27th Mar 2011, 16:02
I've owned over 50 cars in as many years of motoring.
The Shogun is genuinely unique - it is the only car that I know of, out of so many other cars, that simply does not fail. As reliable as horseshoe, it does not break down, it does not fail.
I've had my V petrol LWB auto for 11 years. I change the oil and filters every 2-3 years, that's it. No other expense other than fuel.
3rd Apr 2011, 12:09
Shoguns and Pajeros aren't good cars. They are the best. The best 4x4s, the best cars, the people carriers, the best vehicles. The best motors.
Despite the propaganda about German cars, these are stronger than the strongest Mercedes ever built. Buy a 20 year old Shogun for very little - change oil and filter very 30,000 miles and your great grandchildren will be driving it - it will work as surely a solid steel hammer will work a hundred years from now.
That is what a Mitsubishi is in my experience. These 4x4s are the polar opposite of Land Rovers.
6th Apr 2011, 16:08
Shogun V6 petrol autos are the best. Better not just than those embarrassingly unreliable Land Rovers but better by far even than Toyota 4x4s. My ownership experience of 3 Shoguns in 30 odd years of motoring has been incredible. I find it hard to like any other car let alone 4x4.
10th Apr 2011, 07:28
I read somewhere where it was suggested that for a company as big as Mitsubishi - the car division is simply to add variety to its range of operations. Mitsubishi are involved in heavy industrial manufacture from shipping to aircraft and v. high tech. equipment. The car building division is simply a speck in its empire. They can afford to make a loss on every car, hence the over-engineered detail for the sake of longevity and reliability. They can afford to make cars to make a statement, not a profit. Incidentally their engineering history is amazing - their WW2 Zeros outperformed all European warplanes. Serious students of engineering know about them. Pajeros are pretty much a byword for indestructibility where roads are very rough.
10th Apr 2011, 09:35
Seems like we get a very second rate version of Mitsubishi vehicles here in the U.S. That vehicle is known as the Montero over here, and is anything but a super high quality unbreakable vehicle. Friends of ours had one, and they couldn't keep it out of the shop. I also owned an Eclipse at one point, and it was very sup par compared to Toyota and Honda. Our standards of vehicle are disappointing over here!
24th Apr 2011, 14:32
Interesting point - seems to confirm that where a vehicle is assembled and sometimes for various markets, they differ wildly. Years ago, when UK Fords were very problematic - German assembled ones were amazingly reliable. Ditto with UK Vauxhalls and German Opels.
30th Apr 2011, 04:56
I've been to plenty of 4X4 trials where when other makes of 4x4 got stuck - Shoguns were the recovery vehicles used to pull them out. That sums it up for me.
5th May 2011, 11:21
About Mitsubishi 4x4s - in the 1990s - Pajeros in parts of Asia were the price of midsize factories when import duty was levied. Ministers of State preferred them over German fayre. Their desirability and the status that they conferred was stratospheric - it was down to build quality and reliability.
5th May 2011, 16:01
I am in the U.S., and I have a 1998 Montero Sport since new that now has 142,000 miles on it, and has been very reliable. The best vehicle I have ever owned in terms of reliability and durability.
12th May 2011, 10:52
I have owned Pajero. Used them as a builders van to load bricks etc. Exceptional heavy duty engineering always got me to my destination with over a ton of bricks in back. Can't recommend enough.
15th May 2011, 09:56
Ran big Volvo estates for 20 years, as needed for trade supplies. Always thought that Volvos were the strongest ever for that purpose. Tried a Shogun, and consequently found Volvo tinny in comparison.
19th May 2011, 05:04
Having run both petrol and diesel Shoguns - found no difference in mpg whatsoever between the two; the diesels have all the old technology drawbacks of circa. 1990s diesel engines, but the 24v V6 petrols are astonishingly good, not merely for a 4x4, but remarkable even by the standards of the very best luxury sports cars. Go for the petrol, you get typically 20-23 mpg; identical to the diesel.
2nd Jun 2011, 11:14
Monteros, Pajeros, Shoguns - go for the V6 petrol - unless where you live the diesel fuel is massively subsidised or free.
13th Jun 2011, 14:42
OK, dynamically the Shogun 1998 can't match the roadholding of either a BMW X5 or a Merc ML, but both of those in experience, even when brand new, need a 1000 GBP worth fixes a year; the 1998 Shogun needs £0.00.
17th Jul 2011, 05:16
I've gone from BMW to Mercs, and as a step up in reliability/practicality to a 1998 Shogun - way better built than the German machines. If you can find one - buy one - you shan't regret it.
26th Jun 2022, 20:52
Because it comes from a time when Mitsubishi was Mitsubishi ;) 1998 top of the game in rallying, and anyone who wanted a reliable 4x4 bought a Shogun or a Nissan Patrol.
Fast forward 20 years or so now to this insane world we live in, Mitsubishi like a lot of car manufacturers make rubbish that no one remotely interested in cars would buy, what a fall from grace.
23rd Mar 2011, 17:30
I have a very old V petrol auto Shogun covered 482000 miles - nearly half a million. Never broken down or required any kind of fix. Indeed less likely to breakdown than an anvil. Very good to drive too on account of sophisticated suspension and very quick and powerful engine. The car's made from girders basically.