I just bought a 2006 platinum VRX for my dad. It has 115000km and has the sunroof and bluetooth. No dents, no rust, great paint and full service history. Does have a few scrapes that can be touched up and a smashed drivers mirror (replacement coming from Mal). winning bidder on eBay refused to go ahead and as this was the third time it had happened to the dealer, he was happy to sell it to me at the same price. The dealer sells trucks and tractors so doesn't usually do many cars.


$7750 but no rego. Will come to $9300 with 12 months rego, a new rear vision mirror and 4 new Pirelli p7s.

What do you think, good value I thought?

My 80 year old father is over the moon as he currently drives a 1987 Volvo 740 that breaks down every few weeks.

Main issue I have noticed is a noisy rear wheel bearing. Must be a 380 thing as I had a dodgy front bearing from 38000km in my GT. also drives a bit better than my Gt and the seats are more comfy than the leather.

Has the usual issues. Lights out around gear selector, loose screws in center console. Windows all work though. Oil needed a top up (10000km since last oil change).

Steve

Haha, your father will think it's a revelation.

OFT: It was interesting having a conversation with an ex Boeing engineer the other day and the subject was what cars make good taxis; i.e. longevity. Fords of course make up the majority - I was in one a couple of days earlier with 440 000km and only 18 months old. After that come, in Brisbane, Prius (must be other reasons?), Camrys and 380s. Now I'm in Adelaide and it appears the same.

Haha, your father will think it's a revelation.

OFT: It was interesting having a conversation with an ex Boeing engineer the other day and the subject was what cars make good taxis; i.e. longevity. Fords of course make up the majority - I was in one a couple of days earlier with 440 000km and only 18 months old. After that come, in Brisbane, Prius (must be other reasons?), Camrys and 380s. Now I'm in Adelaide and it appears the same.

In Adelaide 380 taxis are now getting very common.
Lots of ex-government fleet cars.
SA government departments tended to lease 380s in preference to Falcadores to support the local Mitsu operation.
But since Mitsu shut down in 2008 and the fleet cars hit their use by dates in 2011 or 2012, SA government departments have auctioned off pretty much all their 380s and replaced them with other makes.

So now I reckon the taxi population in Adelaide is 30% 380s, 30% Foulcans, 30% Crummydores, and 10% the rest.

Well my dad has had the 380 for 24 hours and his old Volvo decided to completely die. Brake booster died and the engine refuses to run. It must have known something.........he is pleased as it has gone off to a wrecker and he gets to change over his old plates to the new car (that he has had for 22 years).

He asked me does it have more power than the 740. Yes, 90kw to 175kw is a good jump. The Volvo was seriously frightening in attempting any sort of overtaking maneuver.

The one thing the two cars do have in common is they were both designed for the US market (Galant and 740).

Steve

We got the VRX registered today, ended up needing a new battery as well but it ended up costing about $9300 on the road with 12 months rego, new good quality battery and 4 new Pirelli P7s. The guy who did the blue slip thought it was in fantastic condition. Not too bad I thought. Noise from the rear wasn't a bearing but a plastic bracket rubbing against the tyre!

[this did end up being bearings]

Dad got $50 for the Volvo.......

Well my fathers car has had a replacement hub due to very worn out bearings. His rear window then died with the window down. I put a new regulator in today. Took 15 minutes and then we noticed the drivers window was stuck up! Off with the trim and a whack on the motor has this going again . I am still trying to tell him they are actually good cars. He needs a problem free period to be convinced! Not major things but I think Mitsubishi should replace these for free outside warranty. The regulators are clearly rubbish. One downer on an otherwise quality car.

I can get door trims off in less than 60 seconds now....

There should be a 380 "replace window regulator" event at an AMC meet.

Prize for the fastest time would be spare replacement regulators!

I noted the replacement regulator does look different. The motor is a Denso (Japanese)

Yes, MMAL tried to cut corners with the original regulators, which were Chinese. The replacements are the proper Mitsubishi quality... As used on the US Galant.

Bloody disgraceful that MMAL just close their eyes to it. You could guesstimate that nearly every 380 manufactured would have had at least one reg replaced. Not including my 2.
How many could that be and how many dollars spent by owners?
Thats my rant for the day

At least they are on the cheaper side. I guess MMAL thought they better not push their luck with the pricing on these.

31000 odd 380s. Average say 1.5 per car. That would make 45000 regulators!

Bloody disgraceful that MMAL just close their eyes to it. You could guesstimate that nearly every 380 manufactured would have had at least one reg replaced. Not including my 2.
How many could that be and how many dollars spent by owners?
Thats my rant for the day

They appear to mostly fail within the 6 years 130,000km warranty period, so for most people it’s a warranty job. For those that are unlucky thankfully they are not a $500 part like some imported vehicles are.

When I got my second rear window done, MMAL had around 3,500 spare of the rear right and around 4,000 spare of the rear left.

Remember recalls are only mandated for safety related items such as fuel related issues.

We're starting to get a few more 380s on the Aussie market (following 4-5 years on lease) and at the fleet company i work for, we are actually finding that the residual value is going up slightly - I guess the market is realising the quality of the vehicle. It's such a shame they're no longer manufactured, i would love MMAL parts and upgrade support

Bloody disgraceful that MMAL just close their eyes to it. You could guesstimate that nearly every 380 manufactured would have had at least one reg replaced. Not including my 2.
How many could that be and how many dollars spent by owners?
Thats my rant for the day

ive been rehearsing this quote to use on my local Mitsi dealer when im up for a new reg.

im hoping for an out of warranty free replacement when the time comes, not sure if it'll work though :)