I had to write this letter to MMAL today. My Evo 9 has been delivered pre-damaged, with many problems, and they are treating me very poorly and refusing to replace the vehicle Or offer a full refund.
PLEASE read the letter below, and whatever you do, I suggest you dont ever buy a Mitsubishi in Australia, in my opinion you run the risk of the exact same issues:
Dear Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited,
I hereby request a full, immediate refund on my vehicle (VIN: JMFSJCT9A6U000558).
I expect this request to be fulfilled within 14 working days.
This email, and accompanying mailed letter, form my letter of claim and statement of intent.
The brief basis of my request is the following:
- The vehicle's aluminium bonnet has been damaged prior to delivery as a 'new car', and repaired poorly. I have photographic evidence of this now that the bonnet is stripped down.
- The vehicle's paint has been damaged, and repaired poorly. Again, I have photographic evidence of this, and the written statement of a highly experienced crash repairer and one of his paint specialists.
- The vehicle was delivered with a faulty front catalytic converter. This was misdiagnosed 3 separate times as a 'glitch'.
- The vehicle was subsequently further damaged by the dealership after the front catalytic converter was replaced, resulting in the replacement of the entire exhaust system. I have physical evidence of this in a zip lock bag, and photographs of the contents of the centre catalytic converter, and am obtaining statements from the workshop that conducted the analysis of this,
- The vehicle was driven without my permission by the dealership. I have recorded the dates, and odometer readings
- The vehicle continues to exhibit a major engine noise despite weeks of analysis by Mitsubishi. An independent analysis of which will be completed by the 28th of September, despite MMAL denying it exists. This will also be in my written report submitted to MMAL on the 28th or 29th of September. The dealership have admitted the noise exists on many occasions and I have full documentary evidence of that fact, including a claim by the service department the cause of the unusual chatter noise is the Timing Belt Tensioner, which did not fix the problem.
- The vehicle suffered from an incorrectly fitted windscreen cowl trim, causing an exceedingly large amount of interior noise,
- The vehicle has required so much attention that it has spent around 20% of the time I have owned it, in the dealership. Due to this, I have had to spend $1,310.30 to date on Taxi fares to travel. I have an invoice from both Taxi companies involved being produced and this will form part of my written report,
- The vehicle has had a Timing Belt Tensioner replaced under warranty while the dealership attempted to fix the engine noise, however when this did not resolve the issue the Dealership refused to replace the Belt and Idler pulleys. They much later offered to do so however when I left the vehicle with them for a full week, further kilometres were put on the vehicle and the Idler Pulleys and Belt were not fitted. The noise has also gotten much worse.
- Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited have destroyed my faith in the vehicle through a complete lack of technical competence in diagnosing all of the above problems,
- A replacement vehicle was offered to me at a sum that is deemed unacceptable to myself after all of the above problems, paying nearly $6,000 to replace a car that is already brand new is entirely unacceptable,
- Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited have failed at any time to notify me of the pre-existing damage to the aluminium bonnet and the paint work on the vehicle. I am also having further panels on the vehicle stripped back to inspect for more damage; photographs will be taken all along of the damaged panels located.
I will be issuing a written report via my lawyer on the 28th of September. I have also requested my lawyer speak to Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited on the 25th or 26th of September.
I have lodged a request for assistance with the Office of Consumer affairs, and am currently collating written reports on each aspect of the vehicle's failures from independent repairers. A final inspection prior to a court date will be conducted by the RAA with a view to producing another written report highlighting the serious problems with the vehicle.
Consumer Affairs, the RAA, my legal representative and each Independent Repairer have stated that this situation is entirely unacceptable and that the conduct of Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited is completely unacceptable.
A full analysis of the written report submitted to me by Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited is being performed by my legal representative and many of the claims within are refuted. Additionally, the text of the report is highly misleading and there are many quoted portions taken out of context in an attempt to hide the actual facts of the situation.
The dealership in question is Australian Motors Mitsubishi (Wayville) and any reference to MMAL or Mitsubishi refers to Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited,
I trust you will action this request expediently,
Thank you In advance,