Mitsubishi Outlander Service Costs

costello1 · June 2010

I got a price on my 30k service for my XLS 4wd V6 Outlander . Can someone tell me if this is a fair price since I don't do any work on my cars myself .

For $399.00 they will do:

oil change and filter , rotate tires ,change air, fuel and PVC valve, flush the tranny and coolant . They said it would take about 4.5 hours to do.

I plan on keeping this unit for at least 2 or more years because of the warranty and I really like the car.

solowalker · June 2010

I have 50K on my 07 Outtie....All I ever do is change my motor oil and filter every 5K. I got my tires from Discount Tire and they give me free rotation every 5K. If you don't live in a dusty area and don't pull a trailer and don't abuse the vehicle, I wouldn't get the tranny fluid changed until it starts to get discolored probably around 70K. New coolant, I may put in at 60K but at 50K now it still looks good and green... Air filter I change every 30K...AutoZone will install it for you free as a courtesy.
I change my own oil and filter but you could get it done at Quickylube for $25 or so...That with the air filter will cost you $40 tops....$399 is too much at the dealership...You have a 100K warranty on the outtie's drive train so keep the oil and filter changed regulary and change the air filter at AutoZone and you will have no problems getting your Outtie to last..I trade my cars every 100K and I have full confidence attaining that 100K on my '07..

Good Luck

fushigi · June 2010

To keep that 100K warranty in effect you need to do the routine maintenance as stated in the owners manual. If it states a trans fluid change every 30 or 50K and you don't change it until you feel it needs it (at 70K per your example), Mitsu could legitimately deny warranty coverage should you have a trans failure. Maintaining the vehicle is stated in the warranty details as necessary to keep the warranty valid; this is true of all automakers.

That said, many dealerships & other shops pad the routine intervals with unnecessary items. To the OP, feel free to tell them to do only what Mitsu says is required & refer to your manual to determine what that is.

batman47 · June 2010

What is the PVC valve for? The Outlander has something called EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation). Is it the same? Could you find out about it? The cost of an Outlander EGR is near $300. My previous Hyundai Tucson had something called Pressure Valve Control (PVC) that it is easy to replace and the cost of the valve is relatively cheap. The PVC in the Tucson has similar functionality than the EGR. Have you checked that the dealer has indeed changed the PVC or the EGR?

possible · September 2010

Batman, I would really check around on the price of these polution devices, especially from a dealer. A lot of these dealers are hurting bad and looking for anyway to improve the bottom line. But if you want to keep the dealer in business so you have them there when you really need them then pay the freight.

comem47 · October 2010

Just an FYI: I don' t drive my 2007 LS 4X4 much (only 26K miles) and I was going to fail NYS safety inspection at the local brake/muffler place because my rear brakes were paper thin (just short of contacting the rotors). Seemed like an awfully short time for rear brakes, since they only get about 30% of the load, but the service person pointed out since I have the car outdoors and don't drive it enough things had frozen up . They had a bear of a time freeing up the caliper bracket. Might want to inspect those rears, if your driving under similar conditions. (I paid way too much having them do it on the spot, figuring pads can't cost hat much, right? .(Got home and they were marked up over twice what the most expensive ceramics are at the auto parts store, plus about $100 labor ....I can say there was a lot of work besides normal swapping of pads and greasing the caliper track).

toomanyfumes · October 2010

When I had new tires put on at about 35K I checked the brakes and the front pads looked kinda thin. I've been meaning to put new pads on but haven't yet. I checked local parts stores, they all have them in stock for reasonable prices.

batman47 · October 2010

I wouldnt advise to use a dealership garage to do routine works on your car. Generally garages (with a few exceptions) are expensive and generally prey on owners with little or no knowledge of how cars work as a whole. For many years I have suffered frustrations of the poor workmanship of the mechanic technician working for these garages. I dont want to enumerate details of my disappointment but hard reality has pushed me to learn elementary car care maintenance that has save me hundreds of dollars.

There is too much appraisal for these young technicians who usually have a boss that controlling time management of their technician. Usually technicians dont follow repair procedures published in manuals for specific cars. They dont apply recommended torque to the hundreds of components in the car (bolts, nuts, etc). They just use brute force to torque instead of using a calibrated torque wrench.

In order to service my own cars I had to read some books and the advent of the internet has facilitated my job of servicing my cars and feeling happy after performing the job. Popular Mechanics title: Complete Car Care Manual (ISBN 978-1-58816-723-1) can be ordered from Amazon. This book which is easy to read gives you general procedures for many service tasks. However this book is not car specific. I got 2-CDs for my Outlander GT. The CD (1) called Service Manual 2010 can be ordered through your local Mitsubishi dealer or online from: www.helminc.com. This CD is for workshop and DIY people. Instructions are clear and need only secondary school background. The CD (2) is related to part numbers of all the components in your Outlander ($30). The diagrams of each component systems are well explained with information of what parts (or components) are re-usable with recommended torque for each part. You may order the disc from Russia at: www.o2epc.com. You may click the part in the diagram and the software returns the part# of that component. With the part number you may indicate to your dealer to order that part for you or you can order online. You may Google with search word OEM Mitsubishi parts.

I have done my own service of my Lexus SC300 for more than 10-years. I was forced to do this due to the very high cost to service this car.

I have learnt to do the following services:

1- Engine oil & filter & gasket
2- Cabin air refresher filter
3- Engine air filter
4- Brake service (front & rear)-Order complete kit (shims & clips) not only brake pads
5- Brake fluid bleeding
6- Steering fluid draining & filling
7- Automatic transmission fluid draining & filling
8- Differential fluid draining & filling
9- Coolant draining & filling
10- Wheel rotation
11- Jacking up (using jacking points)
12- Understanding to read elementary electrical diagrams
13- Removal & installation of new lower suspension arms
14- Removal & installation of new shock absorber and springs
15- Using silicone oil/grease to lube all the bushes (e.g. rubber-metal) of suspension components
16- Removal and installing stabilizer bar end links
17- Etc

You need to buy a good set of combination tools (e.g. From Sears or Wal-Mart costing under $100) and also a few torque wrenches

I am pretty old now and I found out that I dont have the strength to undo some nuts or bolts that may be corroded. In my last job I couldnt take off a nut from a corroded bolt suspension arm. I called a mobile mechanics/electrician from a telephone directory and he cut the bolt with his crosscut saw. This young man even helped me to torque a component in a difficult area under the car. He just charged me $25 including making the cigarette lighter and radio, of my wifes small car, operative again.

Mitsubishi garages get their money not because of the sales of cars but by servicing cars. Usually the majority of dealerships charge about $90 per hour. They usually dont do a careful job. For example, the change of brake pads needs the retracting of the caliper cylinder, so the caliper as a whole can go back to its original position with the new brake pads. Almost all technicians (although the repair manual say dont do this) loosen the bleeding nipple nut and drain freely an amount of brake fluid. The brake fluid is highly corrosive and spreads out to the rotor disc (front or rear) damaging the silver and new look appearance of your rotor discs. Your car body can have a very new look because of waxing and washing but it is let down by looking onto your wheels which show corroded rotor discs. This is just an example.

comem47 · October 2010

Batman, I am in general agreement with all you say except there generally is a price advantage between using the brake/muffler shops vs the authorized dealers that can be realized if you don't do the job yourself. An example is my wife's 2006 Malibu Maxx is starting to wear on a front lower ball joint (serviceable only as a control arm with bushings and joint). The wear is still not enough to fail inspection, but I went and priced options. The Chevy dealer wants something like $230 for the part, and $120 for labor and then almost $70 for a 4 wheel alignment. (we're talking about $420 total. The brake/ muffler shop who did the inspection said it would be a little over $100 for the part and about $100 labor (I didn't ask about the alignment). Last of all I can get the part locally for $103 at the auto parts store or online for $77 with $10 shipping. I plan to do it myself as I have the tools (I have lots of tools accumulated over about 30 yrs of working on cars and usually I only farm out what I know I can't do unless it's still covered by warranty- which for the most part my Outlander is). I saved over $2000 doing ball joints on my wife's old Durango and my old Dakota vs the dealer quote on crappy ball joints known to fail just outside of warranty (just paid for a front end alignment after). The dealer would have put the same crappy lube for life joints that fail in 30K back in, vs I used the best grease-able joints from MOOG. I can see paying for quality labor, (as you said often the labor is sub-par), but the way they mark up parts per my example above is ridiculous. The brake/muffler places are absurd on brake job prices and I usually do it all per my local auto parts store with Chinese rotors which I found to work just fine at substantial savings over Bendix. I only let the brake/muffler shop do the brakes on the Outlander the other day because it's something excluded from the Outlander warranty as a wear item and I knew they had all the tools for the frozen/rusty parts and I needed it fixed ASAP and to pass inspection as I got a long trip coming up in a few days that extends beyond the end of the month. (I really should have inquired about the brake pads price first though as they soaked me on that and I assumed it wouldn't be so bad as when the also do rotors and the whole 9 yards). I'm astounded when my stepdaughter has gotten quotes for brakes at near $1K for all 4 wheels (It's not rocket science to do these oneself). I do usually let the shops do mufflers (especially in winter) as while I do own a torch, I don't have a lift and lying on a cold garage floor with slush/road-salt falling in one's face isn't fun). I already have the 2007 Outlander service manual in PDF form and am about to purchase the Malibu manual (DVD).

Mitsubishi Outlander Service Costs

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