

Quote

Just as important, the 380 TMR project needs to be integrated into a bigger strategic plan to give Mitsubishi a full-scale special vehicles division, bringing it up to speed against Ford, GM Holden and, from later this year, Toyota.

End quote


*fingers crossed* :D

This certainly does spell bad resale for current owners, though.

Why would you say that? If it increased sales of the 380 it would therefore make the car more desirable and could possibly increase interest in the older 380 model, hence maintain resale value or depreciate at a slower rate.

If anyone found any more info on the 380 update model, please post in this thread.

Most likely another case of too little too late, but I'm hopeful.
This certainly does spell bad resale for current owners, though.

That's Mitsubishi Australia's moto "to little to late, but we're hopefull"

but good on em for not quiting, consumers will eventually see how good these cars are.

if this car does develop higher interest, then the older model will have poorer resale, because they will be simular in appearance and spec, but becasue of the older models constraints the newer one would be easier to sell. plus they have only been out for a couple of years.

Why would you say that? If it increased sales of the 380 it would therefore make the car more desirable and could possibly increase interest in the older 380 model, hence maintain resale value or depreciate at a slower rate.


Other way around man. If they make the newer 380 much better than the older 380 and the newer 380 still has a poor resale value which it will (it's a Mitsubishi), then the older model will have an even poorer resale value. I've never known of an older model increasing in value due to a new model coming out. It's always the other way around which kinda makes sense too, as the older model looks REALLY old when the newer model comes out.

When the BA Falcon came out, the AU Falcon didn't go up in value; it went down.

It makes no sense that an older model would suddenly increase in value due to a new model coming out. There may be more demand for the manufacturer in total, but the increase in demand for the manufacturer would almost solely be due to the new model. Not only will the demand for the older model not increase, it will decrease as a large proportion of the people demanding the newer model will be owners of the old model.

The reason for this is largely due to market forces. If you know you can still get a good price for your old model, you will be more likely to upgrade it, which has an effect of increasing demand and supply for the new model (therefore price is constant), decreasing demand of the old model with a fixed supply (therefore price decreases)

It's a cycle that needs to be played out until both parties can agree on a price. If the older model can still sell at a high price, owners will want to sell the car. But buyers will not want to pay such a high price for the older model. This will force the sellers to lower their price, until an agreement is made. Why would a buyer pay $25,000 for the 2nd latest model of a car when they could have paid $25,000 for the very latest model of the same car a few months earlier? Would you?

The best way to go about creating a poor resale value after the car has been created is to market your car poorly, release new variations and models of the car every few months, and discount the car heavily and frequently - all of which Mitsubishi have done.

Other way around man. If they make the newer 380 much better than the older 380 and the newer 380 still has a poor resale value which it will (it's a Mitsubishi), then the older model will have an even poorer resale value. I've never known of an older model increasing in value due to a new model coming out. It's always the other way around which kinda makes sense too, as the older model looks REALLY old when the newer model comes out.

Maybe I'm confusing myself :redface:

I was thinking of it differently. As the following : potential buyers go to purchase the new 380 when it comes out. See the price difference between it and older used models. They feel they can't afford the newer model because it costs significantly more, or they simply cannot afford it and opt for the older model. Therefore more people may look at a 380 who did not previously because the new model has generated interest in the 380. Because there is more people looking at the 380, more potential buyers of the new model realise this and opt for the older model.

But yeah I get what you mean. If more people buy the new model because they like it over the old model then the old model will depreciate faster as people don't want the older (slightly older I should say) model as much as the new one, despite that the differences may only make the 380 look slightly different then the older one.

Hopefully Wheels or Motor or someone will have a sketch of what it could look like soon enough, because I'm very interested to see what they will change.

Maybe I'm confusing myself :redface:

I was thinking of it differently. As the following : potential buyers go to purchase the new 380 when it comes out. See the price difference between it and older used models. They feel they can't afford the newer model because it costs significantly more, or they simply cannot afford it and opt for the older model. Therefore more people may look at a 380 who did not previously because the new model has generated interest in the 380. Because there is more people looking at the 380, more potential buyers of the new model realise this and opt for the older model.

But yeah I get what you mean. If more people buy the new model because they like it over the old model then the old model will depreciate faster as people don't want the older (slightly older I should say) model as much as the new one, despite that the differences may only make the 380 look slightly different then the older one.

Hopefully Wheels or Motor or someone will have a sketch of what it could look like soon enough, because I'm very interested to see what they will change.

I agree with the reasoning behind your thought-process, but it is very optimistic. The thing is you're kinda saying the newer model has to be much better than the older model to generate significant interest in the 380, but that buyers will hardly see a difference between the two when buying them and will resort to buying the older model instead. That's contradictory, but I like your optimism. It's also contradictory because from an image perspective, a car has to be seen as a desirable car to buy for it to generate a real interest. Financially, it also has to sell in order for them to continue manufacturing them.

The thing with Mitsubishi is even if they made an excellent car, it still wouldn't sell because noone would know it existed!

So, I'm personally actually more interested in seeing how Mitsubishi goes about marketing the new model as opposed to the new model itself, because I believe the car itself isn't the problem.

Mitsubishi won't create interest from a few cosmetic bandaids to the 380. It would require a mammoth effort, and they could start with marketing. I can't see MMAL having the funds or authority to do anything major to the mainstream 380, and I would be very surprised to see their ability to market and advertise appropriately improve - Mitsubish, love the road?

I dont know about some of the down attitude on the forum, but i think this minor update may push enough people over the limit to get a new 380, especially now that the new Commo Omega and Aurion are not out.

In fact Im one of them, after having driven the Aurion and been tremendously unimpressed the 380 ratings have gone right up and with the only real negative point in my opinion (the dash/ interior trim) being looked at, i reckon the 380 has a chance. I just hope its still on sale in the 2nd half of this year when im looking to buy.

I was thinking of it differently. As the following : potential buyers go to purchase the new 380 when it comes out. See the price difference between it and older used models. They feel they can't afford the newer model because it costs significantly more, or they simply cannot afford it and opt for the older model.

The majority of 380 sales are to fleet purchases - in many of these circumstances the funding arrangements for the lease or hire purchase will require a brand new vehicle, that is to say, their not allowed to buy a second hand vehicle.

Much of the issue of resale values come from fleets dumping 380s, Magnas, et al, to the auctioneers.

As for the new series increasing resale, that's not quite correct if it's perceived that the new series has additional features etc. Take for instance the TJ Series 1 MY02 vs the TJ Series 2 - pretty much identical except for the digital dash and climate control on some models - yet the MY02 loses quite a bit of resale and popularity to the reasonably quite popular TJ2.

230kw just isnt enough in my opinion. Look at the XR6T, that has more power and alot more potential than a SC 380 with 230kw...

I believe that IF they are going to SC, they need to aim at more than 250kw and use the AWD terrain from the evo like they did with the AWD magnas.

When I got my 380 (last June), the salesman claimed the 380 was the only Mitsubishi model at the moment to maintain a strong resale value (but of course what else would he say?). I was skeptical then, and still am - considering how quickly 3rd gen Magnas fell in value on resale/trade-in. I hope the 380 will keep a somewhat decent resale but I wouldn't expect too much. Anyway, that's the nature of owning a car/s.

Unless your on a novated lease then some people pay way too much emphasis on "resale" value. Who gives a toss and what will it matter in 5 years anyway. Get over it.

Unless your on a novated lease then some people pay way too much emphasis on "resale" value. Who gives a toss and what will it matter in 5 years anyway. Get over it.

Yes I agree with you. That's the point I was trying to make... you don't buy a car as an investment; you will always loose money - that's life. But despite that, you still need a car, so you might as well be happy with what you bought and don't worry about its value. Why else do we "waste" money modifying our cars? Just for fun and satisfaction... certainly not to make money on the resale/trade-in.

I am picking up a new 380 Platinum (Electro Blue) on Saturday, and this will be my first Mitsubishi.
I chose to buy one because I drove a 380 hire car on business from Adelaide to Whyalla a couple of weeks ago and was mightily impressed with it.
It may sound a bit far fetched but I have been looking at BMW and Mercs for a couple of months, but I bought the 380.
My logic:
The German cars cost twice as much as the 380, yet they only give a 3 year warranty - so after 3 years I'm paying German spares prices.
I figured I was really paying for a badge.
I decided that what I really wanted was a reasonable size vehicle for country running, and something with a bit of grunt. Been the new Falcon route before, and I won't go there again.
Don't like the jelly mould Holden shape, the Toyotas are shapeless blobs.
Can't knock a 10 year warranty.
I quite like the interior as I find it clean and functional with everything to hand.

I'm currently deciding whether to fit ROH Mantis wheels and what size to fit. I'm a bit concerned about lower profile tyres (245/35/19) as I like my comfort, but they do look fantastic.
It gets tinted next week.

Hi and welcome, Nissan.

It's a small club for us 380 owners but we're definitely dedicated. lol

Nissan,
Hi, congrats on the Platinum. That came out just months after I got mine... I was pissed off cos its a good looking car (I reckon) with nice features.
Put up some pics when you get it... as far as I know, nobody else here has one.

If I've got the forum system right there should be a pic attached of a VRX that I saw in a car yard last week. It's fitted with Mantis 19" wheels but they have mounted LINGLONG (?????) tyres on the rims. Looks fantastic but I don't think I'd be trusting those tyres at any sort of speed.

I am picking up a new 380 Platinum (Electro Blue) on Saturday, and this will be my first Mitsubishi.
I chose to buy one because I drove a 380 hire car on business from Adelaide to Whyalla a couple of weeks ago and was mightily impressed with it.
It may sound a bit far fetched but I have been looking at BMW and Mercs for a couple of months, but I bought the 380.
My logic:
The German cars cost twice as much as the 380, yet they only give a 3 year warranty - so after 3 years I'm paying German spares prices.
I figured I was really paying for a badge.
I decided that what I really wanted was a reasonable size vehicle for country running, and something with a bit of grunt. Been the new Falcon route before, and I won't go there again.
Don't like the jelly mould Holden shape, the Toyotas are shapeless blobs.
Can't knock a 10 year warranty.
I quite like the interior as I find it clean and functional with everything to hand.

I'm currently deciding whether to fit ROH Mantis wheels and what size to fit. I'm a bit concerned about lower profile tyres (245/35/19) as I like my comfort, but they do look fantastic.
It gets tinted next week.

Welcome!!

Finally somebody else who thinks the interior is clean and functional :)

Go the 19s mate, you wont regret it. I have 20's on mine and IMO it fills the guards just nicely (see avatar) and ride comfort is not compromised a lot. The only thing that may be compromised is your wallet lol

Oh and nice choice of colour too!!!!!!

Enjoy

Thanks.
I have been checking out wheels, and with 19" rims I need 35 profile tyres to maintain the speedo and odo readings.
If you have 20" rims then what profile are your tyres ?

I am picking up a new 380 Platinum (Electro Blue) on Saturday, and this will be my first Mitsubishi.
It may sound a bit far fetched but I have been looking at BMW and Mercs for a couple of months, but I bought the 380.

thats not far fetched I have a B7 Audi A4 and I have to say driving dynamics there pretty much on par. interior though its a different story! Audi no contest. anyway Im thinking abt a platimum 380 as well, but apparently there sold out of stealth and storm :(

Thanks.
I have been checking out wheels, and with 19" rims I need 35 profile tyres to maintain the speedo and odo readings.
If you have 20" rims then what profile are your tyres ?

Tyre profiles are 225/35.

Storm was my second choice.
Dealership where I bought mine has 5 Platinum coloured units left. (I'm in Perth)

Welcome!!

Finally somebody else who thinks the interior is clean and functional :)



Agreed. After checking out the SAAB and Volvo, Honda Euro, Camry offerings etc I don't what the fuss is about.

thats not far fetched I have a B7 Audi A4 and I have to say driving dynamics there pretty much on par. interior though its a different story! Audi no contest. anyway Im thinking abt a platimum 380 as well, but apparently there sold out of stealth and storm :(
TJ Sports, check Dandenong Mitsu out mate (if it's not too far). If there's any Mitsu dealer out there who can pull strings, it's these guys. They still have a stealth one left I believe, as well as one in storm, though I think they just sold it (I visited them yesterday to have a look at the "kermit green" SX).

Chadstone Mitsubishi have a stealth platinum edition too.

Here is an article I found on GoAuto in reference to the updated 380:

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/8D5C9AFBEE343094CA2572830000B9B6

TJ Sports, check Dandenong Mitsu out mate (if it's not too far). If there's any Mitsu dealer out there who can pull strings, it's these guys. They still have a stealth one left I believe, as well as one in storm, though I think they just sold it (I visited them yesterday to have a look at the "kermit green" SX).

Chadstone Mitsubishi have a stealth platinum edition too.

thanks for the heads up veradaboy, but werribee said they could move cars b/n dealers so its no big deal. but I stopped at chadstone on the way home and they guy starts talking to his mate showing me that car! not impressed.

For those thinking of buying a Platinum.....wait. The run was supposed to be only 750 vehicles, but if you place an order at your Mitsi's dealership you might find you can get what you are looking for. Rumour has it there may be an extended run.....but you didnt hear that from me...:D

For those thinking of buying a Platinum.....wait. The run was supposed to be only 750 vehicles, but if you place an order at your Mitsi's dealership you might find you can get what you are looking for. Rumour has it there may be an extended run.....but you didnt hear that from me...:D

lol I sold the magna and have to get a new car before april 1. yeah the dealer told me there planning on making more platinums. went to get lunch and in the space of 1km there were 3 BA/BF XR6's lol its a toss up b/n the XR6 and the platinum crunch time tommorow to make delivery in time. :rant:

lol I sold the magna and have to get a new car before april 1. yeah the dealer told me there planning on making more platinums. went to get lunch and in the space of 1km there were 3 BA/BF XR6's lol its a toss up b/n the XR6 and the platinum crunch time tommorow to make delivery in time. :rant:
You sold the magna? :shock:

lol I sold the magna and have to get a new car before april 1. yeah the dealer told me there planning on making more platinums. went to get lunch and in the space of 1km there were 3 BA/BF XR6's lol its a toss up b/n the XR6 and the platinum crunch time tommorow to make delivery in time. :rant:

Id get a BF XR6. Look nicer, and easier to mod if your into that.

To Lift sales IMO....all the need to do is revise the headlights and make them slightly slender and more aggressive. Also get rid of the base model grill....its a shocker.

Just make the base model a bit sportier looking and bobs your uncle.

if your after a sports model, the XR6 falcon and SV6 commodore has it all over the VRX. But if your into a normal model, its 380 all the way i reckon! Due to the ES's very low asking price in relation to the XT falcon and Omega Commodore, its soooooo much better value. Just me tho

It's all about the headlights.... The dark ones need to be standard across the range.