Jafro

This thread will probably spawn all kinds of cold-war jibberish. I hope not. I love my Honda. I love my DSM. They both have limitations, but they both server their purposes very well.

I just walked into a certain Mitsubishi dealer in MD (drove my Honda there) that I order all of my DSM parts from and met the guys that run the show. They've always been some of the nicest people I've ever done business with. I've spent thousands with them and sent them MANY repeat-customers because they really bust their asses to get DSM people the best prices (if they order on-line). I had never met any of them in person. I had only talked with them on the phone from time to time. It was good to finally put faces with voices and names. They got a big kick out of my web pages, too.

Anyway, I was trying to get a set of external-oil cooler bolts to finish my shortblock with, and they didn't have them. Then, I mentioned that the old version of the freely-distributed Mitsubishi CAPS software (Mitsubishi Computer Assisted Parts Search) had a lot of old part numbers that had been revised... So he HANDED ME THE NEW ONE ... and thanked me for all the business I've been sending them.

It's everything from an '83 Montero to a '04 Lancer Evolution. With it, you can get part numbers by exploded views, or by your car's VIN number. I've always thought this is such a time-saver. Having this makes me even more brand loyal. It makes me buy more crap and also help out other DSMers in need.

Tell me one Honda dealer that just hands out their parts software? I'll drive there tomorrow. Can't find a working copy of it anywhere, and the parts counter helpers at the local dealers (where I live) have always been a bunch of bungholes about it. These are the guys that charge over $60 for valve cover fasteners. It would be great if Honda did something like this with their software for their enthusiasts to strengthen the Honda community, but they treat that software like Dolomite. The backyard mechanic Honda owner gets busted in the ass, wallet and attitude when they walk out of the dealership.

What happened to capitalist thinking and encouraging competition? Allowing people to use modern available technology to improve their lives? To make their products even easier to obtain parts for and maintain? I think Honda's missing the boat there. I think in the long run, doing something like that for customers would improve not only the parts sales, but also the future sales of new Hondas. I've only had miserable experiences with Honda dealers in 3 states and it sours my opinion of the product.

That's why I think Mitsubishi rocks. I don't care if people think they break all the time. The whole supply chain for parts are all die-hard enthusiasts. They're usually cheap bastards as well (like me), but those guys are in every circle (like me). I'd recommend a Lancer EVO VIII over a S2000 or NSX any day. I think the owner would have a better long-term experience with the dealers, and the car, if they liked it enough to buy it.

PS: I don't work for Mitsubishi. I'm unemployed just like most DSMers.

Josh M

All mitsubishi cars are crap to work on. The wiring schematics look like they were written by a 4 year old gorilla with down syndrome. Also when something in the engine like a valve starts to go, they like to take the whole engine with them. I have driven a few EVO VIIIs......they are definitely a nice car, however I didn't like them that much and I'm not a big fan of mitsubishi products......after my DSM, I have always hated them. Also the EVO VIII hasn't seen the test of time yet. How do we know there won't be issues like on the DSMs? Honda's track record speaks for itself. Also in terms of their software, if you have something like All-Data or Mitchel's.....any info or specs you'd want are available on it, so their technology and info is readily available, you didn't get anything that special.........The EVO 8 is just a big fad right now, it will go away eventually.

Bumnah

sadly i think for the one good mitsubishi experience you have, people can give 100 negative experience.

for the 1 bad honda experience you have, people can give 100 good ones.


i'm not mitsu fan at all. :dunno:

MrFatbooty

www.hondaautomotiveparts.com
www.acuraautomotiveparts.org

No driving necessary.

DC294GSR

I <3 My DSM.. but I <3 my GSR too :happysad:

Thats a pretty involved project you gots goin. :thumbup:

Toahk

Wonder how much longer mitsu will be around? Read below


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor..._mitsubishi_dc

M Type X

That explains some of Mitsubishi's problems....

MrFatbooty

Okay now I actually read through your whole post, and what's all this jibber jabber about capitalism? Last time I checked, Honda is selling lots of cars because they have courteous sales staff and a product with a reputation for not making you best friends with the parts guy. The percentage of new car buyers that actually work on their own vehicles is so miniscule that whether or not one particular dealer in one particular town gives out a parts software CD to some diy-er is completely unimportant. Mitsubishi on the other hand, is hemorrhaging cash like no tomorrow.

Aside from that, I've never had problems with an Acura parts counter, so whatever.

wagon89

I have used Majestic Honda in the past month, after my local Honda dealer tried to bend me over with out pre lubing, wanting to charge over list price for a muffler. My local dealer did not have the muffler and said it would take a week and half to get. I called Majestic and had my muffler and other parts
in a week and the price was well under list price I live on the west coast you can't beat that for service.

Jafro

You hope and you pray that that little 2.0L EVO will go away. You hope the owners don't find a way to tweak an extra 600hp out of that engine just like the previous generation of DSMers did with the GSX. Because your 3.0L Type IV won't stand a chance against AWD when they do. EVOs run 13's out of the box. They cost 1/2 of what your Supra did new. I have 6 friends that own EVOs, 5 run 13's on a stock chassis and one's in the 11's slightly modified. The makers of DSMlink are about to release EVOlink. If any of you are familiar with DSMlink, it makes Hondata look like training wheels. So, that 4-year old gorilla (it's "Downs Syndrome", by the way) got himself a Phd. If you can't figure out a DSM's electrical schematics, the problem's not the car. It's the person's fault that's reading the schematics. I have the FSM and have never had any trouble making sense of it. It's mapped out way better than a HELMS IMO.

I was actually in the market for a Type IV when I bought my GSX. I was going to continue my legacy with owning a Toyota (had a '85 Toyota Xtra Cab Deluxe for 13 years/335k miles) because I was having a bad experience with a GS Eclipse piece of shit (Neon in wolf's clothing), and there's no doubt that the Supra is a beautifully built chassis. But in my travels of researching the cars, I found their owners to be some of the most closed-minded, non-creative, pompous, cocky, POS assholes I've ever met. That, and you can make a GSX pace or beat a stock Type IV Supra for under $5k, including the cost of the car. Cost is what sold me the most, but the attitudes of the owners on the discussion boards and car shows was a huge turn-off. One thing that stood out to me is that Supra owners tend to believe that the Supra is superior to everything on the planet (because they sold their genitals to buy it), and it's not. But it is sweet. I can't deny that. That's why I originally wanted one. Fix one up to dyno 900hp, and see how long it goes before something breaks. They're no different than DSMs in that aspect.

Sadly, you're way off on the difficult to work on thing. DSMs are even easier to work on than your Supra despite the fact that it's straight drive. They're just as easy as any Honda, and I bet big money you've never worked on a 300z or anything with a Ford Ztec motor in it. Or worse, a Pontiac Quad-4. OMG! Sorry you had a bad experience with yours, but I and many other mechanics that I work with all agree they'd rather have a Mitsubishi or Honda to work on than any other car that rolls up in their garage.

I have Alldata at my shop. It requires a dongle to operate. Since the dongle is plugged in to my shop computer, it's not one of those home-use or on-the-go things that a tweeker like me really needs. www.hondaautomotiveparts.com has its limitations, too. At least if you compare it to CAPS. It's not an all-inclusive parts lookup, and the diagrams lack anything resembling detail. But anyway, I guess it's sufficient for most people. I'm not crazy about their prices at all, either.

So... say what you will about their reliability or corporate practices. All I'm trying to say is that Honda needs to support the tweaker community by making their parts software public domain. It would help the community. The same community that needs to understand that there's more to a brand than the car itself.

PS: I'm unemployed as far as uncle sam is concerned. I guess it's more like, I'm unemployered. I write my own schedule. I pay my own taxes. I'm my own boss. Would it make sense that I could throw so many parts at my GSX if I didn't work? Come on. I'm a well commisioned mechanic and an IT consultant. My car didn't cause me to lose my job. That was supposed to be a joke, BTW, and I guess only DSMers would get it.