It took us six weeks to reach the lofty goal of 1000 kilometers, the best I can figure that’s about 600 miles. Hell I live on an island what did they expect? But alright if that’s what Mitsubishi wants then I’ll do it, besides the check up was free.
0830 I pull up to the service department at the dealership and I’m shown where to park, then Mayang and I enter the service office and visit Raymond, my Mitsubishi service representative. Who is a pleasant young man who seemed genuinely happy to see us? He started filling out the proper paperworks and scribing in different books and forms with gusto, I’m talking about a guy who really liked his job. Or he could fake it like a pro.
He took a clipboard and proceeded to Mayang’s Brandi new G4 Mirage. Where he checked everything and I do mean everything. He pushed every button moved every lever and even adjusted the tilt on the steering wheel, Hey; I didn’t know it was even adjustable. Then he started checking the outside for flaws of any type.
But here is something I learned as I threw a large monkey wrench into his day, as I pointed out that the front wheel hub were coated in rust. “Sir Paul, it’s supposed to be like that~” he explained, and since it was not on his clipboard list we moved on.
But being a persistent little cuss that I am, we were drawn back to the front wheel hub rust again, if I had kept the original rims and funky plastic hubcaps this minor flaw would never have been noticed except by the vulcanizing man who happened someday to change a flat tire sometime in the far, far future.
The service manager was called in, and after a quick study of the clipboard inspection list he agreed that rusty wheel hubs were not on the list. Then he informed me that they were all that way. Well as we walked down the row of brand new cars we looked between the spokes of the Fancy Dancy rims and found no rusty wheel hubs except on mine, it seems that option is only offered on cars issued with cheap ass hubcaps that cover that factory flaw. Inspector “12” does not check for that.
“Sir Paul, these are not the rims that were standard with your car!” The service manager pointed out, “When did you figure that out and was it because they look better than the factory issued?? I countered. We had reached an impasse, a stalemate, a Mexican Standoff. (There were no people of Mexican culture involved at the Car World Dealership)
So there we were, eye to eye, toe to toe, when calmer heads intervened and defused this volatile situation. That’s bull, what really happened was I saw no need to argue and knew that I was going to lose anyway, so I smiled and said; “I do like the fact that is its uniformly rusted and looks good.” Shock and surprise appeared on the service manager’s face as I stepped out of the fray, and allowed “Face” to be returned to all involved.
Besides Mayang pointed out that my Son-in-Law Chris’s has a cousin who will solve the problem for the price of buying him lunch. I’m glad she married me, low those many years ago. As she had restored chi to my life, and the service manager looked at me with a newfound respect as I made it look to his people that he had triumphed and I was defeated. It cost me nothing and Karma was once more in my corner.
So off we go to Starbuck’s across the street, to have a coffee and a very expensive taste treat, while finishing my coffee Raymond called and said my car was done and ready to go, what within 30 minutes? Surprised or I could say in shock, I went back to pick it up. Raymond said that the Service Manager had moved my car to the head of the line because he liked our interaction. (I really don’t know exactly how it was said in Tagalog as Raymond was paraphrasing) and he thought I was an okay Na okay Kano. And to those who doubt this encounter, my break lines were intact as we drove away, I checked them. “Ronny Reagan said it best: “Trust but verify.”
BTW I really don’t know what they did to the car as an oil change was not on the list of services for that check up but by attending I didn’t void my warrantee.
But at 5000 KM I must return and I know the rusty wheel hubs will no longer be an issue. Oh, and they all approved of my new rims and called them POGIE!
And you dear readers who had thought it ended with the departure of the New Ole Honda from my life! But “NO” the saga lives on!
LOL!!! I can’t help but think that your hubs were the natural result of cast iron forming a protective coating of rust. When the cars are shipped, they usually have a light coat of some kind of corrosion barrier compound, but this quickly evaporates from the heat generated by weather, normal driving and braking, and, in a humid climate, this takes place very quickly.
How do I know this? LOL!! I lived in tropical Miami, Florida for nearly 40 years, which, as far as I’m concerned, should be the twin city to Iloilo.
David;
Then why were the rust only on the cars that had the cheap plastic hub caps and no rust on all the cars with the Fancy Dancy shinny rims? If I’d not replaced the rims I never would have known. I know Florida well and lived there on and off for years. Someday the answer will come to me in a beer induced dream. (LOL)
LMAO!!!!
David;
That was short and to the point. (LOL)
Paul,
To be honest, I’d love to pack it in and move to Iloilo permanently, but I have too many health problems (fighting VA now over an Agent Orange claim), and I am a little leery about the health care in RP.
I know I could probably make it on my monthly SS, and the proceeds from the sale of my home would allow me to buy a very modest home over there, and maybe even a cheap used car or truck, but that health care thing still scares me. I understand the VA maintains some kind of facilty somewhere around Manila, too. Is that true?
Dave
(Forgot to mention, my wife is from Sagay, on Negros Occ.)
David;
The VA has a clinic in Manila, and (Verify this) I’ve heard that you can be reimbursed for required visits from around the Philippines (NOT DROP IN), As for Health Care I find the quality to be excellent and the prices wonderfully inexpensive.
As for the amount of money needed to live here, that differs with each and every person and their wants and need. Only you will know the required amount!!!
Thats normal Paul, unpainted steel and cast iron rotors will rust after they get hot, and the protective coating wears off. The ones that are not showing rust, at the dealership,,,, just curious but do the more expensive dealership wheels have a larger diameter center than your aftermarket wheels?
You could remove your rotors and have the center diameter that’s rusted, sand blasted and painted with ceramic paint or porcelain paint , and then after there baked, they will look good for awhile, but will peel or crack eventually. Best bet Paul would be to replace the rotors and calipers, (have to be a matched set, and will have 4-6 pistons per caliper ) with ceramic disk brakes like high performance street cars and race cars use. That will set you back 4-8,000 US dollars though, but they will look good, and glow bright red when they get hot , as an added bonus.
Bill S;
After reading your comment, I’ve decided to take your suggestion to heart. That 1.1 liter three cylinder engine has been feeling like it’s been trying to run with the big dogs, so I feel that will be money well spent, if anything then just to hold the G4 back.
Thanks for the 2 reminders, yearly car check-up required this week and beer fridge is empty!
Cheers (or tagay)
AJ UK
AJ UK;
Beer fridge empty, you do know that you could be putting your citizenship in jeopardy by allowing that to happen? It happened to me once and I had night terrors for a week afterwards. The car check up, no big deal! (LOL)
Paul
Panic over, beer fridge re-stocked with Red Horse! Hopefully have enough to see out Peipah LOL.
Car check up will have to wait after the forecast heavy rain has passed.
Cheers
AJ UK
AJ UK
Your passport is valid once more if the beer is stocked; (LOL) I won’t see any rain until 15 May when the rainy season starts here on Luzon. But it really is a favorite time of year for me. Right now it’s so hot, that I saw a dog chasing a cat and both were walking.
Well, be glad they didnt coat the entire rotor with some rust preventing grease!
Don;
The disk is shinny and gunk free, I checked that along with my break lines before I drove off.
Why was the rust only on the steel wheeled vehicles? Well, I learned a thing or two about Mitsubishi practices in the last two or three months of various warranty claims on our two Mitsubishi vehicles, one Strada and one Pajero. The Strada, like your Mirage, is built in Mitsubishi’s Laem Chabang plant in Thailand. Labour is cheap there, and they can afford the time to apply a bit of rust converter/preventer to the ones that will be fitted with spokey wheels. Possibly this is done on the wheel fitting production line. Of course, if they just did this to all the hubs, what difference would it make? Well, each car would cost an extra twenty cents to produce then, and for every five car’s that’s a dollar! Honestly, I jest you not!
Enjoy your car; you’re right, it will take someone not an hour to wire brush that and apply a bit of kurust. If you want to pay the extra, and provide pudding and perhaps a red-horse, they could even be given a coat of actual paint!
Jim;
Your explanation makes perfect sense to me, only the cars with the hub caps have rust on the hub. My wife thinks I’ve gone over the edge but I’ve been checking them and that is the way it plays out. My son-in-laws cousin (Good old what the hell is his name) painted the New Ole Honda’s hubs and they still looked good the day it drove away. We used that rust converter on the ships and the price was DEAR! So it is a money thing.
Paul – Largely because of your recent posts, we considered (and purchased) a Mitsubishi Montero Sport in San Fernando. So far, we’re happy, but we’ll see how it sorts out over time. Naturally, I managed to pick up a scratch in the first five minutes on MacArthur when a car pulled out unexpectedly from the side and a motorcycle bumped into us from behind when I braked. Sigh….
I enjoy your posts as always – you’re a model to us all and master of “SIR”. I’m learning too – but a little more slowly than I (or Asawa ko) would like. Cheers!
John;
The Montero Sport is one fine car; I shy away from cars that size as I just don’t need a car that large. So says the guy that owned two Lincolns (Town Car and Mark IV) from the 70’s. But now I don’t like to try and park them anymore even with the TV camera to help back up.
I’m waiting for the first bung-bung on my new car, I know it will happen soon but the anticipation is killing me. If by the end of the month it has not happened I grab my rubber mallet and do it myself. Yeah it would be a motorbike that get’s you first.
……….. I smiled and said; “I do like the fact that is its uniformly rusted and looks good.” Now that’s some funny stuff right there! Gotta love it!
Az Ma Taz;
If you can’t smile they will make you cry, and that I’ll never let happen. The ability to laugh is the best defense here because I know I’ll never win.
Ceramic paint,calipers. Sounds like a lot of trouble to me.. Drink up forget about it, The service manager was of course right rust is standard in the Philippines.Where would we be without it
Drive carefully and many good trips in the new new Mitsubishi
Corjo;
The calipers are shinny, it’s the hub that the tire bolts to that has the rust. But I guess it is suppose to be there.
I am like you when it comes to cars, Paul, very meticulous in my car’s appearance. I believe strongly in the saying, the kind of car a person drives and how he keeps it often reflect the personality of its owner. Now, dust on a car, I can tolerate. Dust even enhances the rugged appearance of a performance car. A Corvette thick with brake dust in its front rims, in my eyes, looks like its racing at top speed around Riverside International Raceway even when standing still at a parking lot. But rust? It’s on a league its own. It’s bad news. You were okay na okay for pounding the issue home.
John;
I agree rust is never a good thing especially on a car I’ve only owned for 6 weeks, but if it is not listed on the “Check List” I’m doomed. But as I said above my son-in-law will take care of the problem for me.
Paul, I actually have OCD like you wouldn’t believe when it comes to my car’s appearance and maintenance. There’s an itsy bitsy tiny ding on the side of the door of my showroom-condition-in-and-out PT Cruiser convertible you couldn’t see unless you know it’s there that bothers me endlessly. Just the other day, when I took my car for the 3,000 mile change of oil, the manager at Jiffy Lube politely turned me down and told me the car is not due for service yet for another 2,000 miles. LOL
John;
I wonder why the manager would even care. My new G4 came with 100% coolant something I have done with every car for the last 50 years. I smile at people who tell me 50/50 is best; I do believe that water will cause rust and at 100C or 212F it will boil.
As for oil, if it’s hot I use 40 Weight if it’s cold out I’d use 10W/20. And change it every 3 months no matter what the miles or kilometers are. I also keep my cars in a very clean state including under the hood. Why not, we want them to age but not look like they have.
Paul, John,
If you take care of your car it will take care of you in most cases unless you have a lemon. I know I tried to keep my parents cars clean of salt while we were Ohio.. It’s difficult though when it snows every other day lol.
Randy;
My rusty car problem ended when I left New England and the salted roads. But my 1962 Chevy that I drove down to Florida from Boston was a problem to sell for that same reason.
Could it be rust from the brake discs being attracted to the wheel covers due to static electricity due to plastic wheel covers ? Go nostalgic, get a set of chrome plated Moon Hub caps. That should solve the problem. Good luck with the new car Paul, remember if it is not on the check list then there can not be anything wrong.
Bob (NY);
The check list is king and not to be taken in jest. But you’re right; of it’s not on the list it didn’t happen. Did you know that plastic hub caps are a kin to the Frisbees? BTW if I could have found a set of baby moons with beauty rings, plus white wall tires, I would be styling.
Paul, you’d be pimping if you had white wall tires. To complete the look, you have to get yourself a mink coat like Joe Namath’s at the last Super Bowl. LOL
John;
PETA would track me down, but fuzzy dice on the rearview mirror would be cool, and a bobble head on the rear tray with break light eyes…
ADVICE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Never leave your car un-attended in any dealership in Philippines….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The last time I did it, it cost me ten thousand pesos (P10000) for an air filter replacement and as a bonus I had a BS story about the state of my vehicle. That was at the spanking new Mitsubishi dealership in Puerto Princesa City here on Palawan about two months ago. On top of that, the mechanics and the “manager” had great fun laughing at me!
Needless to say, they’ll never see me again.
Better go to a small shop where the owner of the shop is present.
NEVER LEAVE THE CAR WITHOUT YOU WATCHING THEM WHAT THEY ARE DOING!!!!
Palawan Bob;
Does that air filter, strain gold from the air? PNP 10,000.00 seems like a lot to pay. But if you said it happened then it happened. Was your car still under warrantee?
That would throw my karma off kilter and I think I’d go a tad postal, even my easy going nature has limits. But I still have my guys at GoodYear who have known me for 20 years, I can trust Kuya Greg!
PB – $223 for an air filter? If you went in there with the butt of a .45 sticking out of your waistband pocket, they wouldn’t have messed with you. It’s the only language these kind of people understand.
I forgot, foreigners are forbidden from owning a gun… 🙂
John;
I now understand that law about guns.
John;
Getting a little hawkish aren’t we?
Paul – I was just shocked by PB’s comment, but I wouldn’t do that. It was a knee-jerk reaction on my part upon hearing of an air filter that costs $223, and be laughed at at the same time. I mean, did PB look sintu-sinto when he went to the dealership to be treated like that? I have been saying before, that a part of the reason why people are taken advantage of is how you come across to people you’re dealing with. If you look and act like a bana, chances are, you will be treated like one.
John;
As was I but I was just funning you with my comment. But if (Like I said) I had been treated like that it would be “Katie Bar the Door”, there is an ass whoopin’ fixin’ to happen here!
Just for comparison.
I also have a 4 year old HONDA scooter (110cc) and the damn thing just died on me the other day.
I took it to a local motorcycle repair shop just to find out that the the problem was in the engine. Of course, that is the last thing that you could think-of but it was true. I was there during the whole time.
In the mean time, during the troubleshooting, the mechanic did a total overhaul of the scooter. All major components were cleaned and inspected. Now the scooter is like brand new again.
The owner of the shop was there 100% of the time.
Cost: P500 for 10 hrs of honest work!!!! No bullshit like at the Mitsubishi dealership.
Palawan Bob;
Well first, it was a HONDA !!!, my Honda Generator (Running as I write this) has not failed me in 16 years, well the starting rope broke a few years ago, But I’m pleased to hear that this time you were treated fairly and with respect.
Hi Paul,
My 7 month old Mitsubishi Mirage G4 MT with the same color as yours is now at the service center due to a busted clutch. Mileage is around 4645 and they had been telling my husband that it is due to bad driving habit (clutch driving). They are charging us around Php 14,071.91 for labor cost, clutch bearing, clutch disc, and clutch cover. We drove it to a bit hilly area here in Cebu City and then suddenly the car stall on our way down, but we did smell of “something burning.” It was our second uphill travel and the first one was fine. I took some pictures and the lining was like cotton candy inside busted. The disc so worn out and so is the bearing. Its not under warranty since its a wear and tear kind of item. My question is have you encountered something like this? Low mileage with a busted clutch? My husband is not a newbie driver since we had a second hand multicab which didn’t give us a clutch problem. Also I need to wait 2 to 3 weeks for the clutch set to arrive from Manila and for them to fix it 🙂
Cessielou ;
I just had my 10,000 KM check up and all is fine, I live on a mountain and cannot get home without going uphill, but due to my wife not wanting to drive anything but an automatic I think that is the difference. Before the dealership can make a statement you have the right to a factory rep to make that determination. I would DEMAND they fly one in, if not contact Corporate Headquarters and start making noise.