Faults:

December 2003 - Before we went on a trip to La Union and Baguio for Christmas, the CD player of the stereo broke. Apparently, the CDs could not be read because a fuse went bust. The fuse was replaced by the dealer and the CD worked again.

August 2004 - The windshield washer stopped working.

July 2005 - Overheating problems. We had the radiator and the aircon compressor replaced. The engine mount also had to be replaced.

December 2006 - The antenna of the car was broken by allegedly 2 security guards in the parking lot of Glorietta 4 (a popular shopping mall in the commercial and financial area of Makati). From then on, we could only play FM because the AM band was not that clear.

Two days later, in the middle of Metro Manila’s heavy Christmas traffic, the car stalled because of the alternator, the car had to be towed to our trusted mechanic but was fixed 2 days later. They only fixed and reconditioned the alternator.

June 2007 - The car had problems with its alignment. The car kept veering to the right. It wasn’t that serious though.

August 2007 - The left rear window stopped working.

July 2008 - Electrical problems. When we came home from school after shutting off the car, the lights did not go out. It was left to die and the car could not run anymore. Although we were able to fix it within a week.

January 2009 - The car experienced problems with the braking and power steering. We were forced to let it stay in the shop for 3 weeks.

February 2009 - The car was making a weird sound whenever it made a turn. We were able to rectify it within 2 days.

March 2009 - The right signal indicator went bust.

June 2009 - Factory wipers acted up. We had them replaced with Bosch wipers.

March 2010 - The original Clarion stereo broke down. We replaced it with an aftermarket Pioneer stereo four months later. In June of 2012, the Pioneer stereo was transferred to our 2004 Camry before this was disposed of.

Alternator problems again (2nd time) but we were able to fix it within 4 days.

October 2010 - Alternator problems again (3rd time) coupled with transmission problems. Fixed within 4 days.

September-October 2011 - Slipping transmission. We were forced to have the car towed for the 3rd time. The car had to stay in the shop for a week.

November 2011 - Aircon started to breathe warm air although this happens only noon time and afternoon.

March 2012 - Rear right window did not work anymore.

April 2012 - After being parked in the garage for 3 weeks, the car makes a very loud noise after a cold start. We had the belt replaced although the car still makes a squeaking noise after a cold start.

July 2012 - We were supposed to sell it already until we discovered that there was a leak in the power steering. We didn’t take it anymore to have it fixed because it would be very expensive to have it fixed. We did not want to sell it anymore because we did not want to compromise the safety of any prospective buyer. So after around 5 months of being abandoned in the garage, we had it towed to the junkyard.

General Comments:

Despite the problems it faced over the years, this car was a reliable and good looking one. However, we were about to sell this car because of its old age, and the car was already a bit dilapidated. A few years before disposing the car, it had seen limited use because of our newer cars like our 2004 model Toyota Camry.

Its 2.0 engine was just right for the car. This car was a very fast and efficient one. It had the ability to overtake other slowpokes, who drove much newer and flashier cars.

It also had wood-trim, which adds to the luxurious feel of the car, although the car came only with a cloth interior. This was our first car equipped with an automatic transmission.

The comfort of this car was so-so. The front part was fine, but the back did not have ample legroom considering that we are all tall in the family. Our 2004 Camry has much better comfort.

This car was bought from one of the distributors of Mitsubishi in the Philippines. Whenever we had problems with the car, we would take it to them, but they did their job poorly. From then on, we would take it to Citimotors or most of the time, to our reliable and trusty mechanic.

Well, this had survived few mild incidents of road rage. This car was never submerged in any flood especially of Ondoy (well our other cars were never submerged too).

I'm happy to say that we had plenty of good memories with this car. This is the car where I learned how to drive back in 2008/2009. Aside from being a daily workhorse going to work, school (Colegio San Agustin Makati, and later on the University of Santo Tomas), the mall or just going out with friends, we also took this car to plenty of special occasions like birthday parties, dinner dates, weddings. This car was also memorable to me because it took me to Junior Prom when I picked up my date in Bicutan, Paranaque and went to the venue at a hotel in Makati. I also took this car to my Graduation Ball and several debuts. This car also carried a whole lechon (roast suckling pig) on two special occasions. This car defined my 2000s and early 2010s. It had seen better days. I also this the "sermon car" since I was scolded by my parents many times in this car.

We finally had to dispose this car in December of 2012 because of a leak in the power steering system. We definitely miss this car and all we could is move on and buy a new Toyota Camry 2.5V. Although from time to time there is nothing wrong reminiscing this car and our memories with it.

Faults:

I found the weakest point on the car to be the suspension components, but having almost 200k miles on it may have something to do with that.

I've had to replace all droplinks, rear camber arms, front upper and lower wishbones, and now an inner CV joint is making an awful racket, so I will need to change that soon.

One front and one rear shock absorber were leaking, so I opted to fit a full set of Tanabe Sustec Pro coilovers, and I'm glad I did. The car handled good before, but with the coilovers installed it's a whole different ball game.

The digital clock doesn't work most of the time, but if I bang it then it works (for a few minutes anyway).

The electric windows can have a mind of their own sometimes. The odd time when I put a window up all the way, it will come back down half way once it reaches the top.

The gearbox can be a bit notchy, but again this could be down to the high mileage.

Other than these minor issues, I can't really fault the car considering the high mileage. The engine is still 100% and doesn't make any odd noises, and never hesitates when I plant my foot, which is to be expected from a Mitsubishi engine.

General Comments:

The car is very well equipped with 4x auto electric windows, cruise control, climate control, P/S, ABS, and A/C. The car doesn't have a sunroof, which I would have liked, but that's life eh.

I have fitted a full Legnum VR4 interior, which hugs you a lot better than the original Galant seats, but they are still very comfortable even on a long journey.

I fitted a set of 16" Work Nezart wheels wrapped in Uniroyal Rainsport 3 tyres, and along with the Tanabe coilovers and a VR4 front strut brace I fitted, the car handles extremely well for its size and weight.

The 2L engine is a little underpowered for a car of this size IMO, and because of that fuel economy suffers. I average 25 MPG, but I do have a fairly heavy foot. I planned to fit a diesel engine, but after some research and finding out how slow the Galant diesel engines are, and how uneconomical they are for a diesel, I decided against it, and instead I plan to fit a 2.5 V6 engine for the little extra power, and I'll convert it to LPG for the better fuel economy.

All in all, I really like this car, and its size and comfort would make it an excellent everyday cruiser, if only it had a little more power and was a little bit better on fuel.