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Comments
I have owned my Montero limited since August, and absolutely love it. Agree with joe that the door does intrude more than I would like--I think this is secondary to the door controls being fairly low to accomodate the side air bag (if the door controls were a little higher, the armrest would be more functional rather than taking up leg room). Other than that, I love this thing (I would move the cruise control to the wheel itself rather than the column; it makes the column too busy the way it is but this is a relative minor complaint.).
CD player has been great on this one.
Not sure where the burning smell is coming from on Joe's--I havent had any probs with mine; I would try to pin the dealer down on that--something is definitely wrong there. Make the dealer smell it himself; if worse comes to worse get a loaner and tell him you won't take your car back until its fixed (this has been effectively used by a friend of mine--fortunately he doesn't own a Mitsubishi).
The five speed is more of a gimmick than anything else--really not that useful in everyday driving (although others have suggested its useful in serious offroading, but I doubt there are many people doing serious offroading with the exception of Phonos, who drives his over mountains,into caves, and inside an occasional volcano or two; if he could get his to the moon, I believe he would make his Monte the first airconditioned luxury lunar SUV).
You do give up the 4wd system on the XLS--I'm not a big fan of part time 4wd, and this pretty much excluded the XLS for me. (I live up north in Wisconsin, and the 4wd has been awesome.). The power leather seats are more comfortable in the limited as well--you can adjust these things to be so comfortable you could fall asleep in them. The heated seats/mirrors are nice too--but probably unnecessary where you live. The moonroof is awesome, but you can get that as an option if you wanted it on the XLS. The LCD is nice looking, but really doesn't add much to the vehicle.
Overall the XLS is probably the better value--its alot of truck for the money--but the ltd is a pretty good value too if you compare it to other luxury suvs. If you don't mind or need part time 4wd, then consider the XLS, however if the extra dough is not a major issue, get the ltd--I personally think its worth it for the 4wd system alone, not to mention the other goodies. I would be slightly worried about resale on the XLS vs the ltd as well, although this may not be a concern.
Good luck!!
John
Thank you
1. 2001 Montero #1 in Austrailia over the Landcruser. Now thats saying something.
2. Recent TV review (? car/driver, I cant remember now) states that the MDX is "no offroad vehicle". They really bashed the offroad ability of the MDX. Said it did not handle at speeds, the rear end got too light and the ground clearence was limiting. So...dont worry about the handling comparison. From other articles I have read the Montero is quoted as doing extremely well in high speed off road driving. Yes, it is not going to pull lateral g's that well but I venture it will meet your needs.
3. Price is way better.
4. It is quiter and more comfortable. The first things most people mentioned when I took them for a ride.
5. The 4wd system is unbeatable.
6. On my way home last night I stopped for gas in the Mountains in Nor CA. Met a chap from Africa. He asked me how I liked my Monte then preceded to tell me that he had 2 himself, no reliability problems and that they and the LC are "the only" SUV's to go with in tough situations such as Africa. What an endorsement!
I asked him "where were you when I needed to ask someone about the only issue I had before buying, the realiability of the Monte". He made me feel even better that although you dont see as many over here these SUV's really are fine vehicles.
If you need more details there are plenty of comments here. Good luck.
I never get below 15mpg even with more aggressive drining and I have reached 20mpg on the HWY. I wish it was better but then I feel better since I almost bought a Sequoia and it is really getting poor mileage with people complaining about the sticker being incorrect with mpg in the 11 range. Thats over 20% worse than my Monte's worst mpg. Ouch!
Also, I think the 5 speed is very handy. Definitely good for off road, good for towing, long grades and steep downhills.
on the outside edge of your front bucket seats, and
you will see the side impact air bag emblem.
I did bump a snow drift with the left side rear bumper cap and it will cost $400 to fix.
I did write Mitsu. about putting a solid skid plate on the front as the screen in there allows snow and mud to get through to the oil cooler. I got a form letter back. Enjoy it otherwise.
As I meet more people out there who have owned them my confidence grows. The last person, from Africa, I met on the road near Lake Shasta in the middle of the night getting gas. He had owned two previous Pajero's and never had a single problem. He is looking to buy the 2001.
He said the Mercedes, and "others" dont last in Africa. The only two that are worth anything to people over there are the Pajero's (Montero) and LC. I thought that was a good endorsement.
Anyway, the Sequoia guys are not getting enough for their money, the MDX just isnt an off road vehicle to any degree and the Jeep is having reliability problems right now.
Your right about the "personality". Everyone I met has good comments about the style eventhough it started out controversial.
Good luck
Not many SUV's match the Monte for these truely off road criteria.
Things I dont think are too important for a good off road SUV.
Ability to pull lateral g's in a turn
Speed 0-60
Better handling on road (at the expense of ground clearance)
This is generally what the car like (Subarus)or light duty SUV's (MDX) attract thier customers with but really dont translate into what you are looking for.
The Land rover and Land Cruiser are much closer to the Monte but have serious price issues.
Good luck
I have 10,000 miles on my Montero Limited and not a bit of trouble. I am getting around 17 mpg combined city- highway.
What is the best price on a 2001 Monte Ltd.s with rear air? Any word on better than 4.9% financing coming with the slow down of SUV sales?
Is this reasonable. I have not found any mention of this fee on any of the web sites.
Also what be a reasonable price for the XLS
Please help!
I've told this story before but for those that haven't read it::
My wife and I tore up all documents and walked out when they added this to price. Sales manager stopped us at the driveway, said dealership owner was just consulted, he would sell it for $34500 with zero (0) down 4.8 financing for 48 months. We said we would think about it. Went back that evening and bought it. (I still think I paid $63 dollars too much, price by what I found out by shopping on internet should have been $34,437).
White/Silver Ltd. w/rear air, July 1999 build date, $34500 + TTL, Dealer in Orange County, CA. in August, 2000.
-PHOnos
I had a dealer in CA try and pull the 900.00 ad fee after we had agreed on a price and I dumped him, bought one at a later date for a better price without the ad fee.
As far as the stock tires. Great for road, wet or dry. I had no problem in the snow/ice but I think my next set will be slightly more aggressive probably at the expense of road noise. Rubber compounds have a lot to do with winter driving, perhaps nearly as much as tread design. In the mud these tires slipped around so if you will find yourself in this condition often enough then a better clearing pattern would work better.
Just read the past 50 or so posts..these boards are too cool.
I drove them ALL...the Acura is a minivan with 4WD that hates being off road, but it was too big for me.
I did not even think of the Montero until I watched the Dakar race and was on my way to buy a 2000 Rodeo loaded at $24,800 and saw the Mits dealer on the way. The car was for my wife who had been driving a 99 Civic. She loved that car but wanted something bigger and safer in this damn Atlanta traffic. Our truck would see no off roading but might pull a small camper short distances later.
We drove a new XLS, she loved it but it was a bit pricey, but still less than a 4Runner or Pathfinder. Then we spotted a guy just trading in his 2000 Montero Sport, black, LS. He was buying a new one and had put 25,000 miles on it in one year. It was a 2wd and he LOVED it, bitchin looks too.
The dealer got all excited that we were interested in a car that was getting traded in but was bummed cause we knew what they were giving him for his and sold it to us for $100 more than they allowed him for it, $18,200. He was happy, we are very happy. Just had it one week and drove it to North Carolina Tues-Wed and got as high as 24 mpg...this is nuts! Looks awesome and gets gas mileage only 7 mpg less than our Civic..nuts in a GOOD way.
I just ordered from www.magauto.com, (a GREAT place to buy Mits factory stuff at discounts),
a cargo net, cargo cover, side steps, service manual, and oil filters..
I am a retired Harley mechanic so I like doing most of my own work anyway. This looks like fun to work on. I found a guy on ebay selling Reese trailer hitches for $69 NEW..one of those on the way too.
Thanks for reading this long post. We are happy and hope you are too.
Rascal
rascal2064@yahoo.com
Have fun!
At least Mits gives us the choice of the full size Montero and the Sport. The full size was a bit too big for us. We have raised four kids but they are just about gone now and all have their own cars so we rarely need room for more than two people. The Sport is perfect for us. I have only had this a week and twice I have come out of a place only to have folks stopping to look at it and asking me about it. Good for the ego you know..:)
Rascal
rascal2064@yahoo.com
The Sports are nice vehicles.
Agree with you that Monte needs a more agressive tire tread pattern.
What brand/size tires are you thinking about?
I'm partial to BFG All-Terrain T/A's or Mud Terrain T/A's due to the tri-gard sidewall (three plies rather than 2). This is where I've always had problems with punctures on trails.
The All-terrains come in LT265/70R16 Load range C (6-ply rated) which is the stock size.
There are a more choices -- LT265/75 load range D (8-ply rated) in both the the AT and MT; LT275/70 D and Lt275/75 D in the AT will all fit a 7 inch wheel.
What are the problems with switching to a 75 aspect ratio?
Have you seen anything about using other than the stock size on the 2001 full size Monte?
Still going to stick with the stock Yokohamas until they wear out, or get a major, unrepairable pucture from off-roading.
I turn 48 tomorrow and I have:
Son, 25 and married
Daughter 24 married
Daughter 22 working on her Doctorate at Bama
Son 19 freshman at Bama...
whew, time does march on my friend. You have the right SUV for the job. Most of our time was spent in an old Suburban that we put 300,000+ miles on, (all were soccer players, BEFORE it was cool).
Good luck my friend,
Rascal
Finally got a great deal on Montero XLS. Paid 29,205 including destination charges, which works to around a 100 dollars over invoice.
Got the XLS this weekend and loving every moment while driving.
Cheers!
Yok does have one or two more aggressive patterns out, I think the next one is the AT.
My concern is not trading off unacceptable tire noise but since these SUV's are so quite anyway I will accept some.
I gave some thought to going with "winter tires" in the winter and back to the Geolanders in the summer until the Geo's wear out. That way I can have a more aggressive tread and rubber that is formulated to get better traction in the snow, ice, mud and a more road-like tire in the summer where I probably wont need the extra aggressiveness.
Just some ideas Im tossing around.
The local tire store will give 5 seasons of mounting for free so it would just be the cost of the winter tires and then my time to switch them each season.
Thanks!
We went to Hawaii in the Spring of 2000, then a cruise to the Carribean at Christmas...I never had any $$ until the kids grew up and moved on...
Good luck on your trip and your future bambinos. Mine are my best friends now.
tga, check the Montero board at
www.montero-sport.com
there is a classifeds board with some accessories and trucks for sale, maybe you will find one in your area.
michaeljames, a great site that BigAlEasy showed many of us, www.carbuyingtips.com
may help you get a better deal from your dealer. It sure helped me.
One week ago, I bought a 2000 MS LS 2wd with 25k miles for just over $18k and I am very happy with it.
Good luck to all,
Rascal
rascal2064@yahoo.com
especially for 60K miles as follows:
1. Change timing belt - $522.
2. Tune-up - $327.
3. Repack wheel bearing $150.
4. Transmission&coolant $???
Any way way over $1,000.(at today's prices) seems pretty high when some SUB's are claiming only regular service Maintenance for 1st 100K miles.
I guess having to change the timing belt, while most cars made in the last 8-10yrs go 90K miles before changing this. I have not got the official recommended scheduled maintenance, this is just what I got over the phone while still negotiating a price. $34,400. with rear air. How does the Monte compare to other SUB's for Scheduled Maintenance?
I had estimates from dealers for about $350. for factory hitch and wiring harness. But when I tried to get a firm price it was $380.(dealer cost?) for hitch plus $100. installation or $480. total. Steep! May have to get a Reese hitch. What advantage does the factory hitch have? Better fit? Any recommendations? Any indications more incentives may be coming? Like lower interest rates (4.9% @ present). Thanks for any help! I am glad I only do this type search about every 10 years.
fine a reputable shop and cut your bill by 30%. I will just do the maintainance my self. About the tow hitch, I got one from dealer, and it was made by Valley hitch industries. You can save some money by going after market, But if you need good wiring hardness, you have to go with dealer hitch.
My limited experience is that most dealer's mechanics (with exceptions) are one or more of the following: 1) lazy, 2) incompetent 3)illiterate 4) have limited experience.
I have never been able to get them to fix minor brake noise at the end of rolling to a stop. Although it appears to be related to ambient humidity and temperature more than anything else. (I.e. warm and dry, squeek; cool and damp; no noise)
(Times are great, everybody has a job, good help is hard to find, warm bodies will do just fine. However, this may be a changin'). This I find at not only the Mitsubishi dealer but at the Honda dealer (who used to have excellent service)as well.
Alternative is to ask the dealer if he runs "coupon" specials. These usually can save you 30-40 % on "regular" cost. Most don't even care if you have the coupons ("I had one but I lost it someplace around the house, the dog (kids) ate it, etc.")or will give you one when you bring the vehicle in for service.
Viet2 -- have you investigated a special tool that may exist and/or instructions for spark plug removal?
As a retired Harley Davidson mechanic, I do most of my own work and would tell you that I do not allow dealers to do anything to my cars unless they are in warranty, they just charge too much.
I know of NO car that has a timing belt that will go 90,000 miles. I have 5 Hondas and 60,000 is all they recommend. Too expensive if they are pushed longer than that and fail.
I have a contact for a bolt-on Class III trailer hitch for $69, and yes it is new. About $15 shipping. Easy to bolt on yourself.
Tune up $327 ?? Is that a 30k or 60k service? Tune ups are not expensive and yes the plugs are a bit harder to get to but you only replace them the recommended 60,000 miles so what is that 2-3 times (180,000 miles...). I was intimidated at first, but got a factory service manual and I can get the plugs in and out in about an hour and the cost of one $4 gasket.
$150 to repack bearings? Nah! Midas will do that for a lot less, shop around my friend.
Flushing and changing the coolant is about a $10 deal if you do it yourself and easy on the Monty.
Do this same work on the other SUV(B)s and you will see the same silly prices from dealers.
NONE of these other cars can ignore all these items for 100,000 miles. I remember GM told folks that they could go 100,000 miles on spark plugs..then after 5 years, the damn things would not come out, (can you say "carbon on the threads?).
Go to your local parts houses, (NAPA, Advance, Autozone), and ask them for a good mechanic that works at home...find a good one and go talk to him and then some of the folks he has done work for. You can save some serious $$ if you snoop around and some great "shadetree mechanics".
Good luck
Rascal
rascal2064@yahoo.com
I drove them ALL and I am even more impressed with my MS by the day.
Good luck
Along those lines...
I still cannot believe what a hassle it is to get to the oil filters on my Hondas...unreal...
Rascal
rascal2064@yahoo.com
I can better understand $327. for a tune-up every 60K miles (probably platinum plugs - Legends plugs good for 60K miles - Cost about $13. each)if the manifold has to be removed to change spark plugs, but it does make me wonder about engineers that would design something like that. Only thing worse are the cars that you have to pull the engine to change plugs (Cobra?). Is the going rate really about $480 for a dealer installed hitch and wiring harness; I thought the estimate $350 installed was bad. Thanks for you help. The Monte still looks the best right now to me; but wife likes the QX4 (the fancy Pathfinder).
Again, $300-450 for a trailer hitch is outrageous. I did the whole thing for under $100..
I doubt that the dealer cost of $522 for the timing belt includes water pump and so forth but I would definitely do it while there, just good maintenance and NO, I would NOT go to the dealer for this. I just hear that dealer mechanics are either awesome or terrible and not much in between, but both charge the same. I would look elsewhere.
A belt can "look" just great but 90,000 miles is still millions of revolutions on a belt and if you have ever seen what an engine looks like when one breaks, well, it is not pretty...it usually destroys enough parts that cause the engine to be destroyed, so "pay me now, or pay me later" applies.
If your maintenance schedule says 90,000, more power to you but I do not press my luck further than the people who engineer these parts recommend but then I enjoy tinkering with these jobs.
Good luck and let us know what you purchase.
Rascal
I had a 2001 Limited, only 2 months old but I racked 7700 miles on it. I took it off roading, took it to the Sierras to go snowboarding almost every weekend, and drove long trips up n down California. One early morning, driving to work, a full size Chevy truck pulled out right in front of me and I T-Boned him going 40-45 mph (I think it was around that speed) and was able to walk away from it scracth free, of course you're going to get whiplash and stuff. It was a solid hit into the side of the truck. Both front air bags deployed but my seat belt did the job and stopped me from leaving my seat. The Montero was considered a total loss and now I'm just waiting on the Insurance company to give me money. And guess what I'm going to buy next???? Another one! The only thing that I didn't like about the Montero, before the accident, was the lack of power in the V6, I had difficulty going up the Sierras with 4 passengers. But you know what? My Monte saved my life and that's one of the main reasons why I'm getting another. I used to drive a 95 2 door Acura Integra. That car would have gone under the truck and who knows what would of happend. Now that I look at it from a different point of view, I don't need any more power to go any faster. As long as I'm driving the speed limit then I'm fine with that. I've actually been looking around and most of the SUVs out there are not up to par with the Montero's off road capabilities, smooth ride, luxury and style. You've got the LCs and the Land Rovers but that's way more $ than I can fork out.
Be safe and wear your seatbelts.
Thanks for the crash info, Icruz, glad you're basically OK. How were the rest of the passengers?