VR-4 item in Christchurch Press today

[Pete M]

Someone's trying to get Mitsubishi to hurry up with this bit of publicity...
I liked the bit about "upgrading" to a 4WD, hell then he'd find out about
handling! What a dreamer....

quote ===========================
Christchurch Press 8-9-04
Mitsubishi owners are still waiting

08 September 2004 By AMANDA WARREN

Owners of recalled Mitsubishis are still waiting for faulty brake systems to be replaced and have been given "no guarantees" on when repairs will be done.

Faulty brake systems have been disabled in almost all of the 360 1996 and 1997 used-import Mitsubishi Galant and Legnum VR4 cars which were ordered off the road in June, after a driver crashed through a red light at an Auckland intersection with failed brakes.

Those cars are now roadworthy, according to Land Transport Safety Authority standards, but owners are still waiting on the high-performance braking systems to be replaced.

Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand in June assured customers it would provide replacement parts for the affected vehicles.

About 2000 of the cars have been imported into the country, but only those with automatic transmissions fitted with an active stability control option were recalled.

Vehicle owners were understandably relieved Mitsubishi Motors had agreed to provide replacement parts, but almost three months on they are still waiting and have been given "no guarantees".

Allen Hu, of Christchurch, contacted The Press after months of trying to get answers from Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand. His Mitsubishi Legnum stationwagon had to be locked in the garage for several weeks before the faulty brake system was removed, but Hu is still waiting for it to be properly repaired.

He has tried to sell the car, which he admitted had become a headache, but when he told potential buyers about the situation no-one wanted anything to do with it.

Hu was hesitant about going public with his concerns, but when he was told there were no guarantees on when his brakes would be replaced he decided to speak out.

"They must hate me, I think, because I create a problem for them ... I say of course it's not your guys' fault, the fault is with Japan, but if you become a dealer you still face these problems and you have to deal with it right now, not in a year or two," he said.

As well as the hassle of waiting for the fault to be fixed, Hu is concerned about the money he is losing on his car.

His plans to upgrade to a four-wheel drive vehicle have been put on hold and any thoughts of buying another Mitsubishi have been cast aside.

"When you fix the problem ASAP, the customer thinks it's really good; the service is good and the after-service is good.

"But I won't go back," Hu said.

Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand spokesman Ross Cameron said disabling the active stability control option made no noticeable difference to the performance of the car, and there was no reason any VR4 in New Zealand should not be on the road.

Cameron said the braking system would only come into effect if the car was being driven "at the edge of its performance", which was unlikely on any New Zealand road.

He could understand why some customers might be frustrated at having to wait for parts.

The company was being "as expedient as possible". Parts were being engineered in Japan.

The job will be done by February.
============================= endquote

[KiwiTT]

February 2005 - :rolleyes5 - Thats a long wait.

In reading the article it means that our brakes are not peforming at their best. It would appear that some components are not working.

[Pete M]

Yes, the auto stability function would not be working. I think that only activates if you get (or are about to get) into a skid or slide. It's probably still better than most other cars out there even without auto stability. Hell, my old Volvo 340 could be provoked to hang the tail out with a twitch from the steering wheel and a poke on the accelerator. And in the old days we used to have crossply tyres. You used to tiptoe around in the wet, like we do now on ice. There was almost no grip at all, but you couldn't do anything about it. And most of those big SUV 4WDs are very similar. Great on mud or gravel, but on wet tarmac, they wallow and skate around like a truck. It's like throwing away all the chassis and suspension development of the last 40 years. I don't know how they get away with selling them. Some of them even have beam axles and leaf springs front and rear. :gun1: