Mitsubishi Lancer Problems

With ABS braking the wheels shouldn't be locking under any circumstances. If the ABS is working correctly when you reach the point of lock-up you should be able to feel a pulsation through the brake pedal, which tells you the brakes are being applied and released automatically to keep the wheels from locking up and skidding. It sounds like the system is not working, and you should have it checked.

It does sound like a computer related problem, as you say. Go back to the dealer and be assertive, let them know you are not happy and won't go away until the problem is fixed. By all means contact Mitsubishi direct and request the factory get involved.

Your car has a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), which is quite different to a conventional automatic transmission in the way it works. What you're observing is probably a characteristic of the CVT as the dealer has told you.

Consult an expert in the field to get an independent opinion and   then submit a full report expressing your disappointment with the   company, that rust is unacceptable in a car in this day and age and   that you believed Mitsubishi was a better corporate citizen than it   appears to be. For an expert try Graeme Cuthbert on 0422 444 335.

While it's past history now, you shouldn't have accepted the car when the dealer hadn't done what they'd agreed to do. That should have been fair warning that the dealer wasn't as good as his word,  and you should have walked away. And never, repeat NEVER, do verbal deals. The rattle could be pre-ignition, but you need to have a mechanic check it for you, and a specialist in Evos would be  preferable. As for the dealer, you need to persist and show that you won't go away. Also consider going to the state consumer affairs people.