Q: Would you advise in buying a mitsubishi starion as a daily driver? And is there any way to remedy any of its common problems?

asked by on January 16, 2017

I'm currently interested in purchasing a used starion/conquest, but I've been reading they are extremely unreliable. This car would only be driven 3 days a week and less than 15 miles in that period. Would you recommend buying this car?

My car has 61000 miles.
My car has a manual transmission.

If your research already allows a conclusion that the vehicle is unreliable, you should not buy the vehicle unless the price is heavily, heavily discounted to make up for the inevitable and predictable costs you will experience repairing and managing an unreliable vehicle. Low frequency of use is not a mitigating factor either because regardless of how often you use the vehicle, on those occasions that you do need to use the vehicle, it will still be, in fact, a relatively unreliable vehicle compared to other cars. There are many reliable vehicles out there for purchase and you should avail yourself of sources such as "Consumer Reports" which publishes system by system vehicle reliability data for all years, makes, and models. This data is available free in the library or on-line if you are a paid subscriber. That reliability data will give you an excellent indication of the relative likelihood that key systems on the model (and year) of interest will fail at greater, or lesser, frequency compared to those rates reported for other vehicles. Obviously, what you want to be looking for in that database is an indication that the vehicle "make and model year" you are interested in is not a "lemon" insofar as reliability. If you are unable to access this data, or desire data of a different type, please do not hesitate for a moment to re-contact YourMechanic and we will assist you further in your attempts to make a wise used vehicle purchase. Finally, to protect yourself in any used car transaction, you can request a pre-purchase vehicle inspection. That inspection, carried out by a certified Mechanic, dispatched to your location, will give you a excellent idea of the condition of the specific vehicle you are interested in and likely repair needs and costs.

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