General Talk me out of this!!!!

[Pandabloke]

Mitsubishi have just reduced the price of the old model Lancer to £8999. Chuck in the Multipla and I'll be paying about £6500 for a brand new car, big enough for my occaisional chauffeuring duties. And it looks the part.

I don't really want it but everything in my head screams yes but my heart weeps for the Multipla and thoughts of buying a Panda. But the Multi has cost me nearly £4000 in servicing and repairs in the last 30 months and I just can't afford that anymore.

If I buy the Mitsubishi I'm buying 3 years of peace of mind. But that'll be that. No Panda as I'll be paying off whats left on the Multi and hp on the Mitsubishi too.

Oh gawd, what should I do? I like it here.

 

[Ffoxy]

Mitsubishi have just reduced the price of the old model Lancer to £8999. Chuck in the Multipla and I'll be paying about £6500 for a brand new car, big enough for my occaisional chauffeuring duties. And it looks the part.

I don't really want it but everything in my head screams yes but my heart weeps for the Multipla and thoughts of buying a Panda. But the Multi has cost me nearly £4000 in servicing and repairs in the last 30 months and I just can't afford that anymore.

If I buy the Mitsubishi I'm buying 3 years of peace of mind. But that'll be that. No Panda as I'll be paying off whats left on the Multi and hp on the Mitsubishi too.

Oh gawd, what should I do? I like it here.

Stay in here but buy the Mitsi. I had my Carisma 1.9 diesel for 3 years without a single fault. Bit dull but totally and sublimely reliable.

 

[Nuova500]

Id love to talk you out of it Kev, but I know you use your car for business and thats important. However.... surely after spending 4k, the Multipla must be sorted now, if you sell that then your just giving someone else the benefit of your 4k.

If it was me, I wouldnt go for the Lancer... sell your Multipla if youre not happy with it and buy something used. Mitsubishis are very expensive for parts and servicing btw, one of the worst offenders from Japan for that. Go for a low mileage VW/Audi diesel, cheap to run and a good image too, if you search youll be amazed how cheap some are. Then, youll still be able to buy the Panda.

 

[Ffoxy]

Id love to talk you out of it Kev, but I know you use your car for business and thats important. However.... surely after spending 4k, the Multipla must be sorted now, if you sell that then your just giving someone else the benefit of your 4k.

If it was me, I wouldnt go for the Lancer... sell your Multipla if youre not happy with it and buy something used. Mitsubishis are very expensive for parts and servicing btw, one of the worst offenders from Japan for that. Go for a low mileage VW/Audi diesel, cheap to run and a good image too, if you search youll be amazed how cheap some are. Then, youll still be able to buy the Panda.

I hear the above, but I negotiated my first 4 Services free. Bits....? Well I never needed any, simple as!

 

[Pandabloke]

:bang: That didn't help, cos I want your Punto now as well!

But seriously I've owned a Fiat for years and with only a short break and it'll genuinely hurt to go Japanese even though I know it's the right thing to do. And I know I can't afford two cars. And I'm huffy enough not owning a Panda anyway, let alone knowing I'll not being able to get one for the foreseeable future!

Bugger and arse. Why do we put ourselves in these positions?

Bloody Mitsubishi..........

 

[Nuova500]

OK, try this.... like you Ive been Fiat for years, I tried once to change and bought a new Micra, kept it 10 months and got bored rigid, lost a fortune. Also tried a Toyota a couple of times used, both excellent cars and extrememly reliable, but I never binded with either.
If you love Fiat, then nothing else will do, and trust me Kev, the Lancer will be unbearably dull.
Have you tried going to Fiat and asking for some sort of deal? What about a used nearly new Croma? They are massively cheap and unwanted
Never trust your head, always your heart... unless your boring, which I know youre not
Whatever you do, good luck Kev... just remember the happy days with Stupid

 

[Nuova500]

Fiat supersaver are doing new Multiplas for £9995

 

[Pandabloke]

I know what you're saying Nuova, but problem is every time I spend another £400 on the Multi, everyone (including the main dealer) say "that must be it, nothing else can go wrong." Then it does.

To be honest, I'm too nice a guy to sell it on. I know it's a rogue, a friday afternoon car and I couldn't bear the thought of some poor sole taking it on.

And I'd only buy another Multipla second hand, and only the newer Multijet at that.

There are three options:

Buy new and trade in - This only gives me the Proton Impian :yuck: (test driven one. Just don't, ok.) or this Mitsubishi as real options. Here's why. I'm 6'2" and if I have a 6' civic officer behind me obviously not much gives me enough legroom in my price range. They are both petrol but the Mitsi is fairly economical. Frankly I'm surprised I found anything new for less than £10,000 (my limit) that fitted the bill anyway.

Buy second hand and trade in. - Fair enough but if I'm gonna do that I'm gonna indulge my passion which is Fiats. I could possibly handle not having a Fiat if I owned a new car, but if it's second hand then it gonna be Fiat. That leaves me with the Multipla sizewise. (Croma will be worth £30 in five years so don't go there.) I've got a Multipla and I wouldn't buy the old JTD engine again (I really need a diesel due to high mileages.) It's a nightmare. But the newer multijet by all accounts is much more reliable. I know the bottom end is the same but there has been a general reworking of the top end and having driven a 120 Multijet - my word- what an engine. Frankly anything second hand is in the end just a punt and you could be buying trouble whatever you buy.

Keep the Multipla and pray! - This was my option. Me mum, gawd bless her has cleared the loan early saving me about £300. Was going to throw money at her to clear the debt this year while there is still some capital in the car. Can afford to do that provided it stays reliable (!!!!!!) as I'm not paying the loan back anymore.

And the worst thing? The Multi is worth about £3000 if you negotiate your socks off and I still owed nearly £4000 on it.

But buying new seems so tempting. 3 years of ease of mind motoring....

 

[Nuova500]

I think youve already made your mind up, Im sure the Lancer will suit you. Shame though, if you cant afford a little Panda to keep you sane after the Mitsubishi has bored you.
Try and tell the Mitsi dealer your problem, and maybe he would knock another 3 or 4 hundred quid off so you could go buy a Panda
Are you still in deepest Kent btw?

 

[Pandabloke]

YOU REMEMBER STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It took me so long to write that last epic there that you replied at least twice while I was doing it. Sorry.

Supersaver don't take trade ins and thats for a Dynamic Family? It simply has to be an Eleganza and has to be in Black if I'm gonna do it. Would have loved this one in Northgate in Canterbury, £9995 2007 10,000 miles, 17' alloys but the colour is so joyous but so wrong for work!

 

[Nuova500]

How could I forget Stupid, it was your ramblings in Parliamo back in 97/98 that got me into 126s, sadly I sold mine last summer after over 8 years of happiness.

Do whatever you think best, weve gone a bit off topic from Pandas here, but as its youIll let us both off... were bound to get told off though

 

[Pandabloke]

Yes still here by the coast. Can't believe you remember Stupid (for those of you not in the know , in a previous life I used to be the 126 registrar for the Fiat Motor Club and Stupid was my £25 Fiat 126. Many a tale written about her......)

Certainly haven't made me mind up yet Nuova. I still owe me mum a lot of money! If I don't buy another wagon yet, I can pay her back quick. That weighs a lot in the equation.

And I do love me Multi so, despite everything. And I lust after a Panda almost as much as I lust after Britney Speares!

 

[Nuova500]

Just looked at the mitsi site... OMG that Lancer is awful, sorry Kev but its horrendous!
Still, if you fancy Mrs. Spears then you obviously dont go for the looksLOL.
Go on ebay and drool over the Panda Bella, that will see you OK.. looks stunning.

 

[Pandabloke]

Anyone else want to join in? The Moderator says it's ok, honest!

See, its conversations like this that make the Mitsi seem so, well, Japanese.

Thanks for your kind words on the ramblings. Fun days.

I have a picture of Stupid at the Scampagnata in Godstone in the late Nineties. It won 'Worst Car In Show'. I cried. So proud........

Will scan it and attach it somewhere, sometime.

 

[Pandabloke]

I own a Multipla, anything is attractive after that..... (you should see some of the women I bring home. My cats are disgusted with me.....)

 

[Nuova500]

I was at that Scampi in Godstone... 1998 it was, had my brand new Cinq there. I can just make out Stupid next to a BIS and Pooh, remember Pooh?

 

[pandamonius_maximus]

I will join in this off topic discussion seeing as I have a free pass by the sound of it!

I think the new multipla looks much nicer. (a bit like a huge new panda! lol ). Definately worth concidering for the future!

Shocked to hear about the multipla having so many problems though. After all the good reviews they got when they came out! (before all the problems started maybe!) and I am ignoring the obvious "ugly as F&*k by trditional standards" reviews!

Sorry to hear your predicament though, it is so depressing when money gets in the way of a dream.
Good luck,

Simon

 

[Pandabloke]

Got pictures of them all somewhere. Jo Widdrington did little names for them all, it was sweet.

God, I was on sickness benefit back then, quite ill with depression. And I was going out with a girl with the most enourmous bosoms! How times change!

Strangely still happy days though!

I took a Bis all the way to Scunthorpe in the pouring rain for the National weekend in '99 I think. Parked her in a garage next to a priceless Dino after the event to repack her. A guy named Mal who owned the garage business fed us all sandwiches:yum: while we dried out and invited us to stay for the week, which we couldn't, unfortunately.

Such a sociable lot, us Fiaters.

 

[auto_blanco]

My 2 cents, if you use the car for work, utmost reliability is the most important thing and sometimes style ie Fiats must take a back seat to vehicles more suited to a type of use the owner puts it to, ie bits not falling off regularly and constantly worrying about what that noise was and looking for time off to take it to a dealer.

However.....the Lancer from my own experience driving one on a loan (I buy the cars for our company) was pretty not good actually with a fantastically Jap interior, albeit probably superbly reliable.

Why not an E39 (old shape) 5 series diesel, virtually indestructible, loads of cache and superb to drive, cheap too, from 3k up really if you look hard. The Croma is probably just going to be full of issues like every other Fiat and issues means costs, be it in money terms or time off, or buggering about having it mended. My P reg 7 series has had nothing but regular servicing, 1 battery and a set of track rods in its whole life and 120k miles. 5 series is pretty much the same if you get a cared for one.

Just because you have to be sensible doesnt mean you cant have a decent car you can be proud of. Obviously loads of choice out there, but a 156 will probably destroy its engine eventually, VWs arent as good as people think and Mercedes are just wrong.

 

[Pandabloke]

Blimey, you all care!

Rear legroom is the most important issue, along with insurance costs so has to be group ten or less. Rules a hell of a lot out. And economy cos I do a lot of private mileage. Also, as I say, ain't gonna go second hand cos it'll only have a max of one years warranty. Ten grand and a one year warranty.... Therefore new is the option IF I'm gonna change.

Unless of course its a Multijet Multipla then the rules go out of the window.....

Or Clarkson's stretch Panda!

Thanks for the replies. Some great ideas and comforting to know people actually read this rubbish!