Should I / Shouldn't I

[Kevin Mc]

Saw the car this morning (This one - http://pictures.autotrader.co.uk/ATD_web/servlet/media?id=151743364 )

Good points were the bodywork was excellent for the miles.
Alloys weren't too bad with just minor scuffs on the front.
Climate worked, as did elec windows etc etc
No odd noises when revving the engine, and letting the revs drop off
Car sounded quite good when revved.

Car looked absolutely gorgeous - stunning looking car for the money.

Bad points:

Tappet noise - was tappety even when warm. They said the mechanic had put some fluid into the tappets to stop the noise and this would take 100-1000 miles to go away. Even if the noise does go, it doesn't exactly seem like a permanent fix.

Brakes - disks were badly warped - had been skimmed to stop a judder, but they'd balls'd it up, and the car was dangerous to drive as the brake judder was that bad.

Service History - despite the ad saying it was Full Mitsu History and 100,000 miles, it was moslty Mitsu, with some large gaps, and 120,000 miles.

Service Intervals were as follows:

9267
19128
41234
54716
66419
76781
88293
110299
120750

All done by Mitsu dealer 130 (130R)??? apart from the last done by some local garage. Hardly any of the services are on time, with some worrying gaps. Suppose they could have forgotton to stamp the book, though I doubt it.

They offered a warranty with the car, but in my experience these tend to be pretty worthless. I'd have a Mitsubishi warranty, but presume you'd need a real Full Mitsubishi Service History for that. They will sort the warped disks out too.

I'm really bored of people advertising cars as FSH, or FDSH when they are blantantly not. Phoned up for a Passat PD115 yesterday which supposedly had a FVWSH, but it was overdue it's 120k service (biggie including cambelt).

This Galant was the best car I've seen so far, but the problems to me sound potentially too expensive.

What do you think?

[psbarham]

brake discs aren't that expensive about £60 a pair for the front , as for the engine noise probably an oil change and engine flush with some good qaulity oil and then repeated 1000 miles later will cure that probably just a bit of gunk in an oil gallery . other than that if it fits the bill of what you what out of a car then go for it , my v6 has done 130000 and is sweet as a nut and i wouldn't be without it and never regreted buying at all , so just go for it and buy it and see what it's like driving with a big grin on your face :2thumbsup

[Big Ian]

TAPPET NOISE
do a search for "lashers"
near every Galant has the tappity sound,nothing to worry about like "psbarham" say's most of the time a good engine flush and good grade semi-synthetic oil can take the noise away.
my mate has a 2ltr sport estate with 40.000 mile's and his also has the tappet noise!
do a search (top index bar),you'll find all the info you need :2thumbsup

[Kevin Mc]

Confused about the tappet noise - did a search on the forum, and someone said if there is tappet noise - walk away...

Also, a full Mitsubishi Service History seems obligitory, yet this one has some holes in it's history.

Anyone know which dealer is 130R? If I contaced the dealer, would they let me know what it had done (i.e. missing stamps in the service history and whether or not the cambelt and platinum plugs were done at 110k - that service was at a Mitsubishi dealer)?

Didn't feel that fast either - though I'm hoping that is down to the power delivery. I'm used to petrol and diesel turbo's. It was okay, but no where near as fast as it looks - though I didn't use the top end of the revs.....

[Kevin Mc]

Forgot to say - it has had an oil change about 10 miles before I tested it.

[psbarham]

mine had a patchy dealer history and some other garage stamps in the book but all the biggies had been done by mitsi , as for the speed they are very decieving but look at the speedo and the way the cars behind you seem to slow down every time you boot it, overtaking is easy not that much different to my old tdi rover at first i thought it was slower but it's not, it just doesn't kick you like a turbo diesel does , go on get it you know you want to dont you ,go on go on you know it makes sense.

[Kevin Mc]

One of the selling points was a bit worrying too - he said they'd had a 400 mile round trip in the car and had been cruising at 90-100mph, and managed to achieve 22mpg. I said "you mean 32mpg" - he said no, 22mpg.

That is abysmal - I'll be doing 25,000 miles per year - I can afford just under 30mpg, but not 22!! My old 220BHP Saab 9000 2.3 Carlsson managed 27mpg, and I always thrashed the nads off that!

The threads I've read on here suggest that hooligan driving will give mid 20's mpg, normal closer to 30, and extreme feather foot, almost 35mpg. 22mpg seems at odds with this......

Looks like dealer 130 is Sutton Coldfield. Did a search on my local dealer, and noticed that it had a 3 digit number in the url - changed it to 130, and up came Sutton Coldfield :D I'll be giving them a call tomorrow for info on that 110,000 mile service, and if they'll be able to tell me if there were any services that weren't stamped...

Thanks for everyone's advice so far :)

[psbarham]

22mpg seems a bit exsesive . i got 29.8888888mpg with a well over loaded car towing a overloaded trailer tent from south lincolnsh!te up to north yorkshire last year at 70 most of the way and normal motorway driving cruising at 80 i got 34mpg . hope this helps

[bernmc]

If it's good fuel consumption you want, walk away now! You don't get 280bhp for nothing, and these are heavy cars. I'd really be surprised if you got anywhere near 30 consistently!

I can't find the car on AT, so I'm assuming its a VR4. How much are they asking? ( a link to the actual ad would be useful)

The thing that would really worry me though is those service intervals - these cars are supposed to be serviced every 6 months or 4500 miles... there are no gaps less than 10k in your list, and some around 20k! I wouldn't be too concerned about who did the services, but the fact that it doesn't seem to have had fresh oil to drink regularly...

Personally, I wouldn't touch it... unless it was dirt cheap.

And what fluid makes tappet noises disappear in 100-1000 miles????? :inquisiti

[Big Ian]

another way of testing if it is only lash-noise is take a shot of it and "give it a good thrashin" then when you pull over the noise should have gone?
if not,then it's more likely the tappet's are giving the noise which give's you something to haggle with.if it need's tappet's it aint the end of the road for the engine,knock the price down and put it in and get them sorted with the cash you save on buying it.
i'd still put my money on it just being "lash-noise"
good luck with the dealer tomorrow :)

[Big Ian]

If it's good fuel consumption you want, walk away now! You don't get 280bhp for nothing, and these are heavy cars. I'd really be surprised if you got anywhere near 30 consistently!

:inquisiti i think it's a V6 non turbo'z?
EDIT/earlier post,it's a V6 sport http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7249

[bernmc]

:inquisiti i think it's a V6 non turbo'z?
EDIT/earlier post,it's a V6 sport

Oops. Well, not every 4500 then, and you'd hope to get better thsn 22mpg... which again suggests things might not be right with the beast?
:rolleyes4

[Kieran]

Ok, my two pennorth...

Tappet noise - Welcome to the world of Mitsubishi Galant engines. You can hear the lash adjusters, as had already been said. Now, it's a scary sounding noise, and many people think it's terminal. It's not - the Lash adjusters (or tappets) are hydraulic, and they block up easily. It doesn't surprise me that your car is like this, given that the services have been haphazard. Don't let it worry you too much.

Regarding the history - Galants will tolerate a bit of neglect, and you can find a lot worse than this. Importantly, the 54K and the 108K services appear to have been done - these are the big cambelt-swap bad boys.

Fuel economy... Is it a manual or an automatic? 22MPG at 70MPH would be excessive, but at 90/100MPH? that does require a fair bit of welly to maintain. Expect 25mpg town driving and between 29-35 on long stretches. It could just be chewing fuel a bit because it needs a service.

Brake discs... Well, yep - the Standard ones do warp with irritating regularity. I've switched to Rossini drilled discs and their extra cooling capacity has kept the dreaded judder at bay since.

As for speed... Well - My V6 will show PD130s who's the boss, but if you were to jump from the V6 into any car with a PD130 lump, it wouldn't feel like it! They tend to waft along on a wave of torque, without there ever being a "Hit" of it. It can often catch you out - Wind it up in 2nd and before you know it, when you change into 3rd you're almost at the national speed limit - Such is their ability to accelerate without you noticing.

/EDIT.... I've found the car you've been looking at.... I'll drop you a PM. /yes

[Kevin Mc]

Sorry - should have said - it's not a VR4, it's a 2.5V6 24v Sport. (Manual)


2001 MITSUBISHI GALANT 2.5 V6 Sport ESTATE U.K. CAR5 Doors, Manual, Petrol, 100,000 miles, Metallic Silver, MOT-02-2006, 2 Owners. taxed 04 05, full mitsubishi service history, Climate control, privacy glass, Central locking, Computer, Radio/CD Multichanger, Electric windows, Electric mirrors, folding mirrors, Foglights, Remote locking, Immobiliser, Driver airbag, Passenger airbag, Side airbags, Roof rails, 17"sport alloys, ABS. £3,795.

Actually done 120,000 miles.

Kieran - I've replied to your PM :)

Very, very cheap, considering it's a Y reg....... as long as it doesn't need £3k spending on it!!!

http://pictures.autotrader.co.uk/ATD_web/servlet/media?id=151743369
http://pictures.autotrader.co.uk/ATD_web/servlet/media?id=151743367

Private plate has gone (not too worried about that) - now sports a Y reg plate..

[Phil S]

Looks like a nice motor.... I've got a 2000 spoort saloon which I love, the only thing to be aware of is that the cost of alot of mitsubishi parts are a joke (£2000+ for a steering rack!). Saying that it seems that most bits can be sourced elsewhere with a bit of effort. The cambelt service is due at 108k, and will cost you £500 minimum, more if the hydraulic tensioner needs replacing.

As for fuel economy, we get around 28 mpg average, 32+ on motorway runs. Not sure about 22mpg for 90 -100mph, I would have expected it to be a bit higher than that perhaps.