OT - Mitsubishi 380, Whats wrong with them?

Hi Shane,
As I have been led to believe, the 380s are a fine car. I guess the resale price comes down to two things:
- Fuel costs = buy a 4-cyl (even tho the 6 might be not much worse than the 4 in consumption with similar weight vehicle)
- Toyota marketing

My bro has been very happy with his V6 Magna for both fuel and reliability. He also owns a Falcon which in comparison has been pretty unreliable for him.
Gerry

The fact that they stopped building them is the main reason. All up a nice vehicle.

I have never read a bad review of the 380, in fact some rate it better than its competitors. Sadly it suffers from one of the worst resale values in the industry, & if considered for a short term ownership will be too costly. However if driven till it drops it may well be a very good value buy.........oldbaz.

Shane
Market forces unfortunately. Magnas have all been great cars but suffered from the "it's not a ford or a holden syndrome". I totalled 500,000k's in 2 of them and never looked back. If you intend to keep it and not worry about the rapid depreciation you will find you have got a very good reliable motor vehicle.

tessa

One of the best cars ever made here, with world class manufacturing processes and technology. The quality, from what I saw, was 1st class, and bags of power. When I was looking for a new car I would have bought one if it was available in AWD and had a larger towing capacity. Instead I bought something else.

I would not touch one if it was given to me.

Only joking I wanted to be the first to can them.

The 380's are a brilliant car made at the wrong time for the wrong market.

If you are going to keep it for a while you will get your moneys worth out of it, the price of them will fall over the next couple of years more the the other rivals.

Being in the automotive industry I have not heard of any bad issues with them, come to think of it the only issues were with the first model 4 cyl. Magnas cracking blocks between welsh plugs and the third model having transmission problems again on the 4 cyls.

We still don't see that many Magnas come in for repairs especially from the TF on , their no different to any other cars.

The Magna has always been a good car and the 380 should be no different.

Try finding out when Mitsubishi introduced the 5 year full warrant and 10 year drive train warranty, for a while they offered 6 years full warranty, the better warranty may be of advantage to you and might not cost much more to buy a newer 380 with the longer warranty.

Also have a look at the special models the bought out from time to time with added extras for the same price.

We had a 2001 Magna VRX limited edition (200 made) that was a nice car, we had it for two years and sold it due to the declining resale value of them....24000K, 2 years old we paid $46000 and we sold it for $26000 ( the Mitsubishi dealers offered us between $21000 to $24000).

When we got the Magna we could of got a SS Commodore for $48500 and we could of sold it for $36000....$10000 more for a car only $2500 more when new.

I have rented a couple of 380's and loved them - BUT - They drink fuel when I drive them. A lighter right foot may help. Very well equipped, comfy, handle well and go well, could not really fault them other than fuel consumption

Stevesub

It was the uncertainty of Mitsubishi's future in Australia that doomed the 380 not the other way around - people were reluctant to buy a car when they knew the factory could close at any time. Nothing wrong with the cars.

The Australian Public just never got used to the idea of front wheel drive large cars.

Bugered if I know why, we towed a 17 foot boat behind a 2.6 Magna very comfortably.

Our 18 yo's car is a 97 3L Magna and it is a gem of a thing to drive. It's the fourth we have owned in the family. As one car dealer advised us when looking "Get a Magna in preference to a Commodore or Falcon, they're much better value".

The 380 should have been a success. It represents oustanding value for money on the second hand market.

Jim.

The Govt Vehicle Auctions are worth a try. Here's two recent examples from SA. I know an engineer at the former Mitsi site, and they were regarded in the industry as a good very good car, well built and engineered. In the latter days, production was so slow that there was no rush to buld at all, plenty of time to do it properly apparently.

MITSUBISHI 380 LX SEDAN DB NOVEMBER 2005 AUTO Kms: 60732 $15800.00

MITSUBISHI 380 LX SEDAN DB FEBRUARY 2006 AUTO Kms: 63675 $18000.00

Thanks for all the response, I'll be taking one for a drive today!