2008 Mitsubishi Grandis LS 2.4 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Great to drive, own and transport the clan

Faults:

None.

General Comments:

This is a very comfortable car particularly over long distances.

The interior is very easy to live with especially if you have children.

The instruments are very simple and all information is displayed in a logical and easily read format.

The performance is very good and the transmission shifts up easily, however, use the tiptronic style shifter for fast changes.

Fuel economy is good but the engine is still tight for really good economy.

The suspension soaks up bumps really well and the handling is great for this type of vehicle. The steering suffers from some vagueness either side of centre but as speeds increase this does lessen. The brakes are excellent.

The headlights are poor so if you can replace them with H1 equivalent or better at A$28.

The stereo in the LS model is also a letdown. The speakers themselves are good but the head unit is a single CD/MP3 AM FM unit which should sound good for a standard system but does not. So if you can replace it with something to your liking.

However, these are the only two faults that I can find. The car itself is a great drive and a great family car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th May, 2008

4th Jun 2009, 14:12

I live in United Arab Emirates. I bought a used 2006 Grandis (Petrol) in March 2009. Although I like the car but the parts are extremely expensive which I didn't check before buying. The car's acceleration considerably reduces on switching the A/C on.

18th Jan 2010, 10:13

I bought a Grandis last Feb 2009, and it is really a very comfortable, great and fun to drive automobile.

I agree to initial comment that the headlight seems not sufficient during night driving, so I will also try to replace it with an aftermarket H1 bulb. I also experienced a noisy muffler while on idle, but it was replaced by the car dealer.

Aside from these 2 observations, the car is a great drive. Parts are quite reasonable here in Manila, but service interval is only 5,000km, compare to Honda, which is 10,000km, and every visit to dealer charges me labour cost 2 times compare to my Honda CRV.

Mitsubishi dealer requires me to follow the 5000km service interval, even if I am using fully synthetic oil, otherwise I will lose my 3 year car warranty. I guess this is another disappointment? It's yours to judge.

2004 Mitsubishi Grandis Exceed 2.4 MIVEC from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Efficient practicality with stunning looks!

Faults:

Nothing - zilch! This is in stark contrast to the 7 previous years of endless mechanical 'headaches' we had with our Land Rover Freelander.

General Comments:

The power is more than adequate, but not 'breathtaking'.

I find the motor very smooth and responsive (and quiet) contrary to other comments here.

Seamless jerk free automatic transmission.

General build quality is absolutely superb. Everything fits beautifully. Typically Japanese in that respect.

Copious amounts of space inside - I carry large loads frequently and am very impressed with the loading capacity. Excellent door access & head room too.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st September, 2005

22nd Dec 2005, 23:59

My family have also owned one and I would like to comment on my experience on it:

1:The designers should have put in a 0-220km/h speedometer instead of 0-180km/h as the 165hp engine can hit 200km/h.

2:The power is also quite good even with 6 persons sitting inside and with baggage. Going up sloping road the acceleration will be hindered by the full load, but this can be solved by using the manual override to down-shift either one or 2 gears (the latter) to 6000rpm which solve the problem and the car started to acclerate a bit faster. The engine grunt at 6000rpm sounds like a refined motorbike engine grunt.

3:There should be 5 gears instead of 4 gears, but the 4 gears work pretty well.