Hello everyone. First time posting. I joined this club to obtain information and to share some information with other VR-4 owners. Let me begin by giving you some background information. Original owner from back in the day. 1992 black VR-4 bought from the dealer on Christmas Eve with only 8 miles on it. I have loved this car, but not to the extreme as other VR-4 owners. I have never raced the car or abused it in any way. As a matter of fact, my wife has been the primary driver. This VR-4 only has 70,000 miles on it! We have always used Mitsubishi Service to have any and all work done on the car, and the maintenance schedule has been followed wih great detail. My wife was on her way to work a few weeks ago when she began to hear this noise under the car. It sounded as if concrete might be in the transmission. She pulled over to the side and called for a tow truck, which took the car to the nearest Mitsubishi dealership. I called them soon after and explained to them that we had just received a recall notice from Mitsubishi... could this noise be attributed to the recall? After a few days, the service manager called to tell me that my VR-4 needed a WHOLE BRAND NEW TRANSMISSION. New Transmission? Standard? 70,000 miles? How can this be? It would cost $4 - 6 thousand new, or if I wanted to get a used one out of the junkyard it would cost $2500 - $3500. I asked how many miles would be on a junkyard transmission, and he laughed and said "more than yours." I decided to get a second opinion, so I went to the dealership to pick up my VR-4. He told me AGAIN that the recall had nothing to do with my problems and sent me on my way. Never bothering to check the seals, fill the fluid, or replace the transfer case! I was not even told it was leaking! The independent shop I took my VR-4 to charged me $500 to take the transmission out of the car and find out exactly what the problem was. In doing so, guess what he discovered? YEP! A transfer case covered in fluid with the seal cracked and leaking in several places, and I have pictures and serial numbers to prove it. (WHAT WAS THE RECALL ABOUT???) I went back to the dealership to find out why they let me drive away with a transfer case that was proven to be faulty even after I had informed them of the recall. The District Rep (REAL IMPORTANT MAN- a legend in his own mind) who approves or disapproves of this type of work began to explain to me that he had "not heard the news regarding transfer case problems in VR-4's." (YEAH, RIGHT.) He asked me why I did not just bring my car back in and have the transfer caase replaced, because Mitsubishi in California had authorized replacement. I told him if the transfer case were to be changed, then the output shaft would have to be replaced, because of the wear on the splines... and this would leave me in the same position I begain with. A VR-4 that is not driveable! After a lengthy process of calling back and forth with Mitsubishi, one of the rep's there in Califonia made the mistake of giving me the name of the supervisor who was in direct contact with the regional rep here in Florida. I proceeded to call over and over again leaving many messages and finally was able to get a reply from the supervisor there in California. He knew that the local dealership had breached their contract by letting me drive away with a bad transfer case, but he was treading lightly so that he would give himself some wiggle room to negotiate. He knew he was obligated for a transfer case replacement. THIS IS FACT. They (dealers and Mitsubishi) have unspoken guidelines that they try to follow. Deceit. Misdirection. Delay. Anything to convince the owner that Mitsubishi is not liable for their HUGE TOTAL TRANSMISSION ENGINEERING PROBLEM. A direct engineering flaw that THEY have not come to terms with. Pathetic. I spent $1,000.00 labor and $950.00 in parts. Mitsubishi swapped out my transfer case with the new design. 25-spline transfer case. I purchased an output shaft, sync rings, all bearings and seals and topped it off with Red Line. $2,0000 dollars out of pocket directly from a Mitsubishi engineering problem. I have filed complaints with everyone imaginable. This event will be spread to as many people as possible. Mitsubishi with all their money and resources should be held accountable for their products regardless of age. This e-mail has been sent to every imaginable government, state, county and municipal agency as well as Mitsubishi Headquarters and Mr. Richard Donnelson, Director of Mitsubishi Product, Service and Support. In closing, I would like to give each and every one of you a bit of advice. MAKE SURE THAT YOUR TRANSFER CASE TAKES OUT YOUR ENTIRE TRANSMISSION AND DRIVE SHAFTS before you take your AWD for repair. THEN, they will be obligated to replace all, including the entire transmission. That seal needs to leak like HELL. It needs to lock ALL the way up and take everything with it when it goes. If not, they will dick you around endlessly. I checked with my local attorney and he assured me that my local dealer was liable for ANY and ALL problems and accidents resulting from this poorly engineered transfer case and seal. What will happen when a dealer turns someone away and then this person has a multi-car accident with fatalites??
I have really enjoyed my car, but this one problem that has undermined my confidence in Mitsubishi Motor Sales. They are not about customer service. Not now. Not ever. Stick it to them before they stick it to you. And please, feel free to forward this message to ANYONE you know that could benefit from this information BEFORE they have a problem!! Good luck.
I have really enjoyed my car, but this one problem that has undermined my confidence in Mitsubishi Motor Sales. They are not about customer service. Not now. Not ever. Stick it to them before they stick it to you. And please, feel free to forward this message to ANYONE you know that could benefit from this information BEFORE they have a problem!! Good luck.