Mitsubishi Magna TH (1999-2000)

Ahead of its time – Bought this car in 2004. Apart from standard servicing, all i've replaced is a headlight globe. That is it. With 300k on the clock she still runs like a dream. Smooth, good power, comfortable. It is still a daily drive. No oil leaks and uses a tiny amount of oil between servicing. In fact I'm so impressed I've bought a mint VRX TL for garaging. Show details

Great Car. Even though it's near 20 years old – I purchased my Magna for $850 back in July 2018, and with 5 months rego, what a bargain. Obviously at this price it needed some minor work. However after spending some money on it getting it mechanically sound again and ship shape, it now literally drives like a brand new car. Being a TH Sports Edition, with 288000 on the clock, damn, never before… Read more

have i had a car that drives this well, with this many kms on the clock. Handles great, drives like a sports car, and goes fast. Very impressed at a car with such age, could still be in the condition externally and internally and mechanically, goes like the clappers.

To make matter worse the bloke i brought it from hadn't looked after it, meaning no oil changes etc for over 4 years. After 2 seperate oil changes 1000km apart, everything is how it should be and after putting into a local mechanic for timing belt, fan belt, a couple of gaskets replaced and some other minor work like brakes, rotors etc, she is a brand new car again so to speak. I highly recommend this type of car to anyone looking for a reliable and exceptional run about.

Smooth ride and exceptional reliability – I am currently driving a 1999 Altera LS TH. I use this car for my job as I work in the community, I do transports and drive to people's houses. I recently hit over 200,000 KMs, and have done about 50k KMs in this car since I bought it. I've never had any break downs and it's never missed a beat. The only trouble I have is that it burns a bit of… Read more

oil, but I have heard for most V6 magnas, a lot have the same issue. Fuel efficiency wise, depends on how much travelling I am doing, but as a lot of it is starting and stopping, I can be putting a lot of fuel in over a period of 2 weeks ($100 - $150)... I enjoy my car and I love the power behind it, there is also plenty of room inside to stretch your legs.

I just wish it was a bit more fuel efficient and didn't burn through oil!

400,000ks+ magna – The car is perfect has over 425000 ks on the odo and it still runs like brandnew never had the gearbox or engine fixed or replaced has never been serviced and runs like a dream, still my favourite car and as a manual! Gears go through beautifully and will never regret my decision with the roomy interior  Show details

Probably Australia's most underrated car. Reliable. Comfortable. Powerful. Efficient – A lot of people like to bag magna's. They gained a negative reputation after the second series had gearbox problems. The third series is pretty much bullet proof and well above the Holden and Ford. The 3.5 litre engine is smooth and efficient. If you are looking for a cheap reliable used car, look for a Magna built after 1997 with one or two… Read more

owners and a full service history, and it will be hard to go wrong. My 99 Model has 215 000km now, and while it's getting pretty banged up on the outside, doesn't use a drop of oil or water between services and still drives very well.

Magna TH 2000. Good enough for a mechanic – I'm a mechanic so I get to see, repair and drive most cars so when I was after a cheap second family car I had no dramas buying a Mitsubishi Magna. It's easy to be put off buying a Mitsubishi if all you remember was the smokey and rattly old ones but from 1996 they got their act together and started building boring but reliable and much better… Read more

cars and the TE Magna model onwards was one of them. I went looking for a Magna and found myself a 1 owner TH 2000 Magna driven by a middle aged lady with log books proving that she was the original and only owner. I paid $3000 for it in February 2013 with only 117,000kms on it. It's an Executive LS 3.5 V6. Cruise control, ice cold air con, ABS brakes, factory alloys, grey in colour with the interior in as new condition. The car still drives like new, has no oil leaks or water leaks. These are great, cheap, reliable cars and are a much better drive than the equivalent Commodores or Falcons of the same age. The 3.5 V6's have plenty of grunt and are pretty economical for the engine size around town and down the highway I get 8.0l per hundred Km's. They are a smooth engine as well. Just make sure that you service them regularly with quality oil as they will sludge up inside if you miss oil changes and then get hydraulic lifter noises. The 4 speed auto's aren't the smoothest trannies going around so make sure it shifts smoothly and doesn't hold onto gears for too long.

In summary, these are great quality underrated cars that can be bought for next to nothing. Find a low km car out there and buy it. Since most were bought by families or the elderly there is plenty of good ones left out there. Smooth grunts engine, cheap to buy, decent quality, comfy interior. The 4 speed automatic gearboxes aren't the smoothest. Some engines have oil leaks

Excellent – We have two Magna's a 1998 TF and a 1999 TH Sports (mine). My wife always wanted a VT Commodore wagon, so I bought her one, we still have it, but it's for sale, what a hunk of junk compared to the TF Altera wagon I bought her to replace it. All good for me as the VT is worth over $6000.00 and I paid just $2000.00 for her Altera. Once she drove her… Read more ·  1

new Magna the Commodore didn't stand a chance of being used ever again. I am a qualified mechanic and I have NEVER had the heads off any V6 Magna, valve stem seals being the exception, but still no need for head removal. My Sports is brilliant, Tiptronic auto, power everything except seats.

We have now owned six Magna's overall ranging from the old TM, TP, TR, TS, TF, TH, all have been fantastic cars, granted the early series were worrisome in regards to the auto's and the #4 cylinder corroding the most rearward water jacket in the head, also they were not brilliant on fuel. The later series are a different breed altogether and almost completely flawless.

Being a mechanic I work on all makes and model of vehicle, Magna's are my lowest income, highest being Ford (all models) Commodore (all series) I won't touch anything from Korea so I can't comment. I used to be a Datsun/Nissan man, I had owned Ford's, Holden's, Toyota's, Jeep's, even had one Mazda (one was enough). Last year I sold my 1971 Mach 1 Mustang as even though I got great people response from it, I got no pleasure driving it, the same applied with my 1967 Mercury Cougar. I still own a Jeep, a 1997 XJ Limited. I will eventually sell my Sports, but only to replace it with a 380 VRX. I love my Magna, my wife loves hers and the kids no longer have to worry about breaking their wrists trying to wind up the crappy Commodore windows. We have a 98 TF Altera wagon, and a 99 TH Sports. Altera is very comfortable, quiet, smooth, economical, reliable and quite powerful. My TH Sports is all of the above with the exception of harsher ride, but it is a Sports after all. Great lighting, smooth and reliable power windows, Reliable AC, finger tip cruise control, also reliable. Great road feel on both cars, but the TCL (traction control) is a great feature on the sports as the Altera will sit spinning if floored. Large cargo/boot area. My overall score is 8/10 one point deducted for poor turning circle and one for poor resale value, although I don't see that as a flaw as buying a used Magna is cheap and brilliant buying. To sum up, without doubt the best and most reliable car I have ever owned. Poor turning circle, poor resale value.

Excellent – I have a 2000 TH 3.5litre Magna Advance lowered on cheap king coil sport suspension it looks great and handles awesome also with a $200 sports exhaust it has a great note to it. Love this car it's so fast and at 120km I can put my foot down and it takes off great for overtaking on the highway. I've had it for 5yrs and put 100.000ks on it and it… Read more

still drives like new has never let me down apart from the drivers electric window and the battery and believe it or not I'm ashamed to admit it I've never put the car in for a service ever I change the engine oil myself and top the radiator up when needed. Just keeps going now has 230000 on the clock and just keeps going beautifully. Love it. Powerful, fast of the mark, great for highway overtaking. Reliable, good on fuel. Bad turning circle.

OK – Overall it's a good car. Other people I know rave over them, and I'm convinced that Magna and Camry are both on par, with Holden and Ford still a country mile behind for quality. I would buy another one, but I'll wait and see what the new Magna is going to be like before I commit to anything there. Power. Economy. Size. Silence. Brakes. It's… Read more

quite happy to take off gently, but if you put your foot down, it certainly gets very mobile very quickly. But that's the same for all big sixes I guess. We averaged 8.0 L/100km on the return trip Newcastle to Melbourne. The boot is ginormous. I bought mine ('99 Altera LS 3.5L) 3.5 years old at the start of 2003 from a Mitsubishi dealer. The main problem I've had with it that could be attributed to Mitsu is the radio. It (was) a single CD and tape (double DIN configuration - this means it's twice the height of a normal radio/CD). It was a nice radio, and looked the part in the dash. Not too long after I got the car, the CD started trying to spit out a CD even if there wasn't one in there. When warm, it would spit back out most cds you put in there. I tried cleaners, and some eventual "percussive" maintenance (hitting it) but to no avail. I priced another replacement but it was about $600 (rip off). In the end I ripped it out and put 'ole faithful Sony Xplod and Sony 10stack in there (but that's another product review story). Other nags are no 60/40 split rear seats (only a wanky "ski port" - good for fishing rods). Some times the trip computer is hard to see during the day, but gets BRIGHTER when you turn the headlights on, which I don't understand. It's not a Verada.

Good – We bought a 99 model brand new it has been a brilliant car had no trouble at all it just keeps on going my husband drives it to work everyday pretty good on the fuel as well it has hardly cost us a cent Nice to drive and reliable Not enough leg room in the back Show details