Thoughts on a Lancer 2.0 GLS?

PhireSide

PhireSide

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Hi all

Does anyone here have any opinions on the 2009 and 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer 2.0 GLS's? I am looking at getting one as it seems to tick all my boxes and for a relatively cheap price. They don't seem to hold their second-hand value well so good condition fair mileage ones are around R100 - R120K.

For the price range they seem to have good value, plus all the goodies that I am looking for such as Climate Control, Cruise Control, electric windows and quite a few safety features as well.

Are there any things I should look out for or anything I should know before committing? I currently drive an old Honda Ballade, but various things have already packed up such as the AC, remote central locking, etc. plus it's really pap climbing hills. I suspect it's near time to retire the old girl, especially since my new job has me travelling many km's per month (2000km+).

Any advice would be appreciated :)
 
wabbit16 said:
Hi all

Does anyone here have any opinions on the 2009 and 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer 2.0 GLS's? I am looking at getting one as it seems to tick all my boxes and for a relatively cheap price. They don't seem to hold their second-hand value well so good condition fair mileage ones are around R100 - R120K.

For the price range they seem to have good value, plus all the goodies that I am looking for such as Climate Control, Cruise Control, electric windows and quite a few safety features as well.

Are there any things I should look out for or anything I should know before committing? I currently drive an old Honda Ballade, but various things have already packed up such as the AC, remote central locking, etc. plus it's really pap climbing hills. I suspect it's near time to retire the old girl, especially since my new job has me travelling many km's per month (2000km+).

Any advice would be appreciated :)
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Wish I could give more advice, but I have a friend who has a Lancer, think it is around a 2008 model, but it has relatively low mileage. It hasn't skipped a beat. I think they are mistakenly overlooked by the average consumer.
 
Insurance on Mitsubishi is expensive which is largely due to parts being expensive. But it is Japanese so will be well built and reliable.
 
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lcbxx said:
Insurance on Mitsubishi is expensive which is largely due to parts being expensive. But it is Japanese so will be well built and reliable.
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:confused: Not sure how you come to that conclusion as a vast number of cars on our roads are imported from Japan and other Far East countries, and insurance figures have nothing to do with the price of parts, but rather on a risk factor. It is for that reason that a Polo or Fortuner has high insurance because it is a high risk car from a theft/hijacking point of view.

If you have concrete proof that it costs more to maintain a Mitsubishi over anything else on the road, please provide us with a link.

A Lancer should be a very low risk vehicle if anything - there aren't 50 million of them on the roads and they are not particularly popular as taxi replacements.
 
Thanks gents :)

I might be going to go and have a look at one tomorrow or the weekend, but I will probably look at getting one from Gauteng or more inland. I am quite rust-phobic and wary of coastal cars. For what it's worth, I took my cousins Lancer for a spin and I'm quite impressed with the ride quality. The cabin looks very bare and tacky but it's not the end of the world. I was originally looking for a 1.5l Lancer but they are very scarce, but I've also heard that the 2l variant isn't too heavy on fuel.

As with insurance, I am also under 25 so I'm expecting it to cost quite a bit. As mentioned above it isn't a common car so hopefully that counts in my favour

EDIT: Can anyone tell me the differences between the 08 - 12 models? As I understand it, the 2013 model had a few changes added such as a touchscreen infotainment system, more airbags and rear park assist. Are there any spec levels I need to know about? They all look a lot alike, and I know some of them have the multifunction steering wheels and leather seats while others have cloth interiors and just a standard steering wheel. Thanks :)
 
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Right, so I went to the local Mitsu dealership and had a chat with one of the sales guys. Gained a bit of knowledge on the car and asked about trading in my 1996 Honda Ballade, but I didn't commit to anything as it was a bit above my price class and the trade in I would have received for the Honda was a lot lower than expected.

On a side note, what's the easiest way to go about scoping out cars in another city/province? Reason I'm asking is that I have my eye on one that's in Joburg, but being in the EC a few hundred kilometers away doesn't make viewing too easy. I'm worried about the little things that you don't see easily on photographs, like small dings and places where paint has been touched up, etc.

I suppose the easiest would be to have a contact in said city with some good car knowledge that can check it out for you? Or can I ask that they take it to an AA centre and have it inspected on my bill?
 
wabbit16 said:
I suppose the easiest would be to have a contact in said city with some good car knowledge that can check it out for you? Or can I ask that they take it to an AA centre and have it inspected on my bill?
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Yeah if you have a friend up there that knows cars then it would be the way to go. AA & Dekra reports are fscking useless, don't waste your money.
 
ponder said:
Yeah if you have a friend up there that knows cars then it would be the way to go. AA & Dekra reports are fscking useless, don't waste your money.
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Crap. Better make some friends then :D
 
Right, so I went to the local Mitsu dealership and had a chat with one of the sales guys. Gained a bit of knowledge on the car and asked about trading in my 1996 Honda Ballade, but I didn't commit to anything as it was a bit above my price class and the trade in I would have received for the Honda was a lot lower than expected.
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I know that we are always disappointed with trade in prices, but you must remember that you are trying to trade in an 18 year old car!!

Very few "ordinary" cars are worth much at that age, unfortunately.

The only way to try and get what you are hoping for on a car of that age is to retail it yourself.
 
Fazda said:
:confused: Not sure how you come to that conclusion as a vast number of cars on our roads are imported from Japan and other Far East countries, and insurance figures have nothing to do with the price of parts, but rather on a risk factor. It is for that reason that a Polo or Fortuner has high insurance because it is a high risk car from a theft/hijacking point of view.

If you have concrete proof that it costs more to maintain a Mitsubishi over anything else on the road, please provide us with a link.

A Lancer should be a very low risk vehicle if anything - there aren't 50 million of them on the roads and they are not particularly popular as taxi replacements.
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I owned a Lancer God CVT and the reason I sold it was because it was getting more and more expensive to maintain past the 120k km mark. You're looking at over 2k for a standard service and that's in ideal circumstances. I generally ended up having to spend another grand or two on small things.
 
Messugga said:
I owned a Lancer God CVT and the reason I sold it was because it was getting more and more expensive to maintain past the 120k km mark. You're looking at over 2k for a standard service and that's in ideal circumstances. I generally ended up having to spend another grand or two on small things.
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As for insurance - I was quoted slightly over half of what I was paying on the Lancer, for the 86. They're expensive to insure.
 
Messugga said:
As for insurance - I was quoted slightly over half of what I was paying on the Lancer, for the 86. They're expensive to insure.
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Hopefully there is someone in the insurance industry who can give us a correct answer as exactly why they are expensive to insure.

It's a plain Jane little rep's car, and I certainly cannot see it being a high risk with respect to hijacking or theft.

If it was the EVO version, that's a different story altogether.
 
Fazda said:
Hopefully there is someone in the insurance industry who can give us a correct answer as exactly why they are expensive to insure.

It's a plain Jane little rep's car, and I certainly cannot see it being a high risk with respect to hijacking or theft.

If it was the EVO version, that's a different story altogether.
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Totally agree with you that it doesn't make sense. When I got the 86 I asked the insurer, Alexander Forbes, which I was becoming a new client of, for a quote on the Lancer and the 86. Lancer, 4 years old, 140k in the clock: 1500, 800 for the 86, a car worth 3 times as much as the Lancer.
 
Messugga said:
Totally agree with you that it doesn't make sense. When I got the 86 I asked the insurer, Alexander Forbes, which I was becoming a new client of, for a quote on the Lancer and the 86. Lancer, 4 years old, 140k in the clock: 1500, 800 for the 86, a car worth 3 times as much as the Lancer.
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I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Alexander Forbes guy didn't look up an EVO
 
Fazda said:
Hopefully there is someone in the insurance industry who can give us a correct answer as exactly why they are expensive to insure.

It's a plain Jane little rep's car, and I certainly cannot see it being a high risk with respect to hijacking or theft.

If it was the EVO version, that's a different story altogether.
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22 year olds are buying them, ricing them and driving them like isht. Thats probably why their insurance cost is high.

Because its a Lancer, it has that racy connotations to it. In the hearts of consumers anyway. That said it probably is the leist racy car in my opinion.

Also the older Impreza 2.0 RS was/is not cheap to insure.
 
boxerulez said:
22 year olds are buying them, ricing them and driving them like isht. Thats probably why their insurance cost is high.

Because its a Lancer, it has that racy connotations to it. In the hearts of consumers anyway. That said it probably is the leist racy car in my opinion.

Also the older Impreza 2.0 RS was/is not cheap to insure.
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I'm 22 :erm:

I just like the look of them, plus our family have almost only had Mitsubishi's since I can remember - all Colt bakkies, though. The lLancer seems to offer a lot in terms of value for money if you look at all the extra features you get versus the price an average one fetches. The other option I was considering was a Ford Focus, but you cannot get much for a price range around the R100K mark, and I am also not a VW fan so the Polo is out for me. Toyota's are meh, but I hear the Corolla's price is dropping because of the new model that has been released.
 
The cheaest insurance I could find for my renault megane 4 years ago was 800 rand. Was quoted up to 1900 per month.

Just try get a quote from old mutual brokers for a santam policy and just include your household content on it. I got said cars insurance down to 590 including my household contents at that stage.
 
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