Back in November 2003 when our 1994 Pontiac Sunbird decided to stop working in the middle of the street and we needed a vehicle immediately, we began the search. Our price range was between $8,000-$10,000 and we were pondering a new car or a used car. We also thought it was a perfect time to buy the 4 door we needed with our growing family.

In passing I mentioned our situation to the owner of my company, who also owns a used car dealership, and he stated not to worry, he would have the perfect car waiting for me in the parking lot of the office the next morning. Now, if this does not show trust, I had no idea what type of vehicle, never test drove it, did not even know the color.

So upon arriving to work the next morning, in the parking lot was the 2002 Mitsubishi Galant. Since I had never owned a foreign vehicle, or had even driven one, the first concern that came to mind was the general maintenance. I knew of foreign vehicles having the history of how difficult just the routine maintenance could be because of the way the engine was situated. My brother had done all of the routine maintenance on any vehicle that I had ever owned and wanted to make sure that he was able to work on this car and not have to take it to the dealer for every maintenance issue. I was concerned on whether the oil was easy to change, the spark plugs, spark plug wires, the brakes, etc. Upon reviewing the owner's manual and having my brother look under the hood, he stated that the engine was set up with everything within easy reach. That was a positive.

The gas tank is smaller than other cars I have owned, holding only about 15 gallons, it does get about 30 miles to the gallon which is good gas mileage but driving more city miles (34 round trip to work), it seems to empty more quickly than other vehicles that I have owned.

I do not know much about horsepower, but can tell you that I have not experienced any difficulty starting from a stop. The transition and pick up is smooth for a 4 cylinder engine and any issues with "missing" or "cutting out" have not been experienced.

The braking on the vehicle is easy and requires little pressure. We just replaced the brake pads on the front a few months ago. The front brakes are pads and the rear brakes are drum. A note, Auto Zone sells 3 different levels of brake pads for the front, there is a $10 set, a $17 set and a $37 set. When we first replaced the pads we bought the $17 set and the squeak/squeal that came from them was just unbearable, you could hear me stopping blocks away, not only that the large amount of black dust the accumulated on the front rims. Now I know that they stated the black dust was causing the squeak/squeal. The store told us that the black dust and squeak/squeal is common in the new forms of pads and to give it at least a week and the noise should stop. Well, this is did not happen. After driving for 2 weeks with the horrible noise, we returned the set and purchased the $37 set and have had no problems since.

The steering on the vehicle is very nice. I did find, until I got used to it, it was very sensitive. Those short/sharp left hand or right hand turns into parking spaces can be accomplished nicely.

The windshield wipers are speed sensitive, this is nice when you are driving on the highway during heavy rain. The faster you travel, the faster the wipers go, when you slow or come to a stop, the wipers adjust. Very nice.

The back windows and the passenger side window have a locking device located on the driver's side door. This feature is a positive, for a family such as ours, where the children are old enough to play with the windows. They can be locked in the closed position, open position or any position in between.

As with most cars there is the child safety lock on the back doors so the doors cannot be opened from the inside. Just remember, if you have an adult in the back seat, it's easy to leave them there when you walk away, forgetting about the lock.

The front seat is very roomy, that back seat is roomier than in a 2 door vehicle, but for 2 adults it still is a little cramped. For my children at the ages of 3 and 5 they are fine. I thing I have noticed, my daughter is 3 and her seat is behind the driver's side. When I drive she has no problem with leg room, when my husband drives, her legs do get a little cramped between the back of the seat and her safety seat. We know that once she is out of the large safety seat she will not have any problem, but until she reaches that age of being able to seat in a more lap belt type safety seat, this could be an issue for some.

Other difference I have noticed between this vehicle and other vehicles that I have owned, the doors do not automatically lock when the car is put in gear, this would be nice, especially when alone in the evening, I have just had to get into the habit of locking the door when entering the car. I either lock it with the lock feature on the key fob or with the lock button on the door.

The headlights do not automatically come on with the car is started. I know we have a1996 Pontiac Grand Am that this feature is available and we like this very much.

I do like the automatic door locks and trunk latch. On the key fob, there are three buttons that can be used to unlock the car, lock it and pop the trunk. This is wonderful when your arms are full and you just want to throw everything into the trunk. A few tricks regarding the key fob: To unlock the driver side door only, you press the unlock button once, to unlock all 4 doors you press the unlock button twice. To pop the trunk, you press the trunk button twice. I really enjoy this feature, not having it on any car I have ever owned. Also with the automatic door locks, it's great when it's raining and your able to unlock the doors from a distance and get right in. A negative that I have noticed, which is something to consider, you cannot lock the door with the key fob when the engine is running. I used to be able to go out and warm up my car on our company parking lot on those cold, snowy days, and felt comfortable because I was able to lock the door and leave it. You still can lock the door manually, and if you have a spare key there is no problem, but to be able to lock and unlock the door with the fob while the car is running you cannot do that.

The interior is pretty neutral, gray and the exterior is gray as well. The trunk is the expected size for the vehicle, the only problem I have found is that the cover for the spare tire is very weak, anything too heavy will cause the cover to bend and slide into the spare tire well.

In truth I have enjoyed this vehicle very much. I have not had any major repairs or problems that were of any real expense. Even though it does not ride extremely smooth, it does ride smoother than other vehicles and the road noise is not too great but there is road noise.

I know that when people begin shopping for new vehicles, they want to know about horsepower, steering radius, etc. Like I stated before, I am unable to comment on these features, but thought a little insight into some other areas of the car maybe helpful.
Amount Paid (US$): 8000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: SE, Automatic, Power Windows, Power Locks, CD Stereo