We bought the car used from the second owner,who had had it since it was a year old. Mechanically, the car has only had reasonable problems. The paint, however, is a different story.

The Diamante ES is a wonderful car, at least for us. But..I asked the second owner how long the clearcoat had been gone from the roof, trunk, hood, and top of fenders. "Always", was the answer. It looks like someone had melted the clearcoat off, with a visible white, wavering milky line that goes all the way around the car about door handle height. I have also seen other dark colored Diamantes' with the same problem,though it is less visible on fair, lighter colored ones.

I have had the repaint priced at about $2500 for the "cheap" type of paint job. Though we love the car, that is insane for the age and miles on it.

It stuns me that a company like Mitsubishi, who make expensive, classy cars, would skimp on the most obvious and most visible badge of the company's quality; the eye candy.