2006 Mitsubishi Lancer

[Elkins45]

There’s a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer with 106k miles listed locally. Asking price is $4k. The VIN indicates it was made in Japan, which I like. A bit of Googling seems to hint that this particular model has a decent reliability reputation. Is this wrong? $4k isn’t much of a risk but I would hate to just throw it away on a known feces wagon.

 

[dogememe]

There’s a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer with 106k miles listed locally. Asking price is $4k. The VIN indicates it was made in Japan, which I like. A bit of Googling seems to hint that this particular model has a decent reliability reputation. Is this wrong? $4k isn’t much of a risk but I would hate to just throw it away on a known feces wagon.

Mitsubishis are problematic for two reasons, despite being (in my opinion) relatively competitive in reliability to more popular makes and models.

1. They are cheap cars so people that own them tend to be broke and bad on maintenance or they're younger people that tend to beat on them.
2. Parts can be hard to find and/or pricey.

Otherwise, I don't hate them, and I think they do deliver a value. Kind of like a slightly more engaging Nissan Sentra, except you get a real transmission, not a garbage CVT.

if you thoroughly inspect the car, try to get an idea of the personality and motives of the seller while talking to them/test driving the car, and are willing to wait for parts to come from the internet vs in stock at the local parts store, you'll get a decent car for a good price which is hard to find these days.

PS: I would say country of origin doesn't matter at all. Just because it's made in Japan doesn't mean it's a good car.

 

[CharBaby]

check typical auto parts replacement. Many Mitsubishi parts are dealer only items.

 

[benjy]

there are lancers that are cheep, then there are EVO Lancers a whole new ballgame!!

 

[Deleted member 89374]

There’s a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer with 106k miles listed locally. Asking price is $4k. The VIN indicates it was made in Japan, which I like. A bit of Googling seems to hint that this particular model has a decent reliability reputation. Is this wrong? $4k isn’t much of a risk but I would hate to just throw it away on a known feces wagon.

I had a Mitaibishi Lancer ... back in 2006. Bought it brand new, paid $14K for it out the door. It was a 2.0L 4 cylinder, 4 speed automatic, a POS. Six months later I traded it in for 13K and got a KIA Sorento that we kept for 7 years.

As amazing as it is that someone managed to keep this Lancer on the road for the last 17 years and 106K miles, it's still a worthless POS.

Let's put it this way: if nothing else will persuade you not buy this vehicle, then at the very least, consider the safety aspect. The 2006 Lancer is so poorly built that in case of an accident you won't be any better off than if you were driving an Eastern European vehicle from the late 80s or the early 90s.

Good luck!

 

[Elkins45]

I had a Mitaibishi Lancer ... back in 2006. Bought it brand new, paid $14K for it out the door. It was a 2.0L 4 cylinder, 4 speed automatic, a POS. Six months later I traded it in for 13K and got a KIA Sorento that we kept for 7 years.

As amazing as it is that someone managed to keep this Lancer on the road for the last 17 years and 106K miles, it's still a worthless POS.

Let's put it this way: if nothing else will persuade you not buy this vehicle, then at the very least, consider the safety aspect. The 2006 Lancer is so poorly built that in case of an accident you won't be any better off than if you were driving an Eastern European vehicle from the late 80s or the early 90s.

Good luck!

You raise valid points.

 

[Chris142]

The absolute worst car I ever owned was a 1986 Mitsubishi pickup thing was absolute garbage. I realize that Mitsubishi has improved since then but I swore them off forever due to that steaming pile.

 

[Jackson_Slugger]

I had a Mitaibishi Lancer ... back in 2006. Bought it brand new, paid $14K for it out the door. It was a 2.0L 4 cylinder, 4 speed automatic, a POS. Six months later I traded it in for 13K and got a KIA Sorento that we kept for 7 years.

As amazing as it is that someone managed to keep this Lancer on the road for the last 17 years and 106K miles, it's still a worthless POS.

Let's put it this way: if nothing else will persuade you not buy this vehicle, then at the very least, consider the safety aspect. The 2006 Lancer is so poorly built that in case of an accident you won't be any better off than if you were driving an Eastern European vehicle from the late 80s or the early 90s.

Good luck!

And then, there are the bad points....

 

[Brons2]

check typical auto parts replacement. Many Mitsubishi parts are dealer only items.

Ran into this recently with TPMS replacement. Originals were damaged during tire replacement. The replacement sensors that Discount Tire gave us originally, they never could get joined to the car's PCM despite visiting two different stores. Hey, the book said they were compatible. They were eventually replaced with Mitsubishi OEM TPMS sensors, at their expense, no issue since.

On a side note, calling Discount Tire Corporate to escalate made a big difference with getting this resolved. I would recommend this path if ever you're not satisfied with the service you're getting at your local branch. I had already made 4 visits over a couple of months timeframe to try to get the issue resolved when I called Corporate. It was fixed very quickly after I made the call.

 

[dumkid]

Mitsubishis can make it a ton of miles, but they're sorta underpowered and rough around the edges. they are fairly durable (atleast the ones Mitsubishi used as rally cars, like some lancers and the Pajero

 

[wemay]

I had a 2003 Lancer Evolution VIII. I know it's a completely different car but still a Mitsubishi. That thing ran fantastically up to over 100K miles when i traded it in because gas prices + 100 mile daily drive + 12 gallon max capacity + aggressive tune = Killing my wallet.