It was an ad in the newspaper. I had to drive a bit to get to the dealer with the ad. I had test driven the cars at a local dealer and tried to get him to match the price. He said no way. The sales manager tried to convince me that they would do a bait and switch. I called the dealer with the ad. Got a salesman to quote me the price of the car on the phone. Went down and purchased the car. I was totally paranoid that they were going to try and pull something on me. They did not try anything. They did not evey try to sell me an extended warranty or the "Permanent" wax. They did swear up and down that they were loosing money on the car, but they said it was cheaper than paying the 1% a month interest that they have to pay on their inventory. I even paid consumer repts for the the new car quote that lists any dealer holdbacks. I of course am not sure of any behind the scene deals, but they let me pick between any of the 5 Montero's on the lot and the price was msrp minus 9k.

 

Thanks a lot. I guess I will have to watch the ads at the end of the year. Thanks again.

 

You must remember, it is all supply and demand. The dealers got stuck with a bunch of Montero's they could not sell in '03. You gotta believe they drastically reduced the orders for Monty's the next year. No dealer wants to sell a car for that big of a discount. I did not see the adds at the end of '04, but then again that dealer was out of business. Who knows what will happen this year.

 

I know what you mean. I will see where I can get a good deal in the Chicago area then. Thanks for the advice.

 

I have question to Winshawn, you mention the 01 and 02 have the driveline Yoke problem, what is it? where it located. do you able to replace the part with the o3 model. I have 01 montero limited, and have the clunk noise problem when the car acceleration. the dealer show me the tech notes from Mit tech center, said it is a normal noise (it is true). How it will damage the car in the long run. they said the noise come from the movement of the rear differential.

I would like to have the problem fix. because of the noise, I bought the warranty up to 90k, mine now have 59k, and i love the trunk so much. if the noise can fix, i know the dealer doesn't do anything at this point because still under warranty 59000k. if the noise is normal noise, and just make you anoy, i like to cancel the extend warranty.

This SUV is a truck, it is easier to roll over than a car. people should change their driving behavior when they drive the SUV. that why the sport car has low center gravity. I am not worry about roll over as long as you give the speed limit.

The truck is very comfortable when driving, the seat has a lot of room, and i love the moon roof
The mantainent the truck is expensive, I believe it happens to all the suv with the price over 30K

 

That is what I have learned from various forums. I do not recall exactly where I read about that clunking problem. I remember you asking about it before. I do not have that problem on my '03. I have read that Mitsu calls the noise normal, but '03 and on do not have the problem. I do not know the exact source or mechanism for the noise. Honestly, when I said it was from the yoke, I was guessing.

 

I own a 1996 Gen2 and a 2004 Gen3. They are the best trucks on the road. Considering the fact that they won the Dakkar race numerous times...they're a very capable vehicles. I'm new on this board and I belong to California 4wheel drive association for almost 3years now, and let me tell guys something. You can't mess with this vehicle. This vehicle is a bad ***!(excuse my french). I went wheeling one time against and H2 and I outclimb him several times. Thats too bad that they're replacing this model with some truck. But, I'll always be a mighty montero fan! Peace!!

 

FYI, the 3.8L engine in the Montero DOES have variable length intake runners. Take a look

Joel, CA