Mitsubishi Triton 2018 Problems

Diagnosing electrical problems remotely is a hiding to nowhere, but conventional wisdom says the wiring, earths and related switches are the first place to start. But modern vehicles also rely on body computers to control some of these functions, so that's worth a check, too.

I can only hope you raised and logged this issue with Mitsubishi when it first started happening. If you did, you have what's called a pre-existing condition under the factory warranty terms. If the problem first surfaced five years ago, that would place the flickering occurring from about 2019. Which means, as a 2018 vehicle, it would have been covered by the Mitsubishi warranty. Even if the car subsequently runs out of warranty, a pre-existing condition is still legally required to be fixed by the car's manufacturer.

DPF technology is fast becoming the bane of turbo-diesel owners. The filter is designed to trap some of the nasty exhaust emissions of a diesel engine and then automatically burn them off at high temperature periodically, emptying the filter in the process. But way too often, this isn’t happening according to the script and filters are either clogging up, requiring a manual clean-out or, in extreme cases, complete replacement.

This is possibly what’s happened to your car and explains why both the DPF and check-engine light have illuminated. It’s the car’s way of telling you you need to act. While it’s generally true that vehicles like yours that do more highway kilometres than city running have fewer DPF problems, all turbo-diesel fitted with such a filter have the potential to give trouble. An electronic scan of the Triton should show whether the DPF and check-engine light are related.

It all depends on whether you have the petrol or turbo-diesel version of the Triton, Jeff. If it’s the more common turbo-diesel engine, it’s fitted with a timing chain which should last the life of the engine.

But if you have a very late-2018 build example of the Triton cab-chassis with the 2.4-litre petrol engine, then it will be fitted with a toothed timing belt which should be replaced at least every 100,000km.

Normally my advice would be to buy the newest car with the lowest kilometres and in the best condition. In this case that would be the Triton, which would also comes with what remains of the factory warranty, but on all other counts I would go with the Ranger. The Ranger appears to be in good condition, the kilometres are low for the year, and the service history is just what you want.

You’ve pretty much covered the field there, so it should come down to what you want from your car. Do you want comfort, safety, fuel efficiency, offroad capability, cabin space? If you are mostly driving on the highway, then a diesel SUV is probably the best bet. I would rule out a dual-cab ute because of comfort, unless you need the flexibility a ute gives you. I would rule out a hybrid, they’re not at their most efficient on the highway; they’re better suited to town use. Based on your annual mileage I wouldn’t keep the car any more than 3-4 years, that way you’ll have a decent resale value when you get out of it.