I received the money for my car that was wrecked and I am now looking for a replacement.

I had a 2005 outlander that went to 290k km without much repairs. I loved this little truck except that it was high on gas on the highway due to the 4 gears meaning it was reving high.


I am looking at getting a 2009 (+- 1 year but the 2009 are less expensive than the 2010 due to the facelift).

I test drove an ES (4 cyl CVT) and LS (v6).

I want it to be 4WD otherwise there is no reason to drive a SUV in the snow up here in Canada .

I do 60% city (to go to work) and 40% highway. Around 30k per year.

The ES is less expensive and consommation is lower but it was feeling strange to drive. At stop, it was feeling like it wanted to JUMP. There was a "clicking" noise kind of from the transmission. The LS had the engine sound instead. Around the city, both was feeling similar except the sound, on the highway the v6 had more acceleration for sure.

The V6 might cost 4$ more per week to drive but there is a 2-3 thousand $ more depending on the condition of the car.

What would you suggest and also is there a difference on the reliability or maintenance cost ?


P.S. : The dealer said they all have the bluetooth button on the steering wheel but it doesn't mean they have bluetooth. Is that true ? Can I add that feature easily as I get many call for work while driving back and forth to home.

Thank you

 

4 cyl and CVT are meh.

Go with LS or XLS.

 

I have a 2009 v6 which has the bluetooth button on the steering wheel, but it for sure does not have bluetooth, believe me i tried. The easiest way to add bluetooth is to just buy an aftermarket stereo, which i did.

The v6 doesn't work hard at all, it has lots of low end torque. It's quiet on the highway because it stays at very low rpm.

There's nothing wrong with the 4cylinder either, but i needed the 6 cylinder to tow with. But i think in the city, the 6cylinder is going to get much worse fuel mileage than you're thinking. Estimate about 18mpg city and 24-25mpg highway. The 4cylinder with the cvt is probably going to get low 20's in the city.

 

With your aftermarket stereo, can you use the button on the steering wheel or only directly on the radio ?
Is the wiring there ?


I don't expect to tow anything, we never know but not something I ever did or plan to need.


I like the keyless as I am prone to forgetting my key in the car. Had the issue a few time and with a baby on it's way, that might be a good reason to go LS.




How both differ in term of reliability ? I know the CVT only came in 2008, so not much long time history on it but some people drive a lot.

 

The left side steering wheel controls work with an aftermarket radio, but the bluetooth buttons didn't. They are unnecessary though because when someone calls, it pops up on my radio in green and red to answer the call along with caller id and a picture of them. If i want to make a call, it's convenient to scroll through the touchscreen through my call log or address book with the touch screen. For as often as i get calls, the convience of answering calls via the steering wheel is unnecessary.

I tow a small utility trailer with my outlander. It's for moving furniture and clearing branches and stuff in the yard. If you own a house, a $400 utility trailer is a great investment.

Keyless is awesome, i have it on both my cars, i don't know how i ever lived without it.

I think both are going to be reliable vehicles. CVT's are the future due to fuel economy regulations, and they've held up well so far. So far there haven't been massive issues with the mitsubishi units. It's a tossup though as to which one will outlast the other, i think it also depends on maintenance and how you drive the vehicle as well.

I bought mine used with 100k miles on it, had to replace the timing belt(change interval is 105k miles) and an inner CV joint was bad so i had to replace the right axle assembly. For 100k on a car, this kind of stuff is normal, bearings, cv joints, end links, tie rod ends etc.... Are all normal for high mileage vehicles to need repalcement.

I did alot of research before buying the car, and didn't see any major trending issues, the mitsubishi actually looked better than the honda pilot i was eyeing. The honda had lots of issues with their cams/valvetrain.

If you have a child on the way, get one with the overhead DVD, it's a life saver on road trips. Once your kid hits 2+ years old, 3-4 hours in a car is nothing. Before i put a dvd player in the car, 1+ hour was near impossible.

 

IMO, in terms of maintenance, 09 is the sweet spot. in '10 they removed the divots on the pistons to increase compression at the cost of making the engine an interference type engine. So '07-'09, you can break your timing belt without exploding your engine. the 3.0 has a timing belt to be changed out every 100k with spark plugs as well, the 2.4 has a chain which will last a very long time. I know that I've changed my fluid every 45k miles and it shifts great, no issues, no metal flakes. It used to be the case that the fluid was dealer only...now there are a few fluids popping up that we can use. On city streets, if I use cruise control, I will normally get 20mpg...once I get on the highway, 24-25. 3L Outlander AWD (Mitsubishi Outlander) | Fuelly

My '07 has the bluetooth buttons, but no module installed. the modules can be bought, but it will have to be programmed in...not sure what is involved there.

 

Bluetooth module isn't worth it unless you can find one in a junkyard. Normally they are about $250, but by the time you have it enabled in the computer by the dealer, you're looking at over $300 total. I decided it was best to buy a nice touchscreen head unit at that point. It also plays dvd's for the kid in the back.

 

What unit have you decided ?
Are you using the buttons on the steering wheels or only the radio ?
I suppose you use the MIC on the radio directly, is it as good ?

 

I bought a universal 2 din android unit on ebay for around $300, installed it myself. Steering wheel controls work fine with it. My radio came with an external mic which mounted over the steering column. It works and sounds fine.

 

could you please explain to me what kinda of adapters did you use to install your radio??