I haven't bought my Lancer yet, I'm in the decision making process, but thats what lead me here. I'm not out for a performance monster, those days have passed for me. I've owned several civics (boosted and n/a), nissan 240sx, 350z, toyota corolla gts, and two rx7s, and am now driving a 2001 Lexus GS300. It was nice to finally have a car that was comfortable, didn't require shifting gears while in city traffic, and I could fit my friends in the back, and had a trunk I could actually use. I'm looking to the Lancer because its A. affordable/economical B. sporty looking. I'm worried about the reliability, quality, and craftsmanship of the vehicle, as I've never owned a Mitsubishi before. I have several friends with Talons, Eclipses, Lasers, 3000GT's and have heard a lot of horror stories. Then again, I wont be ripping this one apart, so maybe it wont be an issue. Either way, I've signed up to search, read, and occasionally ask questions. At the moment I'm between the Mazda3 and the Lancer
Honestly, the lancer is very reliable vehicle and very economical as well. They are not a lot of people who have had serious problems with their Lancer. The most complaints you will find is about the paint on the vehicle which i have not heard in a while. I myself think the car needs to have better sound dampening it does tend to me a little noisy but you cant even hear it when your listening to music. Not to mention the Lancer is very safe just look at how many airbags it has i believe it has scored very high from numerous vehicle reviewers. Also, even some Luxury brands dont offer knee airbags and the Lancer does. You get decent options on the vehicle without paying an outrageous price, however the Lancer does not hold its value very well so if you planning on trading it after a while you probably wont get very much. Imo the Lancer is very reliable and cost effective for and is in the range in what your looking for.
Well i think you should go for the lancer.I have one and am fully satisfied with its performance.Its a very good car.
Welcome to LT.com. And the only reason why you have heard bad things from those models is due to the fact that all of them are most likely turbo models. If you are goin for the fwd lancer then you won't have to worry about the same issues they had. But if you get the awd lancer you WILL need to tend to it often as they are turboed.
Welcome to LT. Not very sur3 how much help my input will be, but here it goes. I have an 04 Lancer Ralliart...bought it new with 7 miles on it. In the six years that I have owned my Lancer, I have only had to replace two things...a radiator fan controller (factory recall) and an acceleration sensor. I have done the basic maintenance on the car myself (oil changes, filters, plugs, radiator flushes, timing belt, etc.) and I can honestly say that it is one of the easiest vehicles to work on. I started modding at about 2,ooo miles, and as of right now I am sitting at 110,xxx. The car does great on long trips, even for someone like me with a wife and two boys. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every minute driving this thing. Like I said before, I can only attest to the older lancers...but with as many 8gen owners that are here on LT, there are a lot better opinions than mine. Again, Welcome to LT...and good luck on your decision.
This is my second Mitsu, first was a mirage and now the 2010 sportback. The mirage has 106k on it and I have never had any major problems. I have had the car since 2006 and put 60k on it myself. Thats the only reason I bought a Lancer. I would say go for it.
Im leaning towards it heavily, but I appreciate everyone's input. I commute, so that makes the Ralli Art less practical, so looking at the GTS the most. Although, my concern after reading a few threads on here and other pages that the GTS lacks any real guts as far as acceleration. I haven't even went to test drive locally yet, I'm still in the reading and comparing stage. I have driven the Mazda3 (my other possibility) a few months ago, and was satisfied. Im not looking to race or go nuts, its a economy car, I get that, but it is nice to be able to pass folks or merge without worry on these highways here. Any thoughts on the power for normal day to day driving (not performance driving).
All lancers lack in power from 1k-2.5k. Once you hit 3.2k rpms that's where the power starts. Most ppl counter act that by installing a short ram intake. Giving it more hp in the low rpm band for moment like getting on the highway. I chose to get a cold air intake for the high horsepower. I like casual street racing. I beat a regular civic and a si the other day on the highway only because they don't have good hp between 3.5k rpm and 4.7k rpm. But after that 4.7 they can catch up since they can rev all the way to 7k rpm where as us Lancers can only goto 6.2k. Im not too sure on the newer lancers with the mivec engine but i think its a similar story as the hondas. Mazda 3's are small like us 7th gen lancers which is good with cornering. Im not too fond of the newer lancers body since its really big compared to 7g's. Had they had a smaller body they would easily have 165 hp at the wheels and not 137/145 hp. Lancers lack in low in hp but we make up for that in torque. I think the newer lancers are 175tq. Which is really good if you plan on doing a turbo application. But this is your dd (daily driver). My thoughts if you go the lancer way, get a short ram intake and exhaust and find someone to do a basic tune for you. Maybe your Mitsu dealer carries both items and will give you a tune. For a price of course.
Im not looking for "performance" with this car .... I've owned boosted cars, N/A cars, swapped cars, sports cars, etc ... this is for low insurance, good gas mileage, and comfort for the commute. Just curious how the pep is when merging and passing and normal driving situations. I'd never dream to race anyone in the Lancer, just want to know I wont get smashed into when trying to merge onto 695 or 295 beltway traffic in the mornings
I find the lancer quick to accelerate when you need it to especially if you go with the manual transmission. No worries there. I also drove a mazda3 1500kms for a road trip I find it lacks in steering precision both at low and high speeds compared to the lancers. I leased a '08 lancer for 2 1/2 years and in march this year I swapped it for a 2010 financing, so yeah, I'm happy with it. Hope it helps.
Thanks everyone for the replies and input. The jury is still out, Im about 95% sure on the Lancer, however the local dealerships just dont seem to have what I want in color and equipment, so Im waiitng. Hopefully, I will not change my mind during the wait time, although this S2000 on craigslist is looking awful tempting haha but sooo not practical for a commuter car.
