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2010 Mitsubishi Outlander
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From what I have read, they sell about 2,500 Outlanders a month. Mitsubishi is a large enough company that if they decide they want to be in the USA, they will be there. Cars are only one part of the picture for them. They are a much bigger car presence in other countries around the world.
Lastly, I intend to drive this car for 12-15 years, so the depreciation is not a big factor.
However, if they know about the service advisory, know my car (purchased in May) was built in the time period covered by the advisory and know that I am aware that this is a potential problem with the Outlander, why wouldn't they have a part on hand to fix the problem. I am very unhappy about this poor customer service. I have to take two days off from work for a problem that could have been fixed in one day if they had been proactive rather than reactive.
I agree, it would have been nice if I didn't have to sit around for almost 2 hours only to be told what I already knew the problem was (and what they knew when I called, if there's a service advisory), and then be given a vague "next week" as to when the part will be in. Then I can look forward to spending another 3 hours there unless I can get a ride to work. Unfortunately, the Mitsu dealership I used to deal with went to only Subarus and this "new" one doesn't do loaner cars and they don't have an organized shuttle service. :-/ I do feel bad that you have to take time off from work to deal with this.
From what I have read, they sell about 2,500 Outlanders a month. Mitsubishi is a large enough company that if they decide they want to be in the USA, they will be there. Cars are only one part of the picture for them. They are a much bigger car presence in other countries around the world.
Mitsubishi's CEO has stated that they're very excited about Mitsu's continued presence in the U.S. and their output of all-electric and hybrid rigs. I love my 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS. It has performed flawlessly and I really feel that overall Mitsu has it's engineering and production act together. Plus, IMHO of course, I feel they make the sexiest critters on the road, too. Yaa-hoooo! :shades:
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Maybe I'm doing something wrong? I made sure the snow icon shows and the little orange light is also on.
Can I bring my Outlander GT to any Mitsubishi dealer? I bought my vehicle in New Jersey (about 12miles from where I live) I wanted the White GT and theyre the only one who had White GT in stock. There is a Mitsubishi dealer about 2 miles from where I live, can I get my A/C service there and still get free warranty coverage?
Thanks
That said, you might get more courteous service at the dealer you bought from. It shouldn't matter, and may not in your case, but the service departments of some dealers are a little nicer to customers who also bought there. This is an industry issue and not limited to Mitsu.
I brought my vehicle to the dealer this morning and mine has an air compressor issue. They ordered and will replace the compressor on Monday 8/2.
Thats 2days I bought my outlander gt and the compressor already died. Now i'm starting to rethink the reliability of Mitsubishi brand.
I really don't think the Outlander will be any less reliable. My Galant was reliable enough to earn repeat business for Mitsu and no other brand I've owned so far has accomplished that feat. That includes Mazda, Toyota, Mercury, and Nissan (taking me back to the mid '80s).
My advice would be to try and think of your AC issue as teething pains. Consider cars have thousands and thousands of parts and you were unlucky enough to get a bad one. But it'll be fixed under warranty (and it has one of the best warranty's available) so you are seeing first hand that the dealer and Mitsu are standing behind the car.
And if you care to research reliability, you'll find most of the other Japanese brands are doing recalls. Not just Toyota (who just did another 400,000 or so car recall) but Subaru and others. I haven't seen any on Mitsus recently. Not that they can't/won't happen, but my point is no brand is immune to having a run of bad parts or suffering an engineering defect.
Best wishes and keep us informed how things go.
On the side note the dealer I went to was very helpful and the staff really took care of me, as I mentioned earlier, they will replace the a/c compressor free of charge on monday 8/2, even though I didnt bought the vehicle from them. That also made me feel a lot better knowing Mitsubishi's warranty is pretty good.
I'll definitely keep you guys posted... Tnx again
Similar to fushigi, I had a 00 Galant ES with 173K and no problems. I drove it hard (lots of mountain driving), but performed the scheduled maintenance and wound up selling it to a friend where I expect it to keep running for a long time.
When comparing other CUVs I found that the 10 GT was way more bang for the buck and I could also get it fully loaded. My previous experience with Mitsubishi made my decision that much easier since I trusted the brand. Good luck with yours and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do mine.
I look at Outlander customers too in seeing how Mitsubishi treats them as a whole. My view of Mitsubishi after 3 years of Lancer GTS ownership is very, very good and I really think their future is so bright they're gonna need some solid Burton Cummings shades to keep their fellow workers' success beams deflected safely away from them.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
My '07 Outlander has been nothing but reliable. I'm assuming Mitsu or their supplier changed the A/C compressor design.
For us, the final decision was between the Escape, Rav4 and the Outlander. We wanted a 6 cylander engine so that knocked out the Tucson and CR-V. The Grand Cherokee, Highlander and Sante Fe were eliminated as we decided to stick to a CUV. As an ex-GM stockholder, I felt like they should be paying me to buy their car and not the other way around. I really was looking to reward Ford for not needing any government money and was interested in the hybrid option. My wife has an 80's bred Japanese car bias so was initially leaning toward the Rav4.
In the end, we didn't like the interior styling of the Escape. The price tag on the hybrid engine meant a 10 year payback period for the gas savings based on our driving habits. The Toyota dealer nearest us didn't seem like they wanted to make a deal. Sort of, we're Toyota, if you want our car you'll pay our price. The salesperson actually took us to the Toyota "Build a Car" website to show that he was offering a good price on the Rav4. Like I hadn't ever heard of Edmund's and Consumer Reports.
We got the GT with the Leather & Nav package, all-weather mats, cargo mat, cargo cover and wheel locks for $29,500. My main criteria for a car is to get me from point A to point B without breaking down - very utilitarian, but I'm loving the electronics that come with the car.
Just purchased 2010 Outlander AWD ES and would value comments/advice on the following:
Location is Southern Ontario, Canada, about an hour from Niagara Falls.
Less than 4000 miles driven per year.
Retired owner, usually avoids rush hour traffic.
Hauling mainly golf clubs.
No towing.
Quote from the Warranty and Maintenance Manual states "The Severe Maintenance Schedule best describes operating conditions in Canada and is the recommended maintenance schedule."
The US equivalent just sets out a list of severe driving conditions and recommends servicing the vehicle every three months i.e "Severe" schedule only if driving under one or more these severe conditions most of the time.
Canada is a big place and the "Severe" recommendation seems like a big generalization so I'm looking for advice on how much lee-way an owner has in choosing a "Severe" or "Regular" maintenance schedule without running the risk of warranty issues?
Is anyone out there actually opting for the "Severe" schedule with servicing every three months?
I cant wait for their call and give me the update, esp nyc/ny area will be on the 100's temp again this week. I need the A/C
Remember that you ought to operate you’re A/C system at least every 3-weeks (summer or winter) for at least 15-minutes in order that the A/C compressor can have a longer operational life. One time I left one of my cars in storage for 6-months to find out that the battery was flat and the A/C didn’t work after I recharged the battery or replaced the battery for a new one. There was one case that I had to buy a new A/C compressor (Lexus).
Example: The Outlander V6 recommends premium fuel but doesn't require it. I split the difference between regular & premium and buy midgrade for it.
Some people think that around here (Chicagoland) we should follow the severe schedule because of construction dust (not much of a problem now but pre-recession it was), hot summers, and cold winters. But I'm following the normal schedule.
Consider the type of driving you do as well. For instance, if your trips are mainly just a few miles, that's harder on the engine as it never fully heats up. lots of stop-n-go is also harder on the car (probably not an issue since you avoid rush hour). Off-roading, even just on sand/dirt roads might qualify as severe. Gravel would be normal/same as tarmac.
I'm enjoying the new Outlander - neat interior, good sound system, bold exterior design, the clincher for me was the great AWD system - hope we get some snow this year!
I find Mitsu's Severe "recommendation" specific to Canadian vehicles quite surprising. The majority of Canadians live within a couple of hour's drive of the US boarder and Mitsubishi are putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage compared to Honda and others, (even GM) who rely on oil condition monitoring to get up to ten or even 12 months between oil changes.
But, given the tougher operating parameters for newer motors - particularly four cylinder models - I'll go with the Regular six month schedule and enjoy my "free oil and filter for life" (part of the deal) for at least the next five years, maybe even ten. Yet to be determined is whether the Mitsu dealership can live up to expectations on servicing and maintenance, the Regular schedule this should be less of a concern.
P.S do we know how that trip in south america with the GT ended?
The GT has got some scars of the torturous adventure to the South Pole, e.g. paint chips, scratches, the rear bumper with fasteners blown out or out of place, 1-inch stone crack on the windscreen, and a couple of body indentations. The interior of the car has some scratches (door panels) and some nasty patches from the continued massaging of the cargo bumping against the wall of the inside of the car.
Driving on tarmac is still smooth with the exception of the noticeable noise produced by the Yokohama Geolandar A/T. On other roads the driving is still good but it may be accompanied by intermittent very low intensity rattle (like wires being loose or fasteners). I must say again the GT has been subjected to very harsh driving at all the time with a total cargo equivalent to 7-people. Tire pressures were kept to 33 psia. I used synthetic engine oil (e.g. Mobil 5W-20) and I usually change it at 7.5K miles. Apart of the oil change I followed the severe maintenance schedule given for MMA for the Outlander.
In January 2011 we are returning to Peru to pick our GT and continue our adventure to the North of Peru and visit the third highest waterfall in the world in the region of Chachapoyas (Gocta waterfall). From there we will head to Ecuador (Volcano: Tungurahua & Cotopaxi), Colombia (Volcano: Galeras & Nevado del Huila), Venezuela (Angel waterfall), Brazil (Manaus), Peru (again) driving on the brand new Interoceanic highway constructed by Peru and Brazil to give Brazil a port to the pacific. This Interoceanic road (tarmac) undulates the 3-branches of the Andes at heights above the 15-16K feet to reach Machupicho and Cuzco before heading to Bolivia (Volcano: Irruputuncu), North of Argentina, and the Iguazu waterfall between Paraguay-Brazil and Argentina. Finally we will ship our GT (if the GT is still alive) to the USA from Buenos Aires (Argentina). We expect to drive another 10K miles.
In summary I may said, the GT has survived more than 10K miles of extreme conditions in South America). It excels on the snow and ice for sure. It is a good car that can cope well with the 20-30% of driving time off tarmac and 80-70% of driving time on road (Tarmac). If you wish to drive 80-70% of your time permanently off road then you may need to shoulder another $10-15K above the price of a GT to do that. You may buy a Nissan Pathfinder, a Toyota 4Runner with KDSS, or a Land Rover (7-seats). However if you are not in the extreme off road stuff, the GT may give you a nice and reliable adventure off tarmac at an affordable price. The driving is most probably improved changing the stock 225/55R18 to 225/60R18 or buying a set of 16-inches Mitsubishi (Outlander) wheel and fit to 225/65R16 or 225/70R16 or 215/70R16 or buying a set of 17-inches Mitsubishi (Endeavor) wheel and fit to a 225/65R17 tire.
Was your decision to use the regular oil change schedule governed by your use of synthetic engine oil?
I guess oil and filter changes and additional inspection routines every 3 months makes sense where driving conditions are severe as defined by the US service schedule but I notice that the major maintenance points at 30K/24month, 60k/48month, 90k/72month and 120k/96month appear to be identical in both schedules.
The best criterion to change the oil was its degree of darkness or blackness regardless of the miles performed. This is a very subjective measure but made me feel OK (the good feeling factor) and I did have the oil and filter at hand (part of our cargo). The average cost of doing an oil change + filter + gasket without using the services of a garage is about $30 (synthetic oil used). The benefits of periodical oil changes in your GT take precedence over the cost of the materials used.
How did it perform in the winter in snow mode ? has anyone test it in snow mode ?
Our GT did everything we asked of it. The noise of pieces of ice hitting underneath the car was so deafening but we had to drive fast in order to reach our destination before it became too dark and we didn’t want to get lost.
I think the success of the GT rests on its front differential that prevents the car sliding off course by controlling the rpm of each front wheel.
The Outlander isn’t known for being a quiet car; wind noise is very noticeable on highways. The tire groove design may diminish the HW noise for example the Outlander stock tires are less noisy than the Yokohama All Terrain A/T-S which have a groove design more aggressive than the stock Goodyear tires. In summary the Outlander is above average on the noise scale compared to other makes in the same league.
I was also thinking of the Nissan Rogue as an option but have been scared off by several Posts on this site. A few questions:
1. Do you think Mitsubishi will continue to have a presence in the USA? obviously this is important for service reasons.
2. Does anyone reccomend the Outlander SE (i get confused I am looking at one step up from the base model which I think is the ES).
Would like to stay with Mitsubishi because I have been happy with the Gallant, they offer a $1,000 loyalty discount and my end-of-lease should go easier.
Please help! I go for a test drive this Saturday so any input will be greatly appreciated.
Mitsu are doing serious marketing in North America currently and have a great looking product line up but it would be interesting to know who Mitsu owners might turn to for service if a poor business climate did cause them to leave.
I bought a 1999 Kia Sephia and a 2001 Kia Sportage and now own a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS. Now I'm looking at the new Toyota FT-86 4-door sedan in development. I look at that car and the new baby Outlander and the proposed 2013 Lancer GTS Hybrid for my next new car.
But Mitsubishi is sound as a pound. I really respect the Mitsubishi organization overall and they are really competent carmakers. 10 year and 100,000 mile Warranty on the powertrain, 5-year and 60,000 mile bumper to bumper Warranty. Really hard to beat those Warranties.
The more I drive my '08 Lancer GTS the more I think I'll just stay in the Mitsubishi family and get a baby Outlander or another new Lancer GTS next. I love this car and I put this car's bodystyle and that of the '65 Ford Mustang together as my favorite car bodystyles of all time.
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The ES wasn't around back then so I've never driven one (not sure what I'd think of the CVT tranny).