Just got back from Toowong Mitsubishi (Brisbane), and I placed a deposit on a starlight silver (aka pearl white - I love it!) TL Magna AWD.

It was $16990 and it has 56,000km on the clock. Full factory 5-year warranty until March 2010, as the car was not sold till March 2005.

There is a small graze on the rear left door but the dealer assures me that it will fixed prior to delivery, as will new tyres be fitted (I specified that I wanted ER30's)

There's the usual minor swirls in the paint - hopefully a good Meguiars wax will mask them, but this car is going to be a leased vehicle, so it ain't gonna be perfect!

I just hope all the paperwork with the leasing and sale of my car + refinancing stuff all goes through!! That's my biggest issue at the moment

Anyone out there who has a TL AWD, what are your thoughts on the car : Mainly, is the difference in handling significantly different to a regular 3.5ES, and does performance suffer due to the extra weight and the fact that 4 wheels are driving the car, not two?

nice choice in colour. that colour is nice and its a cool colour, you find that your car won't be as hot in summer.

Handling for awd are better but it has 10kw less that the sports/ vr-x FWD

The salesman told me there were 10 AWD's they had in one bulk buy, now there were 3 left when I went in today : 2 x normal white and 1 x starlight.
There was a daintree green AWD still there waiting to be picked up but the paintwork didn't look that good

Yes, I quite like the pearl/metallic whites - I had a Coccoon white pearl KH Verada xi a while ago that I sold to a colleague who still has it (185,000km and going strong)

Wait till you drive it in the rain jzt, you won't be wondering about how many kw's it's got!

I have a starlight KL, its quite a nice colour in the day but a very nice colour at night. Hope you enjoy yours.

Wait till you drive it in the rain jzt, you won't be wondering about how many kw's it's got!
I can second this. I drove in the driving rain we had in Sydney on Saturday, and the grip was awesome. It felt so safe.

Good buy you got there. Congrats

Just got back from Toowong Mitsubishi (Brisbane), and I placed a deposit on a starlight silver (aka pearl white - I love it!) TL Magna AWD.

It was $16990 and it has 56,000km on the clock. Full factory 5-year warranty until March 2010, as the car was not sold till March 2005.

There is a small graze on the rear left door but the dealer assures me that it will fixed prior to delivery, as will new tyres be fitted (I specified that I wanted ER30's)

There's the usual minor swirls in the paint - hopefully a good Meguiars wax will mask them, but this car is going to be a leased vehicle, so it ain't gonna be perfect!

I just hope all the paperwork with the leasing and sale of my car + refinancing stuff all goes through!! That's my biggest issue at the moment

Anyone out there who has a TL AWD, what are your thoughts on the car : Mainly, is the difference in handling significantly different to a regular 3.5ES, and does performance suffer due to the extra weight and the fact that 4 wheels are driving the car, not two?

Just a tip for you re graze on door and new tyres i hope he wrote it on the contract of sale cause if he didnt and does not sort those items you may have a hard time convincing them to sort these two items out for you when you pick the vehicle up.
Congrats on the purchase..

be carfull of that colour as its very hard to match up. if its a rent a car (which it most likley is) check over the car carfully as most have been resprayed check the front and rear bars ect

but yea its prob the best looking color in the magna range

Yes magnamechanic, the car is ex-Thrifty, and I know the stigma of buying an ex-rental car. In fact I have always been one to steer clear of all ex-rentals!!
But seeing as this car is a leased vehicle, I'm not expecting a pristine vehicle, and moreover $16990 for a straight and tidy 04 TL AWD seems to be the best price I can find now. And it's pearl white too, which is quite rare in the AWD (I don't recall seeing many others)

THE ONLY GLARING ISSUE IS THAT THE LEATHER-BOUND STEERING WHEEL IS STARTING TO WEAR THROUGH IN PLACES (bloody rent-a-cars)!! Does anyone know the easiest proper fix and the approximate cost? I'd gladly swap back to a non-leather TL wheel, but that would involve tampering with airbags as the steering wheel has to come off......I think not!! ha ha

It drives fine -- I made sure to check the gearbox/tiptronic, brakes, engine etc.etc.
It certainly does feel a heavier car than the usual 3.5 Magnas, and doesn't seem quite as quick on the take-off, although having the 5-speed auto does help the launch.

I do notice though that the exhaust is quite rumbly, almost like a Sports/VRX sound, especially under load around 1500rpm (Eg. stuck in 4th or 5th on a light throttle but going uphill) -- The muffler doesn't sound screwed, it's just louder than I recall other normal TL's being......having said that I think TL/TW vehicles have a louder standard exhaust to the TH and early TJ cars, can anyone verify this

There was a daintree green AWD still there waiting to be picked up but the paintwork didn't look that good

yeah I got one of these and your right, the paint is crap. chips and scratches just by looking at it.

great in the wet, almost unloosable.

s

if you start pumping a good leather treatment into the steering wheel it might save it; it's probably dryied out and only ever been cleaned with vinyl cleaner. Attitudes right tho, you bought it to drive it, wait until you give in to the temtation of a dirt road, they're great for your paint!

Should be collecting it any day now......Went down to sort out paperwork today and had a quick look at the vehicle -- Tyres replaced, minor paint repairs sorted out, and weathershields and mudflaps to be fitted Monday.