This is just a rant, but you may find it useful if you are shopping for an Outlander, plus I needed to get this off my chest... The truth is that while Outlander looked great and offered great features I've been highly unimpressed by the car build quality ever since I bought it and now put over 30k miles. No, I did not have any break downs, which is a plus, but the car feels like it's falling appart whenever going over bumps or even slightly rough road. The noise and the rattle all over are quiet distracting and concerning. I recently rented 2010 Dodge Journey crossover during vacation and I was very impressed with it. While being slightly larger then Outlander it offered better gas economy and much pleasant ride, but more importantly build quality feeling was far above what Outlander had to offer. I am not saying to get Dodge Journey instead (although I do recommend to look at the highly improved 2011 model), but I am just saying that Outlander, while being made in Japan, doesn't offer the build quality that you would expect. You may say I have older model and they improved it, but I did not find this was the case with my friends 2010 XLS model.

3 years ago it was probably the best CUV your money could buy, but today there are clearly more options and I would even go against my principles and look at American made choices.

As for me and my Outlander, I am planning to keep it a long time to get my money worth, although it is going to be my wife's car now while I get to enjoy new EV.

 

I work in aftermarket auto industry and have been inside and out of a lot of cars. Honestly, for the money Outlander, in my opinion, is one of the best kept secrets in the industry right now. Handling wise none of the domestic CUVs at Outlanders price range can really compete with it. Sure that Dodge made a lot of improvements to interiors in all of their 2011 models such as Journey (thanks to Fiat designers) but in my opinion the ride is not as fun as Outlander. And the noises/rattles that you hear in your Outlander, does it have to do with the flap fold tailgate plastic (one of the unique features of Outlander)? Because thats from where all the rattling noise comes in my car but I can live with it considering that its actually practical and useful feature. I really don't believe Outlander is any worse then its competition build wise, all companies use cheap plastics to save costs, it basically comes down to exterior aesthetics and interior ergonomics, as well as engine and suspension setup. Cars these days share platforms and a lot of interior/exterior components to the point where if you drive a Dodge Journey or Dodge Avenger (same platform) you will not notice any difference in driving dynamics maybe except cornering due to higher center of gravity (higher ground clearance) of Dodge Journey. Its just a matter whether you want a sedan or a CUV, do you need a bigger or smaller car but dynamics, more or less are the same.

Reality is that all automakers these days cheap out on building materials to save costs. Look at Mercedes Benz from 1990s when they were using real wood and compare it with cheap plastic dashes (synthetic wood wannabes) of current generations. Look at any car manufacturer and compare it to the materials from 20 years ago. I still remember my parents 1991 Galant had real chrome door handles, not fake plastic looking chrome like cars have today. Sure the cars and dashes look a lot more modern but build quality is just not the same. It just doesn't feel as solid and long lasting as it used to be.

Anyway, I know that Outlander doesn't have one of the best dashes in the world but I also know 2010 Dodge Journey doesn't scream excitement either, also lots of hard plastics so I don't know whats so impressive about that. Actually the newly released Outlander Sport has the best interior quality of all the currently available Mitsus in USA. They have actually started to use softer plastics. Actually the interior finish/feel screams of a more expensive car than it is. Mitsu did a nice job on that one material wise. Too bad it didn't trickle down to the 2011 Lancer/Outlander line.

 

As far handling, Outlander might have an edge as it feels a bit more responsive or lighter and Journey felt more like a cruise ship, but that's not the point.... and I agree 2010 Journey has a plain looking dash, although 2011 is much more attractive, but I was mainly comparing overall quality feel between budget cars.

What I am ranting about here is that Outlander feels flimsy made (not talking about quality materials either which are also lacking) as soon as you open the door, even if I compare to my other budget car 2008 Nissan Sentra. Performance and looks aside the type of feeling I am referring is when you handle Apple and Dell laptops at the same time. Apple solid feel of the casing, quietly opens up without any creaking noises and fan noise is almost non existent etc... You see where I am getting at? Why other budget cars feel higher quality then Outlander?

Rattling comes from a front and from the back which is probably the tailgate.

Disclaimer: I am a PC

 

sounds like you should of bought a lexus or mercedes since this is about fit/finish and road noise. I will agree the plastics are crap and road noise is loud but i understand that there will always be pros and cons. I got a reliable roomy ride for a way less cost than the competition and it looks good. But hey thats just me i really like the car.

 

I agree with Klas. I love my Outlander as a whole but my only complain is it doesn't feel and sound solid to me. Slight squeakings and rattlings inside are my issues. Also when you close the doors, there is no solid "thunk" sound unlike with Toyota and Honda.

 

Most of the creeking noise is caused by the interior hard plastics, I guess each company before releasing a car has to set certain price points and cut corners to meet those points, some companies chose to have better interiors but suffer in performance, some offer better performance but crappy interior/exterior design, its basically a balancing game of decisions. Mitsu definitely concentrated in the handling department with the Outlander, it has one of the most advanced AWD systems (SAWC), aluminum roof, bunch of little things that make it handle at the top of CUV class, exterior design to me is executed a lot better than current gen CRV/Rav4/domestics, all in all, sure it could have FELT more solid but I am more than sure my car will last me for well over 100K miles without major problems. All in all I think Mitsu did a good job on Outlander considering its really a 2006 (Japan) release, meaning it was engineered somewhere between 2003-2005. It has a couple of shortcomings but for the price I think its a better deal than current Japanese counterparts (CRV/Rav4/Rogue).

 

I feel the same way as Klas as well. I know the thing has a great 4wd system and handles quite good, but I just can't help feel that it isn't solid. I mean, I had to go on a trip for work and they rented me a 2010 Ford Focus - not one rattle or steering wheel transfer of every little bump like in the outlander....It was rather eye-opening.

That being said, I thikn the outlander is a great vehicle, I just can't help but feel a BIT disappointed everytime I dirve down the road and everything around me is creaking/rattling.....However, that goes away when in $WD lock plowing through snow

 

I am getting the Rattles too, I am at 30k kms.

It doesn't feel as solid as it used too...

BUT,we had 1.5 meteres fo snow here in London Ontario the past 2 days..and I have to say:

With my SNOW Tires on and in 4WD Lock...I had one of the best vehicles on the street hands down. Even my AWD Mazda CX-7 was no where close to able to huge amount of snow.

The only other Carss that were getting around as easily as I was were the Diesel 4X4 Trucks and the Jeeps (they have the best 4wd still).

Love My Outtie in the Winter....

 

I am going to Waterloo tomorrow, is it that snowy too there?

 

Basically I think the Snow stopped at Woodstock...

Im going to Guelph Tomorrow and apparently they have like .5 cm's of snow.