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And who knows, maybe someone will say bladebaits aren’t any good.
I hope those bladebaits aren’t the ones made in France by anti-union atheist communists who own Dixie Chick albums. 
It’s time to go fishing.
There is no logic or reason that applies here……I just could not buy or lease a Japanese truck and feel good about it. 
I’ve had 8 Fords and 5 GMCs, some better than others, all good.
Toyotas are KNOWN to be dependable, because the Toyota owner, by and large, does the recommended maintenance on their vehicles. Domestics are getting better, but for the most part, do not do the Transmission, Coolant and Differential services as recommended. I know this is true, I manage a Mitsubishi Service deaprtment, and a Chrysler Jeep Dodge. Even within the CJD store, Jeep customers are better at doing recommended maintenance, than a Dodge owner. Mitsubishi owners mentality is, they HAVE to do everything the book says, when it say it. Example, Mitsubishi has an interference engine, which means if the timing belt breaks, it can do major damage to the internal engine. The Mitsu built Sebring Coupe’s & Dodge Stratus’ have the same engine, all are recommended new timing belts every 60K. I can count on one hand, how many timing belts we have done on the Sebrings & Stratus’ at the Chrysler/Dodge store in the last five years, but we do about 1 a week at the Mitsu store. I know we did not sell 5x as many Mitsubishis. Again, any truck or car will break down, if they didn’t, Toyota wasted alot of money on putting a service department on their new building here in Cloud. 
big g 
Big G;
When do I have to do the timing belt on a 2002 Mit Lancer 4-banger? 
60K. Do it man, it will eventually break, 60, 70, 80 or 100, you DO NOT want it to happen…
big g 
uhhhhhhhhhhh
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Well…………
Being that I’m at 110k miles, can we call it good???? 
Where is your shop sir?
Is that a 2.0 L ?
Glen
No clue……..just a simple Lancer…….Not an Evo.
It is an ES model.
More than likely the 2.0L. Interference as far as the valves go, pistons will free wheel. Recommended at 60K. You blow my Mitsu owner theory all to he77 !!!
big g
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You blow my Mitsu owner theory all to he77 !!!
Well, you ARE talking to Gary
Ron
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More than likely the 2.0L. Interference as far as the valves go, pistons will free wheel. Recommended at 60K. You blow my Mitsu owner theory all to he77 !!!
big g
LOL!!!!!!
Default!!!! I inherited this car 1.5 years ago when I married my wife! So technically, your theory doesn’t apply to me!
But I’m not the “typical” mechanical, text book guy on autos! Boats—-different story……autos—-nope!
I change “organic” oil every 10,000 miles.
And my last truck has 185,000 miles and still is running STRONG!
My work vehicle before the truck was a 94 Pontiac Bonni with a 3800. That motor lasted for 249,000 miles before a piston broke through the side of the block……Plugs only changed 1 time over the course of MAINTENANCE FREE 249,000 miles!
OK!
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94 Pontiac Bonni with a 3800. That motor lasted for 249,000 miles
And you probably got 30+ MPG highway with it too! I have a ’96 Buick Park Ave with 162,000, runs great, and gets 30+ MPG. What more could you ask for in a larger vehicle?
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because the Toyota owner, does the recommended maintenance on their vehicles. Mitsubishi owners mentality is, they HAVE to do everything the book says, when it say it.
You said it all, domestic vehicle owners are not as interested in vehicle maintenace. Not saying nobody takes care of their vehicles, just the import owners are the ones who feel they need to take care of their baby.
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And you probably got 30+ MPG highway with it too! I have a ’96 Buick Park Ave with 162,000, runs great, and gets 30+ MPG. What more could you ask for in a larger vehicle?
nope!
27 average!!!!!!! 
Actually, I did get about 30 on major road trips! The only thing that car called for was 2 alternator changes and a crank trigger burned out.
I didn’t have $1000 maintenance in that car total, besides oil changes and brake pads!
I miss it too!
So us import owners are maintenance freaks? I would of thought I was just the opposite, since I change the oil, and fill with gas. As long as you can make something up to make you feel better about your “brand” of car being just as reliable as an import? Not all imports are reliable either.There is a reason some have the reputation for reliability as they have a long track record to prove it.
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Not all imports are reliable either.
I’m glad someone here has some common sense.
I’m not saying all domestic vehicles are the best either. Look at the Pontiac Grand Am. It wasn’t much of a car from its start back in ’84 until it died in ’05. Every manufacturer foreign and domestic have their problems.
No need to feel offense jtimm, the remarks about imports owners doing more routine maintenance is simple truth and shows they value their investments more than domestic owners. By and far any piece of equipment that is maintained properly will outlast similar equipment that isn’t. Having spent time in a Mitsu/Audi/VW/Ford dealership I can assure you Ford owners, while honest everyday folk, take routine maintnenace as a nuisance they can do without whereas the import people almost come to a stop wherever they are to have their maintenance done. Freaks? No. Freakish about maintenance? Absolutely.
Just an FYI impalapower the Grand Am did not die in 05. It simply morphed into the Old Alero, another cheap POS roaming the roads. Almost identical driveline as the Grand Ams and a nearly identical record of common problems. If it is between the bumpers it is either broke or about to break. POS cars if I’ve ever seen them.
Maybe domestic owners don’t do routine maintenence because the average vehicle only last 150k miles?
Maybe the foreign owners do routine maintenence because the aver vehicle last 250k miles?
There comes a time when a person puts “good money into bad”. Sometimes it isn’t worth letting a vehicle nickle-dime you to death. Domestics have that reputation. The mentality still exist where if a domestic reaches 100k, it is worn out. That same mentality on a foreign is that “it is just broke in!”
I do the recommended maintenance on both our domestic truck and foreign car, mostly because I thought it voids your warranty if you do not? Is that not the case? I and another person I know had parts of our VW warranty voided because we missed a mile maintenance check. 
I know Chrysler HIGHLY recommends that you do the maintenance. It will not void it. I know some Imports were doing this in the late 80’s and early 90’s, maybe that’s where the push for maintenance came from. I can tell you, that where it gets taken into account, is after you are out of factory warranty. If I have a vehicle here that is out of warranty and the customer has documentation of taking care of their vehicle, per the maintenance schedule, I will be apt to help them out with a repair. If somebody just put gas and tires on it, then the goodwill warranty kind of goes down the tubes.
big g
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Maybe domestic owners don’t do routine maintenence because the average vehicle only last 150k miles?
Maybe the foreign owners do routine maintenence because the aver vehicle last 250k miles?
There comes a time when a person puts “good money into bad”. Sometimes it isn’t worth letting a vehicle nickle-dime you to death. Domestics have that reputation. The mentality still exist where if a domestic reaches 100k, it is worn out. That same mentality on a foreign is that “it is just broke in!”
My theory is, they “wear out” at 100K, because routine maint was not done, like it was on the import. Also the definition of “worn out” can apply to the engine and trans, as well as the “sheet metal” !!!(subliminal shot at 6 year old imports and rust)
big g
Hmmm…In my case I was still under the factory warranty and I missed the 30k maintenance by 2,000 miles but I did get it done. Then the emissions warning started coming on. So I took it in and they found the problem and that was fixed under warranty. But the cost to diagnose the issue was not. When I asked them why it wasn’t covered under the warranty, they said because I missed the maintenance otherwise it would have been. Maybe the dealer just told me that to make a little extra cash? 
I don’t know.
I have a Ram so it is good to know about Chrysler’s policy. Thanks!
I would have a hard time charging someone to diagnose a covered item, in fact, it cannot & DOES NOT happen here. If the item was covered, why should you pay for a diagnosis, that maybe had an under trained technician working on your vehicle ? Sounds like they lined their pockets… BTW, Chryslers policy varies from dealer to dealer, some are self authorizing and some are not. It’s something you earn as a dealer.
big g
I have a Cadillac DTS that was $50k new, has 70,000 miles now and burns a quart of oil every 550 miles. 
The service has all been done at a GM dealership and this car is falling apart. This summer I will trading my last American car ever on a Toyota, Honda, or Hundai. Never owned one of them that didn’t go 200,000+ miles. Sorry guys, but until US automakers step it up, I am stepping out.
Stepped up…. Lifetime Powertrain warranty….. 
Any imports want to “step up” and put their $$$ where their mouth is ??? 
Sorry too… 
Check out what Jim Press, the head of Toyota for the last 30+ years in N. America, and now head of Chrysler has to say about vehicle quality.
big G 
Fish Hammer, I’m with ya!! I’m sending my ford diesel down the road.I’m going to try and actually speed up the process of it leaving after reading that the UNION guys put it together, helps explain why it was so expensive.
I did not even own a vehicle that was less the 3 years from being as old as I was until I was in my 30’s.
My first new car was a Saturn, bought it because of the rep it had of being reliable and holding resale well. I traded it in at 80K miles having all services done at the dealer. Except for a CD changer that kept jamming my only warranty complaints were a section of exhaust pipe that cracked at 30K again at 60K and I assume did again at 90K miles. I replaced the tires at 70K miles because I did not want to run another winter with them, they were still “legal” tread depth, I did the brakes at 75K miles because I did not want to push the issue, still had 30% pad life left. Great mileage, no power though.
My second “new” vehicle I am getting rid of today. 04 Silverado with quadra-stear. I love this truck to death! It parks easier then that Saturn did, looks sweet with the flared bed to account for the wider track of the rear axle. I have had nothing but troubles with this one though and Lemon law claim was filed so GM is buying it back. Again was serviced at rec intervals at the dealer.
What kind of troubles? At 10K miles the 5.3L started to blow white smoke from the tail pipe occasionally on startup. Dealer cant recreate the problem initially, at 18K miles water pump goes out. Around that time the truck starts sounding like an old diesel, clattering and banging for a few seconds on startup, again dealer cant make the truck do it while in the shop. Finally one morning I go out to start the truck and it wont crank over at first, thought dead battery. Try a few more times and it fires and sounds like hell, call dealer, service writer hears the truck over the phone and tows it in. They find a blown head gasket, engine had hydraulic’d to the point that the innards of the engine were destroyed. This was at 23K miles or so.
New engine installed and lasts for 7K miles before it starts making the familiar noises again. Dealer was kind enough to loan me a truck so I could tow my boat to Chamberlin, SD for a fishing trip that was planned. I did not feel comfortable driving my truck all that way sounding the way it did. Took the dealer several attempts but finally got it to make the noises I was complaining about. Something in block or head cracked, they found oil and coolant in what should have been a dry head bolt hole and at 32K miles or so the engine was replaced again.
This engine makes it 1 thousand miles before I lose power suddenly and the engine starts making a horrible knocking noise when I apply gas. I am too far from the dealer to tow, and service writer tells me not to worry if something gets worse on way back, he knows situation so I drive it from hudson to west suburbs of Mpls. They find that 2 rocker arms had come loose. These get replaced, truck has 41K miles on it now and trouble free since then.
Damgae was done though, I talked to an attorney and after several months, GM is buying it back. Not really the outcome I had hoped for. Did I mention I love Quadra-stear? 
Anyway, my sales guy is picking me up when I drop of the 04 and taking me and my check to his dealership where, bar any unforseen glitches, I will drive home with and brand spankin new GMC Sierra SLT (I think, the loaded one with leather) This one also has the 5.3, I am nervous about that, but is a flexfuel model so I could burn the cheap stuff around town if gas keeps it march towards $4/gallon.
I think it can roll either way sometimes you just get a vehicle with bad mojo. I took care of my truck, did not speed when towing my boat, did the mfr services and still had a stinker. That’s what I think it was too, one bad truck. I am buying another GM, hoping for better luck with this one. I looked at all makes at first. I just ended up prefering the GM body style. That 04 body style I think was prolly the best looking they had though.
sure gonna miss the 04
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Stepped up…. Lifetime Powertrain warranty…..
big G
Stepped up? I have a Ram under the ‘old’ warranty. My brother and two brother-in-laws have Rams. We all like our trucks but we had plenty of conversations that it is amazing every time we take our trucks in we get the “that isn’t covered under the powertrain warranty”. So you still end up getting “nickeled and dimed to death”. Just last week my brother got nailed for $350 because a sensor went out. I guess he did luck out having that powertrain warranty after having to get his transmission replaced at 40k miles.
Now my wife has an Audi and everything (including maintenance) is covered until 100k miles. I would take that any day over a lifetime powertrain warranty.
That said, I’m sure when the time comes I will get another Ram, mostly because it is the cheapest truck out there.
I am sure the Audi is sold with a pre-loaded contract. You can get them on Chrysler porducts too, but it isn’t attached to the vehicle, in the price. It is the customers decision to decide whether they want that extended coverage or not. For the customer who buys new every 3 years, there is little advantage to paying the inflated price for coverage they will never use. I know for a fact, for around $2500 more at purchase, you could have “wrapped” your truck in that same coverage. Audi doesn’t give the option, they just tag it on their price. They don’t give them away, they are paid for somehow….
big G
Well there is a reason you pay a premium for German cars. They don’t break down and if they do it is taken care of. It is also nice that the $90 oil change and brakes are covered.
And I am sure nobody at Chrysler (although the way the American companies are run maybe they didn’t think about it)did a little math to determine how much they need to raise the price to cover the probable number of claims they will have to cover on their new lifetime warranty, yet still stick ya with the nickel and dime charges.
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