Mitsubishi 380 - Opinions on reliability, economy etc.

[minheim]

Aussie Magna has a pretty good 380 sub-forum. You have to remember that they only made 32000 odd 380s all up so it will be a fairly small membership and replies may take a while and be limited compared to this forum. I've been going there for over three years and there are lots of helpful guys there.

[Barranated]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

well posted a thread up on aussiemagna forum, but the fordforum seems to be more helpful so i'll post it here lol !!

i undid the drain plug on the radiator to drain the old coolant but only 2L came out?

i made sure the car was fully warmed up, but it didnt matter what i did, in the end i could only get 2L of coolant mix back in there. Surely theres a way to drain out the majority of the coolant, and fill it back up without much fuss?

Congrats on buying a 380.... love 'em.
The bottom picture is the plug you're after.... you can get to the other plug, but you shouldn't need to.

380 Cooling-28.jpg

[AU Mont]

awesome thanks !! they look easy to get to lol

[genebaby]

They've been good to me there when I've needed to find things out for the 380. Most recently the stereo upgrade.

[AU Mont]

im sure theres alot of knowledgable people there, just that im use to owning cars that arent just relagated to a cult following.

the missus had a drive yesterday and even though she has a 2008 Liberty Heritage (luxury), she was impressed by the VRX, and went as far as to say it was nicer than her car

[zilo]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

awesome thanks !! they look easy to get to lol

Be careful, if you totally empty it you might get an airlock when you restart it.

[AU Mont]

Had the major service done today timing belt & plugs........... cost $660 plus another $100 to flush the transmission with genuine mitsubishi fluid. Very fair price, probably the first dealer ive come across that isnt working on $1000 an hour

There was a minor problem where as i was paying for it was told a lifter tick was noted and that i should change to a different oil. Um, no, fix whatever you did. Took the car for 10min apparently was the accessory belt out of alignment? Im thinking it was a loose pulley as a misaligned belt will fix itself after a couple revs, but anyway runs sweet now.

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by Windsor220

Just the window regulators keep dying

Is this just a Mitsubishi problem in general?

We had a late 90's Pajaro and a 2000 magna, and both had problems with the windows when they were both much less then 10 years old.

[Franco Cozzo]

Anyone hating on Mitsubishi window regs, should take a look at our own cars, particularily E series and AU.

AU's burn the contacts on the window switches and E series regulators die every second week it seems lol.

[zilo]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

There was a minor problem where as i was paying for it was told a lifter tick was noted and that i should change to a different oil. Um, no, fix whatever you did. Took the car for 10min apparently was the accessory belt out of alignment? Im thinking it was a loose pulley as a misaligned belt will fix itself after a couple revs, but anyway runs sweet now.

Nah, it was lifter tick.

Often happens after an oil change and either goes away or stays there and is absolutely nothing to worry about.....for a long while.

Always use 10w/40 oil in these cars...castrol etc, no fancy nancy stuff.

[AU Mont]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Anyone hating on Mitsubishi window regs, should take a look at our own cars, particularily E series and AU

Dont forget BF. I asked the service guy about the regs, he says once theyre replaced theyve never seen them fail again

Originally Posted by Ugg

Nah, it was lifter tick.

Often happens after an oil change and either goes away or stays there and is absolutely nothing to worry about.....for a long while.

Always use 10w/40 oil in these cars...castrol etc, no fancy nancy stuff.

the sound it was making sounded more like bottom end knock lol, but whatever they did in 10min its gone now & as dead quiet as when i took it there. I'd say they forgot to do a couple things up properly. I told thewm not to touch the oil or coolant, using valvoline durablend 10-40

[zilo]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

Dont forget BF. I asked the service guy about the regs, he says once theyre replaced theyve never seen them fail again

They replace the window regs with US Galant ones....(same car almost)
The ones that fail are the Chinese ones.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Anyone hating on Mitsubishi window regs, should take a look at our own cars, particularily E series and AU.

AU's burn the contacts on the window switches and E series regulators die every second week it seems lol.

You're talking about 10-12 year old AU's and up to 20 year old E series cars, of course there is going to be some parts failures as the cars age.

[Nic85]

The ticking could have been the ECV (emissions control valve). Mine's ticked since I got the car. It's about a $100 part and one bolt to undo to change it.

The Mitsubishi manual says to use 5w30 oil, so that's what I use. Castrol Titanium something or other. It's like $90 for 5L.

[AU Mont]

Originally Posted by Nic85

The ticking could have been the ECV (emissions control valve). Mine's ticked since I got the car. It's about a $100 part and one bolt to undo to change it.

as mentioned the big noise was the accessory belt, has been fixed. But i did have a listen up close and there is a bunch of quiet ticking, but only in random spurts maybe thats what the mechanic was talking about. I reckon your correct being the valve your talking about as it sounds sort of like the charcoal canister purge valve the AU Windsors play up with.

The Mitsubishi manual says to use 5w30 oil, so that's what I use. Castrol Titanium something or other. It's like $90 for 5L.

reason i use 15-40 is the frequent warm weather we have, and lack of below freezing temps. Of course i could be wrong so feel free to correct me, always open to advice !!

[ute83]

Originally Posted by Nic85

The Mitsubishi manual says to use 5w30 oil, so that's what I use. Castrol Titanium something or other. It's like $90 for 5L.

Which page would that be on?

[SSVPom]

My father in law bought a new 380 GTL in 2007 for something like $46k... Very nice car but no curtain bags or ESC so already behind the times back then.
Having said that, great car with gutsy engine and nicely trimmed cream leather interior.
He only got rid of it due to needing a 4x4 tow car.

[Nic85]

Originally Posted by ute83

Which page would that be on?

Appreciate the tone, page 8-6.

After re-reading that page, I think I might change to something more like a 10w40 or 10w50.

[ute83]

[QUOTE=Nic85]Appreciate the tone, page 8-6.

After re-reading that page, I think I might change to something more like a 10w40 or 10w50.[/QUOTE

That's a good idea.

[Nic85]

Not that it gets to over 35 degrees on a regular occurrence at this time of year.

[landau5.8]

Im a die hard ford fan who has worked with Mitsubishi for over 10 years and now own a TJ Magna Sports Wagon. I will never look back, great car and never had an issue. Great car, great fuel economy and good looking too boot. These cars outperformed the Fords and Holden of the day with a great 3.5 litre engine.
You wont regret buying one of these. Make sure that its a TJ and onwards Model as the TE/TF/TH carried over the gearbox issues.

[Ben73]

The 6 cylinders seam pretty frugal based on the trip computer thing.
Mine would say I averaged 10.3L-11.1/100km driving around Newcastle. That's based off red P plater acceleration rates as well.

My current V8 averages 16-18L on the same streets.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

You're talking about 10-12 year old AU's and up to 20 year old E series cars, of course there is going to be some parts failures as the cars age.

Even genuine replacements **** themselves pretty early on especially EL Fairmont Ghia.

[Nic85]

Originally Posted by landau5.8

Im a die hard ford fan who has worked with Mitsubishi for over 10 years and now own a TJ Magna Sports Wagon. I will never look back, great car and never had an issue. Great car, great fuel economy and good looking too boot. These cars outperformed the Fords and Holden of the day with a great 3.5 litre engine.
You wont regret buying one of these. Make sure that its a TJ and onwards Model as the TE/TF/TH carried over the gearbox issues.

Are you referring to the wave spring issue? That wasn't fixed until the 5 speeds in the TL series (Late 2003)

[zilo]

For those of you constantly comparing a Magna to a 380...

They are completely different cars....in every way the 380 is a more refined build.

[Nic85]

Originally Posted by Ugg

For those of you constantly comparing a Magna to a 380...

They are completely different cars....in every way the 380 is a more refined build.

Indeed it is. The only thing similar from Magna to 380 is the engine is related. It's a bit like comparing a Mondeo to a Falcon.

[landau5.8]

Originally Posted by Nic85

Are you referring to the wave spring issue? That wasn't fixed until the 5 speeds in the TL series (Late 2003)

5 speeds came out in TJ

[Nic85]

Originally Posted by landau5.8

5 speeds came out in TJ

Yes, but the wave spring issue wasn't fixed until the 5 speeds in the TL. Meaning, the 4 speeds never got the fix.

[rprodrive]

I've got a 2006 380GT - prior to that I had a FG XR6 Turbo and a VE SS.

The 380GT can't be beaten on value - that is for sure. You get heaps of car for the money and they are very reliable. I have done 35k kms in it so far and it is a very good car. The power delivery is better than I expected - it isn't a rocket like the FG turbo, but it isn't a slug either. It is a low to mid 7 second car to 100kph and it is effortless in urban and highway situations. I have fitted the snorkel from the 380TMR model which was only $65 and has noticeable improvements in power.

Now to the negatives. No stability control and no curtain airbags. Not a major issue as it is still a very large heavy car and when first released was Australia's safest car - but things have moved on and you can find other cars that have these safety features for not too much coin (eg Accord Euro, Mazda 6).

I don't think the paint is particularly good, the clear coat on the boot lid spoiler on mine is flaking away.

Then there is fuel consumption - urban consumption is 14 to 15 litres per 100kms which is more than I expected as my FG turbo wasn't far away from that. Get it on the highway and it will drop to high 7s or 8s - but stop start traffic is a killer.

Window regulators as others have said are a problem - but it is a quick and cheap fix and the replacement part is less likely to have the same problem occur again.

The auto gear box is ok but I find it too slow compared to the ZF in the FG. If you are are driving at a constant speed - say 40kph and want to accelerate quickly - kickdown is slow (about 1 second or more) - whereas the ZF would anticipate what you are doing and immediately find the lower gear and off you go.

I'd recommend the 380 to anyone looking for a solid family car. It is a LOT of car for the money - I'd say they are worth more than what they actually cost second hand which is great for buyers.

[Nic85]

The paint problem on yours, rpprodrive: I'd suggest it's had bad chemicals used to wash it or it's been through the laserwash a few times throughout its life. Mine's a 2005 model and the paint is excellent, but I do look after it.