Wanna be a Galant Owner- But Need Your Help Before I Do!

[MTZ_UK]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum and hope to be a member for some time /rally

I am planning to swtich from my Mondeo to a Galant V6. I have found 2001 Model for under £3K that has done 72K miles on the clock with Full Mitsubishi SH. Its looks amazing in dark bluw mettalic with leather/wooden trim etc, but after reading a lot of reviews I am bit worried about the Automatic Transmission.

I would appreciate if anyone here could please help me with the following queries

1. Should I be worried about the Auto Tran on this model?
2. The spec says the vehicle is AC+LPS. What is this LPS??
3. What sort of mileage can I expect from this engine?
4. What sort of MPG does this engine give?

Thanks in advnace for the help.

Cheers
MTZ

[pitslayer]

1. Should I be worried about the Auto Tran on this model?......if looked after, there pretty solid, if you get one, get to WRD and get them to put amsoil in it

2. The spec says the vehicle is AC+LPS. What is this LPS??....no point asking me that, lol because, of my experiences with 2 galants.....but if it were me i would, absouletly crap, and lotsa pounds spent lol.......but seriously, they are very decent cars, all the write ups ive read have basically read- bad points-badge snobery, lacks prestige.....i think even thow i hate my car, they are very good for the price and a complete wolf in sheeps clothing, they shift, and are very comfy on long journeys

3. What sort of mileage can I expect from this engine? how longs a piece of string?, an engine will last as long you want to, but you have to look after an engine, if treated with regular service oils, with amsoil, and everything kept on top of, they`ll last a long long time, one of our galants with full service history, has done 130 odd thousand miles, the engine runs like a charm.


4. What sort of MPG does this engine give....now this is debatble, ive got 2.5V6 non turbo, and i get on long runs 36-40mpg average.....if your booting it, ie you go past 3000rpm and the music starts from the front, you can watch the petrol gauge go down, they are pretty good....stop start traffic there a pain in the ass on fuel, i put a tenner a day in usualy driving through town, but i do alot of milage, so there pretty good.......im 19 i can afford the running costs......how ever as soon as something breaks, get your chequebook out...i have found maintenance costs pretty high, for parts.......

i know 99% of everyone on here will tell you the galant is the best car in the world, and i dont want to put you off buying one. but as a person who has had major trouble with them, just putting my point across.....there good cars, but expensive maintenance wise, and i found when one thing goes wrong, it all starts to go wrong, ive spent lots keeping the car road legal, and getting no where near my dream of how i want the car......so now ive got to spend money getting the sorted out, engine mounts and steering rack, to sell it

i would recomend them partly because when they dont cost anything, every week to put right there really good cars.....when they start to go wrong, just get rid of it, we have spent thousands since sept getting the cars to drive properly

have a look at member cars for sale, club cars are usually well looked after cars......and btw, a stinking filthy muddy and dirty galant....is a happy galant lol

[AncientOfMu]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum and hope to be a member for some time /rally

I am planning to swtich from my Mondeo to a Galant V6. I have found 2001 Model for under £3K that has done 72K miles on the clock with Full Mitsubishi SH. Its looks amazing in dark bluw mettalic with leather/wooden trim etc, but after reading a lot of reviews I am bit worried about the Automatic Transmission.

I would appreciate if anyone here could please help me with the following queries

1. Should I be worried about the Auto Tran on this model?
2. The spec says the vehicle is AC+LPS. What is this LPS??
3. What sort of mileage can I expect from this engine?
4. What sort of MPG does this engine give?

Thanks in advnace for the help.

Cheers
MTZ

1. With full mitsi SH I would say No. Especially if most of those 72K were motorway miles.
2. I would guess at light power steering but that is just a guess.
3. How long is a piece of string.....
4. I would say low 20's average esp if its an Auto. Depending on the length of the Journey of course. So low 20's to mid 30's.

I own both a 2002 V6-24 and a 1996 VR4 and you cannot beat the V6-24 as andall rounder. Will seriously put the mondeo to shame.

As with all car buying buy the best you can afford. Do you have a link to the advert? Where is the car? Might be known to people here, and we could certainly give you a lot more info on it.

Oh and Welcome btw :)

[Kieran]

Welcome MTZ.

1. Don't panic about the gearbox. They're not made of cheese as everyone makes out. The V6 DOES have a known weakness but this tends to show with really high mileage or abuse - The splines on the torque convertor shear - leaving you with no drive. Usually the gearbox survives okay but if this does happen it's advisable to have the input shaft changed at the same time - when the convertor lets go it'll often damage the splines on the input shaft. People like JPAT auto transmissions are well aware of the issue and produce upgraded parts to suit. It's not that common though.

Further thoughts on keeping the gearbox happy here:

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=221948&postcount=3

2. I've never sussed out this LPS malarky?

3. Mileage? The highest mileage V6-24 I've known was on 184,000 and was still a pleasant drive. I've known VR-4 engines to go above 150,000 miles with no major dramas, so keep it well maintained and you'll have nothing to fear on this front.

4. Well if you estimate between 26-30mpg as a combined figure, you'll not be far off the mark. 26 being leadfoot, 30 being more sedate.

Lots of threads on here about buying - search around. Generally speaking, service history is critical, prefrably at a main dealer. These cars did see life as management/fleet cars (not always a bad thing if it's been serviced on time, my GLS did 82,000 in 3 years and was tight and rattle free) and there are some dogs out there that haven't been looked after or have had 'bodged' repairs (as with any car). If you land yourself one of these, you'll regret it - As Pitslayer has found out....:evilgrin:

[MTZ_UK]

Thanks a lot for your reply guys, Helped me a lot.

I have been reading quite a lot of review and one member from Honest John pointed me to this site...

AncientOfMu: Please follow THIS LINK (http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/cars_search.jsp?searchform=&modelexact=1&lid=search_used_cars_full&photo=1&state=block&sort=3&hassearched=Y&make=MITSUBISHI&min_pr=1000&source=1&model=GALANT&max_pr=3000&miles=200&agerange=3&mileage=6&postcode=ch5+1su&variant=v6&bodyid=2&trim=&fuelid=0&colour=&transmissionid=0&keywords=&ukcarsearch_full.x=36&ukcarsearch_full.y=15&ukcarsearch_full=SEARCH) to see the cars I am interested in.. /rally One is Manual and the other is AUTO. I am bit hesitant on the Manual because of the hard shifting problem while Cold. This is the main reason why I am changing my Mondeo

I was kinda in between choosing from 2 cars the Xedos6/9 and the Galant..

Please give me your comments on these cars as well if you knwo anything about it../help

Once again thanks for all the input. /thankyou

Cheers
MTZ

[Wouter]

I've known VR-4 engines to go above 150,000 miles

That car that BDA bought had over 200,000 on it.

oh and Welcome! :thumbsup:

[pitslayer]

coldshifting??? what do you mean, shifting when oil is cold......ive never ecountered any problems with this..... im a vw man by nature, and my fastback as seen in my sig, used to get that to 90, even when cold, and get to a roundabout going rather fast, and slam it into 2nd gear, lock the rear wheels up, to stop it......the box has its mad moments, usually when it scrapes the floor, which was quite a bit and would loose all gears momentarily lol...

the one galant had its gearbox bearings go, and that cost 300 for the bearings alone, which is very expensive.....however, the gearbox blew up a few weeks ago.....it blew something out from inside the case, so it obviously wasnt put back together properly, yet the gearbox rebuilders wont take the blame, yet it is blatantly there fault

my 2p is that, there great when there work, and perfect everday car.....absoulete pain when they start to go wrong, and you just want to hit them with hammers lol, then just empty a bin of cash on top of the roof, and watch it blow away.......
im still second thoughts with them maybe furter down the line i might come back to galant ownership as they are a good car, for the price......but i dont like throwing money at a car, that i know full well, if i spend 50 quid on something for it, its just lost 70quid in value......

just buy the best you can afford, low mileage, one owner or perhaps 2 owners, just check everything basically, get someone on here to come and have a look at it aswell

[psbarham]

first off welcome to the club , as for the car , get a good one and they are very good , but of course the blue one would be even better ( not biased at all :inquisiti ) mine has done 148000 miles now and apart from a worn bush or 2 on the suspension (sorting this weekend) its as tight as a drum , no squeaks or rattles , starts on the money even after sitting in the snow for 7 days . yes the body shows signs of old age , but these are superficial and are to be expected . the gearbox although a slushmatic isn't a bad one , there is times when a manual would be preferable , but 80% of the time the auto is spot on . the brakes are a weak spot , but there are ways and means to make you kiss the windscreen with use of the brakes . just buy with your brain not your heart and you won't go far wrong :thumbsup:

[Nick Mann]

The cold shifting thing is just a notchy gearchange (sometimes with a graunch) changing from 1st to 2nd over the first 1/2 mile. After that, there is no problem. I would expect a good oil to help, but I didn't have the knowledge to try that with my manual V6.

Personally, I would go for a manual over an auto.

And there are more on here with good ownership experiences than bad. I am on my 5th, which must prove something!

[AncientOfMu]

Personally speaking....and only in my opinion.

The blue one im attracted to.... because it is completely original. Although it is an auto. Not a bad thing in my book but I can understand how some people would not like that.

The red one has aftermarket wheels and 'made up on the web' number plates Also it is two years older. Also aftermarket stereo.

Same models, same tax, prolly same insurance.

I would go for the blue one. In my opinion the front end looks a hell of a lot nicer too.

I paid £6k for a 'just' '02 plate V6-24 auto just over a year ago with 85thou on the clock.

a 2001 saloon with 72k for 2900 is a bobby bargain in my book. I dont think you will go far wrong.

[psbarham]

aah just sussed the 'LPS' malarky , its obvious really , 'leather power seats ' :scholar:

[Kieran]

aah just sussed the 'LPS' malarky , its obvious really , 'leather power seats ' :scholar:

Oh well done that man! That's been bugging me for ages. Have a rep point!

[MTZ_UK]

Thanks a lot for all your comments guys..

I am also leaning more towards the Blue one..

About making sure the autobox and the rest is in good condition.. If I go for an AA or RAC vehicle inspection, will they be able to point out any possible failures??

Cheers
MTZ

[jayjay99]

aah just sussed the 'LPS' malarky , its obvious really , 'leather power seats ' :scholar:

Well done, I too have wondered that before but never figured it out!

Oh and welcome to the club MTZ, good luck in your car hunt.

[psbarham]

Oh well done that man! That's been bugging me for ages. Have a rep point!
why thankyou kind sir

[KEENY]

TIME FOR MY 2 CENCE...

i have a 1998 24-v6 and its great. although i have had to change both front ball joints, a track end, brake pads, and a couple of minor things such as a new electric arial, tyres etc.

and i have had the car a year. gearbox is sweet although i was told that had just been changed when i got it at 80,000 miles.... also with fuel i dont do the "you get around 20-30mpg" no i go by what i put in a tank and what i get to that tank.

so you put about £40 - £45 to fill the tank. and you will get about 170 - 180 miles around town or 270 - 280 on the motorway.

l8erz

[Subaru ETA]

i have owned **** loads of mitsis, 2 of which are 8 gen galant... my legnum was an auto, mean car no probs. all i did to it was brake pads and a steering rack boot. i got it with 110000km and sold wih 150000km. only sold coz i wanted a vr4.

vr4 all ive done in 26000km has been a rack boot!

so in my experiance they are good reliable cars aslong as they are looked after :)

[Rambaud]

The two main things I look for when buying a used car are number of owners (fewer the better) and service history (more the better).

If buying privately, I only proceed if I am happy with the seller - any mis-givings and I walk away, no matter how attractive the deal seems.

I bought my first Galant 6 weeks ago - only priorities were auto and air-con. I like the Tip 'box - it's not as good as the Audi or BMW ones I have driven, but at 116,000 miles it probably needs a trip to WRD and some Amsoil. :)

I went for the 2.4 GDI in preference to the V6, as they are quite a bit cheaper and I was interested to see what the GDI engine was like. It's been fine so far - fuel consumption is averaging around 35 m.p.g; I shall know better when I next fill up (using 99 RON petrol).

Good luck with your purchase.

[Kieran]

I went for the 2.4 GDI in preference to the V6, as they are quite a bit cheaper and I was interested to see what the GDI engine was like. It's been fine so far - fuel consumption is averaging around 35 m.p.g; I shall know better when I next fill up (using 99 RON petrol).

That's a very good figure indeed. Is that mainly motorway work or a mix?

[pitslayer]

well ive driven my galant from newport in s.wales, to brugge, and back on 60 quid, only reason i put 15 in after was, because i was caining it and wanted to get back lol......but that was about 800 miles.............and cobbled streets do a number on the galants front end........
either way ive got new ball joints and steering rack arms going on monday, the old wheels are back on, so it should be up for sale very soon and gone /woot2 /woot2 /woot2 /woot2 /woot2

[Rambaud]

That's a very good figure indeed. Is that mainly motorway work or a mix?

Yes, mostly motorway and A roads, no commuting, very few short journeys and only one trip to London. But the air-con is also running 100% of the time.

The first tankful was BP Superunleaded (97 RON), the second was Tesco 99 RON, and the third is intended to be Tesco 99 RON also.