Mitsubishi Lancer Problems

Air-bags deploy according to what force the crash places on the car. There’s no hard and fast rule to this, because no two crashes are the same. So, the sensors that tell the air-bags to deploy take into account the amount of deceleration involved and compare that with a threshold reading to decide whether to deploy the bags or not.

A car travelling at very low speed that noses into a wire-rope barrier, for instance, may not decelerated sufficiently for the bags to go off. But the same car, travelling at the same low speed that is hit by a moving car coming the other way, is much more likely to deploy its air-bags.

And just because the side air-bags have deployed in a crash, doesn’t necessarily mean the front air-bags will also be deployed. Sometimes the front bags will go off in sympathy with the side air-bags, but if there was not sufficient forward deceleration, the front ones should remain intact.

However, the tule of thumb is this: In Australia, air-bags are designed to deploy at speeds above about 25km/h and, in the case of front air-bags, in any impact within roughly 30 degrees of the car’s direction of travel at the time.

It will be one of the following: ES, LS, Exceed, VR-X, or Evo. It’s unlikely that it will be a VR-X or an Evo, which are the performance models. It should have badges on it to identify it as an ES, LS, or Exceed. If not check the id plate. To find the location of the plate refer to your owner’s manual.

Typically it’s around $500.

Yes, it was fitted with an engine immobiliser from the factory.

It’s unlikely, more likely it’s a problem with the throttle body. Have it cleaned out and the idle reset if needed.

The best way to replace your keys depends on the year, but there are cheap alternatives you can read about here.

The Mazda3 and Holden Astra are both good alternative choices, but you could also consider a Toyota Corolla or Kia Rio or Cerato.

If you want a cheap and reliable small car go for something like a Hyundai i30, Kia Rio, Toyota Corolla, or Mitsubishi Lancer.

Don’t buy a Focus, they are plagued with automatic transmission troubles, don’t buy a Holden Cruze either, as they also have problems with their automatic transmission. The Lancer is fine; you could also look at a Mazda 3 or Toyota Corolla.