I'm getting to the point with my Passat where it's one thing after another. I'm thinking about maybe getting an EVO, but I'm worried about potential catostrophic repair bills down the road.

I read about the guy that got stuck with a $8K engine bill. I also wonder if it's drivetrain can be an extra expensive nightmare.

Any thoughts pro or con? Is the STi a better (safer) car as far as likelyhood of expensive repairs?

 

Latest Road and Track (I believe) has just gone over 44K in their EVO VIII. They reported good reliability. Keep in mind they don't pamper these cars -but it is possible that they get ringers as they don't disguise who they are when they request a car.

I'd have to say with their testing, and other harsh activities that they treat the car harder than the average enthusiast, but the miles can be misleading. They apparently do a ton of long highway trips so the 44K could be more representative of maybe 30K or less on a normally driven car.

 

Well, all 2004+ Evos have 5yr/60,000mi bumper-to-bumper warranties and 10yr/100,000mi powertrain warranties...

Andrew

 

if mitsubishi can even honor them warranties... they're having really bad financial problems now.
friend in Japan was telling me you don't even want to be seen in one there..

 

this has been beaten to death...... 2% of the people can make 98% of the noise...... for every Evo that has it's warranty voided there are probably 500 Evo's that are running perfectly.

My car has 14k miles and is still running like new....even after some trips to the track (drag strip and road course and auto-x)....

don't believe everything you read on the internet.

 

Some people have very short memories...

Just 7 years ago another Japanese automaker was in a very similar situation - lagging sales, poor product image, declining product quality, high debt load, on the verge of bankruptcy, etc.

That automaker was Nissan Motors. They were bailed out by a loans and a buyout deal arranged by the Japanese government. Nissan rebounded from that rough spot. And they seem to be doing quite well for themselves today.

There are three main points that the Mitsubishi bashers conveniently overlook:
1) Mitsubishi Motors has the financial backing of the independant Mitsubishi Bank of Tokyo, the largest financial conglomerate in Japan.
2) Even in the highly unlikely scenario where Mitsubishi would cease North American Sales, they would still be legally and finacially responsible for maintaining warranty coverage and service on their products.
3) The Japanese government is fiercely protective of Japanese industry, especially their prized auto industry. It is highly unlikely that the Japanese government would ever allow Mitsubishi Motors, or any of their other big 5 automakers to fail.

Andrew

 

Don't worry about any problems. I've got 25k+ miles with 0 problems. As Scot pointed out 2% make 98% of the noise. Personally I'm surprized we haven't seen more problems. Why? look at all the EVO's that are running 1/4 mile times less than 12.5. There's even a large number that are deep in the 11's. These are cars running 350-400+whp (up from 230whp) with no drivetrain upgrades (maybe a clutch). With that kind of power out of a 2.0L i4 you would expect more failures. The car is built strong...plain and simple.

 

didn't something like 6 out of 7 evos that ran otc broke down and dnf'd? evo is a great car but reliability & service is shaky at best, although to be fair service is very dependant on the dealership you take it to and a good dealer is worth driving extra 50 miles IMO.

 

sti

 

for a reliable sports car...get a S2000!