1988 Mitsubishi Mighty Max review from North America

I bought the car from my father in law for $100 with a blown head gasket and numerous other known problems. I fixed the problems before I started driving it.

Replaced: Blown head gasket, intake manifold gasket, Exhaust manifold, shocks, idler arm.

Since that time, the parking sensor has gone bad and the brake light comes on intermittently. I have not fixed this yet. I am sure it is simple, but have not gotten around to it.

The seat has a tear in it and the rubber on the steering wheel has started to fall off from age and sunlight.

The car was my father-in-law's work truck, and was severely overloaded most of it's life. It was on it's third rebuilt engine when I got it, and it had recently had the carburetor rebuilt. It had extra springs added in the back to handle the extra weight and 6-ply truck tires.

I have put about 15,000 miles on the truck. I used it as a daily driver for work for the past 2.5 years, and I occasionally collected firewood in it. My commute to work is about 2 miles, so comfort has not been a huge issue. However, I have taken several long trips in it (200+ miles each way), and it is a very uncomfortable truck.

It is severely underpowered, and it is very noisy on the road. The gas mileage, at about 20 mpg average, is not great for a little four cylinder engine. However, it has done a huge amount of work for me in the short time I have had it. I am amazed at how much firewood I can haul with it, even though I have to drive very slowly up hills.

I have not had any reliability problems with this truck since I have owned it, and I find this quite amazing considering the abuse and heavy loads it has taken.