Nice design. Decent sound system. Pretty good cargo space. Insurance is high on Monteros compared to other SUV's.

Rotors brake pulsing at about 22,000 miles. Rotors needed turning.
Rough idle problem as soon as the car has warmed up. Sounds like dieseling at 600 rpm idle. Mitsu dealer has tried to repair but cannot after 5 weeks. Poor acceleration for a V6. Oil change and tire rotation is a nightmare. Resale value is horrible. 18 months old with 24000 miles and it now worth 15,500 trade-in.

Would not buy again. I am trying to unlaod it now.

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None to compare

this car has no strengths i purchased this vehicle blindly,i was so impressed with the 0 down 0 payments 0 intrest for one year policy that i did no research(bad idea!)i cant believe what a mistake i made and now im stuck with it (california lemon law wont help me either!) if some one else cAN I WELCOME IT!!!!!

WELL LETS SEE WHERE I SHOULD START HUH ABOUT 3 WEEKS AFTER I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE I HAD TO GO GET A ALIGHNMENT AND THEN A WEEEK LATER THE FRONT DRIVER WHEEL WAS LOOSE (BUT NOT BECAUSE OF THE BOLTS ) THE INNER BEARINGS HAD BUSTED (THIS HAPPENED TWICE) THE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION HAS HAD TO BE RESET 5 TIMES SO FAR FOR HIGH SHIFT PROBLEMS, THE BRAKES WEAR OUT EVERY 4500 TO 5000 MILES ALMOST EVERY OILCHANGE I GET NEW PADS AND ON TOP OF ALL THIS I HAVE REPLACED ALMOST EVERY SINGLE RELAY IN THE DOORS FOR THE POWER WINDOW AND FORGET ABOUT HAVING TO CHANGE A FREAKIN LIGHT BULB YOU NEED A GODDAMN INSTRUCTION MANUAL ON CHANGING IT!!! I CAN NOT GET ANY HELP FROM TE SERVICE DEPT. OR CUSTOMER SERV. OR THE CALIFORNIA LEMON LAW ORGANAZATION BECAUSE IT HAS TO BE THE SAME PROBLEM 3X WITHIN A YEAR OR 12000 MILS SO IM STUCK WITH THE BIGGEST PIECE OF S--- IN THE WORLD

RATING I WOULDNT EVEN GIVE A DOT OF COLOR ON A FRAGMENT OF A STAR
I CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT ELSE WILL HAPPEN NEXT THIS CAR HAS COMPLETLY AND TOTALY TURNED ME OFF FROM ANYTHING JAPANESE (EXCEPT ELECTRONICS ) AND THATS ALL THEY SHOULD STICK TO IS MAKING BIG SCREEN TVS CUS THERE CARS SUCK !! AVOID THIS CAR LIKE YOU WOULD YOUR MOTHER IN LAW!!!!!!!!!
IMGOING BACK TO GERMAN CARS, FOR THE MONEY I
COULD HAVE BOUGHT A RANGE ROVER!!!!!!!

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I WOULDNT KNOW BECAUSE I DIDNT RESEARCH ANYTHING HA HA I GUESS ITS MY OWN FAULT BUT SHOULDNT THERE BE A LAW TO PROTECT STUPID PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF FROM GETTING BURNED LIKE THIS....

The powerfull 200 HP engine, the standard features, the interior, the sweet glaciar white paint job.

Dont see any yet other then the tall people will hit their heads. I dont im only 5 7.

MY WIFE AND I LOVE OUT LIMITED. THE RIDE IS SUPERB. VERY SMOOTH AND GOING OVER 60 IT IS HARD TO TELL IF THE ENGINE IS EVEN RUNNING. CANT BEAT 200 HP.
The engine almost feels like some V-8's. All the options and more than the toyota SR5 that you have to pay for everything separate. The gas mileage is great to. I dont know why some people are having so many problems. we have had ours for almost 2 years now and all we had was the brakes replaced at 21000 miles. The ABS is always more money but well worth the safety. Plenty of room for 5 or 3 and our golf clubs. he he he

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Toyota 4 runner way to expensive for the Limited.

Good acceleration, handling, and braking. Semi-quiet engine. Leather Package with 6 cd changer and good quality Fog Lamps. 3.0 V6 Engine with K/N air filter and oil filter. Good Horsepower 200hp.

Changing the light bulbs can be hard to change. Be careful.
Fog lamps hard to change the bulbs.

The Montero Sport is a very good SUV to buy and looks great people remind of how cool looking the car is. The color is Royal Blue/Sudan Beige and two tone paint.

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The car had power and handled great.

The car is more or less a piece of junk. Mitsubishi dealers can't even repair these cars. They are clueless. Max Madsen Mitsu in Downers Grove, IL almost destroyed the whole engine. They did a lot of damage to the vehicle and neither they, nor Mitsubishi would step to the plate to fix it. Eventually, I had to replace the front cylinder head due to them removing it to fix the auto lash adjusters that never fail to start ticking at about 20K miles on these cars, regardless of how religiously you change your oil. This is an "on the car job". The cylinder head didn't even need to be removed for this. They rebuilt the head improperly causing a valve spring retainer to break, and thus dropping a valve and eating the intake camshaft as well as the cam journal. They would not repair the vehicle. I had this car in to them on about 10 different occassions and they never repaired what I asked. I don't even think they test drove it when they were done or else they would have noticed the misfiring and backfiring that I did as soon as I left their service department. This happened FOUR times. More of less, Mitsubishi does not honor their warranty. My car was still under warranty when they did all of this damage. They also put a clutch in it that broke after 5000 miles... at my request while they put in a new transmission. They wouldn't make good on that either. I eventually had a dealer and pesonal friend in Alabama repair the clutch. He showed me what they did wrong at Max Madsen. Another $800 down the drain. I undertook most of the repair myself, that is I ordered the parts for the cylinder head, took it to a machine shop myself, then allowed Peachtree Mitsubishi to put it on. They did a pretty good job on it actually, and they battled with Max Madsen regarding who owed for the repair. Nothing was ever done. This is how Mitsubishi works. I would highly reccomend NEVER purchasing a Mitsubishi car or truck. They are junk, they have been proven to cover up defects and commit fraud. By the way, those getrag transmissions in the 3000GT VR-4 are complete junk. Ask anyone who has owned a VR-4. They ALL break, regardless of how you drive the car. IMHO, a 48000.00 sports car should be able to take some abuse anyhow. I babied mine and look what happened to me. A word for the wise... STAY AWAY FROM MITSUBISHI. $8000 dollars later I sold my car and took a $4K hit getting rid of it. That's 12000 dollars!

Mitsubishi produces junk. Plain and simple. I believe that my experience having my $48K car out of my use for approx 120 days and a stack of repair orders that is completely unbelievable speaks for itself. If you like getting ripped off, then Mitsubishi is your car company!

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Any car I have owned has been better than my Mitsubishi experience, and I have driven everything under the sun.

Looks: Great; Overall layout: Great; Available options: Perfect for me; Storage space: Great. I love all of the little compartments in the back so my stuff (jumper cables, etc.) isn't bouncing all over in the back.

Handling: Like Crap; This rig is a nightmare when it comes to alignments and wheel-balancing. The lifetime alignment package at Firestone has paid for itself several times over. The steering always has felt loose to me although every mechanic says that it is as tight as it can be. When hitting a potholes/railroad tracks etc. the whole steering wheel bucks all over the place. Even a very slight slant in the road (which there almost always is) causes a strong pull to that side. If you change lanes, then you have a strong pull to the other side. Cup holders: Worthless. Luckily with later models, they have figured out how much nicer it is to build them into the center console.

Don't get me wrong. I love my Montero Sport, but I probably won't ever buy another one. Like I said, the layout is great. Every seat is comfortable and roomy. The driving can just be frustrating and tiring; having to constantly fight the steering problems. Maybe I just got unlucky with this one, because only one other review here mentions the shakey steering.

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Overall quality and features as compared to others in class. Performance well within expectations. Road manners better than most SUV's - with appreciation that its weight distribution is far more a truck than a car. Experience as driver and passasnger in other SUV's has demonstrated that the Montero Sport is better than most, and superior to the rest in the class.

Picking a dealer/factory authorized support requires very careful thought.

Recommened for drivers wanting passanger comfort,cargo space and a good balance of city and off road performance. The standard V6 performs well in both city and off road situations. What really makes a difference is dealer support. That was solved when CarMax became a new car dealer for Mitsu'. Purchase decision should be highly weighted to the dealer's reputation and past experience.

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Test drove and researched: Jeep Cherokee, Ford Explorer, Land Rover Discovery, Toyota 4 Runner, and Izuzu Trooper. None of those compared in terms of price, handling, and standard equipment.

The truck is a well balanced SUV. I need something with a decient ground clearence, hauling, cargo, comfort and gas miliage.

I agree with all of you that it is underpowered, but on a realistic note, do you expect to have coupe speed with an SUV???

The wife and I have had the Sport for over 2 and 1/2 years. Minor problems: battery died after 2 1/2 years, (shorter than expected), Replaced brake pads after 35000mi, they said 15-16000 mi replace it. Clanking noise initially when accelerating, found out it was the U-Joint. Replaced it with Aftermarket Brand, cleared it up. Handles great in snow!! Mind you, I didn't not get the extra large tires!!! The Car was designed with the smaller tires. For the record: we use 92 octane and higher, wife is able to get 350miles to a full tank mostly city driving!!!! I was only able to get 320 on it, I have a heavy foot:-) Other than that, I have taken the truck to the dealer only 3times for minor things. To everyone reading this, the truck is a great truck as long as you know how to drive, you don't abuse the truck, you keep your braking distances within limits, you don't drive think you are king of the road, you don't floor it every 5 seconds, and to prevent rolling; DON'T GO 80 MPH TRING TO MAKE A 90 degree turn...c'mon all of this is in the DMV drving manual and in the truck manual, use some comon sense people!!! Beleive me I drive any car/truck/motorcycle to it limits and from there I know what the vehcle can and can not do. I think most of the problems are assocated with the driver, not so much the car. I have a honda Accord coupe 92, 165000, survived an accident, and still runs like new why?? becasue I change the fluids, check the parts, and I don't drive like an idiot!!! I do the same witht the Sport and so far everything is peachy!!!!!

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Pathfinder, Xtera, Rodeo. It has more room than extera, more stable than Rodeo, not loud in the motor like US trucks, best milage out of the SUVS.

This is the best driving SUV on the market, bar none. Handling is superior to other SUVs and I drove them all. Road noise, potholes, and rough dirt roads are smoother in the Montero than 4-runner and Jeep GC. Styling is great and the seats are rated the most comfortable with lumbar support for long trips. PRICE/VALUE relationship is excellent.

Needs a little more hp especially on initial acceleration. Shifting is not as smooth as I would like in low gear. Would prefer a rear glass opening. Stereo speakers need improvement.

I would definitely recommend this vehicle to anyone looking for a smart SUV that gets exceptional gas mileage and drives like a car. It takes the bumps (speed bumps, potholes) better than all other SUVs I tested. I paid 20K for a XLS with 18K miles in excellent condition. Although the deprec factor might be a concern, if you plan to keep it awhile, you will save $$$ compared to the competition. The engine is rate #2 behind Land Rover for reliability. This SUV by Mitsubishi is one of the best kept secrets in the SUV market. Test drive this one "last" and you will buy it.

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Jeep Grand Cherokee, GMC Jimmy, Ford Explorer
The Montero Sport blows them away hands down.

Looks: This is what attracted me to this vehicle in the first place. Very aggresive looking yet with a touch of class. Power: Since I opted for the Ltd. version (although 2WD) it came with the 3.5 Lt 200HP engine which provides me with sufficient power (although in my view a vheicle can never have enough HP!)

Same as most SUV's: Doesn't drive like a Lexus! Its not too bad as far as "driving like a truck" but when I am on the highway and nobody is in the passenger's seat, that thing shakes faster than my blender. I can feel the steering wheel as well, but not too bad. I had only one major problem in my 1.5yrs experience: the AC went out within the first 2 months and it took the dealership a week to fix (lack of part in stock). Although fixed under warranty, there is a noticable smell sometimes when the AC is turned on that last for a minute then goes away. The driver's seat "squeaks" occasionally which I will try to fix myself (hopefully).

Good vehicle but not great! I reserve great vehicles for Acura MDX, Mercedes, BMW and Lexus all of which I would choose over the Montero if you have the money to spend. My previous car was a '91 Honda Accord EX that I "tinkered with" to provide me with great handeling and speed. I knew not too expect the same handeling and driving characteristics out of an SUV as my Honda (unless I bought the Acura, Lexus, etc). So I am pleased or satisfied with the Montero Sport and would recommend it to anyone who does not want to go over the $30,000 mark, just go with the bigger engine since other owners feel their 173 HP engine is underpowered! I chose this vehicle first on looks then on everything else: options, ratings, etc. There were negative ratings of this vehicle while I was shopping around but I just had to have one that I didn't care. So far I am glad I purchased this (reminder: the AC did get repaired under warranty)over the competition but I wish I could have spent a little more and waited a year until the Acura MDX came out! Just a note: when you add an aftermarket stereo system with 3 TV's, DVD player, and a ton of wattage, it makes driving your Montero Sport twice as much fun!

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Ford Explorer: most popular SUV and too many of them. Cheap interior and now I am glad I didn't buy one due to Firestone. Toyota 4 Runner - I wanted the Limited and that was way too much. Jeep Grand Cheerokee - good vehicle but again fully loaded was a little more than I wanted to pay.