Mitsubishi GTO's and reliability?

[jmflare]

Looking at going to see two GTO's around the £2.5k price range tomorrow, one turbo, one N/A. Basically i was wondering what are peoples experience with them?

I've heard a few horror stories about them being a bh to work on? and the turbo can be unreliable. I like working on my cars and plan on keeping it well maintained though so this may or may not be an issue.

I plan on using it as a daily too.

Thanks guys

Edited by jmflare on Thursday 10th July 23:36

[nickofh]

Great looking rare car, but one I don't know too much about, it might be worth an ask over at the owners forums.....

Good Luck though !

[GravelBen]

I don't think I've ever heard anything positive about their reliability, especially from mechanics...

Never had anything to do with them myself though so its just hearsay really.

[tenpenceshort]

How old are they going to be now? I wouldn't have thought you could expect too much reliability from a 20 year old sports car that was considered pretty complicated when new.

[skyrover]

Will be a money pit unfortunately.

Same story with the Nissan 300zx, which was my dream car as a nipper

[Jazoli]

I know a few ex owners and I wouldn't entertain the idea of one to be honest, they are well known along with the 300ZX to offer that unique blend of complexity, unreliability, weight and expensive rare parts, and to be absolute money pits with little reward when they do work properly giving sub 20mpg on average.

Just about any other Jap coupe from the same era will be a much better bet, 200SX, Supra, Skyline etc.

Edited by Jazoli on Friday 11th July 07:10

[DrDoofenshmirtz]

Head gaskets are the main concern. I'd come down a medallion or two, ditch the chest wig and get a Celica GT4...oh, I already did :-)

[anonymous-user]

I know an owner of one will be along shortly to tell us that we are all wrong and they are a paragon of reliability. However the GTO and 300zx (as pointed out already) are both 20 year old complex sports cars that on the most part will be moneypits. A prime example of a car that you could easily spend the purchase price again in the first year on maintenance. I looked at a 300zx TT a few years back and the bills in the service history put me off.

[FD3Si]

Weigh the same as the Deathstar, with as many electronic systems, that have a habit of going wrong in style. I knew someone who got through many, many ECUs. I can't remember which ones, as there are about 70 for all the bonkers electrical systems. It was a 1 3/4 tonne moneypit, with, as far as I can see, no redeeming features. It looked awkward, had a massive thirst with very little benefit (and this is from someone with a rotary powered car) and was hugely unreliable.
It did, however, seem far quicker in twisty bits than it's stats would suggest. But that's not to say it was particularly quick, just quicker than you'd expect.
Nasty things, and I love 90's japanese cars.

Edited by FD3Si on Friday 11th July 08:37

[kambites]

I know one owner and his has been OK, but that's hardly a viable statistical sample. They are certainly complicated and look a right arse to work on; I'm not even sure how you change the spark plugs in the rear bank.

[jmflare]

Tip: don't think about buying a £2.5k GTO

One seller totally lied about the car, it was an absolute dog. The other said i was to late showing up so didn't want to show me the car

Then missed the last train home from Birmingham so had to stay in a hotel. £200 wasted in train tickets and hotels not to buy a car -_-

[Krikkit]

Bullet dodged perhaps? There's a reason it was a PH Zero (amongst other awards for crapness).

[jmflare]

Krikkit said:

Bullet dodged perhaps? There's a reason it was a PH Zero (amongst other awards for crapness).

The car itself i thought was absolutely brilliant for the grand tourer type thing it is. One of the best looking cars around, quick and sounded brilliant, but it's just got soooo many flaws. And that particular car i looked at was a knackered dog of a car.

[Mastodon2]

It was never intended as a budget car to run, the 3.0L TT V6 is a giveaway of that, but the fancy electrics seem to have been it's downfall. Well, that and the weight blunting the performance, but it was a GT, and taken as such, I'm sure a working one is a nice thing to own and drive. As long as you've got deep, deep pockets for the bills and fuel.

[Ved]

Designed for speed, built for storage. Too complex for their own good.

[spadgm]

$200?
Consider yourself lucky!
Lesson learned, you will save many times that amount not buying these shagged out money pits!

[Steve_F]

On a North of Scotland, mate driving his previous Fiesta ST pressing on but not flat out, says "Holy sh!t" right before one absolutely shot past us. Just not there, there, gone. Just like that.

Absolutely certain it would have had a lot of work done the way it was shifting and probably a local carrying that much speed round corners.

Really got me looking for one but the reviews and comments on it were just way to scary. Real shame as I've got a massive soft spot for them but really, for what they are, I wouldn't put up with the potential unreliability. Certain cars I might risk it but it's just not special enough.

[TotalControl]

Other cars to consider:

Toyota Supra
Lexus Soarer
Nissan Skyline GTS
Nissan 200sx
Toyota MR2
Toyota Celica GT4
Subaru Impreza
Mazda RX7

All better than the GTO/3000gt in my opinion.