For Sale: 1992 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 Coupe

 

	SOLD!  Its new home is in South Dakota Wouldn't you like a lovely Corvette ZR1?
	FOR SALE BY ORIGINAL OWNER - $6,000 (KBB $6,020 - see below)
	108K MILES- NO ACCIDENTS
	FIJI BLUE METALLIC / GRAY LEATHER INTERIOR
	Click on sticker for full details, click on photo for more photos.

The Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 - Not Just Another Sports Car With a Stupid Name

I first discovered the 3000GT VR4 at, of all places, a Subaru event.  Subaru had just introduced something called the SVX, a small car with a silly window but with potentially nice driving qualities, and they had rented a really large parking lot to show it off.  We invitees were encouraged to drive several cars in addition to the SVX and then put in our order for the Subaru.  I liked the SVX and asked to see the colors available.  No blue!  So much for that notion.  Subsequently, I looked up the 3000GT which had been one of the competitors and discovered that it came in an "all wheel drive" version.  Not just that, but it even had

All Wheel Steering!

One of my driving issues is that in my corner of rural New Jersey, there are many days on which one wishes to have a 4WD vehicle for getting up snow-covered hills.  Liking sports cars as I do, I decided to give the top-end Mitsubishi (i.e., the VR4 variant,) a try.  I loved it!  And still do, by the way — it handles remarkably well in snow and rain.  Unlike the Corvette ZR1, a more-or-less fair-weather car, I'll drive the Mitsubishi in any conditions.  (You can see by the relative mileage that I have done exactly that.)  The VR4 variant is unique in that it not only has 4-wheel drive, it has 4-wheel steering.  I don't know to what extent that feature is responsible for how confidently it handles, but I'd guess "quite a bit."

Why I'm Selling

Unlike the low-mileage ZR1, the Mitsubishi is showing its age.  It's had its share of repair bills and I'm not keen on finding out how many more it will garner if I keep it.  The 3000GT VR4 is an enthusiast's car.  At its current age and mileage, I suspect it's best for someone who will take care of it well, and not commute in it.  I should also point out, since I'm trying to sell it, that it has no known significant problems, has just had dealer service, and is registered and insured.  But unlike the 4WD Ford Escape I now drive when I need 4WD, it has over 100K miles rather than the under 10K on the Ford.  I'm simply not keen on driving this wonderful albeit somewhat aged car into the dirt.

Accident history:  The car has the odd minor ding, but nothing even remotely resembling an "accident" involving a fixed object or other vehicle.  Any imperfections in its sheen are due to my lengthy indifference.  Sorry.

Collectability:  I'm not aware that people "collect" this car.  Other than mechanical parts swapped out due to dealer repair, it's all original.  I haven't saved any spare bits.

Condition 

• Body:  No better and no worse than any other car that's been driven 108K miles and had reasonable but not fanatical care taken of it.  It has spent most, but by no means all, of its life garaged at night.

• Interior:  Same story.  No special care, no special disasters.

• Radio:  The radio system has two mechanical intermittent problems.  The first is that the display segments often don't display correctly.  Rubbing the display fixes it for a few moments, but it looks funky most of the time.  Also, sometimes the speakers work, sometimes not.  If the radio is working and you go over a bump, it usually cuts out.  My diagnosis is that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the radio, but the interconnection with the speakers is flaky.

• Dashboard:  For reasons unknown, you can no longer switch between "Tour" and "Sport."  It's always in "Sport" and the Tour/Sport dashboard light blinks incessantly.  I asked the dealer about this and was told it's not important but might be expensive.  It's been doing this for at least 20,000 miles with no obvious ill effect.

• Engine:  As far as I know it's in perfect shape.  The timing belt has recently been changed as part of routine maintenance, so you won't be facing that expense for many, many miles.

Gas Mileage:  On the one hand, it has a biggish engine.  On the other hand, the turbines and aerodynamics of the vehicle are a bit of an improvement over the typical family car.  No reason not to expect roughly what it says on the sticker.

Tires:  See photos.  They're probably mid-life at this point.

Transmission:  Scuttlebutt has it that the transmission in this car is somewhat delicate, one of the first things to fail, and costs a fortune to repair or replace.  Scuttlebutt aside, the transmission in this one works fine, I have never had a problem with it, and I drive like a wimp and so probably won't.  What you do is another issue; if you break it after you buy it, you'll find out the truth (or lack thereof) of the final scuttlebit.

Interested Buyers:  The car is registered, insured, and safe and legal to drive.  I take it for a spin periodically when I think it needs some exercise, and, of course, if you're seriously interested I'll be happy to give you a demo.  If you want a photo of anything not already shown, please ask.

The Price:  I've put a price of $6,000 on this car.  This is the Kelly Blue Book price.  A few eBay sales show a much higher price.  I don't know what to make of this, so let me just say that "price is subject to change" until I've figured it out.  Maybe $6,000 is right, maybe it's a great bargain. 

Legal Stuff:  I am an individual owner, not a car dealer, not an expert, and am selling nothing but a used car with no warranty whatsoever.  You probably know a lot more about buying cars than I do about selling them, and you are taking full responsibility for the car after the sale.  Pretty much all you can count on from me is that I am the original owner and will tell you the truth to the extent that I know it and remember it.  The 3000GT VR4 is a very fast and powerful car.  Although you can kill or injure yourself driving any vehicle, this one gives you more than the usual opportunities to do so.  I will not sell the car to anyone younger than 21.  I reserve the right to cancel the sale or refuse to sell to anyone for any reason.    

Contact:  I'm hard to reach by telephone and far too easy to reach by email.  The email alias for this sale is 3000gt@eventide.com .  Please be sure to put "MITSUBISHI" in the Subject line since I get an enormous amount of spam and don't want to accidentally erase your correspondence.  The car is located in Kinnelon (Morris County) Northern New Jersey. 

Questions (and answers):  If you email a question about the car, I will try to answer it below, so please be sure to re-check this page.

Q:  What documentation comes with the vehicle?
A:  I have the owner's manual and the sticker.  There may be a few other bits - I'll look around.

Introduction