1992 Mitsubishi 3000gt Vr-4 Coupe 2-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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F1 champ Nigel Mansell is selling Mitsubishis in Jersey

Formula One drivers have a pretty short shelf life, so when they're done racing in grands prix, retired pilots can have a whole second career ahead of them. Jody Scheckter, for example, runs an organic farm. Niki Lauda started an airline. Most move on to other racing series, provide television commentary during race broadcasts, or start their own racing teams. But not Nigel Mansell: he's got a Mitsubishi dealership. Situated on Jersey – not New Jersey, but the British channel island – Mansell Mitsubishi is run by Nigel and his son Leo. It grew out of the service station the Mansells opened fourteen years ago, and out of the Mansell Collection, a used car dealership based in an old Art Deco movie theater, but recently expanded into selling new cars recently with the acquisition of a franchise. The Japanese brand may seem a bit of an odd choice, especially now that it's getting away from performance models and putting more emphasis on plug-in electrics. After all, Nigel won his 1992 Formula One World Championship in a Renault-powered Williams, before that raced for the likes of Ferrari and Lotus, and won the CART title on his debut season in a Lola-Ford. But the Mansells are adamant that they wanted a volume brand, not to deal with the high-priced exotics with which the name might be more readily associated. After all, there are only 100,000 or so people residing on the isle of Jersey, which wouldn't make for a very big customer base for high-end machinery. He and Leo (with whom he raced at Le Mans a few years back) even participated in a two-day training session for new franchisees, where few initially recognized the former champ. And they've got plans to expand as well. But the biggest draw may very well be the star factor, and the Mansells haven't shied away from playing it up, displaying memorabilia from Nigel's racing career around the showroom. After all, the prospect of being taken on a test drive by a former F1 champion may be enough to bring new customers into the showroom who might not have otherwise.

Car owners getting more irritated with their repair experiences, study says

The J.D. Power U.S. Customer Service Index Study (CSI) is a barometer of a vehicle owner's happiness with the service experience. While it wasn't all bad in the 2023 study, the overall owner satisfaction score dropped. This year's tally of 846 out of 1,000 is two points down from 2022, the 43-year-old study's first decline in more than 28 years, and one point down from 2021. However, the overall score remains well up from the pre-pandemic scores of 821 in 2018 and 837 in 2020. The study claims the stumbling block is the horde of BEV launches. The flood into the new energy space has created a recall rate among EVs that's more than double the rate for ICE vehicles. Furthermore, dealership service department knowledge of EVs isn't on par with internal combustion engine expertise, leaving EV owners less satisfied with service advisors compared to ICE owners. Chris Sutton, VP of automotive retail at J.D. Power, said, "As training programs for service advisors and technicians evolve, EV service quality and customer experience must address both the vehicle and the unique customer needs. The EV segment has the potential to spur massive convenience improvements in how customers service their vehicles — but weÂ’re not seeing the benefits yet." Matters are slightly worse for all owners, though, with labor and parts shortages contributing to longer wait times for service appointments. The CSI study surveys owners and lessees of one- to three-year-old vehicles to gauge their happiness with service at franchised dealer or aftermarket service facilities for maintenance or repair work. The criteria in order of importance are service quality (32%); service advisor (19%); vehicle pick-up (19%); service facility (15%); and service initiation (15%). Lexus retains the top spot for luxury brands, giving it three wins in four years. The Japanese automaker won in 2020 as well, its run interrupted by Porsche in 2021. Cadillac, Infiniti and Acura complete the luxury top 5.  For mass-market cars, Mitsubishi wins again after a victory in 2021 and falling to fourth last year. It's followed by Mazda, Buick, Subaru and Mini.  Considering the different service needs and service experience of different body styles, the study has broken results out by segment for the first time. Lexus earned a second victory thanks to winning the premium SUV segment, and Mitsubishi earned a second victory by winning the mass-market SUV/minivan category.

Junkyard Gem: 1991 Mitsubishi Mighty Max Super Max

While the Montero SUV sold well enough in the United States, Mitsubishi-badged pickup sales didn't quite measure up to those of their Toyota, Nissan, and Mazda rivals. Second-generation Mighty Maxes are hard to find, so this '91 in Colorado was worthy of inclusion in the Junkyard Gem canon. The ADX Florence Supermax federal prison is just 100 miles to the south of this self-service wrecking yard, but it opened several years after this truck was built. The garish lettering and striping has the look of a dealer-installed option package. Chrysler sold rebadged Mitsubishi pickups for decades, as the Plymouth Arrow and Dodge D-50/Ram 50. When Mitsubishi began selling vehicles under their own brand in the United States in 1982, the Triton pickup got the Mighty Max name. The Dodge Ram 50 always outsold its near-identical Mighty Max twin, but the debut of the all-Detroit Dakota in 1987 cut into Ram 50 sales; by 1995, truck shoppers who wanted a Mitsubishi pickup had no choice but the Mighty Max. After 1996, the Mighty Max was mighty gone. This one is quite solid and doesn't appear to have been wrecked, and the odometer shows a surprisingly low mileage figure for a 26-year-old Japanese pickup. The 2.4-liter 4G54 four-cylinder engine is gone, purchased by a junkyard shopper. This engine family went into everything from the Mitsubishi Galant to the Hyundai Sonata, not to mention the Chery V5. The sunroof has an aftermarket look, which fits with the SUPER MAX dealer-option theory. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Mitsubishi trucks were pitched as cheap, cheap, cheap in the United States.