lets get the rainman a car

[Niraen]

so long story short !
10 years ago i had a car back int he old country for the purposes of this brief yet hilarious introduction i shall call this country . country "old"

in country öld" the car had an 800CC engine with what my calculations says was a 40HP engine. with its brilliant non power steering and suspension which was i believe torsion bars vertically welded . so this little run around served me well into 2002 untill i had a fairly huge wreck ( sad face and äwww" here ) which put me off driving for a long time . nearly a decade in about 2 months . So as i left country of "old" I decided one day I would ride the road and drums would play and women would want me and i would be that rock star i always wanted to be. to be honest i probably went about that goal in reverse . i was young and i plead much ignorance .

so fast forward to know i have finally decided in 45 days ( it couldve been any arbitrary number ) i will have a car . funny how that would fall jsut a few days before my 27th birthday .. yes i am an old man ( be nice)

I ummed and ahhed and after much pondering i decided a stock standard lancer would be the way to go something i could tinker with . i doubt tinkering has changed much in the past decade unless now when you break something you need a person with a masters in rocket science to reprogramme some fandangled new thing that makes you look silly for opening up something in the first place. but i digress.

what i would love from this absolutely amazing group of people and sellers and vendors ( someone told me flattery gets you everywhere)
is suggestions . yes ive read the bits and ive decided

Car wheels body coils intake exhaust headers . or something in that order .

suggestions ? demos? brand new ?
springs or coilovers .. more in terms of long term issues .

I would rather get something done well than half arse my way through this little project . since i doubt once my partner really puts the foot down and i have to grow up i wont be able to do much of this lets go faster business

Thank you .. and also this would be my first proper decent forum post

[AdamD]

First and foremost, which Lancer will you be after?

[ofey]

My best advice is test drive. Walk into any VIC dealership and take a couple of variants for a spin.

Also ask yourself how much you can afford now (and in the future, for servicing).

If you are in the A$30,000 ballpark, a 2nd hand AWD Turbo-ed Ralliart could also be on the cards.

If you decide to buy NEW, Since u are in Melbourne go see our sponsor PMR in Epping.

I might also point out that Penfold Mitsubishi in Burwood is closing their operations this month, so they are running out many NA Lancers (they do not sell RA nor Evo).
I bought mine from there. So if you wanna get a bargain deal, get in touch and I'll set you up.

[Niraen]

i was considering penfold since i live in burwood . i would be on my greens P :'( so no turbos for me and dont get me started commodores with 210 kw on P i would scream. given my choices at the moment I want a more project car ie a new es na or a VRX with a few k's on the clock but i doubt it would be low k's for the latter

I did try the lancer a week back in nunawading which i must admit was a fun little thing to drive compared to the maz3 which i think has a smoother gearbox but that couldve just been the roads and a million other factors

I might pop down to penfold tomorrow morning and have a little look see if i can get a decent auto for under 20 that would give me enough monies to do it up . which leads me to my next questions is there a good body shop / exhaust and suspension place in the east ?

[Bags]

I think Alan Mance in Melton had a Brand New Burgundy/Red 2011 SX Auto last week for $21990 Drive Away.

[Niraen]

well ther eis one on car sales for 20390 (es auto ) with a conv pack. suggestions for haggling ? its got 4k ont he clock

[ofey]

So now an ACTIV at A$21888 drive away comes with a Ralliart front.
They have the grills but NO fog lamps.

WTF!?

I mean on a VRX, that's ok but on an Activ?

So rainman, go buy an Activ at A$21888. VALUE!

[Niraen]

location ofey ? i have a busy saturday of testing out and getting delaers to fight to the death

[Nick07]

I like the VRX front better in my opinion looks more aggressive. But you can do that by just adding the front air dams.

Demo model is always a good way to go.

In regards to buying second hand, you don't get the 10 year drive train warranty transferred, however the 5 years would be

[ofey]

location ofey ? i have a busy saturday of testing out and getting delaers to fight to the death

What do you mean location?

You can get the Activ from any Mitsubishi Dealer.

Go and See Nick at Preston Motors Epping. He'll sell you one.

[Niraen]

i thought it would be specific to a dealership but I think i said that aloud in my head and answered the question myself :$

i plead car buyers ignorance

[SXLancerMum]

The Mitsubishi website still only has the ES, VR, VRX and the Platinum (other than the RA and the Evo of course). No mention of an Activ yet people seem to be buying them.

[Niraen]

given that ive seen a few es autos on car sales for about 20 - 20.5 .. would it be reasonable to guess that a platinum with 18"vrx wheels could be had about 23 ?

[ofey]

You might have to consider what year the ES is.

If you look around this site, you will see a set of 4 18" VRX rims sometimes end up going as cheap as A$700 a set.

If you don't get VRX rims, you can always go aftermarket. Lots of very nice after market rims available.

[dannyboi]

Saw the 2012 Activ in the paper last night as well. It's exactly like my 2010 Activ but with the Ralliart front. Excellent value for money, but I think I would've preferred the Platinum edition more if I was to buy it now.

Mitsubishi are really going for a last ditch effort to boost sales and keep the model selling for another year or so. I think in last month's Wheels magazine, the Lancer is starting to finally drop down in sales so it's probably due for a replacement in the near future.

Anyway, for below $25k with those options, I don't think you would find a much better deal.