Hi, I’m looking at a 00 Montero Sport XLS with 45,000 miles on it. It’s gonna be an overland rig. What kinda of preventative maintenance should I be prepare for? I’ve also been looking at sequoias and most of there maintenance is timing belts and radiators. What kind of reliability should I expect as I’ve never owned a Mitsubishi let alone a Montero.

Here is a link to the car in question

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...3064/overview/

 

45k miles - that's brand new! You barely got it dusty with that mileage. I would not hesitate to get that one for a minute.

 

I bought mine new in 2001 w/ 3.0 4x4. It has approx 250Kon it and has passed califorina smog to date. The only thing I had to replace was timing chain(waterpump hoses and belts at the same time) Gets 20 mpg hwy since new,still does. The drive was 60 mi per day from elevation 100 ft to 3500 ft and return each day. Always keep rpm 2000 to 2500 when cruising. I think thats close to 60-70.. The wife always got 18-19 cause of the way she uses the pedal. Its easier to just let her drive her way...I tried to mansplain to her,but...

 

Don't ever go there, unless you are ready to use your Monero as a daily driver AND a daily lodging facilities

 

Hello Hunter, I glanced though here several months ago an seems like I saw a post of yours saying that your engine puked? and its mileage was in the 240 K range?. If not what was it? I recall talking to a couple mechanics that would tell me that the monterosport had few problems seemd pretty reliable. That is what I have experienced with my two. One since new in 01 and the other used,Ive had for 5 years,Im guessing without looking it up.

 

Yep, I had a misfortune just about a year ago to have the engine go into a destructive disassembly mode. I had an uncontrolled preignition detonation on cylinder #5. Wasn't able to figure out what caused it. Melted the #5 cylinder, scored the wall a bit. Knowing that the rest if the vehicle is in good shape, I wanted to fix it. I was not able to find a good low mileage replacement engine at the price I was willing to pay, so I ended up rebuilding my engine locally. I found a good reputable engine builder who overbored the cylinders 0.005", put in new pistons/rings/connecting rods/bearings, and checked that all valves were good (needed two valve guides and new valves on #5). All in all, I got a brand new short block. Reassembled the rest myself (with all new gaskets, seals, oil pump and finally very first replacement of the OEM water pump).
Montero runs as smooth as the day we bought it. Basically zero miles on the engine. With the COVID pandemic, we didn't travel much this year, so I didnt put many miles on it yet, but it's been about 3k miles since rebuild. All is good and happy. It looks like I have an oil leak on the back camshaft cover on the passenger side. Got to get that fixed one of these days, but other than that I'm very happy. I hope to get couple more hundred thousand out of it

 

Well,thats good to hear. Like you,I like my sports,especially since Ive had no problems with either. I should think of selling more seriously. they both just have sat for 3 years with 4000 miles per yr divided by the 2. Later