2001 Mitsubishi Diamante LS review from North America

Rotors tend to prematurely warp under great driving conditions about every 20k miles. About $150 per rotor X 4 not incl new pads and labor.

Infamous Heater Core problem. Tends to happen with a lot of Diamantes and is EXPENSIVE. You have more of a chance of this problem happening to you, than not happening. When this problem happens, you MUST fix it. Antifreeze will leak into the car all over the front passenger side rug and affixiate you. There is 2 ways to fix this. Prices for this job range between $800-$1400 parts and labor.

Due to the Heater Core problem, antifreeze may drip down on the computer. Because of this, my computer is partly fried, and the heat intermittenly shuts on & off around every 40 min. To replace the computer I think it's $1500 w/o labor.

Wipers sometimes don't return to fully down position after shutting off.

6 Cd changer is malfunctioning and not useable. Its OK, because the radio unit also has a single CD slot.

I'm not here to complain about this car. I'm here to give an honest review with a "real world" opinion, and not a pessimistic hate blog about this car. All cars have problems, some common, some unlikely.

The 2000-2001 Diamantes are the flagship of MItsubishi. As with any flagship type car, parts, and repair are expensive, and labor is usually intense. Operating costs are more expensive. If you can afford to buy the car, but don't want to use the reccommended 93 octane, and you do your oil changes too far apart because its expensive, then don't buy the car, because in reality if you can't keep up with it, then you can't afford it. If you cheap out on the car, don't complain when it cheaps out on you.

According to reviews, the Diamante is highly under-rated. I drove both Diamantes, BMW's and some Mercedes. In most cases, the Diamante was better than lower model BMW's and similar to lower model Mercedes.

If you want to buy a Diamante, you better be prepared for this...

1) Put the reccomended 93 octane gas in. This will save your motor life in the long term. Besides, why a car company tell you to put the most expensive gas in it if it didn't need it. Wouldn't that be bad marketing? It's a high compression motor.

2) You heater core may go. This requires 6 hours of labor, and removal of the dash. If the heater core is not bad, you may be able to just replace the leaky orings for about $800. If the heatercore unit is replaced, it will be more expensive. Depending on the honesty of your dealership, they may tell you to replace the whole heatercore when it only needs oring replacement.

3) I do major highway driving. I get about 315 miles to the tankfull. I think it's a 16-18 gal tank.

4) Brake rotors tend to warp very early causing pulsating petal.

This is a very comfortable car, for reasonable operating costs. However when maintennance arrives, costs go up. Despite few problems, I would buy this car again.