2003 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION Complaints

I AM CURRENTLY ON THE 5TH TRANSFER CASE FOR MY 03 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION 8. I HAD 2 GO OUT UNDER WARRANTY, ANOTHER REBUILT AND NOW I AM ON MY LAST ONE. THE FIRST WENT AT ~33K, REPLACED AND BROKEN WITHIN A MONTH REGULAR HIGHWAY DRIVING. *JB

TL*- THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE PARKED AND ATTEMPTING TO DRIVE THE 2003 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION HE TURNED ON THE IGNITION WHILE IN NEUTRAL AND THE VEHICLE LUNGED FORWARD AND FAILED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER STATED EVERYONE WITH THE SAME VEHICLE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM.

WHILE TRAVELING 65 MPH MY TRANSFER CASE ON MY 2003 MITSUBISHI EVOLUTION UNEXPLAINABLE BEGAN TO MAKE A LOUD WHINING NOISE, ALTHOUGH ONLY HAVING ROUGHLY 13,500 MILES. AS I PULLED THE CAR OVER I COULD HERE THAT THERE WAS A METALLIC CLICKING SOUND COMING FROM THE TRANSFER CASE ALSO. TO CORRECT THIS THE TRANSFER CASE WILL NEED TO BE COMPLETELY REPLACED. *NM

AFTER ONLY 8057 MILES ON MY 2003 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION, MY TRANSFER CASE STARTED TO WHINE QUITE BADLY. AFTER READING SOME TECH ARTICLES, I FOUND THAT THIS IS NOT AN UNCOMMON FAILURE. I ALSO KNOW THAT MITSUBISHI HAS HAD TRANSFER CASE RECALLS IN THE PAST DUE TO THEIR POOR REAR SEAL DESIGN. THE RECALLS WERE BASED OFF OF LAWSUITS AND DEATHS TO INDIVIDUALS DRIVING THEIR VEHICLE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS WHEN ALL FOUR WHEELS HAVE LOCKED ON THEM CAUSING CATASTROPHIC LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL. BASED ON MITSUBISHI'S TRACK RECORD, AND THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF LIFE THREATENING CONDITIONS UNDER TRANSFER CASE FAILURE, IT IS A NEGLIGENT ACT FOR THEM TO OVERLOOK THIS PROBLEM. A RECALL IS NECESSARY FOR PUBLIC SAFETY! *JB

VEHICLE WAS BOUGHT USED. STILL HAS REMAINING FACTORY POWERTRAIN WARRANTY. VEHICLE HAD CLUTCH PROBLEMS WHEN I TOOK DELIVERY OF VEHICLE IN JULY. DEALER WAS INFORMED OF PROBLEM IMMEDIATELY AFTER TEST DRIVING VEHICLE. DEALER PROTESTED A REPLACEMENT. HAD SERVICE RECORDS PULLED FOR VEHICLE. CLUTCH WAS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY FOR FIRST OWNER. DEALER REPLACED DISC AND PRESSURE PLATE. LEFT ASSEMBLY LINE THROWOUT BEARING ON VEHICLE. STATED THAT IT IS A "NON-WEAR" ITEM. THROWOUT BEARING FAILED TO DISENGAGE CAUSING DISC FRICTION MATERIAL TO BE "SPUN" SOME TIME BACK. DEALER WAS INFORMED OF THIS INCIDENT. AGAIN, PROTESTED REPLACEMENT STATING IT IS A "NON-WARRANTY ITEM". CLUTCH IS CONSIDERED A WEAR ITEM, EVEN THOUGHT IT IS THE INTEGRAL LINK IN THE POWERTRAIN ASSEMBLY. CLUTCH COMPLETELY FAILED AND LEFT THIS AUTHOR STRANDED 45 MILES FROM HOME, ON THIS DATE. DEALER AGAIN NOTIFIED AND ONCE AGAIN, I WAS DENIED A CLAIM. *JB

P0300 MULTI-CYLINDER RANDOM MISFIRE. AFTER MANY ATTEMPTS MADE MY MITSUBISHI, THIS PROBLEM HAS NEVER BEEN FIXED. ON AVERAGE, THIS HAPPENS 3-4 TIMES DAILY, EVERYDAY AND HINDERS DRIVEABILITY. MITSUBISHI HAS ISSUED PARTS TO BE WARRANTED AND HAS DENIED ALL RESPONSIBILITY. MITSUBISHI HAS QUOTED THAT THE SES (CHECK ENGINE LIGHT) IN NO WAY, WHEN ILLUMINATED, AFFECTS DRIVEABILITY, VALUE, MECHANICAL FUNCTIONS OF THE VEHICLE. THEREFORE, IN SHORT, THEY ARE CLAIMING THAT THE LIGHT IS JUST FOR SHOW. I HAVE WRITTEN PROOF FROM MITSUBISHI WITH THAT STATEMENT DENYING ALL CLAIMS AND NOT TAKING ANY RESPONSIBILITY. *NM

ONGOING PROBLEMS WITH VEHICLE BRAKES WHICH SEVERELY LIMITS STOPPING ABILITY. INTERMITTENT SEVERE VIBRATION IN FRONT END OF VEHICLE DURING LIGHT TO MODERATE BRAKING, ESPECIALLY AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS (45-70 MPH). VIBRATION AND RESULTING LOSS OF TRACTION AND CONTROL OF VEHICLE VERSUS ROAD SURFACE GREATLY REDUCES STOPPING CAPABILITY OF VEHICLE. THIS PROBLEM ALSO APPEARS TO NEGATIVELY EFFECT ABS OPERATION SINCE SMOOTH BRAKING CANNOT BE APPLIED AND THEREFORE ABS WILL NOT ENGAGE IN MOST INSTANCES. VEHICLE HAS BEEN INSPECTED SEVERAL TIMES BY DEALER, BUT THEY HAVE BEEN SLOW AND UNCOOPERATIVE IN RESOLVING THE PROBLEM. I HAVE ALSO FORWARDED THE DEALER AND THE REGIONAL SERVICE DIRECTOR COPIES OF POSTINGS ON SEVERAL VEHICLE/MAKE RELATED WEB FORUMS (E.G. EVOLUTIONM.NET) DESCRIBING SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH BRAKING IN THIS VEHICLE ACROSS THE US. *NM

03 EVO HEARD GRINDING NOISES IN MY TRANNY OR TRANSFER CASE AREA @ 15K MILES.. TOOK TO DEALER AND THEY TOLD ME THEY WON'T CHECK IT IF ITS NOT BROKEN..THEY DID REPLACE A DRIVE SHAFT BUT NOISE WAS STILL THERE.. MY CLUTCH IS NOW SLIPPING @ 24K.. *JB

PAINT ON MY 03 EVO BEGAN FLAKING OFF, ROCK CHIPS BY BOTH BACK PASSENGER DOORS, 24K MILES AND I HAVE TOO MANY ROCK CHIPS EVERYWHERE, MY 98 CAVALIER DOESN'T HAVE THIS MANY ROCK CHIPS. *JB

CLUTCH FAILED AT 16K MILES AFTER 18 MONTHS OF OWNERSHIP. THE DEALER OFFERED TO EXAMINE IT FOR POSSIBLE WARRANTY COVERAGE, BUT BECAUSE OF PARTICIPATION IN AUTOCROSS EVENTS, THE WARRANTY CLAIM WOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED. HOWEVER, AUTOCROSSING DID NOT CONTRIBUTE ANY SIGNIFICANT WEAR TO THE CLUTCH ANY MORE SO THAN NORMAL EVERY DAY DRIVING. AS A 25 YEAR, SEASONED DRIVER OF MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS, THIS WAS THE FIRST CLUTCH I'VE EVER HAD FAIL ON A VEHICLE. BASED ON FEEDBACK FROM OTHER EVO OWNERS, VIA THE EVOLUTIONM.NET WEB SITE, I REPLACED THE CLUTCH WITH A NON-STOCK CLUTCH DUE TO THE INHERENT WEAKNESS OF THE STOCK PART. *NM