Considering a 2012 Outlander
 

Greetings. I am currently considering a 2012 Outlander to replace my 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan. My wife and I have no kids, and most of the driving I do is just commuting. I've always owned American made vehicles. Thus, I am a little leery about entering the foreign market.

From the research I've done, it's difficult to find any reason to not get one. A 2012 model would cost me $20,000ish. And if I get it through a Mitsubishi dealership, I can still get the 10-5-5 warranty package.

I just want to pick some brains about my concerns. If you can help me out with things like common issues, things to look for, even just general feedback would be helpful.

I'll probably be taking one for a test drive sometime this week. I'll keep you posted on my impressions and any concerns I might have.

Most of the little n!ggles (you can't say f-ing n!ggles? Retarded) with this car are mere design flaws. The transmission can be clunky going into reverse, I've heard of a couple issues with the Auto-Lights staying on and killing the battery, but that seems like a software issue that effects the earlier Outlanders.

Honestly, I believe that American manufacturers are one vehicle generation behind the rest of the world. The interior quality of Chryslers is abysmal, to name my primary gripe.

If your car has satellite navigation, you may be annoyed that it doesn't announce street names. I don't know if they rectified this, but that would piss me right off.

All around the Outlander is a well put together, reliable, reasonably priced vehicle. You'll be pleased to know we have many Outlander experts on board here that will help you with any issues you may have (hopefully none) Also, there is a large aftermarket supply for them, you can customize your Outlander in so many different ways with OEM (or better) quality parts.

I know someone that just bought one, and she's delighted with it.

Any specific questions I can answer? I suggest traversing the Outlander section and forming your own opinion.

EDIT:

There are other vehicles in your price range, personally I would recommend the Subaru Outback & Legacy. They are slightly more reliable and better put together. Toyota SUV's are overpriced IMO, but they cannot be killed. I don't know if you've glanced at Infiniti lately, but they have an awesome selection in the FX series. Maybe that's more your style.

I suppose my biggest concerns are around reliability and maintenance. I like the idea of a 10 year warranty, but, does that not tie me down to one of only 2 mitsubishi service centers in my city (province)? For a guy who historically has maintained his vehicle himself, and when having had to deal with a dealership service center previously (not a good experience), makes me a little uneasy. Makes me question how bad I need a 10 year warranty.

I recently purchased a fully-loaded 2012 Outie GT S-AWC for under $25k. The first owner was a business that had purchased it in 2011 as the company car for upper management - they went out of business and the bank took it back.

It had a second owner for all of 20 days, who traded it for a Chevy SUV because he didn't have enough headroom.

By the time I found it, the Chevy dealership the 2nd owner traded with had lowered the price to below it's KBB value because they couldn't find a buyer.

So far, I have only found a few, minor issues that are slightly annoying to me - things like: throttle lag from a complete stop, MMCS music server won't download MP3's from CD-R or USB flashdrive, very few options available in the USA for brush guards or nudge bars for me to mount a set of lights for driving off-the-beaten path, the flimsy 3rd row, and Forza Horizon doesn't have a model of the Outie for me to monkey with.

It'd be cool if it came with a roof-mounted 7.7x58mm Arisaka Type 89 Flexible machinegun but this is an Outie, not a Mitsubishi Ki-30 light bomber.

Ahem. Anyway...

I chose the Outie over the Outback 3.6R because not a single dealership within 100 miles of me would discuss anything but the 3.6R Limited. They absolutely refused to bring in a standard 3.6R. The closest dealership that WOULD was over 500 miles away.

By comparison, the Mitsubishi, Ford, Toyota, and Chevy dealers in my area were damn-near falling over themselves to answer all my questions and even offered to get the vehicles I was interested in onto their lot so I could get hands-on.

The Outie won out because of price, availability, cargo-space, features, specifications, and I just loved how it felt to drive. It has everything I need and it was available now - not whenever the dealer felt like it (speaking of the Outback with that comment).

Consumer Reports had generally reasonable things to say about maintenance and reliability, as did True Delta and KBB. The Outlander didn't lead the pack but it wasn't even close to being considered a nightmare.

The Outback may be better put together and give car reviewers a reach-around but I can live with "a little less solid than an Outback."

I hear you, valid point. That's very dealer dependent, I would ask them. Typically, if there's an issue any dealer will automatically try and place blame on the customer. Very bad business practices IMO, but again dealer dependent. As long as you keep your receipts and keep meticulous records, not only will it aid you in the sale of your vehicle in the future, it will remove any possible grounds the dealership will have to deny your claim. I would definitely make your concerns known and see what they say. I doubt they'll give you a hard time.

Make sure you establish a price beforehand, typically they count on you taking your vehicle there for maintenance because that's how they make the majority of their money. He may knock up the price on you if they think they can't bend you over. That's not Mitsubishi specific, that's just dealerships in general.


Buahahahahahahahaha

Well, there are a few 2012's in my area. All around the same price range. The one's at the Mitsubishi dealers are probably about $2000 more expensive. I've decided that I will not pay extra for warranty. But, I might let available warranty negotiate a better deal for one without. How about pro's and con's for 4cyl vs 6cyl?

If you like to merge with authority, you'll be missing the V6 every time you go wide open throttle. If you're the type to meander around town, then the 4cyl will go unnoticed. All down to what suits you.

Go test drive both.

I had a 2011 4cyl. Traded up for a 2012 GT (6cyl, S-WAC)

Navigation is ovepriced. For what the updates cost, I bought a TomTom with lifetime map upgrades. My GT did not come with MMCS.
If possible, do not get the 3rd row seating. It's great for squeaking and carrying Munchkins.

IIRC, the 3rd row is standard on our '12 GT S-AWC's.

My local dealerships seemed to regard my idea to remove the 3rd row and replace it with the floor and cargo tray from an ES as strange and/or impossible; yet I've read of other Outie owners making the modification on their own.

Dealerships and their service technicians don't know the difference between their asshole and a hole in the wall. (few exceptions).