| Subject: | Mitsubishi |
| Question: | Hi I just bought a
95 Mitsubishi Montero LS Automatic with 200,000 miles for $2,000. It
is in excellent condition and a repair shop told me the engine looks
very good. The blue book value is $4920. Are these expensive to fix
and are they dependable? Also do you think it was a good deal or not
and why? Thanks. |
| Answer: | Tyler, For $2000, that sounds like a really good price for a Montero; even with a base LS package. An engine that has 200,000 miles put on it in only 8 years typically indicates lots of highway miles. That's typically a good thing. But that's an average of about 25,000 miles per year. That's twice as much as the average driver. But, the Mitsubishi engine can outlast the rest of the car. The '95 had only two recalls that I can think of, and I don't think either one dealt with anything too serious. One dealt with a crankshaft nut coming loose (an easy fix) and the other was with a cargo bin in the back (again, not serious). If your mechanic said the engine looks to be sound, then the previous owner(s) most likely took really good care of it. But with an engine that old, be absolutely sure to do all the regualr maintenance on it as described in the owners manual. Do that, and the car should last another 200,000 miles. They are dependable vehicles if the maintence is followed closely.
If they do break down, as with most Japanese SUVs, they are not cheap
to fix. But with the thousands of dollars you saved in Blue Book
value of the vehicle, if the car does need any work done on it in
the near future, you still would have gotten a good deal. |