Faults:

SRS light needed resetting twice ($30 NZD x2).

Exhaust needed holes welded up 3 times, probably needs replacing. ($50 NZD x3)

Left front wheel bearing started to make a slight droning noise, needs replacing ($70 NZD 2nd hand).

Left rear shock and lower arm bushing needed replacing ($60 and $30 NZD respectively), although this was likely caused by me hitting a curb too hard.

General Comments:

This car has been a pleasure to own and drive.

The interior is spacious, comfortable, and it feels very nice, especially for a car of its year. It looks and feels more like an early 2000's car than a car made in the mid 90's.

The boot/trunk is surprisingly big.

The handling is very good, and the front turns in and grips well.

Although the standard suspension setup is a bit on the soft side for comfort, and is designed to produce mild and predictable under steer when pushed, the natural handling characteristic of the car is actually extremely neutral and very well balanced.

The standard wheels were 15" steel (195/60/R15). When I upgraded only the front wheels to 16" alloys, the under steer characteristic was eliminated and turn in became very sharp and grippy, even resulting in some mild over steer when thrown into a corner hard enough.

The engine is not "sports car fast" but it is strong. I rarely have a problem of not enough power; perhaps trying to pass quickly up a steep hill or something.

Being a GDI engine (the first production car in the world with direct injection) it is extremely good on fuel.

It was designed to run at its best on Japanese 110 octane fuel. Here in NZ we generally have 91, 95/96 and 98. I have heard that if it's run on less than 91 or so octane, carbon deposits on the injectors can possibly become an issue, so I run mine on 95 and it seems to run great.

Similar to a sports car, using the right kind of oil and changing it often is important to keep it running well, and I've heard to possibly prevent noisy lifters from developing.

The fuel economy is astonishing. Thanks to being direct injection, compared to a similar 1.8 litre, this car is 40% more efficient, it has 20% more power and torque while also using 20% less fuel (150hp and 18.2kg*m torque compared to a Primera's SR18DE 1.8 with 125hp and 16kg*m and 5.3L per 100k fuel consumption compared to the lighter Primera's 7.1L).

Driving on an open road with a lot of hills and bends, I achieved 5.5 litres per 100k without driving in a conservative manner. We regularly get more than 700kms to its 64 litre tank, and it is possible to get more than 1,100kms per tank on the open road.

Cars technical specs: http://specs.cars-directory.net/mitsubishi/galant/1.8_VX_8423.html

I would recommend this car to anyone looking for a 4 door sedan similar to a BMW 3 series, Audi A4, Nissan Primera, Subaru Legacy, etc.

Faults:

Engine died 2 weeks after I bought it. It had cooked itself completely without noticing me via the temperature gauge. My mechanic said that the head had been welded together poorly after a previous failure.

Rear shock absorbers had to be changed at 170000.

There were several oil leaks, the one coming out of the turbine air intake couldn't be fixed, but it's a minor one.

The windscreen broke for no apparent reason.

The thing (I don't know the english word) that holds the front left axle in place had to be replaced at 160000.

The fuel heaters never worked properly, causing the car to be VERY bad on cold starts, if it does start at all. Haven't been able to fix it due to unidentifiable electrical problems.

A few other minor problems, not including changing all the belts in due time, nor regular services.

General Comments:

Obviously, the car has cost me more than I paid for it, in a year. I was, and still am, very surprised with all the trouble, having previously owned a '91 Lancer, which was the best car I've had. Never a serious problem with that one in 3,5 years, and it had 250.000 km on the clock when I sold it, the engine was still running great, always starting 1st time even in -20 C, and beating much newer cars with more HP off the lights.

This Galant, on the other hand, is an extremely slow vehicle, and not very fuel-efficient (10L/100km average, that's a lot for a diesel). Very poor acceleration.

What was good about the car was the looks, very nice design, and it was really comfortable, with everything electrical, A/C, ABS, power steering, fog lights, rear disc brakes etc.

Excellent handling, great brakes. I believe my greatest mistake was getting a diesel engine with many problems and not enough power.

However, I am currently looking for another Mitsu, this time a petrol engine; if that one is also a lemon, I will switch to some other manufacturer.