New Member - Craig from Caloundra

[Lancer1993]

Dont give up on the car just yet Craig - best suggestion I have (other than the on-car balance) would be to try & borrow a set of wheels, swap the lot out and go for a drive - that way you can rule the wheels/tyres in or out definitely... Have a look at: http://www.wheelfitment.eu/car/Mitsubis ... 008%20-%20)/ - theres a selection of cars you can borrow from...

Not giving up on the VRX, even considering buying some stock VRX rims, if I can find them at the right price.
Keeping an eye on one eBay auction for a set in Brisbane.

Best case is I get some, have the tires swapped over and its fixed, then sell the chrome wheels on eBay and get my money back. Worse case it would rule out the wheels as the issue.

[taz]

Honestly, never take your car to pedders, everyone i know thats taken it to them have gotten wrong or bad advice and just have a trash rep in general for doing things correctly. If you are that hard pressed to find some spare wheels for a test drive ill lend you mine in brisbane for the day to see if that fixes the problem, although it doesnt sound like a wheel/tyre problem to me

[Lancer1993]

I just want to get another opinion, of course they can't do anything to the car or my Cricks warranty will be void.

On that, the Caloundra dealer doesn't seem interest in fixing the hwy speed vibrations in the steering wheel. Basically saying it was fine 3 weeks ago (even though it wasn't) and last week blaming others as I've said before.

Should I go back to the Maroochydore Sugar Road branch and book it in there for further checks? I went to their Wises Road used dealer last week, they made a call to Caloundra and fobbed me back onto them. I can probably see them tomorrow and cancel Pedders if they end up helping.

Now this is for the vibrations at 100kmh plus, most notably at 110.

[Lancer1993]

Will call Cricks today just to clarify that getting the 28 point check at Pedders won't affect the Cricks 6 year warranty.

ETA - okay change of plans, will not be taking the car to Pedders at this time, will instead be taking it back to Cricks in Maroochydore (Sugar Road) on Friday but they want to charge me a fee and if the car need an alignment or tires balanced they want to charge me more for the fix.

[r00tc4u53]

Will call Cricks today just to clarify that getting the 28 point check at Pedders wont affect the Cricks 6 year warranty. ETA - okay change of plans, will not be taking the car to Pedders at this time, will instead be taking it back to Cricks in Maroochydore (Sugar Road) on Friday but they want to charge me a fee and if the car need an alignment or tires balanced they want to charge me more for the fix.

Read a post on a local sunny coast FB page from a happy camper who had bought a car from a certain dealership and had nothing but issues with it and them not fixing it or accepting blame etc. Took their car to another mechanic that I know of and the problems were fixed... just saying... 6 year warranty or not, I'd still be telling them to shove their servicing, they're not going to cover anything under anyway, always find a way to weasel out.

[taz]

i wouldnt be paying jack to fix the problem that was there on sale. Take it back to them and tell them to fix it or refund you or the first thing youll be doing is going to the ombudsman then straight to ACA/60minutes etc
They sold you a faulty car, and have taken more than a reasonable amount of time to fix it or replace it - violates the basic Australian Consumer Law.

[Lancer1993]

I'll do that as you're right the vibration was there on my first test drive, they somewhat fixed it after having the car 4 days but it was still there at 110, only reason I didn't got strait back is this was the weekend before xMas.

First I have a question about the VRX jack, below is a pick of the one in the car (black) and the only out of the old Lancer (blue) there is a clear grove and points on the car to put it.
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I decided to use the old jack as I wasn't 100% sure where the place the black one. Should it go on the join under the car or else where. On the old coupe there are 2 clear notches to place it between.


Oh and this brings me on to the main point for this post, and I just spotted another potential problem.

Taking a closer look at the wheels I noticed one of the nuts (back left) was a bit different, it's longer, shouldn't affect the balancing. But right next to him the nut is not 19mm like all the rest, it's larger and the after marker wheel X brace doesn't fit. I think it's 21mm but the space for the brace or socket to fit on the nut is too small. Someone has put on a different nut at some point meaning right now if I have a flat I won't be able to change the tire and I'm screwed.

Here's the back left, the low nut is the long one 19mm, the one to the right is bigger (I think it's 21mm) and the brace I have won't fit, including the one that the car comes with. The top 2 are the 'normal 19mm nuts.


This is not a huge issue as when I can afford new wheels I'll get some colored after market nuts to suit. But right now I just hope I don't have a flat.

On top of that I was doing a practice change on the front, so I know what I'm doing if I need to one day. And one of the front left nuts will not come off.

Yes I did everything by the book. Found the jack point, partly lifted the car, wheel still on ground (Carport cement). Started to loosen the nuts, just the break the seal. Jack the tire off the ground. But then one of the nuts would not budge. I've done this plenty of time in 25 years of driving, including on small trucks so I know what I'm doing. It went about 1/4 turn and stopped. Ended up just tightening the other nuts back up, one had undid them a little any way, also tightened the bad nut best I could.

I just know Cricks is going to blame this on me but I know they already fucked up several other nuts and a stud so god knows what they did trying to fix the vibrations.

[taz]

Just sounds to me like they have a bunch of 1st year apprentices that have no idea what theyre doing. Rattling on nuts without first putting them on a few turns with the fingers etc just bad practice. Id seriously consider demanding a refund and buying a car somewhere else - as youll have to continue to deal with these clowns for the duration of your warranty.

[r00tc4u53]

Lock nuts?

Maybe just take the car back, demand money back, threaten legal action or whatever it takes, car quite clearly has issues and is most likely a dud sold on by a dud dealer. You're only going to have issues after issues with this thing as you're already find little niggling things. This is the only option that I can see for you as you won't take the car to another proper mechanic for fear of the "6 year warranty" from cricks, that's worth nothing anyway, being voided.

Actually surprised you still took the car given you noticed the "vibration" issue on the test drive... I would've run a mile from that there and then, or at least test drove it again after before signing, but anyways, maybe that comes with a few more years driving experience....

[Lancer1993]

Agree I should have done things differently.
Probably too late for a refund but need these issues sorted.
I'll get them to check all the nuts and make sure they are all the same and the 19mm wheel brace in the boot will fit all the nuts, that is beyond a joke that they not only damage the nut and stud but they put on any old nut they have lying around.

I was probably blinded by that 'new' car feeling and the pressure to have some wheels for the holiday period.

Really wish I could talk the the cars previous owner.

[taz]

You are entitled to a refund. Pretty sure ACL is 90 days, however they have been trying to fix problems and still havent been able to.
Just take it in and demand a refund under the Australian Consumer Law for a not as described product that fails to do what it is meant to, and they have had a reasonable amount of time to fix said problems but havent.

[Zaphod]

Hey Craig,
It may be worth contacting the Qld. Department of Fair Trading and getting some professional advice.

What I would also look at doing is putting up a post on Mitsubishi's FB page calmly, clearly and briefly (use bullet-points) explaining the problems you have and focus on your safety concerns - don't post a rant, just be polite and then you'll get a response from their Support team... worked for me!

[Lancer1993]

Or maybe Cricks FB page?

Posted this on the Crick Auto Group page

Not happy Cricks.

I bought a used VRX Lancer in early December 2014 which came with after market wheels and even on the test drive there was a vibration issue through the steering at highway speeds. I was told it would be fixed before I took delivery, it wasn't. They took the car back for 4 days to fix the problem and to Cricks credit they had the wheels checked and fitted new tires at their expense, but the problem persists.

On top of this some wheel nuts or studs were damaged and can not be removed by hand tools and one other wheel has a nut that is a different size to all the others and the car doesn't have the tools to remove it, even though it came with a after market wheel brace with 4 sizes.

I have the car booked in later in the week but was told I'd be charged if it's found it needs a balance and alignment, something that was done less than a month ago and I'm always careful to avoid potholes and speed bumps. I've barely done 1000km since getting the car back, mostly running around trying to sort this issue.

Overall the VRX is a great car, just let down by this ongoing vibrations issue.

[Lancer1993]

Okay so I got a FB message from Cricks that the message (above) was forwarded to the Cricks Caloundra manager, just got an email from him and sent a replay basically outlining the problem and asking if the wheels are not the issue then there much be another problem. Also asking for details on what they have already done the last time they had the car and for a full history of the car, has it be involved in any crash. I noticed the other day the bumper looks slightly different around the lights on the front left to the right, just depends on the angle of the light and making them aware of the missing rear badge, which could be a sign of repairs at some point in the cars life.

I have not threatened to go to consumer affairs yet and will wait until they check those wheel nuts Friday.

Oh and BTW after I got the FB message with a link to my post I tried to post a replay but couldn't, later finding out my post was removed!

Damn, should have checked out that RA I saw else where for a few thousand more, in white. much more bang for my buck!

[r00tc4u53]

Best of putting it back on as a review, they can't delete then unless they disable reviews completely on their page.