1997 SsangYong Musso review from Kenya

Transmission linkage broke at 7,000 km.

Front end had to be rebuilt at 15,000.

Transmission linkage broke at 22,000km.

Arm rest broke, mileage not remembered.

Wipers broke, mileage not remembered.

Jack broke, mileage not remembered.

I owned this vehicle when I lived in Kenya where the roads are not the best to say the least. However, the failure of the transmission linkage (in my opinion) was a design flaw which was never truly corrected. One of the reasons I believe this is because 3 of us there had Mussos and 2 of them failed.

In addition, with the jack, the wipers and the arm rest it just seemed like everything was cheaply made and poorly put together, with the noticeable exception of the Mercedes deisel engine.

The engine was a marvel; strong, efficient and reliable.

Part of the problem that we had with our Mussos in Kenya I believe was due to the fact that this was the first year they were brought into the country and the 2 dealerships (Mombasa and Nairobi) were not very well staffed in the sevice departments. In fact in Mombasa, we often furnished them tools to work with (we were there rebuilding locomotives for Kenya Rail) because they had next to nothing. They also had very little training.

I left in 1999 after owning the vehicle for 2 1/2 years and this situation may have improved by now.

The Musso could be a good car in the right situation, but in Kenya where your life is actually dependent upon a reliable vehicle, it was a danger to own.