2008 Mitsubishi Lancer

lovethelancer · January 2008

Hello all,

I am new here and actually just discovered the new-ish Lancer about 3 weeks ago. My 1999 Jetta needs to be upgraded and I am looking to purchase a new car and the GTS is number one on my list right now.

I was wondering if anyone knew when the 2009's would be coming out? I'm worried that they may go UP in price and that some of the options may get switched around and stuff. I will likely not be able to afford getting one until April.

Has anyone recently had luck getting a good deal on the GTS? I read a few posts of people saying they got the GTS with sound, sun, and nav for around $20k

I was also curious as to how much people are paying for insurance on the GTS.

I'm hoping to be able to have payments around $350/mo and insurance at $150/mo or less. My trade in will likely only be about $2000 and probably $1500 cash down too....Is $350 impossible do you think? My credit score is very good so I am hoping that will help!

Thanks in advance.

Iluv......I've read all of your posts and was wondering how your Lancer is doing these days? still as great as before?

ellusionz21 · January 2008

I got the ES w/ the sun and sound package for 20k, I put like 1k or 1.5k down (I forget) and had the 500 college grad rebate. I pay 340/month. My advice is to use the Ineternet people and contact about 3-5 dealerships in your area if you can and as for the Out the door price. I took Edmunds pricing system that tells you how much a car in your area would go for and requested the OTD price be 1k or 2k under. Do it at the end of the month, when they are trying to sell as many as possible. Do not let them run your credit until you agree on a price. You'll get the best price if you are willing to take whats on their lot. I foolishly put 500 down wanting the dark grey one, and ended up with a red one from their lot cause they weren't able to get it.. man was i annoyed.

I looked at the GTS but decided not to get it cause of the wing, totally blocks half your view. Wish I had gotten the nav system though, but 2.5k now to get it is way out of my price range.

But otherwise I love my car. Only two probs I've had was in the begining about a handful of times it wouldn't start. Was far and few between and always started up fine the second time. Hasn't done that in months. And my radio kept fading in and out, they couldn't figure out why. They just tried tightening up my entena, so that may have been it. Haven't noticed it so far giving me problems like it did in the begining.

lovethelancer · January 2008

AWESOME!

Thanks for your reply.

I will take your advice....I'm probably gonna wait until April so prices may be way different then with the 2009 models coming out.

alagha · January 2008

Hi Guys,
tonight I'm going to test drive the 08 Lancer for the first time. I am new to this car but I heard a great deal of good stuff about it and I can't wait to get into one. I like the comments everyone leaves here they are very helpful.
therefore I want to raise this question and I'm sorry if it was already raised before, My question is, how much of a difference do you find in the handling and control of each model?? I know that the GTS is sport tuned with tighter suspension and light clutch but is it worth the extra 2000 bucks over the ES???

ellusionz21 · January 2008

Test drive both and find out

Plus figure out what extras you get and if its worth it to you.

hector4 · January 2008

Anyone mod their GPS/music server? 30gigs is not enough. I want to clone the harddrive and up it to atleast 60gigs. Also I am wondering about what os it is running? Anyone mess around with it. I have not bought a lancer yet. What are the music server files saved as? Can you rip songs from an MP3 disk?

Hoping someone can tell me something about this since I seemed to know more than the person at the dealer.
Thanks,
Brian.

lovethelancer · January 2008

Wow...you need more than 30gigs of music in your car? Thats like 5000 songs+.

gijoewildbill · January 2008

For those of you have any kind of issues and wondering if anyone else has come across the same issue, the best place to go and read up on it in your spare time is:

http://www.safercar.gov

This is the U.S. government's department of motor vehicles recall/crash test website. If you click the "Defects and recalls" link from the menu that runs along the top of the page, you can go through and read about any complaints, reported defects or possible defects being investigated, and current recalls on file. You can also submit a complaint to the government to help push for an investigation.

Moving on. To address rpibravesfan question about the oil change interval.

Sounds like another question to ask the Petroleum Engineer in the family...here is his response:

(This is a copy of an answer I wrote about the same question in another forum at lancertuners.com)

There are 2 primary things that affect timing of the oil change.

1) As others have said, the drivers habits and the driving conditions for which the car is put in daily is a key factor (meaning to and from work and school not the one Saturday you race up the mountain). For Stop/Go, heavy urban area traffic, and those who have lead foots, generally 3,000 miles is the best bet. For those more in the country side who are gentle with their lancer babies, 5,000 miles is ok.

2) The other key factor is going to be which type of oil running in the car. Generally, most vehicles will come standard with mineral based oils (from fossil fuel crude oil). This oil is generally rated for a max life of 5,000 miles with a recommended oil change interval of 3,000 miles for most drivers on average conditions (meaning a mix of daily driving stresses). Full Synthetic motor oils, however, are rated for a 10,000 mile (and in some cases 15,000 miles) life span with a recommended exchange every 5,000 miles. The benefit of the Synthetic is the extra additives such as detergents and lubricants over traditional mineral based oils.

Futhermore, the Synthetic is designed to provide equal or better (most cases better) lubrication than traditional oil as well. This is primarily because of the fact that, comparably, if you were to take a synthetic motor oil and a mineral motor oil of the same viscosity grade, although the density of the oil itself would be equal, the actual distribution of the polymers and their cohesive bonds between them is very different. By this I mean that a Synthetic motor oil will have a smaller polymer molecular base with bonds that more easily bend/break and then reform than those polymers fond in fossil fuel based oils. Because of this increase in the molecular flexibility, the synthetic has a longer life span under stress conditions because it can more easily adapt to the environment and conditions it is put through in the engine before breaking down like all engine products do as they begin to accumulate composites and polymer enzymes. This explains why most people sense and get a slightly better response and overall performance per quart of motor oil dollar spent than those who use the traditional oils.

All that being said, if you want to compare apples to apples the best you can when comparing, overall, the different oil standards, my vote and recommendation is to goo synthetic. Yes, the most striking downside is the fact that your standard oil change price will double at most competitive automotive lube stations, but if you really think about it, you can safely run synthetic to 6,000 miles per change and negate this argument. Add to that the fact that you will receive a better quality oil that provides better fight against deposit build up in the engine over its life span as well as a slightly better performance output, and I say synthetic is the clear winner here folks.

Hope this helps.

Wild Bill

hector4 · January 2008

Yeah I need more than 30gigs. I have not confirmed this for sure but I think the GPS software takes up about 24gigs of space since all gps maps are loaded. That leaves only 6 gigs for music. If I'm getting high quality sounds I like high quality mp3s. My mp3s are on average 6megs each. That gets me about 1000 songs. I have a lot more than that in my collection. I don't think many people realize the 30 gig hard drive is used by music server and gps maps and software.

lovethelancer · January 2008

oh yeah I didnt think of that. Good point.

gijoewildbill · January 2008

I do not feel that the GPS is 24 GB simply because it has the same maps and points of interest you can find on a base Garmin or Tom Tom and those use only about 1 to 5 GB internal flash memory. I would venture to guess that between the maps and the software, expect to lose around 10 GB, but not 24 GB. Check the manual, it will most likely tell you there.

michogomez · January 2008

I recently bought a 2008 Lancer and I have been back about 3 times for my alignment problem and now it pulls a lot to the left and they balanced my wheels which has nothing to do with it pulling to the left. I am getting ready to take it to PEP Boys to see if they can fix it because I get the run around too..

ru06 · January 2008

To answer a few of your guys questions: As far as the 30 gigs for music storage goes, first of all you can NOT rip songs from an mp3/data CD. You can only PLAY these songs directly from the CD. The only things that you can rip to the Lancer's hard drive are songs from CDs that are in WAV format, or the type of CD that you would buy in the store. You have to dowload them song by song. With this being said, I think one may want to try to prioritize which songs he or she would like to listen to the most, however I believe you can still store somewhere around 2,000 songs doing this, but I may be wrong as to this number. This is a big step up from the non-Nav package which only holds 6 CD's and has no hard drive. In that situation, you can hold say 20 songs per CD max times 6 is only 120 songs. Let not be rediculous here.
Also, for the oil change intervals, like WildBill has said, it varies based on conditions, but Mitsubishi receommends every 3,000 miles. I asked the guy in the service dept and he said well if you are doing mostly highway driving then 5,000 miles is OK otherwise it is every 3,000. Also they like to rotate your tires every 6,000 miles, keep that in mind too.
As far as the handling between the GTS and ES, I am not sure because I have only driven the GTS (this is what I own) and, as you can probably see from my previous posts, this car really hadles like a sports car. There is almost no float at all and the steering is very direct and precise. Plus with the tiptronic transmission, well you get the point.
As far as getting a good price, you will probably be able to get a better deal on an ES rather than a GTS. They say that the GTS's will sell, and they are right.. so why mark them down. The only discount I got was a $500 rebate, but I didn't care.. I really, really wanted the car and they had the color I wanted fully loaded. I got the GTS totally loaded and the price was around $22,000 even. I put down $9,000 and im paying around $340/month for 48 months. You can use this as a reference if you'd like.
Overall, I would highly recommend this car. I have around 10,000 miles on it now without any problems at all. (It doesn't pull or leak oil) hehe. Now I wish this weather here in Jersey would just warm up so I can give her a much needed bath!!

iluvmysephia1 · January 2008

Howdy Hi! Nice to see your interest in this great compact car from Mitsubishi Motors. To answer your question, yes, I still love my Lancer GTS in Rally Red, CVT automatic transmission and Sun and Sound package. Our sunroof has worked flawlessly(although it gets cold even here in Arizona in the winter and we haven't opened our sliding roof for several months now!)and the Rockford Fosgate 650-watt stereo rocks our world flawlessly. I have had no problems with my 2008 Lancer GTS except for the following thing.

I have had two flat tires and now I have a slow leak going on in my left front tire. I am leaving the house in about an hour to go get that repaired and then I'm heading to my dealer for my Lancer GTS' 5th lube-oil-filter. I insist on getting my Lancer's oil changed every 3,000 miles. My Daddy taught me that way and also I drive a very short hop in the morning to get to work and then a short hop back home and I want to help save my Lancer's engine by changing out the lubrication fluid often. Also, it gets kind of dusty here in the desert and I want to know when my air filter is dirty and needs replacing, etc., and my dealer gives my Lancer their 27-point service every L-O-F, so I feel I am taking great care of my car this way.

I may get a tire rotation again, too, I got one at the 7,500 mile mark but ususally don't follow manufacturer's tire rotation guidelines. Our Lancer's might be better served to follow them, though, because of the 18" Dunlop performance tires and how they wear, being performance radial tires. My wife and I bought a maintenance plan at purchase time and so far, even though the coupons they gave me say 5,000 mile intervals I get mine done every 3,000 miles and they totally go along with it. And I purchased my Lancer at Avondale Mitsubishi, about 9 miles west of downtown Phoenix. The dealer I use is in Sierra Vista, AZ, about 65 miles west of the little disty cowtown I live in in SE Arizona. They have been a great dealership to deal with and I will buy there next Mitsubishi purchase time, no doubt about it.

Which reminds me, I'm at the 15,499 mile mark right now on my '08 Lancer GTS. I love this car and I feel proud to own and drive it. As I have noted previously, this 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS is, along with the 1965 Ford Mustang(my first car bought back in 1978, I no longer own the car but love it's bodystyle), my favorite car bodystyle of all time.

Remember, if you buy your Lancer with performance radials, you'll get some raod noise on rough surfaces. Don't let it bother you, I just pop some Guess Who or Foghat in to my RF 650-watt boomer and let it rip! Can't hear the road noise any more!

No, this car and the 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander are helping Mitsubishi in NA to trun their fortunes around. I loved both of my Kia's but really was waiting for Kia to design a sporty 4-door sedan, and Mitsu beat them to it. Kia, with designer Peter Schreyer(from Audi, he designed the TT's body for them), is making some interesting designs as I type this post out and I am keeping a keen eye on them. They just keep getting better and better and all the dorks who put me down for years on the net as I praised my Kia's can eat Dennis Rodman's smelly basketball socks now as a result of this.

So, it's Mitsubishi and Kia for me for a long while yet I suspect. I'm closely following both manufacturer's because IMHO they give the best value and the most exciting rigs available for your spending dollar.

ru06 · January 2008

I agree. Ilovemysephia, let us know how the repair goes. Hopefully they can find the leak in the tire and plug it rather than getting a new tire!

iluvmysephia1 · January 2008

well, they didn't find the need for a repair and what's weird is as I was heading out of town my "Low Tire Pressure" light clicked off and stayed off the rest of the day. My ride on the way home felt improved. I need to buy a tire gauge and not eyeball the amount of air I pump in.

So, I got my 15,000 mile lube-oil-filter and the car passed the 27-point inspection just fine. I asked the service advisor about a 15,000 mile service, namely, do I need to get a 15,000 mile service done to keep my Warranty valid? Answer: no. He said that they push the 30,000 and 60,000 mile Service as being the necessary one(I'd count on the 90,000 mile Service as well)and they let customers choose whether or not they want the 15,000 mile Service. I recall this being similar with Kia and their Long-Haul Warranty. So, I'm up-to-snuff on my service for now.

I just need to buy a tire pressure gauge and keep all four tires filled to the same p.s.i.amount and have the right amount in each tire, too, for a good performance tire balance. It's possible this is a cold weather reaction and that I didn't have enough air in the tire for a while now. The car rode straight and sure tonight as we drove over to Safford to go to Wal*Mart. Whoo-hoo, love this Lancer GTS gentlemen!

scorp76 · January 2008

Hey folks, I tried a search but didn't see where these had been asked or answered. I'm just curious, does the Lancer GTS without the FASTkey come with a remote that has the lock/unlock buttons built in, like the Eclipse. Also, when it IS equipped with FASTkey, does it "beep" when locking and unlocking the car?

Thanks in advance.

lovethelancer · January 2008

Have you guys seen the 2009 Ralliart?

Oh man I WANT one..the only thing I dont like is the black looking thing on the grille....if it was the same color as the car like the normal Lancer models I would be in LOVE!

I MIGHT try to still get it depending on price.

I'm gonna try to hold off and get a 2009 Lancer for sure....I will just have to decide between the GTS or Ralliart.....I hope the GTS doesnt go up too much in price with the new options (HID headlights, etc).

Thanks for the info iluvmysephia

gijoewildbill · January 2008

Yes, if you do not get the Fast Key you at least get keyless entry with an audible warning. With the Fast Key, when you walk up and hit the button on the door handle and it senses the Fast Key, the one I test drove beeped once and then allowed me to open the door as well as when I closed and locked the door from the outside.

Bill

iluvmysephia1 · January 2008

BTW, our dealer contracts out the setting up of the alarm system to another dealer within their dealership group. Ours was done in Tucson at Tucson Dodge. The alarm system was already negotiated at purchase time(yes we paid to activate our Lancer's alarm system)and at the same time as everything else we negotiated a package of prepaid service work to be done at various intervals. It's pre-printed on to coupons and was given to us right away.

We don't have FASTkey but we do have the remote for lock-unlock and trunk and panic. We haven't tried the panic button yet, I think I could do without that one entirely.

Well, I'm off to get my Lancer's 3rd Dunlop tire repaired so far. I'll post back on here to let y'all know what they might offer up as to why I'm having so many tire repairs required. I may ask a question or two on this issue.

iluvmysephia1 · January 2008

and here's what I got done.

I took it in to a local service place here in town to repair the left front tire. Turns out that is the same tire as was on the left rear before they did the 7,500 mile tire rotation. So that tire took a nail in the sidewall, was repaired, and eventually was rotated to the left front position. So, that knocks me down to technically just two flat tires so far on my '08 Lancer GTS.

This guy said that if I would've come in to him with that tire needing a repair, he would've just ordered a new tire for it, because sidewall repairs are kind of dicey and especially so with performance tires.

But, since the original repair was made with the "rope" type of plug (at another shop in town) and was already done, but now is leaking very slowly, they would try and repair the tire. So it has been done.

I will just drive it and see what happens, he said he would be happy to order one 18" Dunlop, just call him up and give him the correct tire size, and he'd install it, if that situation should be necessary. He will not guarantee the flat repair on that tire.

So there I go. I'll let y'all know what happens...still not what I would call a defect in my '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS. I do shudder to think what one of these Dunlop's might cost for just one of them.

ru06 · January 2008

Yes, do let us know what happens. I, too, am curious what a set of these tires would run. Hopefully you won't need the new tire though.. we'll keep our fingers crossed for ya!

iluvmysephia1 · January 2008

that may or may not care what iluvmysephia has found out about his repaired Dunlop tire! Hear ye, hear ye!

My tire has held air for three straight days now! Whoo-hoo!

Nothing else to report on except my boss recommended this guy(he used to have a Goodyear sign but now is an independent tire and other service shop)and he and his young repairman trainee did an excellent job. I will try and find out in my spare time what one of these 18" Dunlop radial performance tires costs to replace. Since it's coming down the pike at us anyway, it wouldn't hurt to know, don't you know.

I am more proud of my '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS every day and I'm happy as a clam I bought a Rally Red one! Thing is, I love the Electric Blue pert-near as much and would've bought one in that delicious color, too, if that circumstance had befronted me.

lovethelancer · January 2008

Yeah.

I'm looking forward to buying a Electric Blue 2009 GTS....at least I'm hoping they still offer that color in next years model. It's time for me to get a new car in spring and the GTS is looking great. I kind of want the Ralliart, but I dont like the ugly black grille piece and the price is probably a bit too much for me. I am also guessing the Ralliart's will be harder to find and harder to get a god deal on!

iluvmysephia1 · January 2008

it sounds like you have fallen for this beautiful car like I have. Let me tell you something. That won't go away. I started researching in earnest around Nov.-Dec.'06 on this new Mitsubishi Lancer. I remember only getting to see certain views of the front of the car. The back of the car was not shown in any internet picture. I didn't even see a camouflaged view of the back.

By the time Feb. of 2007 rolled around I was chomping at the bit to learn all that I could. I remember finding a piece on the new Lancer at autospies.com. Those reviewers took some Lancers out to play in California out ahead of everybody else and took pictures, reported on how all of the gadgets worked, etc. Told us what they thought of the ride and handling, your standard new car review/report.

Well, that was very cool. Then, an unexpected surprise in that report. They attended a meeting led by the Lancer Product Development manager, Bryan ______. I really can't remember his name. If you want the link to that report I can come back and post it here for you, OK?

The point is, he was giving this presentation to a group of people and these autospies.com reporters were snapping pictures of the pictures the Lancer Development Team had put together. Pictures even of how the RF stereo's audiowaves careen in on the driver and the passenger for the most enjoyable musical sound possible. How the new Lancer's lower crossmember underneath the new motor allowed for a new and different exhaust manifold and piping arrangement, so on and so forth. How it would maximize handling characteristics, etc.

It was an impressive report and helped to sell the Lancer GTS to me.

lovethelancer · January 2008

Sure I would love to see that.

I'm pretty sure I am already sold on the car. I just need April to come around and to see what the 2009 pricing is like.

I'm hoping the 2.4 168HP engine doesnt raise the price too much.

Im hoping to pay $350/mo or less on the car and $150/mo or less on insurance...not too sure how realistic that is yet, but thats what I am hoping for.

I want the GTS w/ CVT, Sun and Sound, Navigation, and HID's

I'm hoping to get all of that for about $25k after taxes and licensing. If I have to I guess I can live without the NAV system to bring it down $2000.

I'm hoping to put about $2000 down and use my 99 jetta as a trade in (hoping to get about $2000 for that too). and then hopefully I can get 6.9% APR or less!

Ah I'm just really excited! I want it now haha..but I am waiting until April because my insurance is already paid until then for the jetta and I want to buy my new car when the weather is better so I can enjoy it for a few months before the rain comes again haha

But yeah I would love to see that link you have.

iluvmysephia1 · January 2008

that I posted a link to that report. Here it is:

http://www.autospies.com/news/Spies-give-you-an-early-preview-of-the-next-Mitsub- - ishi-EVO-12186/

It's worth reading it and enjoying all of the pictures, including the report from the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Manager of Product Strategy, Bryan Arnett.

Enjoy!

mbcowboy · January 2008

Had my new Lancer for a month now, do enjoy it thus far. I do hope with the breaking in period the mileage improves a bit more. Its nice driving and i did get a great deal on it on the last day of their program. This is a far cry from my old 98 Cavalier. Its been a cold month with temps going down to -38-40C or -40f and with the windchill 10 degrees lower, this car does start pretty good. Enjoy the seat warmers in this cold. I also find that the car warms up quickly without alot of standing still warm-up.

mbunting · February 2008

Our lancer also pulls to the left...very very annoying to say the least.

I have also had some front end shaking and nothing the dealer has done has helped the problems (pulling and shaking). I seem to think that it might be a tire issue over anything else. Our Lancer only has ~6.5k on it, and it has done this from the get go.

I also recently purchased an 07' Nissan Xterra (new) and that thing runs a smooth as silk to be honest, especially compared to the Lancer. You would think it would be the complete opposite!

I've had it into the dealer (alignments and rotations) and nothing has been corrected. I'm going to try one more time and then contact Mitsu about a permanent remedy.

I love the car...minus this very huge issue.

With all the reports of everyone's car pulling to the left - I cannot believe that there has not been a recall on this problem. this is not normal, and if they are telling you it's normal, don't buy into their lies. They just don't want to deal with you.

solereclipz · February 2008

After 3 wheel allignments and 2 tire rotations and getting absolutely nowhere with our dealership, we contacted corporate Mitsubishi and voila, suddenly our dealership was eager to help! They took our car in yet again and decided that there was a problem with the tires. Our car came with Dunlop tires and they said that it was the tires and therefore they were going to switch our tires for Goodyear tires. They kept our car for a day and sure enough, they put in Goodyear tires and so far there hasn't been any pulling to the left.
I agree that Mitsubishi should have put out a recall for this problem. I'm just glad that it's not "just us" and that the car's not "supposed to be that way" as our dealership tried to convince us of. This is a sharp looking car and I really didn't want to get rid of the car because of that problem, but I'll tell you, if the problem hadn't been fixed it was a goner! Thankfully, the problem is fixed, and I get to keep my car.

ps my car only has 2k miles

iluvmysephia1 · February 2008

tires. Except that I've got the Dunlop tires on my 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS! My car pulls slightly to the left at times, but I've had two Dunlops get punctures and need repairs so far. I will adjust the air in the Dunlops and notice a stopping of the car pulling to the left.

For instance, right now I'm coming off a visit last week to the tire service shop in town where they repaired my left front leaking Dunlop 18" tire. The car is pulling slightly to the left. If I go over and let a titch of air out and drive it away I have a feeling that will remedy the problem. They seem to be sensitive to inflation pressures quite a bit. So far I don't notice this as being even a big enough problem to take in to the dealer for and when I have to buy new tires I will probably buy Goodyear or another brand.

solereclipze...did your dealer swap your Lancer's Dunlops for Goodyears at no cost to you, as they should have? If so, any of us with Lancers could now demand this remedy for our Lancer if we are indeed having a big "pulling to the left" problem.

The way my Lancer GTS is driving I wouldn't bother having it done and I would try deflating my left front tire a tad first before heading to the dealer with the problem, too. It's just not happening definitely enough to warrant dealer action in my case. I'm glad you got your Lancer's "pulling to the left" problem fixed and think all of us '08 Lancer owners ought to keep the tire swap out story in mind if we feel we need a dealer remedy to this problem. It is true, our Lancer's ought not be pulling to the left. The '08 Mitsubishi Lancer is too good of a car to let any problem with it bother us and diminish our joy of the vehicle. So do get your's fixed if it needs fixing. Y'all know I'll chime in with my personal situation as anything changes, that's a given.

Chime in with your own personal situation on this, other '08 Mitsubishi Lancer owners.

lovethelancer · February 2008

http://www.auburnvalleycars.com/cardetails.asp?VIN=JA3AW86V78U046755

i didnt know the EVO X was out already?!

iluvmysephia1 · February 2008

I took a gander at a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon that was being sold from Auburn Valley Hyundai. Are you a Pacific Northwesterner? That's my old stomping grounds, I worked for Boeing at the Everett factory.

I noticed from reading your link that Auburn Valley Mitsubishi was America's first Mitsubishi dealer. Also that that beautiful Mitsubishi EVO X is selling for a tad over $36,000. I also noticed that the Mitsubishi EVO X has a Warranty that covers 3 years and 36,000 miles for bumper-to-bumper parts and 5 years and 60,000 miles for the powertrain. Somebody over on the the Edmunds Mitsubishi EVO thread was saying that his new MR EVO only has a 3 year and 36,000 mile Warranty on the powertrain. Not so, padre.

Anyhow, lovethelancer, what's your current thinking, still thinking about getting a Lancer GTS? Don't let this recent news on the Lancer "pulling to the left" bother you. That is small potatoes to deal with(as you probably already know)when dealing with a great new car like this Lancer. My car will occasionally pull to the left when steering and I will nudge it back. I notice that tire inflation amounts affect greatly this issue.

It is good to hear that one '08 Lancer owner was able to get a new set of Goodyear tires put on and his OEM Dunlop's taken off, to alleviate the "pulling to the left issue." Now, if any of us new Lancer owners need some evidence of a fix on this we can print this thread out and take it in to our dealer's service department to provide a ready remedy. I am going to be closely following this issue on my own Lancer GTS and will not hesitate to get the same remedy if my Lancer does pull to the left any more. Right now it's good and I'm so happy to have my left front tire keeping air and behaving.

Let's see if the NY Giants can pull off the upset of the 2000's today. :shades:

lovethelancer · February 2008

Oh ..the GTS is still my number one right now. I still need to test drive it, but I'm not worried about that part. I drive a 1999 Jetta right now so it might not drive as smooth as that and there might be more road noise, but the 650 watt stereo will drain that out.....

I just LOVE how the lancer looks....I'm going to try to wait for the 2009 so i can get HID's because my vision at night sucks so that will help.

Did you see the pictures of the blue EVO? thats so beautiful. I might try to get that hood on my GTS cuz its awesome haha

Anyways yeah...I live in Bothell and work in Everett!:) I was surprised to see Evo's out so early and it is good to see that Auburn got them just a few days after other places so I'm hoping to be driving a new GTS at the end of March or in April!

solereclipz · February 2008

yes, iluvmysephia, my dealership did replace the Dunlop's for the Goodyear's at no cost to me. I'm glad that your problem isn't big enough to warrant a trip to the dealership. Mine definitely was. I would let go of the wheel and the car would pull into the left lane without me touching the wheel. If I wanted a car that would act on it's own, I'd hope it was named KITT.

lovethelancer · February 2008

Iluv......when did you buy your 2008 GTS?

I emailed a local mitsu dealership asking when the 2009's will be in and she replied that new models usually come in around late summer/early fall....

I thought for sure that the 2008 GTS was available in April 2007......

Was this only because it was a complete redesign and I will actually have to wait that long for a 2009?

gijoewildbill · February 2008

Yes. The 2008 Lancer was released very early in the model year release schedule because it was not on the market the previous year as they did the complete redesign. They should default back to the old release schedule where new model years start to arrive from the factory around August.

Bill

lovethelancer · February 2008

Well shoot..i want a lancer with HID's by summer time haha oh well I guess I will try to wait it out and save more money until then!

iluvmysephia1 · February 2008

sounds like you got the right remedy for your Lancer's problem. Yeah, mine never pulls like that and in fact today I took her for a 45-mile each way spin and no pulling was evident. So I'm glad you got your Lancer's problem taken care of...calling corporate seemed to do the trick, eh?

lovethelancer...I bought my '08 Lancer GTS in Rally Red and CVT automatic right off the showroom floor of Avondale Mitsubishi on March 21, 2007. I remember it vividly and loved the whole experience! Avondale is a western suburb of Phoenix. It is about 210 miles NW of where we live here in SE Arizona. It's just that I found just the car I wanted and I wanted the 4.9% financing deal that two other Phoenix dealers offered. Only those two dealers didn't have the right color of Lancer GTS for me. Avondale Mitsubishi immediately matched the other dealer's 4.9% financing offer and I took the Lancer GTS out for a spin and loved it.

When I bought my Lancer GTS they had only been there at Arizona dealers for about a week max, I'm not kidding! The sales manager told me something like I have the 2nd '08 Lancer GTS sold so far in Arizona, or something like that. Actually I don't think they were there a full week at the time I bought mine. Cool. :shades:

Yeah, I think you're gonna be waiting until Aug. or Sept. '08 for the '09 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS, lovethelancer. Wait if you can and save money, that's a very good idea.

I was just gonna say that my GTS has great foglights and the headlamps are very strong and give off clear light. What is the advantage of HID headlamps? I know very little about them. If that's all that you're waiting for new on the '09's I'd just go for a '08 Lancer GTS right now. I don't see the big difference. BTW-do you get an option of getting the 2.0L 4 cyl motor producing 152 hp or the 2.4L 4 cyl motor producing 168 hp on the 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS? Or does everyone getting a 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer get the 2.4L 4 cyl producing 168hp? Twould be good to get an answer to that question for our readers.

lovethelancer · February 2008

I've heard the 09 GTS will come with the 2.4L 168HP engine only. I'm waiting for the 09 for the HID's and the small boost in power. I'm also wanting to see if they make any interior aesthetic adjustments....hopefully they dont change the exterior AT ALL:)

thanks for the details on your car!:)

iluvmysephia1 · February 2008

good deal. If you don't need to deal now it sounds like you could get more in your Lancer GTS by waiting for the 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS. I just know that I love my '08 Lancer GTS just as much now as I did in March of 2007 when I was itching so bad to trade my '01 Sportage 4X4 in. Once I saw this beautiful car's exterior in all of its glorious detail I just set my sights on getting one and I was going to get one, that was all there is to it!

I am glad you have been struck by Mitsu Lancer fever lovethelancer. Very cool. Did you know that I rented a plain old white 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer sedan in late 2004? It was an automatic transmission model and I needed it while my Sportage 4X4 got a new alternator. I was actually even impressed by the old-gen Lancer and I did not forget that. Manufacturer's need to keep in mind that when they sell to rental agencies its a great way to spread the word about their brand of cars. Someone like me rents their cars and then remembers that experience for later. I have been a Kia fan for the last 9 years and just got turned on to Mitsubishi about a year ago exactly. One year ago I was reading that autospies piece I linked to in here just recently and globbing on to anything and everything I could find about Mitsubishi. Everything I found was positive and these people and their pride for the Mitsubishi name and brand trademark is truly inspiring. I'll pop a link in here for you to read up on sometime. It is truly interesting. They take their carbuilding seriously, yes, but they take it many steps further. They enter their cars in the Dakar Rally races and they win them. Then they take this build information back to the engineering room and on to the manufacturing floor. That report by Bryan Arnett, Lancer Product Information Officer touches on this Dakar racing heritage and all the other racing history Mitsubishi builds in to their cars.

BTW-I took a turn from a frontage road on to a I-10 freeway onramp the other day and accelerated in to the turn in a large manner and freaked my wife out. I mean, we were stretching in to the turn and the Lancer GTS just ate it up and wanted more! You will love how your Lancer GTS handles!

One of the early reviews on the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS says that you will feel like you are driving an expensive European sports sedan costing twice what you'll pay for your Lancer GTS.

mbunting · February 2008

http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?s=35aeee2acc231baa29b74c6c3282df3f&t- =293784

Lots of stories/issues, dating back to September 2007...and still going strong.

My 08' Lancer GTS still has the issue. It's gotten so bad that I'm starting to not drive the vehicle at all. I just had a 4 wheel rotation and balance, along with a 4 wheel tire rotation done at my local Mitsu delaer on 1/12/08 (6300 miles).

I was going to drive it to Las Vegas on Friday (I live about 2.5 hrs away) but I only got about 1 mile from my house and darn thing was pulling so badly and even the front-end of the car was shaking rather badly...and I was pretty ticked off. I turned around and just parked it back in my driveway and then took off again in my 07' Nissan Xterra - with no pulling or shaking whatsoever

I have my 2nd appointment at my nearest Mitsu dealer scheduled for Tuesday morning. It now has 6500 miles on it - same issue. We'll see what they come up with on this trip...but I'm not holding my breath for sure. After this, I'm contacting Mitsu directly and starting the "Dispute Resolution Process" if they don't fix it.

I really want to love this car..it just won't let me. It's definitely the most unhappy I have ever been with a new vehicle purchase that I have been involved in, and I have purchased many; 01 Nissan Pathfinder, 03 Nissan Pathfinder, 07 Nissan Armada, 07 Honda Fit, 07 Nissan Xterra. Guess I should have stayed with Nissan or Honda, huh? This is actually my wife's primary vehicle, and it's her first new car. She can't stand the pull either. I keep telling her it will get fixed...but I don't think she believes me

Again, I really want to love the car...it looks just incredible when it's all cleaned up...it's just that darned "pull to the left" that I have to compensate for each time I drive the vehicle (and now the shakes). It really takes away from my driving experience. And I'm sick of it! Hopefully Mitsu will help me out at some point - if they don't...I'll just take the hit financially and trade it in ASAP. Wish me luck!

gijoewildbill · February 2008

Something to know...

We had a guy in another Lancer forum I read have a similar problem, and after taking it to the dealership 3 times, doing rotations and the like, it still wasn't fixed. The forth time he took it in he also made a call to Mitsu North America the same day. He later got a call from the service manager stating that Mitsu North America had called him and told him to replace the tires on the vehicle and that they would allow it to be covered under warranty terms on the vehicle. He chose to switch from the Dunlops to some performance Goodyear ones (not sure which off hand). When he picked the car up that evening, the pull was, for the most part, gone. He thinks that he still feels/thinks it pulls when it really doesn't after replacing the tires. Sort of like muscle memory or something like that. But, that is beside the point, the fact is that replacing the tires with another brand seemed to fix the problem for him. Maybe you can give this idea a shot and see if it works for you.

Bill

iluvmysephia1 · February 2008

please look back as post 434 in this thread and see what that '08 Lancer owner did. The dealer decided to replace his Dunlop's with Goodyear tires, too. That is starting to look like a fix for this "pulling to the left" problem.

If my '08 Lancer GTS starts pulling to the left I'm gonna insist that they put Goodyear tires on mine, too. At no cost to me, mind y'all.

I'd check that solution out immediately at your dealer.

mbunting · February 2008

Yes, I have read that post (434) and if you read the link I provided...many Lancer owners have done just that and still have the pull to the left problem. It's been hit or miss for fixing the issue by replacing the stock tires with new ones (Goodyears' or whatever). I will definitely be asking them about it it for sure.

Some folks (at least have claimed) that Mitsubishi took back their car (lemon Law/Dispute process) and gave them a brand new one. And even the brand new was said to pull to the left (although "not as bad" as the original one).

I'll be trying everything...stay tuned...

iluvmysephia1 · February 2008

I wasn't aware that the tire swap wasn't fixing the problem in each and every '08 Lancer case. Yikes.

Glad I don't have the problem but I do really want you to get a good result with yours, mbunting. Mitsubishi Engineering and Corporate ought to be working OT on this problem because as we all know they can't really weather a negativity storm of any sorts right now.

Watch and your problem oughta be solved very soon, me thinks. Please keep us all posted in here and good luck to you!

mbcowboy · February 2008

ON saturday, i had to take my Lancer to the dealership with defective Relay switches. They drove me to a rental place in a GTS. After being in that car, i loved the drive of my ES, the GTS tires are terrible in winter. They sure dont hold onto a snow covered street well.
Now i know what issues i have when the car goes into creep mode and all you can get is 40k top speed.

ru06 · February 2008

I love how this is turning into a complain forum! Gosh! I guess when people are happy with their car they keep their mouth shut, but when something goes wrong with it, the whole world must know. Of course the GTS won't be as good in the snow! It has 18'' low-profile SPORT tires!! lol

urbanstreets · February 2008

Glad I found this Forum about that Hot azz looking Lancer 08! I hear you SolerClipz with jumping in and getting it right now, but honestly, I think the wait is gonna be worth it! that's what i'm hoping for atleast. I mean as far as i know, the Lancer 09 Ralliart edition is gonna blow out the competion!!! supposely it's gonna have AWD which the 08' GTS does not.. and 235 HP!! and going for about $25K, that's not bad at all?? u got the Civic SI and Vw GTI all with only about 200HP...and no AWD... I cant wait!! I'm trying to save save save!!!

gijoewildbill · February 2008

Urbanstreets...

Yes, the 09' Ralliart variant of the Lancer will have AWD (similar to the old Evo IX, but without the electronics for active adjustment if I read correctly) as well as the 4b11 I4 2.0L engine turboed to about 225 to 230 estimated HP for around $25K in price. The only thing I am not to thrilled about is, if only for the 09' model year, the Ralliart will only come with the SST dual clutch transmission found in the Evo X MR. I would have liked a 5 or 6 speed manual as I really want to get one to learn on before I get older and have a family where I need a more family friendly vehicle.

My thought though is about the new Hyundai Genisis Coupe coming fairly soon as well. It's suppose to be around that same price range as well, but with a newly designed V6 NA engine putting out closer to 300 estimated HP with 250 ft/lbs for torque. Granted, that will be RWD and not AWD, but I live in Houston, TX, so the worst I see is rain and flat pavement. Also, I am not to fond of the idea that if one tire has a puncture/blowout I may and probably will have to replace all four tires as most AWD vehicles have to. Add to that possibly a lighter weight overall and reg. octane gas for about the same or maybe better MPG instead of the premium the turbo will really need to run smoothly, and the Hyundai suddenly becomes a more attractive offer.

I am not buying a new vehicle until this time next year, so I got plently of time to watch some of these new models come out and be tested and compared against one another to see which will be worth the test drive and possible purchase for my next ride.

Bill

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer

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