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SUVs Mitsubishi Outlander Frank Assessment of Outlander LS
10 messages, Last post on Mar 13, 2009 at 1:45 PM
You are in the Mitsubishi Outlander Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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Hi, I just bought an outlander LS 2008 with V6. Here is my frank assessment. I'm not defensive about buying or not buying the car, I'm just telling it as it is, hopefully to help others. Overall: A car manufacturer needs to split the cost of producing the car into the mechanics (suspension, engine, steering etc.) and interior. The outlander expense is heavily weighted towards the former which suits me perfectly, but may not suit others. + Wonderful V6 engine mated to excellent 6 speed transmission. This was a huge incentive for me. The range is 20-30 mpg at highway. If you baby it you can get close to 30 but if you want to have fun you get closer to 20. + Trip computer is very useful. + Excellent handling, a little body roll but not too much. + Reasonably quiet interior on highway. Not Lexus quiet but very good. + Lots of space in front row, back row and luggage space. + Good standard stereo system (haven't heard people say that). + Lots of compartments + Nice exterior styling - Interior looks very cheap. The plastic panels on the door trim remind me of the very first Japanese cars. They appear to be a watery black. I can't imagine a cheaper looking plastic. - Seats aren't great, not sure they'll last 5 years. - Fabric on seats won't wear well. - Mitsubishi dealers are closing rapidly. You may have a drive to get serviced. - Plastic knobs for a/c look like they were bought from the cheapest possible Chinese manufacter. The cheapest Korean car has this quality of knob finish. - Can't see stereo system display in daylight. - CVT on ES model wasn't very nice to drive. Spend the $2K extra and get the V6 with only a slight loss in fuel economy in the city. Hwy economy can actually be better (depending on how you drive) since CVT mpg range is 20-27 and V6 is 20-30. Hope this helps. |
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"I can't imagine a cheaper looking plastic". Well put. I regret buying the 07 xls Outlander mostly for the cheap interior that does not hold up well and destroys the quality of sound of the Rockford Fosgate 650 watt stereo . It sounds terrible with the volume level past 20. Mitsubishi claims in the brochure that it's cabin is specially designed to match up with the Fosgate and it is simply not true. You can't surround a 10 inch subwoofer and speakers with with two dollars worth of plastic and get a decent sound. Sounds fine at a moderate volume but if you want to rock out and actually use the power of the system it let's you down big time in my experience I like the safety features and I hope they hold up in case of an accident. Gas mileage for me is fair to poor. I do live in the city so perhaps that is a reason but I average 19-20 and have never come even close to 30 no matter how I drive. My dealer closed with no notice. Wanted to get a copy of my service records but apparently I am only a valued customer when times are good. I won't buy Mitsubishi again. |
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Replying to: idavidson (Jan 18, 2009 4:28 pm) While I agree that this is a weak point of the Outlander for the very same reasons, take a look at the 2009 Forester, the mid trim with cloth seats, and you might find it even cheaper. I did, although it wasn't something I expected. So yes, IMO, there is one vehicle that I think it feels/is even cheaper on the interior than the Outlander. On the Outlander's cloth seats, mine is almost 2 years old, used every day and the cloth is still in very good condition. Some wrinkles on the driver seat left bolster from getting in and out, but nothing excessive. One other thing I'm kind of happy about it so far is that, despite all the hard plastic, it's pretty tight and I have no rattles. Again, better than the Forester and Rav4 which are plagued with rattles. In the end, Outlander's interior feels rather cheap compared to some of the other small CUV, but it's not the worst and thanks God it's not annoying. I still like it after 2 years of trouble free ownership. I hope it stays that way.
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I think you've done a good job with your outline. There are other neat little features that the Outlander has, like the tailgate and 4WD system too. I have an 08 XLS with the cloth seats so it is much like the LS, and I bought it for many of the reasons you had mentioned. I'm very pleased so far. The one thing that I disagree with is on the climate control knobs, and I guess I'm the only one since all the reviews rag on them too. I really like the size of the knobs and the detents, and they truly don't strike me as cheap either looking at them or using them. I guess I'm just calibrated to the low end on this. Excellent point about the dealers too. I'm worried about this. Two of the four closest Mitsu dealers have closed recently, and I'm really hoping my dealer hangs in there. |
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Replying to: idavidson (Jan 18, 2009 4:28 pm) Safety, utility, reliability, performance, price, warranty and good looks were more important to me. For 22K you won't find any other 4WD SUV with V6, 6spd auto (and paddle shifter), 18" alloys, 3 rows of seat, 10 years of powertrain warranty, good interior and cargo room, good fuel economy (on regular gas), good towing capacity, and keyless entry/ignition system , 6 CD changer, fog lights, blue tooth, TC, TPMS, ASC safety systems standard. At least I couldn't, back in 07.
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Replying to: piast (Jan 19, 2009 4:39 pm)  piast: "...trip computer which resets itself after 4 hours of inactivity." You know there is a Manual readout for the average fuel economy that can only be reset manually. It's cumbersome to access since the car must be parked, but it's there. Unfortunately the Auto mode mentioned is the default and it cannot be changed. |
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I've got 37,000 miles of hard driving on my 2007XLS V6 4W/D and no real problems to speak of. Just had to have the steering whell clock spring replaced as the click sound was driving me nuts. No squeeks,creaks,etc. 3 trips from southern FL to the Smokey mtn area 750 miles each way plus driving the crap out of it nearly every day a 100 or more miles there up & down every mtn I could find. Just the 2 times the 4WD overheated....just let it sit and it should be good to go. I wish they put in a transmission temp gauge. Can't believe the book says that if you smell it let it sit a while!!! If you're on the way DOWN the mtn you will find yourself with only 6th gear until it cools down. This happened while going up a paved road both times while the road was wet so I put it in 4WD for better traction. Dealer told me only to use 4WD in severe conditions&^%&#!!! I think the interior is great. Plastic is easy to wipe down or use a fuzzy duster ( keep one in the door pocket. Seats are holding up very well.  I just need good info re tire replacement as I'm going to the Smokey area the 1st week in April. Looking Hankook or Cooper. Got any ideas? 
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Replying to: dodo2 (Jan 18, 2009 6:11 pm) As soon as I sat in the XLS I got a feel of quality and solidness that was lacking in the Forester. I haven't looked closely the new Forester as I'm not shopping now. They would have had to make a substantial improvement to it to come up to the feel of the XLS.
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Looking at the pics I cannot see if middle section of the back seats are foldable or that is just an armrest/tray. Can anyone tell me?
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Replying to: bhw77 (Mar 13, 2009 6:59 am) |
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