03 Lancer ES as daily driver?
 

Hey guys, I'm looking for a good reliable commuter and was wondering about the Lancer.

How reliable are they? I don't wanna have to pour major money into repairs, besides the scheduled stuff.

And how are they on gas?

i had a 2006 mitsu lancer oz rally for about 14 months. i bought it with 23xxx km on it. it was a rebuild no major repairs beside scheduled oil changes. it was pretty good on gas. it was a 2.0L and uses regular gas. its very roomy which is good if you are hauling your friends going to trips and do shit. i really love the interior, it wasnt plasticky like newer cars and the exterior is managable. mine was blacked out, lowered with 17 inch wheels. it was a very good daily driver. insurance on it wasnt that bad either...

the only thing i dont like about it is its slow. its very hard to gain power out of it with bolt on mods.

if you ask me, i would find a swapped civic with a better motor in it. you will have most of the stuff i described above + power when you need it

I own a 2004 Ralliart lancer and its a 2.4litre, ive never had a single issue with it, it has 127,000kms i always fill up 94 so its a bit pricey but its pretty good on mileage, i find the 2.4 is great for giving torque. Compared to my cousins 1.6L 00'' Civic SIR the torque is substantially different. Aswell the interior is very roomy even with 5people i think.

I can only help you on the gas, I have a 2008 lancer evo and it has a 2.0L, and i haven't had any major problems with the car itself, so unless your gonna tweak like crazy, you shouldn't have to pay to much for the reparis

I got a 2004 Lancer with over 400,000km's on it (i use it for my job) and its been great. Had my transmission rebuilt at around 260,000km. Other than that its a tank. No mods.

family has the 2003 lancer es.
pro-
*fairly light
*can carry 5 people
*easy to find replacement parts
*reliable(no real problem yet(170k km), 1 O2 sensor, 1 coil pack(i got 2 for 40bux on ebay)).
*access to trunk from rear seat
---------------
con-
*plastic headlight- scratches and dulls overtime
*if you get auto, you're left with 4 speed, which struggles up hills.
*brake rotors do overheat coming down cypress/seymour
*cheap interior(plastic, fake leather looking plastic, did i mention plastic?
*engines hard to work on, unless you have an engine lift, i have to do the water pump/timing belt, will need to lift the engine. Having said that, it's not a huge minus.
*have to use the obdii(sp?) for aircare.

Lancer is good for daily drive.

The 2.4 engine in the Ralliart is amazing for torque. No problem beating an SIR and keeping up to a Type S RSX. Using 94 octane is useless though since Mitsubishi recommends 91... And the 2.4 likes it's fuel...