32 replies to this topic

[marinetowing]

A word of warning to anyone considering purchasing an Mitsubishi MN Triton

I purchased a MY10 GXL-R manual triton in early January last year brand new from a Hobart dealership, it was my 2nd triton that I have owned since new, buying a MK TD 4wd in 2003.

I use the ute for occassionally towing the car to events and for daily duties.
A couple of weeks before Xmas my wife took the car to the dealership for a 15,000k service, she was told by the service department that the front brake pads were badly worn and the rotors were damaged, which constituted a warranty claim due to the low kilometres and that they had contacted me by phone to inform me of the situation (which they did not do).

I inspected the brakes when the car arrived home and the pads were down to around 1mm of remaining material and the rotors were badly scored and showed signs of hot spots.
I called the dealership first thing Monday morning to be informed that they would submit a warranty claim and let me know the outcome in a day or so, I heard nothing all week so decided to call on Friday afternoon when I was told that MMA required more detail as this was a "unique" incident, my wife took the car back the following week where they photographed the brakes and sent the images of to MMA.

In between this week and the time the photos were sent I have heard nothing from MMA nor the dealership apart from the offer from the dealership to pay for new pads, rotors and fitting at my expence and be reimbursed if the claim was approved, to which I declined.

I called MMA on Tuesday to find out what was going on with the claim, only to be told by some halfwit at the front desk (who refused to let me speak to anyone higher up the foodchain as it was policy) that my claim would be rejected as the items were consumables and this was again a "unique" incident. When I questioned him about the low kilometres and the fact the rotors were also destroyed he replied "yes that's our policy, but I don't exactly know what rotors are" so basically I was accused of mistreating the car, left foot braking and I was wasting my time persuing a claim.

Wednesday I decided to turn up the heat a little and spoke to the dealership manager, explaining that it was probably not in his or MMA's best interest to refuse if they wanted to keep me as a future customer, considering I had bought 2 new vehicles from them and I do buy quite a lot of parts from ralliart for the TME and the GSR, he said he would push the matter and do everything within his power to get a result which would keep everyone happy, but once again mentioned the problem with it not being a common fauly MMA would be reluctant to approve the claim. He assured me that a result would come immediately and I would hear from him the following day (yesterday).

Surprise surprise yesterday came and went and no call from the dealership or MMA, in the meantime I did a bit of searching and found a forum (which has quite a large membership) soley for Triton's 2005 and up, it is also Australian based. I signed up and explained my dillema and instantly I was given links and stories of numerous owners with the exact same issue as mine with the MN model, one particular vehicle was identical with rotor damage at 15,000ks but overall a large percentage of these vehicles had had premature brake wear and it had been reported to dealerships which no doubt would have to brought to MMA's attention.
This problem was so widespread to that model that brake upgrade group buys for MN's were highly recommended on the site, all of the members that replied to my question agreed that it should be a warranty issue and for some reason it appeared that Mitsubishi had somewhat "skimped" for that model and used sub standard pad material.

This morning armed with the above info and feeling somewhat infuriated that MMA had lied to me about not knowing about the issue and that I was the first to make such a complaint, I decided to make a few calls.
First off was the service department manager (this call did not end so well) who informed me that MMA had officially refused my claim at the close of business Thursday night, I proceeded to question him on the info I had received from the other Triton owners to which he said he was not aware of such claims being made, which he may not have but no doubt MMA knew when they were investigating the claim. I asked him in all honesty if he had purchased the vehicle and in that low amount of k's would he be happy with brake component failure and expect to foot the bill himself, to which he told me that he wouldn't but my only option from here was to put in writing a complaint to MMA......as my blood pressure was at Mt St Helens level by now I told him his best option was to go fuck himself and this was far from over, then hung up and moved onto the dealership manager.

The dealership manager is trying a little harder to keep me onside and did mention that he had not heard of the brake wear issue before and would talk to MMA and try and sort out the situation, I informed him that if it was not resolved today and the tables turned in my favour he would not only lose me as a customer to the service dept, new vehicle sales etc I would also do my best to spread the joy on how great the ute is and how wonderful customer care is at MMA. I do tow the car around to a lot of places for events and people often do ask how it performs as a tow vehicle being the new 2.5 model, so it's quite easy to spread a negative if required.

He called me back some time later and said that MMA were standing firm on their decision but as a sign of goodwill the dealership was prepared to have pads and rotors fitted to the car for a cost to me of $200, I informed him that I appreciated the offer but unfortunately I am not prepared to give mitsubishi 1c of my money in order to fit substandard parts to my car and that as a customer he and I were finished and hung up.
.....I have had 8 missed calls from him in the meantime but not quite prepared to talk to him at the moment.

I have just got off the phone to MMA who still refuse to let me speak to anyone higher up the foodchain, the only action I can take apparently is by writing, I told the customer care I will not be writing a letter and that I will continue to call until I can speak to someone who can actually do something for me.
Customer care have just been in contact with the dealership and tell me that the dealership has submitted a claim of "goodwill" to MMA where they will contribute some of the cost of repair towards the car and to seek approval for MMA to pay the remainder of cost, the result I am told will come early next week.

I can get the dba rotor and pad upgrade for around $500 from the other forum, which is no doubt a good thing anyway as obviously the pads that are used for genuine parts are garbage, but it's not the point.
I never once had to put so much as a set of pads in my old triton in 84,000ks and it was used for the same purpose, driven the same way.

I find it astounding that MMA would be prepared to lie to a customer, then risk losing that customer and suffer negative publicity just for a petty set of brakes that were obviously crap and would more than likely not set them back more than a few hundred dollars.

Stay tuned....and yes I will be putting the "THIS CAR IS CRAP, DO NOT BUY ONE" stickers on the ute and parking it outside the dealership if this turns to custard.

[ONPSI]

Sorry to hear your bad news but i strongly agree with what action your taking, Dealerships shit on customers all the time and it's about time they are held accountable

[BMGTZ]

I am a long term triton owner...MK 97. My old girl has clicked over 180,000 and only used three sets of pads. 15,000 is crap life!! spread the good word on the service you are recieving.....people need to know.

[marinetowing]

Thanks guy's I will keep pushing the issue.

Brian... the MK I had to was the most reliable, trouble free vehicle I have ever owned and possibly one of the smartest purchases I have ever made (made a few unwise ones over the years!) am kicking myself that I sold it to buy the new one.

[What-Lag]

I own a 2009 GLX-r, 45k's pads are a bit noisy but only 2/3rds down (wife loves riding the brakes and its auto)

[thirteen]

Dealerships shit on customers all the time and it's about time they are held accountable

Who the hell goes to dealerships for 'servicing' anyway?
Some 15 yo apprentice looks at your dipstick "meh that'll do" and you get charged $100.

[marinetowing]

Who the hell goes to dealerships for 'servicing' anyway?
Some 15 yo apprentice looks at your dipstick "meh that'll do" and you get charged $100.

You got away cheap.....but in actual fact if you were to buy a new mitsubishi you would be aware of the "free roadside assist programme" this is dependant on you having one dealership service per annum, the 15,000k service was my one and only to validate the programme.

[What-Lag]

You got away cheap.....but in actual fact if you were to buy a new mitsubishi you would be aware of the "free roadside assist programme" this is dependant on you having one dealership service per annum, the 15,000k service was my one and only to validate the programme.

Yer with mine i worked out it was afr cheaper to get RACQ roadside assist then do once service with mitsubishi, but owning a workshop it costs me around $150 for a full service on mine.

[thirteen]

You got away cheap.....but in actual fact if you were to buy a new mitsubishi you would be aware of the "free roadside assist programme" this is dependant on you having one dealership service per annum, the 15,000k service was my one and only to validate the programme.

I feel your pain.
Years ago I brought a Ford from a dealership - talk about getting screwed over {frown}.

[Chaser]

Im going to chim in here as a mechanic for a mits dealer in newcastle. All well in good taking ur car to jow blow down the road that can do this service for this much BUT is he doing it properly??? i highly doubt it, I see mine vehicals every day that are service by such joe blows and they just dont service them properly. These new tritons are very advanced diesels and need to be looked after properly. With such things like tappets adjusted every 30k and sql fuel learns every service another thing joe blow wont do!

In saying this there are alot of rip off dealers out there that will just try to ream u.

[marinetowing]

Im going to chim in here as a mechanic for a mits dealer in newcastle. All well in good taking ur car to jow blow down the road that can do this service for this much BUT is he doing it properly??? i highly doubt it, I see mine vehicals every day that are service by such joe blows and they just dont service them properly. These new tritons are very advanced diesels and need to be looked after properly. With such things like tappets adjusted every 30k and sql fuel learns every service another thing joe blow wont do!

In saying this there are alot of rip off dealers out there that will just try to ream u.

You a part of the bunch of retards that when a car is booked in for a "quick" service, it must be dropped of at 8.30 am and when you pick go to pick it up 8 hours ater you are still forced to wait?
The same retards that "note" tyre wear on the service form but don't rotate due to it not being policy?
The same retards that even after 3 services with the manufacturers booklet left on the front seat still too stupid to fill it out?
The same retards that consider it fine to replace a filter after every second oil change?

[OLDIE]

I have just had my auto 4x4 DC Colorado s 10k service and tyre rotation and WTF $500 for an oil & filter change and a tick and flick service.
Got under it and what do you know the uni joints and the sliding splines to the front diff showed no sings of grease as the nipples were dusty, then I checked the battery and again no signs of being checked as the slight dust on the top of the battery and caps were unmarked.and then charged $120 for 7 litres of bulk mineral oil that I can and will be suppling the same brand and grade that Repco sells 10 litres for app $80.00 NOT HAPPY JAN!!!!!!!!!!

ps this is not meant to be a tread hi jack just my 2c re dealer service depts

pps mods please shift this if needed

Edited by OLDIE, 07 January 2011 - 10:25 PM.

[mototo]

Just to add,

colleague of mine bought a GL-R in October or early November(missing the X from memory, was a 2 months wait or something like that)

18th of Dec 2010, the sound deadening or whatever that is applied to the bonnet caught fire! He was driving with his kids in the car from Waterfall to the city at 6pm on a Friday afternoon in the middle of nowhere when it happened. Thankfully another motorist who came to his help had some water. M

He managed to make it back to our office which is halfway to the city and it caught fire AGAIN!

Bunch of us at work looked at it, couldnt figure out what caused it to burn. We thought a cigarette butt or some ash caused it, but looking where the burn is and its surroundings, it was quite impossible. nothing else was damaged luckily, and mitsubishi told him to use the car until the issue is resolved.

Until today the issue is still pending with mitsubishi. You'd would think something of this magnitude will be taken seriously...

btw it burned on the turbo side. but nothing on the engine/chassis/headlight has any burn marks or anything

if you smell pancakes whilst driving the new triton, stop the car!

Edited by mototo, 07 January 2011 - 11:20 PM.

[Chaser]

You a part of the bunch of retards that when a car is booked in for a "quick" service, it must be dropped of at 8.30 am and when you pick go to pick it up 8 hours ater you are still forced to wait?
The same retards that "note" tyre wear on the service form but don't rotate due to it not being policy?
The same retards that even after 3 services with the manufacturers booklet left on the front seat still too stupid to fill it out?
The same retards that consider it fine to replace a filter after every second oil change?

Well that's other dealers mate not mine, we have a staff of 4 mechanics and 1 service adviser. We have to look after our customers as we don't have very many compared to other larger dealerships. In saying this i know of a lot dealers that are to be honest morons.

As for tyre rotations that is apart of the 15k 30k etc etc service's its included in the price of the service. I am also a firm believer if a sump plug comes out the filter is changed no exceptions. As i said i know of these retards and if u look around that Triton forum there will be numerous threads on good dealers and the bad ones....

Clem i have never herd of a Triton catching fire before so thats a new one to me lol, but they are still only built by human hands which are mass produced so there has to be some room for error...

[mototo]

Chase, yeah i know. it could be a one off thing, given that he did send the car in the week before for a headlight warranty replacement (on the other side of the burn but)

But imagine the PR nightmare if this thing had actually burned further and endangered his and his family's life. They could have replaced it the very next day to prevent it from happening further or at least give him a loan car first.

Edited by mototo, 08 January 2011 - 12:00 AM.

[youda]

[quote name='Chaser' timestamp='1294443856' post='220937']
Well that's other dealers mate not mine, we have a staff of 4 mechanics and 1 service adviser. We have to look after our customers as we don't have very many compared to other larger dealerships. In saying this i know of a lot dealers that are to be honest morons.

As for tyre rotations that is apart of the 15k 30k etc etc service's its included in the price of the service. I am also a firm believer if a sump plug comes out the filter is changed no exceptions. As i said i know of these retards and if u look around that Triton forum there will be numerous threads on good dealers and the bad ones....

Clem i have never herd of a Triton catching fire before so thats a new one to me lol, but they are still only built by human hands which are mass produced so there has to be some room for error...

I hope this isant the same attitude when working on brakes and electrical saftey items!!!! when it comes to saftey shit like that (ie fire in car) there should be a zero room for error!!!!!
thats where it comes down to qualitiy control. If a mechanic gets offended because another mechanic quickly goes over his work before it heads out the door hes an idiot.
I've delt with this sort of stuff before.

[Chaser]

Mate i like it when someone else just double checks the obvious stuff after a service like oil and waters are right. But i understand were ur coming from too, at most dealer ships accessory fitters do the pre delivery's which is just checking everything over bolts are tight diffs are full etc etc...

I am still amased on how other dealer ships get away with the shit that they do! i have only been working in the dealer ship side of mechanical for the last 12 months...

[Entaran]

We drove a GLX-R current model ('10) Triton a few weeks back for 2 days straight, dealership here in Ballarat was trying desperately to sell us one.

Bought a Ranger.

Will never look back. It's a better car in every conceivable manner and the interior shits all over the Triton.

It was also 18 grand cheaper for the top spec model. We drove away for $36,025 (RRP $52,235) and paid $240 for an ARB steel winchbar fitted ontop as part of the deal. (240, not 2400) but they opted to keep the factory nudgebar thing which I imagine they'll sell to someone else.

Car has now done about 2,000 kms and we are considering buying a second one to replace the other company car.

[EVOISM]

Pfft.
Some people.
Sigh.
LOL.

[BMGTZ]

Pfft.
Some people.
Sigh.
LOL.

care to explain the above?....I kinda dont get it