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Just as I was about to pull into a transmission specialist, the car started shifting again perfectly! I drove it around town a few times and it's shifting like normal again (Thank God). I think you're right. Whatever the gremlin is, it's probably an electrical sensor.
Oh yeah, regarding the previous problems I was having with the horn, SRS, and cruise not working. It seems I need a new clock spring. It's not a major item and a used steering column from any salvage company should do the trick. But it's not bothering me so I won't worry about it just yet.
Thanks again for all the great help. Cheers!
According to the manual, a transmission fluid change is only needed in severe service applications. The process calls for disconnecting the ATF hose to the radiator cooler and running the engine to drive out the ATF, then draining the remaining fluid from the AT pan. You should always change the filter with a fluid change. Here again, I would only use a Mitsubishi filter to eliminate the possibility of problems later.
Mr. Vivona
I have a 2001 D, green, that was an AVIS rental. It has the factory Eagle GA tires on it, and it is obvious they were never rotated. The rear tires are scallopping and the fronts are going bald. Upon reading reviews on the tire rack, I agree, "I would not have bought the car if I had known the tires were this horrible." Moreover, "I would never buy these Eagle GA's unless I was going to sell the car tomorrow."
I love the car, the power is great, and I have bought 6k miles on it with no issues, just keep changing that oil. My question, I am looking at the Michelin Pilot Sports. Can anyone offer a different suggestion for tires?
My Eagle GA's shake, and it sounds as though I am in a tank driving at 80mph. Interested in anyone elses comments regarding these tires.
Is is worth drafting a letter to Goodyear/Mitsu? I know I didn't own the car when the tires should have been rotated, but these Goodyear tires suck. I can't beleive people buy them. Now I know why fine German cars don't use them as OE.
Thanks,
Matt
The problem with the GAs is inconsistent sidewall stiffness around the circumference of the tire. This makes the tire vibrate even if it is balanced off the car on a regular tire balancer. The only way to get a GA to not vibrate is to balance it with the Hunter GSP9700 which simulates road force while the tire is being balanced. See the details at http://www.gsp9700.com/
Unfortunately, once the tire has become scalloped by vibration, you cannot do anything about it other than either live with the noise or replace the tire.
Other than Michelin tires (which can be quite expensive) I would consider the Dunlap SP Sport, Yokohama AVS db or Bridgestone Turanza LS-H. Of those, my preference would be the Bridgestone Turanza based on Tirerack user ratings and my personal experience with Bridgestone Turanza tires.
If you choose to replace the tires, make sure the lug nuts are replaced only using hand tools (not an air impact wrench) and tightened only by using a hand torque wrench set to 75 ft. lbs. Excessive tightening of lug nuts is rampant in the tire replacement business and can lead to brake pulsation about 3,000 miles later.
Mr. Vivona
I have a 92 Diamante LS, it is good except the air conditioner. Sometimes it can kick the compressor on, sometimes when it cannot. when the compressor is not on, the fan speed controller is not working too.
I went to a salvage yard a while ago,and got a new climate controll unit and put it in. It worked for a about 2 weeks, then the same thing happened.
Anyone has close experience? any idea?
Apreciated.
Hoo
Do you know what is involved in switching out the steering wheel mounted radio controls on a '93 D? Is it very complicated, or can the old unit be removed and replaced easily? I know you have several spec books on this car so I thought you might know.
Anyone else that may have experience with this is welcome to provide insight...
Thanks!
Chris
It was a great car, and i miss it a little, but I think the crowning blow, was when i saw an absolutely cherry 95' Diamante on a used car lot for $1950.00. Hell I almost bought it, it was in much better shape than the '92 I owned. But then this dealer decided to give me 1750.00 tradein on a 2000 Avalon ( with its amazing VVTI engine), and I decided to say goodbye to it.
Thanks for the help everyone, cheers.
I shop for about 2 weeks AutoTrader and found several 2000 Avalons under 20k, I also shopped Recycler.com.
Some of them were salvage, but some were not, the one i bought was a 1 owner lease return with a Bench seat, which is the option I was hoping for.
John
Post here or send email, I could use the help.
mike@mikecaldwell.com
what to do.......4k to trade. currently the payment is 290, and would go up about 20 bucks a month. Wife is putting about 22.5k miles on a year.
Fat Sam
same car.....20000 miles less. actually the sell price on the 2002 with 11k miles would be less than the 2001 with 11k I bought last year. Plus the interest rate is less.....payment would go up maybe 10 bucks but if it works to my offer would pick back up 20000 miles.
FWIW, I usually don't keep my cars past 4 years......I don't wanna spend ANY money on FIXING stuff. If I unload the car before the first wave of repairs (brakes, tires, suspension) then my overall expenditures is usually limited to the car payment and oil changes only. I can manage my expenses better when I am paying for those known amounts. On a continual basis it costs less than hanging on to the car too long and getting hit with the 1000 and 1200 dollar repairs. Even those 6-700 dollar repairs will end up costing more over time.
Not a big deal now, but since I am buying a house soon I want to have a car in the stable that will be in the warranty period longer, so in 2 years that D will have only 50k miles on it (and still just have some powertrain warranty left), not 70 (and out of warranty).
4k is less than the first year depreciation on any new car anyways, and even if you look at it in terms of mileage only, you still need to account for the idea that MSRP's go up 4-5 percent or more each year and on a 25k MSRP car like the D that's an additional 1k appreciation each year on top of mileage that the next year car costs you. The folks who hang on to their cars for say, 10 years, not only lose the value of what they paid on the car they bought but are losing 50% or more in terms of replacement value. The car you pay 30k for now will cost you 45-50k in ten years. In ten years your 25k car has no value and you are down 45-50k on the new one, which is at least 4-5 k a year.
If I can swing the deal for 3k I am in good shape with the wife on pace for 22k miles a year.
Plus then I don't have to look at those freaking ugly hubcaps and worry about her driving on those slippery Yokohama tires. And she's happy because she's got the exact same car (except for wheels which she don't care about).
Does anyone know why Mitsu's website "www.mitsubishicars.com" does not have info on the 2003 Diamante? Every other model has new 2003 info, but the D still is listed as 2002. Seems kinda like a model change or a discontinuance of one model or another is on the horizon...
Still a great car at a great price...
2. At idle or low RPM my car makes a tapping sound. To me it just sounds like the valves. It's never given me cause for concern because I just think it's a sound the engine makes and not a problem. However, I read that changing back to an OEM oil filter will stop the tapping(no explanation as to why). I can't figure out why this would be. ANyone know?
gain 22,000 miles back. the new one has 12k on the odometer.
and aside from alum wheels w/ goodyears and the newer front end and rear lights its the same car. The newer one I got cheaper than last year....blame the economy and used car market. trade diff was 3500 (15400-11900), but with good trade number and lower interest payment only goes up 10 bucks. In MN you almost have to trade because then you only pay sales tax on the difference. If you sell your car private party, you lose $$$ in having to pay tax on the full price of the new car you get. I think its the biggest scam....not only does the gov. get the money on the intital purchase, they get it over and over again when the car changes hands every few years.....the dealers use it to their advantage to keep their trade values low.....("you know if you buy the car without trading you'll apy an extra 1000 in sales tax").
My wife on the ride home said she thought the newer one felt noticeably tighter. Considering the miles she drove were hard miles on the old one I would understand. The year we had the 2001 was completely trouble free. Only did oil changes! Had I kept the 2001 it woulda been time for the initial maintainace stuff, and that woulda tightened it up.
Not a screaming deal, but a good one, move up in miles and warranty again, not mcuh extra money and my wife is still happy! Plus now I got aluminum wheels to look at and not ugly hubcaps.
Dang I like this car......
dial up users beware...picture file sizes are really large....
actually I see they just shut it down because of file transfer size....I will try to resize the pics and repost them, tomorrow....need sleep now!
Thanks
Chris
Thanks Theresa
Most of the expensive repairs on a car involve the powertrain. The Diamante basic 3/36 warranty is bumper-to-bumper (it covers everything). Mitsubishi also warranties the powertrain beyond the bumper-to-bumper warranty to 5 years and 60,000 miles. That means the extended warranty you are considering is only buying you an extra 15,000 miles.
If I were you, I would put the $1,400 in the bank as a "car repair fund" and use it if you actually needed it for something that the warranty would have covered. The odds are greatly in your favor that you will still have most, if not all, of the money when you reach 75,000 miles.
Your experience with a Grand Am should not be repeated with a Diamante. The Grand Am has a poorer reliability record and failures beyond 50,000 miles are not unusual. A Diamante should go well over 100,000 miles without a failure. I personally know of several Diamante owners that have past the 100,000 mile mark without a problem. In fact, a friend of mine just sold his 1992 with 216,000 miles on it and it was just then beginning to need a valve job. That ain't bad!
Your single biggest risk in having your car last a long time is the quality of work done by mechanics during periodic maintenance.
As to mid-grade gas. I also use it in my 1999 Diamante and note no decrease in performance or gas mileage.
If you still decide that must have an extended warranty, you should be able to find a better price than $1,400. Search on the words "extended auto warranty" and request quotes from several online sources. For instance, a quick check with Warrantybynet came up with $814 for a 5/75 warranty. Be sure to get a quote from your local American Automobile Association office. Remember, though, if you buy a warranty it is only as good as the company behind it and many policies have a lot of exclusions, so "buyer beware".
Mr. Vivona
Thanks again!!
Happy Holidays
Theresa
As with past years, if I had to do all over again, I would buy a Diamante. Diamante does the best job of meeting all the criteria that is important to me.
As to the 2003, I carefully looked over the VRX and LS models on display and only noted two very small changes. One is there are some extra items in the engine bay, probably to meet emission laws. The other is the presence of a pass-through from the trunk. Though the lack of one hasn't been much of an issue for me, I did note that it would not be hard to retrofit a 1997 to 2002 Diamante. All you would have to do is buy the pass-through door assembly from the dealer's parts department, remove the rear seatback and cut a hole in the metal and mount the door. The tricky part is getting the measurements right so it lines up perfectly with the back of the center fold-down armrest. You would also have to be careful to avoid any wiring harness that may be present. I don't have any immediate plans to pursue this, but if any Diamante owners really need a pass-through, this would be something worth trying.
Mr. Vivona
http://www.geocities.com/diamanteowner/diamonds.htm
I haven't written any more articles for a while because I am waiting to see if the main Diamante Owners Group site at http://www.geocities.com/diamanteowner/ will remain active, or if the several new ones getting started will "take over".
Mr. Vivona
It's a 4 DR LS, Beige w/ leather Interior. It's the only car that I liked for driving as well as good looks.
I test drove just about everything else out there, and the Diamante had a nice smooth ride, quiet cabin, and I loved the interior.
Other cars, like Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, were just plain, run-of-the-mill cars with sparse and chaeply made interiors.
The Diamante is great, and I look forward to coming here to get advice from you veteran Diamante owners.
Loozianagrl
Every year I check out all the near luxury cars at the auto show and I always come away with the same conclusion: If I had it to do all over again, I would still buy a Diamante.
The styling of the Diamante is timeless and you will still like looking at it long after the some of the current bug-eyed styling of the competitors goes out of style. But the real test is how YOU like looking at and driving the car. Not how somebody else likes their cars to look and drive. Driving feel is a very subjective experience and you did the right thing by test driving "everything else out there" and finding the car you liked to get in and drive.
For me, the Diamante has a nicely balanced and linear feel to the handling and brakes that makes it feel like an extension of me when I drive. I really appreciate the ample interior storage - big glove box, two-tiered console, seat-back pockets, door pockets and dash bin. The interior design has the leather and wood luxury look I like, unlike the "boom box" metal plastic look that is showing up in many new cars. I could go on and on...
And four years of trouble-free driving certainly adds to my owner satisfaction.
I look forward to your participation on this site.
Mr. Vivona
yes, the design is old.....the D is not a contender in the entry lux category anymore like it was in 97......but now, it can entirely be considered as a nice alternative to a Camry or Accord. It has both trumped on the style card. The d has more hp than the Camry but not as much as Accord. The interior and exterior design are cleaner and more attractive than the Camry. The Honda trumps it in interior design.
If you buy a Diamante like I did, you know you are not getting a class leader. And many people buy the Diamante for styling, with its crisp lines. And recently with 0% for 6 years to some it makes financial sense in a purchase over Accrod or Camry. I bought mine used and paid 15 grand for a 2002 with 11k miles on it. At 15k in dollars its a helluva step up from the GM midsize garbage that one could otherwise buy with 15 grand. Even a new Diamante with incentives is still a decent buy compared to other competitors. A new VR-X for example is an alternative to spending 5-7 grand more on a TL. Its nowhere near as good, but does a good job of portraying the same image.
So admittedly, its not top of the heap, but it won't embarass the owner by driving one either.
cupholders in front of the shifter are a godsend and more manufacturers should put them here.
Frank
but I thought you fellow Diamante owners would get a kick out of it.
In the US where the automotive press largely ignores the Diamante, it is nice to see somebody, even if it is offshore, giving it a favorable mention.
I have been surprised and frustrated at the way the US automotive press has either ignored the Diamante, or given it a bad review for rather meaningless reasons. For instance, Car & Driver in a review of entry luxury cars a couple of years ago admitted all 8 or 9 models reviewed were equal and there was not a bad car among them. They stated that because the cars were all winners, their ranking was based on the personal preference of their testers.
Rather than rank all cars as tied for first place, they did rank them in a numerical order and they listed the Diamante in last place because even though it did not have any negative qualities, it didn't achieve first place in any of the tests. That meant that the writers had nothing to be particularly surprised about, I guess. The Diamante ranked in the middle of most test scores. The other cars that had at least one first place test ranking also had some notable negative characteristics, such as road noise, braking distance, cost, reliability, etc. The difference between being mid ranked in the test results and achieving the top place in one of the tests was, for all normal driving conditions, a meaningless difference. But the negative characteristics mentioned for all the other cars were the kind of things that would create owner dissatisfaction in normal driving.
C&D admitted the Diamante was without flaws. And they admitted that their rankings were just their own preferences and that any of the cars was just wonderful, but the last place ranking was perceived by their readers as saying the Diamante was a bad car -- ranked last in its field. Not much journalistic integrity in my opinion.
I wrote a letter to the C&D editor taking them to task for the article, but they never replied or published the letter.
I can post that letter, and other letters I have written to automotive reviewers regarding the Diamante, if there is any interest. Anybody want to see them?
Mr. Vivona