Stumbled across this snippet on Yahoo about the outlander, thought it pretty interesting.

Link:

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...uv-money-pits/

 

I don't know who did the research on the total cost of ownership but the 2007-up generation of Outlanders is actually holding its value quite nicely, definitely an improvement over the previous generation, but its all about brand perception, something that Mitsu has to still work on in USA, it doesn't mean that the car is bad (statistics actually rank it very high in reliability tests), its about people who think it is a bad car. As far as insurance rates, from what I know it is about the same what my friends pay for a Rav4 so... I would want to see where did the author pull all of the statistics from... Besides, those automotive "experts", how can they know how reliable or how much a car will be worth or what will be the total maintenance cost of ownership in the long run. Its all mostly numbers pulled out of thin air, based upon previous generation of cars.

 

I find it interesting that the cost difference over five years between the best vehicle in the group and the worst is $3736, or just 9.6%. That hardly qualifies as a clear winner in my mind. Particularly when you consider that they're comparing apples to oranges. Is 9.6% extra cost worth an extra two seats and two cylinders? For those that need the ocasional extra seats, and always want the extra power, of course it is. And then there's the 10 year warranty, which means I'd like to see the 10 year cost of ownership. By that point, resale value means far less. And insuranse? Our '07 XLS costs us $55/mo, versus $45/mo for our '04 base Vibe.

And if the Terrain costs less its probably because its made by a socialist owned organization funded by our tax dollars. Mitsubishi has been able to run a profitable business on their own, whereas our government bypassed all laws, stripped away assets from those that were legally entitled to them (like all of us with 401k's with GM stock), and handed it over to the least deserving entity, the UAW. That's reason enough not to by the Terrain.

 

No way there is enough data on the Terrain to conclude any significant TCO on it. The 'buy american" also throws the objectivity of the 'journalist' out the window.

Insert rolley eyes and make a note to pass over any articles by Sean Tucker.

 

Ha...buy the American GMC Terrain....made in Canada.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMC_Terrain

 

Yeah exactly, most of the Hondas/Toyotas/even Mitsubishis are more "American" than some of the Fords/GMs/Chryslers which more and more are made in Mexico/Canada. Nothing against Canada though as more or less costs of manufacturing/living resemble those of USA but I am not a fan of shipping jobs to 3rd world countries, no way in hell can any USA/Canadian/European company compete labor wise with them. If, lets say, GM wants to manufacture cars in Asia, let it be but those cars should only be for sale in those markets where they are actually assembled). I know some people will argue that the only thing that matters are where the overall profits go, but since I do not care/believe in the entire stock market (virtual economies/mostly useless Wall Street types) thing, I only care about local jobs that are created and actually contribute to local economies which in turn contribute to entire country.

 

Isn't Mitsubishi subsidised by the Japanese government?

 

Mitsubishi is a huge industrial conglomerate and is one of the largest companies in the world. So, no, they are not directly "subsidized" in terms of money, but they probably get some good incentives like US companies do in the US.
Mitsubishi Motors, which has at least a couple different companies worldwide for different markets, is probably subsidized by Mitsubishi Group in some markets like the US from time to time.

 

If you check this link in the same article - "Best Affordable Small SUV" - they rate the Outlander #6 of 22. With an overall rating of 8.4, the Outie is just behind those of the Equinox and the Terrain (8.6 & 8.7). BUT, with a reliability rating of 8.0 the Outie is well ahead of the other two (6.0 and 5.0!), and second only to the CR-V. Maybe the writers of US News and World Report should read their own articles...