Mitsubishi Space Wagon - A Good Buy?

[chayatom]

I am thinking of buying a Mitsubishi Space Wagon and would appreciate any comments from current owners on reliability,comfort,etc- seems to offer a lot for the price at 1.59m. Also tried the Captiva which looks nice and has 7 seats but drives poorly and interior dash is a let down. I prefer the CRV as the best overall package but the wife wants 7 seats.

[quiksilva]

Bump, Did the OP buy one, if so how is it?

I have been looking at the new 2008 space wagon 2.4 GT and am getting tempted.

[sinom]

Bump, Did the OP buy one, if so how is it?

I have been looking at the new 2008 space wagon 2.4 GT and am getting tempted.

Likewise !

I've been siffing around the CRV / Captiva market, not 100% taken with either one, then looked at the new 'wagon and was very impressed with the apparent quality / features / extras.

I was almost at the point of making my mind up to get one when the wife was talking to someone who owns an older one and curses the maintenance / repair side of the business. i.e. frequently having trouble and costly repairs / fixes.

Can anybody offer any real advice on owning a Space Wagon?

[quiksilva]

Yeah I think it offers much more bang for the baht than the Capitva or CRV.

Various reviews online all seem very positive on reliability. Google "Mitsubishi Grandis" as this is what the model is known as overseas. I hear they dropped the "Spacewagon" marque in most markets.

My contact at MMT tells me that this model was introduced in 2006 and most of the reliability issues have been sorted out now (they previously has some rattling noise problems, or so he tells me)

[Plus]

My bosses mother replaced he E-class Benz with Spacewagon, the driver says that it's slow but who listens to drivers?

[teej]

I've spent some time in a Spacewagon as a good friend of mine owns one. I must say there is tons of space inside (duh--"space" wagon haha) and there are lots of configurations of the seats etc... IIRC you could push out the backrest of the passenger seat to accommodate something like your feet if you're sitting in the back watching movies (which we did often). The stock Kenwood 7" DVD player was a nice option but because of the way the dash is slanted, you can't move the monitor down enough for certain viewing angles.

Re: driving. I teased my friend about it calling it her 'mommy van.' Drove it a few times and it has enough power to get you around I suppose, but not the kind of power and torque numbers for spirited driving. That said, it's not a 'spirited driving' car. Steering is not very tight and the car can feel a bit bloated in tight traffic. It's a people mover, but quite stylish IMO. An alternative would be the Toyota Wish, I've never seen the interior of one, but I think the exterior of the Mitsu is a bit better.

Re: costs of maintenance. The other poster who said his wife's friend complained of "High cost of maintenance" -- well, to some Thais and extra 200 baht is "high cost" compared to it's counterparts. I've never heard my friend complain about it, and the Mitsubishi service I've had on my Triton has been excellent. If you're changing from a European car (quicksilva) then repair/maintenance cost will be a joke compared to your current Swedish Gal. I laughed at my first Triton service bill. Cheap as hel_l.

[Heng]

I have two friends who have a Mitsubishi Space Wagon. No complaints from one, while the other regrets getting the "sports package" whose main drawback (so she says) are that the plastic/fiberglass ground effects scrape when she drives into the Lotus, Carrefour, and Royal Garden parking garages.

[quiksilva]

Thanks guys good feedback, much appreciated.

I was looking at getting the sports package Heng, they didnt look that low to me, and I'm quite used to the scraping problems with bodykits on my Saab (approaching bumps on an angle helps, sometimes).

Teej, I am well aware that the driving experience will be very different to my 900SE but a mommy car is needed now, so my Swedish beauty is up for sale.

I love that car, and I just cant see myself falling in love with a Spacewagon, but they look nice inside, lots of room and look good compared with others in its class. Just so long as reliability and comfort is there, with decent after sales service support Im interested.

All in all it's looking more and more like a sensible choice for my new situation but yeah it would definitely be a tool rather than a toy.

[Heng]

No worries. And she says that the main problem are the ramps in addition to the speed bumps. I'd probably additionally be annoyed by the inevitable "oi's" and "ahhh's" by *car loving* passengers. I'd imagine that you could probably just avoid problematic shopping centers though if you were set on the sports package.

[teej]

Quicksilva, I guess you could take a look at the Toyota Wish also. I have a friend who swears by his (well his 2nd one after the 1st one had an engine catch fire!). I think the Wish will come in a little cheaper than the SpaceWagon, if I'm not mistaken.

How much stuff do you need to haul around? The SpaceWagon is really just huge inside and I can't imagine filling it up (although my friend had baskets and baskets of lotion and other female accessories in hers -- 10 pairs of shoes at least I'd venture a guess).

Consider a sedan? Accord/Camry? Just a suggestion.

4x4? I must say it helps a lot in the rainy season. I couldn't (or rather, didn't dare) enter some sois in any of my SAABs when the rain was coming down and there was a half a foot of rain pond inside the sois... One incident in particular when it was raining and I had to wait an hour for the flooding to recede had me buying the Triton the next day. It's become my daily beater...

[quiksilva]

Thanks Teej yeah I looked at the Wish, and to be honest I'm not that keen on them. They are cheaper but the spacewagon, but I think the Sapcewagon looks a better (very subjective).

However, the SW has 7" dashboard lcd, 9" drop down lcd for rear seats (thinking of getting a driver so could be nice), cd/ dvd player, it also has an ipod connector (I always listen to podcasts and audio books in the car), parking sensors, and even a rear view camera. Nothing in its class comes close to that for 1.7m.

I like 4x4's (one day I'll get my hands on a Range Rover, but not quite at that level yet) and personally would be happy with a new Camry / Accord (can't tell the difference to be honest, if I did that I might even look at an Alpha Romeo 156) but right now it seems like the wife's mind is made up. She likes the room but I cant understand why we need all that space to be honest.

Anyway with a bit of luck I'll be able to keep the 900 as my weekend car (crosses fingers and prays).