Mitsubishi Galant premature wear problems

Filed May 16, 2007 · Brakes · NJ

Bought 2003 galant new. With 54,000 just replaced brake rotors for the 2nd time. Brakes still good, but rotors warped, causing wheel shimmy when braking and tire cupping.

Filed Jul 10, 2006 · Airbags, Body · TX · crash

I own a green 99 mitsubishi galant and the clear coat is coming off causing my car to look like it has alligator skin it started on the roof and has now spread to the trunk and hood. I called mitsubishi to see if they had any complains about the paint and I was told no. The operator then asked what state I live in and when I told her that I live in texas, she told me that I should have expected to have paint problems with my vehicle because the texas sun is so harsh. I have also been involved in 3 accidents in the vehicle and my airbags have never deployed. I also have a problem keeping wheel cover on all it takes is a slight bump in the road and off they come. This year model also has major problems with the rotors warping.

Filed Jun 14, 2006 · Brakes · 60,000 miles · CT

I continue to battle premature failure of the front brake rotors. The car is typically used with one occupant and no or very little (20lbs or less) cargo. In the approximately 20,000 miles I have owned the car, this issue has been repaired 3 times and has now failed the 4th time. It would have been repaired more times if I could afford it. More than 10,000 of these 20,000 miles have been driven with the brakes squealing or chattering. Eventually the braking power fades and the steering wheel shakes too much to hold onto. While the car was under warranty, the dealer refused to do any repair covered by the warranty. The dealer would not inspect or repair the calipers in spite of the fact that the type of squealing indicated poor contact of the pads with the rotors due to sticking calipers and the fact that heat warpage of the rotors indicates sticking calipers. Calipers were covered under the warranty. Instead, the dealer claimed that I needed to bring the car in for rear brake adjustment at the same interval as an oil change; however, research tells me that this car has auto adjusting rear brakes! This time I took it on myself to service the front brakes as I couldn't afford to have them serviced, my wife and I were afraid to drive the car because the shaking during braking was so bad, and sears told us that rotors had worn too thin to resurface. At the time I did this service, I found the slide pins of the calipers to be badly worn. This type of failure will cause calipers to stick, prematurely wear brake pads and rotors, overheat rotors and pads causing warpage of the rotors and reduced braking power, and reduce braking power by causing the caliper to catch rather than slide on the slide pin and thereby prevent proper pressure on the brake pads. This is a failure of the caliper, which should have been easy to detect and covered under warranty, which specifically covers calipers.

Filed Mar 6, 2006 · Brakes · 40,000 miles · CT

Recurring and severe front brake chatter. Despite repeated repair, the front brakes chatter on braking so much that the steering wheel shakes. The braking strength is substantially reduced and braking distance substantially increased. The dealer claims this is due to the rear brakes being out of adjustment causing the front brakes to work "too hard" resulting in warped rotors. They will not cover these repairs under warranty. The repair only lasts about 3000 miles at best.

Filed Mar 28, 2005 · Brakes · 82,000 miles · VA

The front brake rotors warped prematurely, and had to be replaced every 5,000 miles. Dealership repaired rotors 3 times. However, problem recurred.

Filed Sep 1, 2004 · Brakes · 14,500 miles · PA

Summary - vehicle steering and brakes vibrate upon braking, poor brake performance - braking distance is too long. Shoddy rotor/caliper quality. Dealerships and mitsubishi refuse to fix the problem. *ak the car has been returned to the dealership repeatedly (5 times) to remedy the braking problem - every few months (with less than 2500 miles since the last time the rotors were replaced). The car was taken to the west broad mitsubishi dealership in richmond, va where it was determined that the problem was being caused by warped rotors. The dealer resurfaced the rotors to fix the problem. However, the problem re-occured after 7000 miles. West broad mitsubishi then claimed that they replaced the rotors. 5000 miles later, the brakes began squeeling and the vibration started again. I took the car back in to the west broad dealership and they told me that they had to replace the rotors a second time to remedy the problem. Barely 2300 miles later, the car had to be taken back to another mitsubishi dealer (stohlman) in vienna, va. The dealer told me the (new) rotors have warped and theyve had to be resurfaced. 2 weeks later (about 500 miles), the problem showed up again. At this point, I wrote a complaint letter to mitsubishi. After 4 weeks, a mitsubishi rep came to the dealership to check the problem - only to claim there was nothing worng with the car despite obvious vibration and brake squeeling. Subsequently, a quick check by a third-party mechanic revealed problems with the rotors and calipers.

Filed May 2, 2004 · Suspension · 40,000 miles · NY

Premature wear, need replacement.

Filed Dec 12, 2003 · Brakes · 55,000 miles · OK

Front rotors warped at around 15000 miles. At the first incident, I had the rotors turned and bought high quality pads. Shortly thereafter, the rotors warped again. I bought another set of rotors, and things were okay for about 10000 miles. Afterwards, braking vibration came back. I decided to buy brembo slotted rotors in case the factory rotors were not good enough. I finally found an internet site that had them for this car, but I probably cannot write the name here. I also made sure my tire center did not torque the lugs over 80 foot pounds when rotating the tires. After a rotation, I used my torque wrench to verify proper torque. So far the brembo rotors have not warped. Lastly, I have noticed the steering wheel vibrates at highway speeds. Tire rotation and balancing does not help.

Filed Jul 28, 2003 · Brakes, Transmission · MA · crash

Rotors warped and rusted and could not be resurfaced.resulting in cost of $475 dollars for new front rotors and brake pads. Also minor crash for slow stopping.car also jerks when changing gears.

Filed Mar 6, 2003 · Brakes · 15,000 miles · MN

Front brake rotors warped after 15000 miles, and the problem resurfaced again at 29000 miles along with excessive brake noise.