1998 Mitsubishi Diamante ES 3.5L FI DOHC

Summary:

A great near-luxury sedan, with lots of performance and comfort

Faults:

Had to have the Heater Core replaced at 45,000 miles.

Had to replace the Rack and Pinion Steering unit at 45,000 miles.

Replaced the electric antenna at 55,000 miles.

Dealership was not able to remove the squeaks/rattle from the Moon Roof after two separate attempts.

The car has a terrible lack of interior lighting.

Seatbelt connector is very low in the seat and difficult to operate.

At 90,000 miles, I need to replace the Heater Core again.

Almost impossible to get parts for this car except from the Mitsubishi dealer.

General Comments:

Although the car has been very good as far as maintenance issues go, having to replace replace a heater core BEFORE 100,000 is almost unheard of. I will have done this twice. Also, the Rack and Pinion should not be replaced unless the car has a front end accident. My car developed leaks around the seals and this was the solution.

This concerns me about the quality.

The car is a rocket ship! The 3.5L engine is solid, it drives silky smooth, and the response will throw you back in the seat. It is a fast cruising car, and great for the highway.

The leather interior has held up extremely well.

When they built this car, they apparently forgot to put and lights in it for the interior. All you have is the two (dim) map lights, and the make-up mirror light! Really annoying. We thought the interior bulb had blown out when we got the car home.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 2nd October, 2002

11th Jun 2003, 02:15

You had some excellent points about the Mitsubishi but, I'm going to have to disagree with you on the lighting. The car is known for how bright it is. There are more lights than you chose to say in your review. There are two vanity mirrors, two front reading/map lights, lights on all the doors, and two reading/map lights in the rear.