Got a Mitsubishi Montero from Team-BHP Classifieds : Ownership review

4x4addict drove the car down to Coimbatore to deliver and he also handed over a bunch of spares (in 3 boxes) he had bought for maintenance.

BHPian K a s h recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

This is an account of the lateral upgrade i did 2 years ago and the initial challenges I had for maintaining a discontinued full size SUV!

The Itch
My last car purchase was in 2011 when i picked up an used 2005 Hyundai Tucson crdi. This car served me well for 11 years and 1L+ kms. I was looking for an automatic because my left leg was screaming in Bangalore traffic.

Some requirements from our family for our next car
1) Automatic Diesel
2) Comfortable big car, preferably a 7 seater.
3) Rear AC vents
4) All 4 disc brakes
5) As much Safety features as possible

Options Considered

1) Hyundai Ioniq 5
I always believe used cars have more value but I could not ignore the Hyundai Ioniq 5 that was launched at this time. I tried to get this with my company lease but Hyundai had this exclusive direct sale to customers for the first 500 cars for Ioniq 5. No lease possible. So had to skip this.

2) Ford Endeavor 3.2 AT
Not many cars were available in the used market and whatever i saw were over priced. I did not find value in this.

3) Mitsubishi Montero 3.2 AT
There was only 2 cars for sale- One in Chandigarh and one in Madurai. Spoke to the dealer in Madurai and realized this car may not have any service history. This was when i found a Montero in team-bhp classifieds from our distinguished bhpian 4x4addict. This Monty is a CBU import from Japan with 1.52 Lac kms on the odo with everything stock except for some upgraded lights and an android HU. The first owner is a friend of 4x4addict, so the maintenance history of the car is clean. I simply had to get it.

Some photos from the team-bhp classifieds;

BHPian K a s h recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

The purchase experience

The owner being a team-bhpian and the fact that we have a mutual friend made this deal a pleasant one. The car was in Coonoor, so sometime in Feb 2023, I booked a vacation in Ooty, saw the car with my family and sealed the deal.
Coming from a Tucson, I was overwhelmed by the size of the Montero. The first time i saw the Monty :-)

Taking Delivery and the drive back home
The next weekend, I took an overnight shuttle to my sister's place in Coimbatore. 4x4addict drove the car down to Coimbatore to deliver and he also handed over a bunch of spares (in 3 boxes) he had bought for maintenance. One of the many perks of buying a car from an enthusiast!

The timing chain was replaced along with the engine oil at 1.5 Lac kms. Suspension work was done at 1 Lac. Car had Goodyear Wrangler Silenttrac AT tyres that had more than 50% life. He explained me the features in the car and asked me to replace all fluids at 2 Lac kms with only engine oil change every 10k kms.

He had mentioned about an issue with the 2wd selection during our initial discussions about the car. The Mitsubishi SuperSelect is an ElectroMechanical system with a fail-safe feature wherein if there are any issues with the transmission, it will default to 4H mode. In this car the 2wd mechanically engages but the electrical system is unable to confirm that, so it displays a warning in the dash. The 4H and 4HLc works fine without errors. Only 2H and 4LLc had the central diff icon flashing on the dash. I had seen similar issues reported in Aussie forums and was ready to fix it myself. 4x4addict had offered to help me if needed. That was good enough for me to go ahead because i had exclusive access to good mechanic + garage in Bangalore.

Did the customary pooja that night and started home to Bangalore early next morning.

100kmph at around 2k rpm

Breakfast @A2B near Salem;

Went straight to Bay6 Motorworks for a quick wash before heading home;

The mileage and Odo after the drive

Finally @Home

Positive impressions of the car
- Everything in this car is built to take abuse and last forever.
- The Rockford music system is very good with a big subwoofer in the boot.
- The 3rd row hides under the floor and is pretty useful on long drives with extended family
- One touch power windows for all doors is very convinient
- There are two AC compressors and the rear passengers have their compressor located behind the driver side rear wheel.
- The car is insulated well and you wont hear any Tyre noise. Just the thrum of the big diesel.

Not so positive impressions
- No bottle holders in the doors. Such a big car and the door pockets are only 2 inch thick.
- Suspension is a heavy duty so it needs the car to be fully loaded to be smooth. Else you will feel all road imperfections. All Terrain Tyres does not improve this either. I'm currently tweaking the air pressure to make this bearable.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.