2002 Mitsubishi Magna TJ from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Nothing has specifically gone wrong, but the car does not feel robust.

There is a 'clunking' in the drivers seat at the level of the lumbar support. It seems to 'clunk' when cornering.

The transmission does not change very cleanly from 1-2. Topping up the transmission fluid improved the problem, but it is still there.

The radio has a buzzing noise which increases in intensity with the engine revs.

The car is not very economical, recording fuel consumption of around 13 litres/100 km around town - which is a fair bit higher than all reports I have read to date.

The car idles very roughly which I understand is unusual, though I have been advised by a Mitsubishi dealer that the 3.5 litre V6 does not idle very smoothly.

Seat height is very low. I would prefer a higher position, or greater range of adjustment.

Reach to the steering wheel feels to be far away. Adjustment for reach would be nice.

Wipers do not have an option for a 'single wipe'. The lever must be moved to 'on' and back to 'off'.

The car is still under new car warranty and I am hoping that all problems identified to date will be fixed.

Split fold rear seats would have been a good option.

The options fitted are great value in comparison with Ford, Holden and Toyota. The latter two are markedly higher in price, though I suppose this is recovered to a certain extent in re-sale.

The car feels good overall, but needs a few things fixed before I can start to rave about it to my friends.

The car looks good with aftermarket wheels (standard 15") and a rear spoiler.

I don't think your dealer is right. Magna's (especially the newer models) generally have excellent idle quality and as a car, they are noted for above average NVH characteristics. I have a TJ sports (tiptronic 5sp) and it is hard to even tell if the engine is running whilst idling. Also, V6's are inherently stable with a 60degree angle between banks (such as in the Magna's power-plant). As for fuel consumption, I get about 11.5-12L/100km around town with fairly liberal throttle usage. So maybe you have some sort of engine fault? Tackle your dealer a bit more and see if you get anywhere.

I drive an 02' Magna 3.5l TJ sedan often, and the idle quality is excellent. You should request that your dealer check for error codes via the diagnostic port on the ECU, as there may be a sensor problem, like the idle control solenoid. Most likely.

The seats in our 96' magna sedan clunk also - I think something in the rails comes out of alignment eventually and gives a bit of free play, causing the clunk.

The noise with the radio is engine interference. You may have had the wrong spark plugs installed - I'm not sure, but some have a Radio Suppressor in them to stop things like that happening. Or your wiring may need attention.

I find them to be fairly solidly built cars with good brakes. The interior on the later models isn't as much to my liking however.

Please go back to your dealer, and don't take their word for it. Request to see the results yourself! Some times everyone isn't as honest as they should be!

Re: the single wiper sweep issue.

Pull the lever towards you. Depending on how long the lever is held towards you, will determine how many sweeps of the windscreen it does.

I have a 3.5L V6 TJ. I had radio noise in the stock Clarion radio when the dash lighting wasn't at maximum.

I get around 9L/100km town driving.

I bought a used Magna 3.5L 2002 last month, it is a very nice car. I have a little problem, the fuel gauge never work properly, it goes on the full mark when I fill the tank full and that's fine, but when the car consumes 4-5 liters, the gauge drops to the bottom. My question is: What is the reason, and is the problem in the fuel tank? If so, it is not easy to change the tank gauge, do we have to remove the whole tank out and fix the gauge?

I had the same prob with a second hand Magna I bought, I found out that the dealership wound the KM back, and while doing this they damaged the cluster, which gave me problems with the fuel gauge.