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New Mitsubishi Outlander Owners Give us your report
tidester
Member Posts: 10,059
in Mitsubishi
Are you a new proud owner of an Outlander? Tell us all about it here!
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I'm glad I waited. Mitsubishi did a good job with the redesign. The V6 delivers plenty of punch. Mileage could be better but is reasonable. Interior is quiet. The build quality is fantastic, 100% Japanese parts content and built in Japan. Lots of storage and cupholders.
Base stereo with 6 CD changer is decent. Bonus that it plays MP3s. I love the voice activated bluetooth. It works seamlessly with my Motorola Razr phone. Just say 'Call", "Phonebook", "Dial" etc to make a phone call and the unit responds even on noisy road surfaces.
3rd row seat though only for small kids, is nice to have and stows into the floor when not in use. Easy to setup and stow. I like the fact that the headrests fold and tuck into the seats during storage. No need to yank the headrests out and store them separately such as those in the Honda Pilot.
The two piece tail gate is wonderful, no heavy single door to lift or even worse, that opens to the side. I love the keyless locks. Just walk up to the car and it automatically unlocks. No key needed for the ignition, just twist the knob. If the battery on the remote dies, you can remove key that's integrated into the remote, pop the knob off the ignition and insert the key to start the car.
What other car in this price class let's you switch from FWD to AWD to 4WD? I think only the Outlander offers this feature and not the RAV4, Santa Fe or CR-V. I use this regularly, keeping it in FWD and saving gas when the road is dry and switching to AWD when it rains.
The interior could be better, bit too much hard plastic surfaces. Surprised there is no lighted vanity mirror. Power drivers seat should be standard in the XLS trim. Don't care for the black interior in my car, it shows dust too easily.
I've read someone complain that the Outlander bobs and weaves during acceleration and braking. I don't feel that. During hard acceleration, I feel myself pushed back into the seat, not a bobbing sensation. This is an awesome vehicle and I don't think the competition holds a candle to this vehicle. Go get one.
I hope to find a dealer close enough in my area who has a graphite gray XLS, so far I haven't got someone who got it in their lot. They can dealer swap though but I don't think I can bargain for a lower price for a dealer swapped vehicle. The usual dealer talk that it costs them money getting the car I want blah blah. So I am doing the hunt for myself, and perhaps save a few hundred bucks.
I don't notice the nose diving when I brake. But then I don't slam the brakes when I stop. Everyone who rides with me comments positively on the firm but not overly busy ride. This car is built on the next generation Lancer and does not ride like a big boat SUV.
Yes, the paddle shifters are fun to play with. You can also shift with the gear selector on the console if you prefer that. The shift points with the automatic are just fine. For now I'm using the full automatic. I find that I have a tendency to rev the engine when I shift manually and according to the owner's manual high revs needs to be minimized during the break in period.
I hope to find a dealer close enough in my area who has a graphite gray XLS, so far I haven't got someone who got it in their lot. They can dealer swap though but I don't think I can bargain for a lower price for a dealer swapped vehicle.
Based on my experience, don't think you can't negotiate with a dealer swapped vehicle. Initially I was told it would cost $100 to acquire the vehicle from another dealer locally but once the salesperson realized I was serious about buying the car he dropped all mention of that charge. Ultimately I did not have to do a swap, I decided to get the graphite grey that was on the lot.
That's good, the 6 speed sportronic trans are just what I imagined them to be then. The revvs should be a lot less annoying than the 4spd CRV I am driving now. For someone like me who is used to drive manual, it becomes second nature to reach for the stick shift when you can sense the revvs go up.
Yes.
Can you give us some numbers?
And some dealers won't do a swap without a firm commitment either.
There's more here if you do a "dealer swap" search - quite a bit shows up in the Dealer Holdback questions discussion.
For some light "Not the best time to be a car salesman" reading this weekend, check out the link/story in Straightline.
I have not noticed nose divng during braking, and I have had to slam on the brakes several times due to deer wanting to cross the road in a hurry.
I paid well below what I should have, my friend owns the dealership! Got lucky on that one.
Does anyone else who has the XLS with 18" tires "feel the road" more through the steering wheel? By the way, I am in Pennsylvania so the roads here are not that great.
Thank you.
Holdback is just one way the dealer makes money on a deal - there may be other spiffs, bonuses, free trips and cruises and enhanced model allocations that will go to a dealer or salesperson for selling a car that you'll never know about. The sales staff may not even know what bonuses are in play for their manager.
One strategy is to figure out an out the door price you are comfortable with and stick to that number. Maybe even do the deal by email or fax after the test drive and finding the car on the lot - that way everything is in writing and hopefully there will be fewer surprises.
There's a whole 'nother chapter about picking up the new car in broad daylight and trying to give it a good going over to make sure there aren't any dings, repaired areas, missing fobs etc. (it's tough to do sometimes, since you get frustrated tying to get through the F&I mop & glow stuff when you really just want to go cruising around town in your new ride).
Check out the Tips & Advice pages here if you haven't already and don't miss Confessions of a Car Salesman.
Tidester probably knows some great buying discussions over in Smart Shopper to skim.
Can you give us some numbers?
I've not done any calculations yet. I'm basing this on my the readout from the dashboard reading that tells you what your average mpg is.
Driving at a steady speed on country roads around 40 mph the displays shows I'm averaging 17 mpg. On the highway around 60 mph I'm averaging 24 mpg.
Here's the rub. The factory sticker says the mileage estimate is 19 city 22 highway. However, Edmunds and the www.fueleconomy.gov says 19/26 for the 4WD Outlander. Which is correct? If the my car's computer is correct, I should be getting close to the government numbers once the engine is broken in.
I think nothing really beats doing the math yourself. I have seen this very simple technique before in a commercial for a "gas saver" device. First fill the tank until full, the pump auto shuts off. Note the mileage reading on the dash, or let the trip odometer run. Drive your car as you would do normally, consuming a tank full of that gas, but make sure you'll have enough left to go back to that same gas pump to refuel (just to keep the "pump factor" constant in the equation). At the pump, before refueling, read how many miles was run on that tank of gas. Then fill it up again until the pump shuts-off automatically. Simple math: miles run/gallons filled=actual mileage. Only then will you know the true mileage. You can then do this on every refuel you do, and get an average number for your mileage.
Gripes -
Visors feel VERY cheap, are not lighted, and do not extend the lenth of the window.
Side mirrors should be heated on a car with heated leather seats.
Automatic rear mirror is not available (again, should at least be an option on a $30k car).
Nav system - Display of street names on background could be clearer (and is much clearer on our MDX). POI database is really small. System does not speak the name of streets you need to turn on.
Stuff I Love -
Car handles great. Acceleration is very good.
Leather seats are very comfortable.
Bluetooth integration works very well and includes an on-screen caller ID display.
Dial to switch from 2WD to 4WD to 4WD lock works great - tested this weekend driving on a loose gravel roadway.
HID headlights - great.
FAST Key - If you get this feature, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it!
NAV system - hard drive based system is super quick at recalculating routes.
Hard drive MP3 player - works nicely at burning / replaying CDs. I still need to test the "delete" function and find out if there's a way to tell it to *not* copy every CD that is put in the drive.
Fold out hatch - Great place to change out of your muddy hiking boots. The clamshell shaped trunk will definitely make loading / unloading easier and using it as a seat is a great bonus.
Price paid - Invoice.
Yup, noticed that the around 60 mph it's turning at approximately 2000 RPM.
Do you happen to know if the system is capable of "encoding" music in formats other than MP3 to the hard drive? For example, does the Music Server let you say opt to put the music files on the hard drive as Ogg Vorbis, or MP4 files... instead of the typical MP3?
Also, has anyone considered replacing the 30GB hard drive that comes standard with a larger one... in order to further increase music storage capacity? (Note: Doing this may or may not void the warranty, so even if it's possible to do this I do not recommend doing it... I was just curious if it was possible).
This is pretty low, isn't it? It sounds like an effortless ride.
I paid invoice, and received a good trade-in value, so I am happy with my purchase so far.
If this could hold true in my case then that means a 4WD XLS with Nav, Sun&Sound, Luxury, and Accessory Protection packages would weigh in at just under $28,856, or about $2,000 under MSRP. Subtract from that the $500 college grad rebate and that would bring the total to around 28,356. Sounds like a good deal to me for everything you would get given this case. Of course, this would be the best-case scenario and may or may not be likely.
I received another call from my local Mitsu dealership today asking me when I'm gonna come in... but I'm still trying to resist the temptation to visit the lot until I'm sure my finances are in order. It's just killing me though... I really want to see this thing in real life! Chances are good, however, that I'll "give in" soon and go over to the dealership for a look. I only hope I'll be able to show some self-control as far as the wallet is concerned! :P
I'd totally agree. Mine came with beige, and I love it.
I chose the blue color, which the dealer didn't have on the lot, but said he could get it for me. I waited a few hours whilst he went and picked up the car and prepared it for me whilst I signed the paperwork. I was shocked when I went out to the car, because instead of blue, the car looked violet/purple to me. My wife also thought that the car was not blue and we agreed that neither of us liked the color at all, so we asked the dealer to switch it to the graphite color. They agreed to swap out the car, so we hung around for another few hours whilst they sourced the car and prepared that one for us. All in all, it took around 8 hours at the dealers, but that was partly our own fault.
As for the car, we both love the looks of it from the outside. Not too minivan-ish!!!
I took it for a test drive and was impressed with the handling and response. The paddles were fun to use and definitely more useful than the ones on my then current Saab model. I did notice a little wind noise on the highway which I'm guessing was coming off the roof rails, but then again, the car comes with a 650W stereo to fix that problem
As for gripes, no homelink, no memory seat(s), no telescoping steering wheel and no auto dimming rear view mirror, all which are pretty much standard on cars approaching $30K. Also in the negative column, is the fact that you can only record to the music server using a music CD. There is no option to copy existing MP3 files straight from CD to the HD. Ripping from CD, even at 4x speed takes 10-15 mins per CD. At 2500 songs, we're talking 40+ hrs here ! The G35 had a flashcard slot to assist with file transfer. Also, I couldn't find a quick way to pause/stop a CD, or the music server. Finally, the radio is a bit disappointing. Despite having Sirius built into the Nav system, the normal radio doesn't support RDS information. All you see in the frequency of the station and not the station name, track, artist, etc. I'm guessing they want to force you to a Sirius subscription if you want that, despite the fact that a number of radio stations do broadcast that information.
On the whole, it's still so far so good
you can only record to the music server using a music CD. There is no option to copy existing MP3 files straight from CD to the HD.
From the manual, this limitation seem to be a legal matter, rather than technical. To add to those legal limitations, MP3 files stored on the HDD can not be played on any other platform.
Ripping from CD, even at 4x speed takes 10-15 mins per CD
I believe this one is a technical issue. We know for a fact that MP3 compression requires some processing power. For a consumer product which does not have the power of a Core 2 Duo, I would say that speed is decent enough.
I had this SUV for a week now, and I'm halfway the break-in period of 500 miles. So far, so good. I have yet to meet another 07 Outlander on the road near our area. So yes, it's always a smile when people start "checking out" the car at the stop light
L
Just for grins, last night I took an album folder that had been ripped from a CD to MP3 format and used Windows Media Player to re-create an audio CD from the MP3 files. I then took the newly burned audio CD and put it into the Outlander. The player was quite happy to play and record the newly minted audio tracks. What really surprised me was that the player was able to identify and label the album and the track information!! Normally the player uses the disk ID string and compares that to the CDDB database on the HD. There is no way that the reconstituted audio CD would have the same ID as the original music CD, so the player must be using some other mechanism to retrieve the track information. I thought perhaps that it was using CD text and that WMP had extracted the MP3 tag information during the conversion from MP3 to an audio track and was using this for the CD text string, but placing the disk into the CD player on my home theatre system, which can read CD text, gave no indication that cd text strings were present on the disk. Playing the disk on a PC using WMP also shows the track/album info is unknown. That will have to remain a mystery for now!!
The crux of the matter is that there is nothing to stop a user taking an MP3 track, converting it to an audio track and then having the music server rip the track back to digital music, so they aren't saving themselves from any legal issues by forcing users to rip from audio tracks. In my mind, it's more of a technical issue. I'm guessing that as the ripped music on the HD can't be played on other systems, the player isn't encoding the data in MP3 format at all and is using some propriety format, possibly to save them money on an MP3 license, or as legal protection from the music industry.
It really is a pain to have to rip each CD from scratch again. I have roughly 22GB of music (all owned legally by myself) and I would have preferred to select 10GB worth that I wanted in the car, copied to CDs in MP3 format (the player wont read a DVD disk of MP3 data -that would have been sweet and too easy!) and have the player pull the music off the disks. That would have been so much quicker and I wouldn't have to worry about switching the engine off in the middle of an audio to digital rip.
On a side issue regarding the note about the front end knock, twice now I've felt/heard a clunk coming from the front end as I've started to turn the wheel whilst reversing. At first I though maybe I had clipped something, but I'll pay more attention to it in future
In my mind, it's more of a technical issue
I would still maintain my opinion regarding this being a legal limitation because they even go further to "one time only" recording of tracks from the same CD media.
On a side issue regarding the note about the front end knock, twice now I've felt/heard a clunk coming from the front end as I've started to turn the wheel whilst reversing. At first I though maybe I had clipped something, but I'll pay more attention to it in future
You're not alone on this one. I have that too. I am at an initial conclusion that it might be an ASC thing or a Powersteering thing. The manual says you hear some whining/vibration from the engine area, which should be normal. Still, I'll have a close watch on this one. I notice it on reverse and on front left/right turns. I would hear it on an occasional basis, not on every hard turn, and its usually within some 10 minutes after I turn the car on. One time I had the car left running at the garage after we came back from a 3 day vacation, and I would hear some clunking sounds from the engine area during the first 5-10 mins, which I thought could be some systems doing a initializing/self-check. Let us know if you find out more about this.
As for the Outlander outselling its Toyota and Honda counterparts, I'm not sure. But they did get the jump on them when they released their 2007 version. Mitsubishi has already sold over 5000 Outlanders across Japan. Far exceeding their goal of 3000 units. Looks like a homerun for Mitsubishi. I just hope that this front-end issue doesn't start to rain on their parade.
L
As for the CDDB, I took a mish-mash of MP3s from different artists and albums and burned them out to an audio CD. This time the Outlander had no idea of the artist, or track name, so there is no CD text string being included with the audio track. I'm thinking the CD had a lucky guess on the first disk based on the number and length of audio tracks on the CD
I'll report back after I've spoken to the service chap
1.) Standard cargo cover
2.) Back up camera (japan)
3.) Back up sensors (australia)
4.) Heated/Cooled glove box. You can even see the cutout in the upper box...go look for yourself.
5.) Power folding/heated mirrors
6.) A ton of OEM accessories:
http://tinyurl.com/u2a3b
Overall I'm extremely pleased with my XLS AWD. Gripes include: no backup camera, poor pass front legroom, no option for foglight on/off, HDD doesn't store MP3's/WMA's, and no telescopic steering.
I love the HID's, Nav, heated seats, and smooth ride.
YMMV, etc...
The colour is called RED SOLID. I see that it's not available in the US.
Since they didn't have the XLS AWD in stock. I was only test drove the XLS FWD. The ride was nice and smooth. I Drove the car for about 10 minutes. It was only a test drive. I didn't push the car real hard and all local driving. Cannot go very fast in New York City driving so that I can't tell you much about the performance. My impression was love at first sight. This car has everything that I want and more. My friend just bought an Acura MDX with similar features and cost him well over $40,000. For all the features you found in the loaded XLS AWD and paid close to the invoice. I think I made the right decision.