A car story...with a happy ending.

[youbastards]

In 2005, I bought a brand new 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse, the first year of the new body style. I've never been a "car guy" before, but I was in a position where my previous vehicle was totalled in an accident and I needed a new car. I saw the new body style and instantly loved it! It didn't take much convicing of my wife, she actually liked it a lot too and her father used to drive a Mitsubishi 3000 GT. This is also my first "new" car, as all others were purchased used.

The truck ('97 GMC Sonoma) that I was driving had been in 3 accidents, including the one that totalled it out. I had also gotten a number of speeding tickets in that truck. However, I had paid it off only 3 months before the accident and it only had 70k miles, so I was planning to drive it for a while. So, when it was totalled (i only had a slight scratch on the back of my neck, even though the bed-liner had gotted pushed into the cab when I was hit from behind by a driver going 45mph while I was at a stop) I was mad that I would be dealing with a car payment again, but kind of relieved at the same time because it seemed like the truck was bad luck, if you believe in such a thing.

So the Eclipse, I've been driving it as my main vehicle since 2005, and not a single accident or speeding ticket! What's funny is that it is obviously a much sportier car than my truck was. My driving style changed when I first got it, because it was a new car and all that, but I eventually eased off of my worries and just drove it like normal.

About 3 months ago, I noticed that the paint was starting to fade on different parts of the vehicle. It was so bad that at different parts, it looked like there were 5 different shades of orange. I then noticed that the clear-coat was starting to bubble and flake off! I looked online and others were reporting this same problem with that model year and color.

I called the local dealer (not the one I bought from, as it has since gone out of business), and they said they would need to talk to Mitsubishi about it. A few months go by with periodic calls from me, but it was always "we're waiting to hear back from Mitsubishi".

Finally, we got a call saying bring it by the dealership, so my wife took it over on her day off while I was at work. The service manager at the dealership looked it over and told her, "I know what the problem is, the car has been repainted and it wasn't a good paint job."
My wife explained to him that we bought it new, and that it has had no paint work.
He didn't beleive her and said we needed to take it to the local bodyshop that does all of the paint repair for the dealership.
She took it over there and someone looked it over and reassured her that it was the original factory paint, but he could see why the dealership thought iy was a repaint. He said he had worked on several of these, but had never seen one with the paint this bad.

The bodyshop relayed this to the dealership, and after about another 2 months of waiting, we got a call to bring the car in to get an entire repaint of the whole vehicle, all covered under the warranty!!!

So, I'm currently driving a loaner they provided while my car gets a free paint job, 5 years into the life of the vehicle!

Once I get it back, I'll post some pix.

-Justin

[karamazov80]

Congrats! But really, it would have been much easier to trade me your car for my 1996 Sable. My paint isn't very good, but it has real character. Also, the dent from where my mom backed into it nicely complements the dent where my sister backed into it. Your loss.

[buttheadsmate]

We have a Mitsubishi truck & a Mitsubishi car . The truck I bought new & the car 2nd. hand with 9K on the clock. Both vehicles have been faultless although I would concede that Jap paintwork ain't the best I've seen. I'm pretty sure the Eclipse isn't sold over here....not sure why?

Great story.

[youbastards]

Congrats! But really, it would have been much easier to trade me your car for my 1996 Sable. My paint isn't very good, but it has real character. Also, the dent from where my mom backed into it nicely complements the dent where my sister backed into it. Your loss.

LOL!

I've been there man. I had a car that was hit in the parking lot while I was at work, the driver left and even though 2 witnesses got the license plate and make of the vehicle, the police couldn't do anything about it.

Michigan is a "no-fault insurance" state, so in other words, to get the dent repaired I would have had to pay my own deductible. You'll see a lot of cosmetic damaged cars in this state.

We have a Mitsubishi truck & a Mitsubishi car . The truck I bought new & the car 2nd. hand with 9K on the clock. Both vehicles have been faultless although I would concede that Jap paintwork ain't the best I've seen. I'm pretty sure the Eclipse isn't sold over here....not sure why?

Great story.

I've been reading up about Mitsubishi's paint history, and it doesn't seem like they have a great track record.

I have to say that I was impressed that they covered it, even though it took a little prodding with the dealership. In the current economic climate (especially in Michigan) it's nice to see a company that goes the extra mile for a consumer.

I'm not sure I would have gotten the same results from Ford/GM/Chrysler...

[buttheadsmate]

I should have added that I've had the truck 9 years & the Evo for 6 years .....the latter's red paint-work is struggling now but that's pretty common for red pigments they fade over time...in paints & printing ink .

[MiniFiend UK]

I have worked in an place had its own paint shop back in my early 20's and was taught a little about factory car paint then and god did they put it on thin and it looks nothing has changed also alot of paint wasn't "colour fast" meaning it was actually designed to deteriorate and fade usually around the time when factory warranty expired.

So fantastic result in getting a new paint job this far on. I'd go lime green with purple flames as a good combo.