2002 Mitsubishi Diamante Ei 3.5 V6 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

A very inexpensive, reliable, comfortable car, with good power and performance

Faults:

Replaced front brake pads at 123000 Km.

General Comments:

This is a very nice, reliable and relatively economical car (average of 10.5 lt/100Km), which I feel is good for a car of this size.

This model is quite highly specified, with some excellent features such as climate controlled air conditioning, automatically tinting rear vision mirrors. It is quite luxurious, quiet and comfortable to travel in.

If I have any complaints, it's that the rear vision mirrors vibrate slightly, giving a slightly blurred image, and that the front seats are a little hard (my opinion). It also has very soft suspension, which makes for a very smooth ride, but doesn't feel good as far as handling goes.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 22nd April, 2011

2002 Mitsubishi Diamante ES V6 from North America

Summary:

I still love the car, but would not buy another Mitsubishi

Faults:

At 70000, the heater core o-rings went bad, causing anti-freeze smell and leaks into the passenger carpets. It cost me $1450 to have it fixed.

At 75000, the power antenna refused to go down. I had it replaced for $250.

At about 78000, I noticed the TCL OFF warning light illuminates. The TCL switch cannot turn the traction control back on. But then, sometimes it will go off, and the TCL switch works.

In general, the rotors wear out a lot more often than any other car I have owned.

Unfortunately, around town gas mileage is only 14 mpg, no matter how easy I drive it.

General Comments:

On the positive side, the car rides great, is very comfortable, has more than adequate acceleration, and looks terrific.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 11th March, 2011

2002 Mitsubishi Diamante LS 3.5 V6 from North America

Summary:

Great car!

Faults:

Power antenna no longer works. Makes for bad radio reception (I don't listen to the radio anyway, so I just push it down and leave it).

O2 sensor kept going bad, figured out the problem was actually one of the three catalytic converters going bad, which messed up the O2 sensor. Removed the cat and never had a problem with it since.

Over head upholstery started to sag in the back at about 150k miles.

Rear struts went bad at about 170,000 miles.

Noticed the stock transmission starting to slip a bit when shifting between gears (accelerating from a complete stop). This only started happening within the last couple thousand miles.

General Comments:

I bought my Diamante from a wholesale lot for ~$3k with a little less than 120k miles on it. I knew there were a couple small problems with it (the antenna and the O2 sensor), but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.

I loved the luxury of the car and the somewhat sporty feel. I also liked how the 02 was the only one with the different front body style, so I didn't see many other cars like mine.

Beyond those problems, the car has been great to me. I recently was in an accident (I was rear-ended) and am in the market for a new car. I'm looking at finding another Diamante.

Beyond things like the heater core that everyone is having a problem with, and the antenna, nothing else should go wrong with this car if you take care of it. Just like with computers, if something is wrong with the car, 90% of the time it's because the of user-error. Smart people don't have that many problems.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th December, 2010

2002 Mitsubishi Diamante LS 3.5L SOHC 24v V6 MPI from North America

Summary:

Great car, but needs to be recalled for the HEATER CORE!!!

Faults:

The heater core is an extremely dangerous problem. The windows in the car fogged up so bad I couldn't drive the car... had to pull over and wipe the windows down. But the thing is... I didn't know what the problem was... until I realized the windows weren't just being fogged by the cold etc, it was a TOXIC mist from a heater core problem... I pulled over 2 times because I got sick... I noticed a mist coming out of the vents... so all in all, I called Mitsubishi and they refuse to do anything about this. Unless we all do something about this... I am gonna start a CLASS ACTION lawsuit against them... the heater core can lead to accidents, sickness, and other expensive problems in the car!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 6th December, 2010

22nd Feb 2017, 04:24

Poisoning builds character.

These were handsome cars.

6th Feb 2024, 06:06

I agree with you, the heater coil should be a recall. There are too many of them with the same problem. Nice ride though. I love mine, but have the same issue.