A business trip found me in Des Moines, Iowa back in spring of 2014. I had meetings locally, two in Wisconsin, and one final meeting in Chicago before heading home. I booked a “compact” from Dollar Rent a Car because theirs was the lowest price among the majors at the airport.
I was handed keys to a 2012 Mitsubishi Galant. I was surprised however that Dollar included Galants, or any Mitsubishis for that matter, in its fleet. With the exception of a few rich teenagers with Evos in my southern California home town, I scarcely see Mitsubishis.
My assigned 2012 Galant in space 19 was white. I immediately noticed the rear bumper cover was pretty scratched up from luggage having been tossed in carelessly. The driver’s side body and doors had their share of wear and tear as well. Inside, the odometer read 50,240 miles. The car was no virgin. I was already regretting not requesting something different from the counter guy inside. I was going to spend three days and nearly 700 miles in this thing!
I got out my GPS device and plugged it into the accessory plug. I also needed to charge my cell phone, but there was only one accessory plug. –I guess I will wait to charge my phone at the hotel.
The engine started easily, and I was off. I counted three gear changes. This thing had a FOUR-SPEED automatic? Didn’t Kia have six-speed autos in the 2012 Optima? And the Camry a five-speed, and the Altima a CVT? Wow, this Galant was, uhm, unique….in an obsolete sort of way!
A few things became clear quickly. The steering was actually quite quick, almost too much so. The steering wheel a tad larger than I considered optimal, but it felt good in my hands. When I put my foot down, the transmission was very reluctant to downshift, but when it did, the 2.4L engine began to pull–happily. I smiled. This little engine liked to rev! Unlike some other low-end base model four-cylinder cars, this Galant was decently well insulated sound-wise—none of the typical 4 cylinder droning sound was evident during normal driving. When I put my right foot down however, it actually sang to me. I liked that!
Next day, with phone charged, I tried to pair the phone to the radio—but—ooops, no Bluetooth. Then I looked for the auxiliary input so I could connect to the sound system the old fashioned way. Nope, no aux jack either. I guess I would not be listening to my MP3s after all. AM radio anybody?
At a donut stop, I took a moment to do a walk around. The front tires were worn out—wear indictors showing on both—the originals, obviously. The rears had been replaced, but some scalloping wear on the inner shoulders was evident—that was the faint grinding sound I was hearing on the freeway. Ok, so the engine doesn’t drone, but the rear tires do. Sometimes, rentals just want to drone!
I finally got the manually adjusting seat positioned comfortably. I noticed that the upholstery looked pretty darn good, given the countless butts that had been in that seat. The carpet actually appeared decent as well.
The Mitsubishi Galant of 2012 is a very, very plain looking car. The exterior design exists. Yes, that is faint praise indeed. It is so generic, it could have a blue stripe around it with the word “Car” or “transportation appliance” written on the sides. From certain angles, one can see hints of 2003 Maxima, or from another angle, the last gen Impala. It is very, very plain.
After 650+ miles over three days, here are my conclusions:
I liked the willing, revvy engine, the steering wheel, all three rear view mirrors, sound insulation, shoulder and hip room, and rear seat leg room. I didn’t like the lack of aux jack, Bluetooth connectivity, or a second accessory outlet. The parking brake handle in the center console directly contacted my right thigh during normal driving, and the HVAC function knob markings were small and difficult to see without my glasses.
In short there is nothing really “bad” about this Mitsubishi Galant. Its failings are mostly evident only when directly compared with its competitors. Most notably, the Kia Optima, which I have rented a few times, has more infotainment features (Bluetooth, aux jack, power plugs) and a much more harmonious exterior design. Camry, is, well…Camry, which I have also rented: bland, but well laid out and executed. In the end, I suppose this car’s most direct competitor was the Dodge Avenger, the other low-end rental lot queen.
The Normal, IL-assembled Galant is a perfect view into the very, very big problems that Mitsubishi faced in the US market. The car is simply not competitive with its rivals. Hyundai/Kia has taken the lower end market that Mitsu once occupied. Ford and GM have made cars that compete fairly well with Toyota and Honda. This leaves Mitsubishi in a bbbbbaaaaaddddd place—the rental lot with small Dodge sedans.
As a used car, the Galant might make sense for buyers seeking maximum value. A quick look at used car valuation tools showed the Galant is about worth about 30% less than similarly sized competitors. That means you can pick up one like my rental for a song.
By the way, to Dollar Car Rental: this car needed new front tires or to be sold. Also, it was not clean. I don’t like seeing the last renter’s spilt Frappuccino on my steering wheel, dust on the dashboard, or crumbs in the power outlet. Scuffed paint, high mileage, and bad tires indicate you are not “playing the game” at a high enough level—just like the Galant. I say both earned a C-.
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Future CC/Driving Impressions: 2015 Chrysler 200 – Better, But Just How Much Better?
I don’t think I have ever seen a rental with that kind of mileage. They turn them over pretty regularly here. The car itself sounds a little grim. Even my base model 2012 Mazda 2 has an AUX input.
In Canada, the highest mileage rental I’ve ever had was a Camry at Hertz with 55,000 KMs (almost 35,000 miles). And it still felt solid, with normal visible wear.
Heck, we bought our Altima as an ex-rental from Hertz with 35,000 miles on it. I don’t think a car on the lot had 50k on it
Ok let me at the record straight. There was factory AUX and there are 2 charging ports. The 2nd charging port is in the middle console and factory AUX is cleverly hidden under hvac controls with the button to switch to AUX is cleverly activated by holding the CD button for a few seconds. I know this bc my wife owns a 2012 model. The car is great actually, 0 problems at 133k currently (2019) the car is simple and simplicity LASTS. Weak point is definitely paint.
I see these so seldom. You make an excellent point that Mitsu has stayed still while most of the other players have moved. When Hyundai/Kia are eating your lunch, it is not a good situation. And truthfully, my recent experience with Hyundai/Kia is that they deserve to eat Mitsubishi’s lunch.
This makes me sad because I have a soft spot for Mitsubishi. I really liked the 83 Plymouth Colt that I bought cheaply from my BIL (who bought it from my future Mrs.). It was a much better driving small car than most of the US competition of the day and came in not far behind the best of the Japanese cars in its class.
I too LOVED the Mitsu Colt. A friend and I even took a Colt Turbo with “twin stick” manual to the Fremont Drags for a Thursday “Grudge Night.” We ran high 14s, giggling over how the front end liked to hop out of the hole. Great cars back then….!
Your sadness is shared, JPC. Mitsu’s unfortunate slide down the automotive ladder has been something I’ve been disheartened by since the late 90’s. In my family back in the 80’s we were all very pleased and impressed by a series of Mitsubishi built Chrysler products including a twin-stick Colt, a Challenger, a Conquest and a Talon TSi. Every one was a winner, and every one is remembered fondly as a standout favorite in the family fleet. The last time I looked closely at a Mitsubishi product was around ’99 when I test drove a Galant (which was actually well-reviewed in the automotive press at the time). The magic had faded dramatically by that time. Shortly after that I had a friend who drove an Endeavor SUV, which was even less impressive to me. Today the only new Mitsubishi I see regularly is the price leader Mirage, which in my view is a fair representation of where the marque has slid to in the hierarchy. So much promise, so much disappointment.
Yup, my UJC (Universal Japanese Car) of choice was the Mitsubishi (Dodge/Plymouth) Colt. My brother had one back in the day. Honestly, I thought he was nuts for not buying the Honda Civic, but the Dodge dealer actually had these cars on the lots and you didn’t have to pay a “market adjustment” extortion fee to get one of these cars. In actuality, I think the Colt was the far better choice, as Honda dealers weren’t known for their ethics at the time, and you could take a Colt anywhere in the midwest and get it fixed. No fuss, no muss.
I liked a lot of their other cars too, long before they were their own marque in the US. I was a huge fan of the original Eclipse, and wouldn’t mind owning a first or second gen version as a sunny day driver.
Many folks disregard the new Mirage, but I think it’s a neat little car; if I needed a car fast, that would actually be one of the ones I would consider. If my kids were to ask about an inexpensive to own car, it would be one of the ones I would suggest to them.
We have a vendor who comes to our office that has one of the last of these with the lace-type wheels, it’s a really nice looking car. But I like my sedans kind of bland (says the owner of a Pontiac G6). It seems to be in good repair and I could daily drive one of those…
I had a 1995 Galant S. It was the one car that I never had to do anymore than normal maintenance items (oil changes, brakes, etc.) It was still running with 223k after I sold it. It was good for 1995. My sister Had a 2003 Galant. A nice car, but definitely already woefully behind Camry and Accord and even some Hyundai offerings from that time period. The featured car in this article is a 2012, but dating back to 2003 as an ’04 model, still woefully behind when you consider what was being offered in an Accord by then.
I too have a soft spot for Mitsubishi. I wonder where it all went so wrong. It just seemed like they stopped investing in their auto division and their product line just sort of fell apart. They had a decent amount of mojo working in the 90’s. Not always the top sellers, but they once had a fairly solid, respectable line of cars at one time.
As for this 2012 Galant, one has to wonder about how similar under the skin it might be to the 1994-98 Models. It seems like they marginally updated the car over the years cosmetically. A four speed is what I had in the ’95 and in the ’03 so I can’t help but wondering if all the mechanicals are basically about the same for at least the last three generations before they pulled the plug on the Galant line altogether.
We had quite a few Galants in the rental fleets. They sold so poorly, Mitsu dumped them for the last 4-5 model years. The final year kf 2013 was fleet only. They were solid but old tech cars. My 1996 Galant had an aux port on the factory head unit, but the last generation only had it as a dealer installed dongle in the glovebox. The 4G69 was a Sirius family engine, dating back to the early 80s and still with a timing belt, though it did have MIVEC vvt. The 4 speed, cheap interior, bland styling, lack of up to date features and most other complaints are simply because Mitsu gave up on the Galant after the hail Mary 2006 model flopped. It was just too weird, with odd styling and no marketing. Those were really Mitsu’s darkest days. Plus Daimler Chrysler was involved heavily.
I always thought these final Galants were charming in a basic transport kinda way. Good, honest cars. Maybe the Studebaker Scotsman or Lark of their generation.
Yes, someone here once remarked that seeing a Mitsu on the street today is like seeing a Studebaker in the early to mid 1960s. Since reading that, every time I see a late model Mitsubishi in the wild my mind sees a late model Studebaker. And I wonder when production will finally cease.
I didn’t even realize they were still selling these. Being in a smaller market that doesn’t have a lot of rentals could be why I never noticed them, though we do have Mitsubishi dealer. So maybe it’s just the generic styling that looks like its from the early 2000s.
This generation Galant was sold from MY 2004-12, adding up to 9! Almost twice as long as 2 Camry generations.
Only see new Mirages with rental stickers and Outlander Sports [the smaller CUV] these days. Chicago area has about 1/2 as many Mitsu dealers and the hey days of “0,0,0!”
I swear the power window switchgear is shared with my Dodge Caliber. The DaimlerChrysler connection makes sense then.
Once the V6 was gone, these were dead to me.
The styling is bland in the same way that the 1st generation Optima and Sonata were.
2009 was last year for V6. Soldiered on to 2012 with 4’s.
A co-worker drove a Galant VR4 with AWD, four-wheel steering and turbo. Hard to believe it was the same nameplate. But hey, as hard as it would have been to imagine when I was young, there are Studebaker collectors today … and there will be Galant (though perhaps not Diamanté) collectors tomorrow. Start buying them up now!
Since when do rentals stick around for 2 years and 50K miles?!?! These days the norm seems to be to rent them for about a year-ish then kick em down the road before signs of abuse start to show up.
Aren’t 4-spd autos still used in the current Corolla? Considering the audience for that car and what’s expected of it, sticking to a proven piece in vs something newer and higher tech but not as sorted out seems wise.
Mitsubishi really has tumbled. When they downgraded the Eclipse from a turbocharged AWD rocket wrapped in some of the better ’90’s era sheet metal to an overweight fwd V6 poseur mobile, that was strike one. Using a frumpy econobox sedan to replace the Eclipse as the halo car was strike 2. Strike 3 is no more Evo…hell, NOTHING even remotely stirring and even the bread and butter volume models aren’t competitive. How do they even still exist?
I had the same thought with rentals. I agree too, Mitsubishi had a huge enthusiast following in the Eclipse and EVO, I mean when I was in high school EVO was synonymous with STI, and they completely squandered it. These were literally the only people left who would actually seek out a Mitsubishi on purpose, even if the demographic is small.
Yes, Mitsubishi had a LOT of street cred in the mid 90s. I have to wonder what they were thinking with the Eclipse/Evo debacle. It almost seemed out of spite, the way the cars were equipped. “You can have a coupe with midsize sedan driving dynamics, or you can have a sedan that’s an actual rocket. But a car that both looks AND performs the way you expect…NOPE, denied!”
They couldn’t get the “kids” [the 0,0,0 customers] to move into their bigger cars/SUV’s. And, the “F&F”, loud exhaust, street racer, wild body kit image turned off Camry/Accord/SUV buyers.
What about Honda and Subaru buyers? I mean they may not have been able to move the kids up, but let’s face it, Lancer EVOs were the best models they made when they were making them, what’s there to move up to? Honda and Subaru made/make competitive well received appliances despite the loud moddd Civics SIs and STIs wearing the same badges, that’s what Mitsubishi sorely lacked. At least they HAD enthusiastic buyers and HAD the brand/model equity. They chopped off their last remaining limb in order to appear more symmetrical
Actually the ” Zero Down, Zero Interest, Zero Payments for a Year” promotion is what collapsed them.
Great idea. Move a lot of metal and give it away for a year. Make it up in volume and market penetration.
Mitsubishi has never recovered from that.
FCA will likely soon be doing the same to move all their orphan 200s and Darts…perhaps even the slow-selling 500s. Tragic!
Can’t say anything above the 200s, yet, I think they have a few months left. The Dart, on the other hand, left the market a few months ago and now you can’t find a new Dart at any north Florida dealerships.
All, the car manufacturers have a sort of “backup” plan for obsolete models. There is a series of sort of automotive Big Lots car wholesalers that get dealer inventory after it becomes no longer profitable to have a car on a dealer’s lot.
I am curious about this “behind the scenes” auto biz. Do you refer to the major auction yards that handle used cars/lease returns? Do they handle slow-moving new product too?
A long time ago, WAAAAY back before the internet, I used to read the trade paper Automotive News, as my local news stand carried it.
I read an article in A.N. once (and have seen similar articles online recently) that “talk” about businesses that specialize, though I doubt exclusively, in liquidating “leftover” cars. I didn’t read the article in-depth, but figured these inventories were eventually sold off to wholesalers in other countries.
There is also a whole “auction” system devoted to CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED vehicles. I may be wrong, but thought I read that ONLY dealers from (for example, Ford) individual makes could send cars to and buy cars at those auctions. Some of the car sold are recently off-lease and in some instances are prepared as CPO en mass at 1 regional site in each area.
I tried to find an article online that would come close to buttressing my opinions/theories….but couldn’t. Yet, I could swear I saw something recently online that came close to backing up this idea.
Oh, well, another oldtimer’s moment?
Plus, as I recall, Mitsubishi became the place to go for buyers whose credit was not good enough for a car purchase from most other sources. And they lost a lot of money from bad debts that could not be recovered from the repo process.
Right there, JP. A direct result of 0,0,0 marketing.
In theory, the idea was there. But it failed to account for human nature. Remember Starship Troopers? Terrible movie but there were some pearls of wisdom that stood out to me. Among them was this quote “Something given has no value” and man oh man is that ever true.
I remember the 0-0-0 deal when I lived in Memphis…and I remember a LOT of brand new Mitsus clanking around with the bark already beat off them within 6 months. Since to the buyer it was a ‘free’ car, pride of ownership goes right out the window. Nothing like seeing 50 of the car you’re considering buying all over the road dented, filthy, and generally unloved to keep people away in droves.
“Since when do rentals stick around for 2 years and 50K miles?!?! ”
At Dollar aka “cheapo’ Rent a Car. But story is from 2014, maybe changed policies?
And, the white Galant in pics is now 5-6 years old, maybe with 120K miles on it.
Toyota finally discontinued the 4AT for 2017, and made the CVT standard on the base model; to get a manual you have to go to a Corolla S or iM.
Love rental tales. I was amused last year, when a customer in front of me learned a Cruze she prebooked was already rented out. She was picking up her elderly mother at the airport, and all that was left for her was a black Dodge Ram Hemi. I thought for sure the customer was going to cross the street, but she ended up taking the Dodge. She wasn’t pleased at first, but seemed happy to upgrade to an unexpected driving experience, that she thought her mom might enjoy too.
Dodge Ram Hemi? Turn off the traction control, find a rural road and wear the rears down to the aforementioned wear bars!
Never, never buy a car with a rental history. I did that precisely once with my Ford 500. Never again!
My wife loves her 2009 Lancer. Me, meh? – It’s a pretty color and I keep it well cared for and clean for her, but I’ve never really been that impressed with the car. She bought it in 2008, which by the numbers was the first model year for this generation. Um, it’s 2017 and they’re STILL building this generation with no end in sight. There was one minor cosmetic refresh a couple of years back and that’s it. I haven’t kept up on whether there have been any other improvements but I sure hope so.
She has the 2.0L NA I-4 with the CVT. I hate its slow response to inputs from my right foot. So much so, that when I looked into getting my Honda, I was initially put off by the fact that my new Honda would have a CVT, but either because it was now 2016, or maybe Honda just did a better design, the CVT in my car doesn’t have the rubber-band-spool-up feel to it like her Lancer.
As a good point: Her car handles the curvy roads very well. And once you have that rubber-band up to highway speeds or at a higher RPM on the surface streets, it’s a decent performer…. But the CVT has no ‘Sport’ mode (like my Honda), just a useless “L” setting which makes for WAY TO HIGH of an RPM, and “D” which never hits the sweet spot in the power band unless you floor it.
Her car did not come with Mitsubishi’s “Hands Free System”, but had the ‘phone’ buttons on the steering wheel for it. I went to my local Mitsubishi dealer one Christmas and surprised her by dropping $300 to have this installed and integrated for her. She loved it! – Then we upgraded from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 6. Now I have a useless $300 option in the car. Mitsu blames Apple. Apple blames Mitsu. ARGH!!!
And then there’s a little tin worm action that has started …
…insert sound of needle being dragged across a record and a loud WHAT?!?!?!…
Yep, that’s right. A car on MY WATCH that is showing signs of rust. How can this be you ask? Even my ’73 LTD never rusted because of my relentless care, and all of those cars became “Dust in the Wind” by about a the decade after that song came out…
Her car is starting to show a little paint bubbling up in the lower corners of the hood in the front of the car. The passenger side is worse than the drivers’ side. I quite frankly don’t know what to do, because this is a foreign problem to me. Even here in Salt Happy Maryland, my cars NEVER RUST… EVER… until this one.
Otherwise, the car is reliable, but now looking a little dated, even though Mitsubishi still makes them like this. C’mon Mitsu, are we EVER gonna see a new generation of Lancer? Or is this whole company on some sort of Kamikaze Dive… Sorry… that pun all was too easy…
Wait? Rust? And not around the wheels or the usual places? Jeez. that’s superlative quality control.
re: 4 speed transmission. The number of speeds in the transmission is immaterial to me. I just want the thing to last the life of the car. That a car has fewer gears and thus less complexity that will eventually fail is a plus to me, but then the very first automatic I ever drove was a Powerglide, and those were bulletproof.
A visual depiction of Mitsubishi’s imminent future featuring it’s best known product.
I understand your sentiment regarding the number of ratios available in a transmission. The new 8 and 9 speeds have been developed but for one goal—reducing fuel consumption just a nudge…while being sensitive to consumer disdain for CVTs.
In the case of the last two four-speeds I have driven however–the gap between what is usually a 1:1 ratio third gear and the overdrive 4th gear is usually too wide…which is why this Galant didn’t really want to kick down for passing—-the engine went from quiet to roar with a pronounced pause followed by jerk….
“the engine went from quiet to roar with a pronounced pause followed by jerk….”
Isn’t this the way it supposed to work, it has worked this way on every automatic I have driven since I started 1965.
I’ll take that over constant hunting anyday.
2008 was the first MY for this Lancer, brought out in spring 2007.
And the end is “in sight”, 2017 is final MY.
About a year or two back I was looking for a new (to me) car and dropped by my local CARMAX. After looking at a few Hondas and Toyotas in the $10K to $12K range, along with a couple of GM sedans, the salesman pointed me towards a Galant with the advice that it would be the best value for the money on their lot (in my price range). Unfortunately for him, I had recently read a review, I think in the back of Car&Driver, that pointed out most/all the drawbacks R Henry has enumerated here. I didn’t even notice the climate control “buttons” that are so small and poorly marked.
What’s worse is that CARMAX’s prices don’t reflect the popularity or lack thereof certain brands carry….so a Galant and Camry are priced quite similarly.
I read recently that Mitsubishi has decided to exit the mid-sized car market, and will probably leave the compact car market, too. They will concentrate on SUVs/CUVs and electric/hybrid cars. This market strategy has actually worked fairly well in the U.K. and in “developing” countries, as Mitsu’s sales are up in the U.K. especially for the hybrid Outlander.
I agree about CARMAX pricing. As a guy who has been in sales for many years, I respect their approach. They start high…whatever the market will bear…then, if the stock sits for awhile, they inch down. Good strategy.
Thanks for sharing a review of a car that’s usually forgotten. And alas, it seems like the Galant offered much to make it remembered. What happened to Mitsubishi is quite sad, as in the ’80s and early ’90s it offered some of the most advanced Japanese cars on the market. Nothing from the automaker has really appealed to me since the third gen Eclipse, and that’s based on styling alone, having never driven or taken a ride in one.
As for Dollar Rental, I feel like you get what you pay for. Back in 2008 while travelling to a family friend’s wedding in Virginia Beach, my mom and I reserved a midsize from Dollar, our first time ever using them. We were enticed by the fact that they were about $20 cheaper a day, but soon found out why.
After a long line at the airport counter, the rude woman at the counter handed us the keys to an ’08 Kia Optima base model, which we were both a little less than thrilled about. We make our way down to the garage to find the car had numerous scratches and dings, a cracked taillight that had been “fixed” with tape, and peeling “chrome” on the grille. Lugging our bags all the way back to the counter my mom, already dissatisfied with the level of respect we’d received before simply handed back the keys and said we didn’t want to be liable for a car with all that damage. We headed over to Enterprise and they gave as a brand new Pontiac G6 GT with only 16 miles on it.
Stepping up to Enterprise may be a little pricier, but I’ve found their customer service and cars to be better, and they actually give you a choice in vehicle within a class. These days now, I’d be more apt to use Sixt or a non-traditional company such as Turo. Personal experiences with both have been positive.
When my wife and I went to Fort Myers Florida a couple of years ago, we grabbed our bags and proceeded to the rental car area. EVERY car counter was slammed that day, luck of the draw I guess. Maybe all of the planes arrived at the same time.
We were renting from Hertz, which was the second counter in from the entrance. The first counter was Dollar and you’d think they were giving away free cars that day it was so mobbed. It was almost impossible to get past that crowd to get to the Hertz counter which, while crowded, was not nearly as bad. Perhaps overflow from several disgusted Dollar customers. I overheard a LOT of complaining.
We had ‘reserved’ a “Corolla or Equivalent”, my wife wanting to be frugal. (I wanted a Mustang Convertible, but relented.)
We got to the counter and the guy said, “Sorry sir, all of the Corolla type cars are gone.” My wife was worried. I was trying to contain my excitement, knowing where this was going. “How ’bout an upgrade?”, the guy at the counter asked. I smiled knowingly. While I didn’t get my Mustang, I was presented with a nice 2015 Charger SXT with a 292 HP V6.
My guess was all of the disgruntled Dollar customers grabbed up all of the Corollas. To them, I’d just like to say Thanks! ;o)
How right you are. I should have mentioned that the Galant was the last Dollar rental I ever drove. I learned my lesson!
The Mitsubishi Galant seems like the kind of car Newman would reject. Not hard on the eyes (especially the 8th generation that looks like a BMW 5-series) but still a bit off for some initially irrational reason. This confuses Jerry relentlessly until he finally ‘gets it.’
The 80s 4-speed auto, a no-Aux-jack stereo, and an overall lack of glamor (Mitsubishi? Like Matsushita, this name brand is probably more befitting on a hard-drive cover–it’s hardly Mercedes or Mercury sounding to me). Never driven the car personally, but on those accounts, I can safely say that, now… I get it.
Here is a non-copywrited image taken from Wikipedia of the 8th gen. Galant.
So pretty…
Those 1998-2001 Galants were fantastic-looking cars–the BMW-esque “sharknose”, the slim chrome grille, great little details all over the place. And pretty much everything I read about them said they were competitive, if not class-leading. Even after the regrettable 2002 nose job, they still weren’t bad. To replace the car above with the absolutely forgettable one in the lead photo? Insane. Even worse to think that the feature car is the final revision of that design–it arrived in 2004 wearing that oddball split grille they put on everything for a time. Looked like it was trying to be a Pontiac, or an ’03 Maxima.
You are very right about these Galants being good used cars (or at least were). A good friend bought a 2006 back in ’08, ironically also a former rental. I sure was hesitant on her behalf, but it checked out ok and was only $8,800. Fast forward to 2012. She drove that car to just under 90,000 miles; no mechanical issues whatsoever. The crazy part? She sold it private party in two days for $6,600! I sure can’t think of another vehicle you could drive for 4 years and have so little depreciation. It defied logic. She turned around and took that money straight to Mitsubishi and bought an Outlander Sport (which has also been completely trouble free).
From 2009-12 [when this style of tail was sold], used to see these around O’Hare airport rental lots, and reminded me of ’65 Dodge Monacos in the back.
But now, see a few as ‘early beaters’ with “Ryde Time” and other BHPH dealer tags.
“… surprised however that Dollar included Galants, or any Mitsubishis for that matter, in its fleet.”
Just remembered why Galants were popular in Chicagoland rental lots, the plant was in IL! Former DSM plant made many fleet deals in this area.
I agree with your grade for the car. I would’ve given the rental company an F for sending a car out with those tires.
On a separate note: I had thought the (non-Subaru) wagon in this Australian traffic safety ad was some kind of a Galant-variant wagon, going by the headlamps, but that now seems wrong. Can anyone ID it?
Nissan M35-series Stagea wagon. Basically a wagon version of the first Infiniti G. Popular here as a gray import. Always wanted one!
Ahhh, the famous STAGE-uh or Stuh-GEE-yuh or STADJE-uh. Thanks.
I’ve written about Mitsubishi’s 2003/4 Project America cars before, the Endeavor, Galant and Eclipse.
They were all quite competitive at launch but Mitsubishi just seemed to give up. None of them received any interior refreshes, none of them added features, some of them even went back a step… For example, the Galant V6 – at least when mildly redesigned as the Aussie-market Mitsubishi 380 – had a five-speed auto. And then Mitsubishi ended up actually deleting the V6 from the Galant line.
Mitsubishi actually remains very popular here in Australia, thanks to the Triton pickup (Australia’s 3rd best-selling pickup at the moment), the Pajero Sport SUV derived from it, the ASX (Outlander Sport) and the Outlander. Even the Lancer and Mirage muster decent sales.
FWIW, Mitsubishi is planning on one of two things according to rumors and reports:
1. Becoming a crossover/SUV-only company which it pretty much already is. Nissan in Australia has just axed the Micra, Pulsar and Altima, leaving just crossovers, SUVs and GTRs, so we will see how well that goes. Is there room for two Japanese Jeep brands?
2. Eventually replacing the Lancer (and possibly Galant and Mirage) with Renault-Nissan-based products at the next model cycle. This would also apply for all other Mitsubishi products so Renault-Nissan can cut down the number of platforms and engines and maximize economies of scale.
Mitsubishi Motors, overall, isn’t on death’s door. At least not yet. But yes, in the US, they’ve been circling the drain.
I didn’t know Nissan had stopped selling cars here, William. It figures, because you almost never saw a new one. But that leaves them in the weird position of being an SUV company that also sells a blistering supercar, and nothing else in between. If only the GTR guys had been allowed to work on their family car programs. If only….
It’s sad to see someone you love on life support, or just slowly slipping away. This generation Galant showed Mitsubishi had just lost heart. It’s like they got the boys in the heavy truck or shipping division to design it. Or maybe their last aeronautical engineer had retired.
Here in Australia it only came with the V6, and sold as the Mitsubishi 380 – though I have seen one here with Galant badging. Compared to our ’00 Diamante though, even the top model in the 380 lineup felt crude and cheap. No sale. I guess there were a lot of ‘no sales’, because Mitsubishi Australia closed down within about two years of this model coming out.
I would disagree, Pete.
My sister had a 380 and I was impressed by its smooth, powerful engine. The interior looked like it had been styled, for better or worse — instead of generic 1990s like the Magna interior, the 380 had cool blue lighting and tacky silver trim that at least didn’t look like anything else. From what I’ve heard, handling was impressively good for a big FWD-er although the turning circle was awful, my sister’s chief complaint of the car which otherwise served her well.
I even considered buying one at one point… Test drove one but realized I didn’t want it because it was a base model. And yeah, the lack of an AUX input was off-putting.
I did like the styling of these. Yes, the previous Galant (and the pre-facelift Diamante/Magna/Verada) were much more lithe and crisply-styled, but the Project America Mitsubishis had a funky industrial look that appealed to me. Especially the clear taillights on the sporty trims.
I will say I didn’t get as far as driving it myself, William. I did get a ride around Geelong in one though.
Compared to the brown/cream fabric interior of our Verada Ei (not the top Xi), the 380 just didn’t seem as inviting, even in black leather. And the exterior detailing just didn’t seem as finely done. Maybe we just didn’t get the whole industrial look aesthetic.
Plenty of smooth power for sure, though that was never a problem with the old car. I do tend to corner a bit hard though 🙂 , and would have liked a bit more front end bite, though the old car was much better than my father-in-law’s Camry. Maybe the 380 had that extra bite, but they lost me at the interior stage. We planned to sit this generation out.
My wife and I test drove one of these new back in 2010 or so. We were looking at late model used cars, but the salesman was trying to sell us on a new Galant.
It drove well enough, but the whole car just screamed “cheap” to me. I remember the interior plastics felt more like a toy made in Hong Kong than what you’d expect in a modern mid size sedan.
This was when Saturn was being discontinued and we wound up getting a great deal on an ex-rental fleet Aura XR. So far, that’s been a good and dependable car. I doubt I’d be here praising the Galant in my driveway with 125k miles on it.
Judging by the dash pic, it has a 5 speed automatic. (The PRND4321 indicator, to be exact.)
Cc Effect Yesterday… Read (4/6/17) this post and even commented. I hadn’t seen one of these Galants in a long time… Then on my way home from work there one was in the next lane. A maroon one of the same year as our white subject car just motoring along. Unfortunately, traffic required my full attention, so I was unable to get a picture to share.
I had a Mitsubishi 380 rental car a couple of times back , and I thought it was a perfectly acceptable transportation appliance and even that it might have some traits that would grow on you.
The car had good power, enough that full throttle in first gear could be an issue and drove well enough but I could see that how it might not have been an advance from the previous Diamante-based cars (don’t think I ever drove those).
I remember a kid in High School had a Galant. It was a 2004, but they were technically the same car. I remember it being glacially slow (appropriate, as the kid was none too quick either, if you know what I mean), and not particularly exciting. That’s not to say it was a bad car, as it could get from point A to point B reliably, while being neglected and abused by a kid who genuinely seemed like he didn’t know that you had to change oil from time to time. Honestly, C- is the absolute best description for this car. It is a perfect, resounding, meh.
These are finally dying off Chicago area streets in the 2020’s, but for a while were BHPH lot queens. Sold as “import quality for domestic prices!”.
The Outlanders are currently BHPH royalty.