Owners' Stories

1997 Mitsubishi Montero Sport 3.0 Liter was purchased used in 2003 with 87k miles. Now in 2012 it has 184k miles. Major problems were replacement of alternator twice. Note that the first replacement was with an Autozone alternator with a guarantee, so second replacement (for overvoltage, not undervoltage) was free. The car works well. It doesn't have a lot of power in 2 wheel drive, but gets reasonable gas mileage, so I don't mind the lack of acceleration. At 184k miles it has now developed oil leaks, so it burns a quart every hundred miles. Dealer says it is cam seals and oil pump gasket. I am not a mechanic, so I don't know the accuracy. Cost is $1904. Dealer says the alternative is a new engine at around $5,000 or more. I am having the repair done, since I only figure to keep the car another year or two max. It strikes me that this a high cost, but the dealer says they have to take out the engine to replace the oil pump gasket. Dealer says they will replace the cam seals by going through the timing belt and not the valve covers, so I don't get new valve cover gaskets. I had thought replacing a cam seal this way was a relatively simple repair, so again I wonder about the high cost. I will say that this has been a good car. One downside is that the rear-looking visibility is poor due to the headrests of the rear seats. Also, this vehicle has tinted rear windows, so at night you have to use the sideview mirrors, because the backup light isn't bright enough to illuminate terrain viewed through the tinted windows. I have kept it maintained pretty much up to dealer recommendations, and it has done ok for me until this oil leak problem. Had to replace the air mass sensor once, but I suspect that was due to bad gasoline rather than wear. The diagnostic said EGR problem and wasn't specific, so one dealer replaced the EGR solenoid, and it didn't solve the problem, which was the sensor. I recently hauled a large load of books in the car, probably well over half a ton, and it did fine. I put on Nexen HT tires. Although these are not all-terrain rated, I tested them ok in Vermont snow (4 wheel drive) in moderate (not deep) West Virginia mud. I bought this car for just over $10k, and after more than eight years of use with maybe another $8k or so of various maintenance put into it (including this oil leak fix), I probably got a reasonable value.

We bought our 1998 Montero Sport from an individual two years ago and had the timing belt replaced as soon as we bought it. The only other issues we've have with the vehicle were an alternator replacement ( did this twice because the first one was bad ), and replacing the door locking mechanism on the left rear passenger door. Oh - forgot; replaced valve cover gasket and main seal to repair oil leak. This is not too bad considering the vehicle is 12 years old with 165,000 miles on it.

I had this car for ten years i had to replace the fuel pump, sway bar, and egr valve but now is reading a code po403

i own a 1997 montero sport im pleased with the drive is not so bad in gas for the size of the truck. the only bad thing i have blue smoke coming from the end pipe and also the truck over heats for no reason. no biggie overall i never service the truck until it REALLY REALLY needs to be fix,,,,,keep in mind my truck has 232599 miles well worth my $ 4000 i pay 4 yrs back..

my m/nativa 2004 model.4 wheel drive is not working,what should i do

When my wife and I were dating, I had a Civic hatchback and she had a 2001 Montero Sport and I loved driving her car so much that when my car got stolen, the Montero is the first car I looked for. I found the perfect one for me, white/black with a grille guard on front and I love my car! It drives great, I've had not one problem with the car. When I bought it, the car had 59K miles on it and not it's got nearly twice the miles and still runs perfectly. My only gripe is that the engine design creates costly repairs as the techs have to remove the top of the engine just to perform a basic tune-up. I'm considering buying a new engine and rebuilding the transmission whenever it dies.

A very fun car to drive, a very light-weight SUV that gets really decent gas mileage. Very spacious, and reliable!

The Montero Sport is a decent SUV (truck). The drive train is great and robust, the car holds up well when towing. The engine is powerful for the 2001 model year and has kept its pep throughout the years. It's a solidly built car and is very reliable. However it has sub-par steering, ie very loose with some delayed responsiveness. This vehicle has tight head clearance upon entering the car from all doors (especially the rear doors). The interior is on the smaller side for Mid-sized SUVs, but the cargo area is substantially roomy. Mitsubishi built a touch little SUV, that still thinks and drives like a truck. There are exposed screw heads throughout.