Hello all,

I thought to give a little background on why I decided to go from TSX to Outlander. When I and my wife were shopping for a car last year I wanted something not too flashy but luxury and not pay much while my wife was against this criteria. TSX met my criteria and somehow I convinced her that this is the car we needed. 2 month later we got Mazda6 (it was a donation) and it was our daily car, so after about 11 month TSX had slightly over 6k miles. Living in the Northwest does not require you to have AWD car, but there were so many occasions I wish we did. Finally, I couldn't stand this situation any longer and started my research. Last Monday I pulled out comparison charts of all Compact SUVs and compared them all. After narrowing it down to 2 of them: Rav4 & Outlander all we had to do is just do a test drive. Both of us liked Rav4 at first, but it was expensive with the features we wanted, didn't offer such a great warranty and it was a car that all our neighbors owned. Then we went to test drive an Outlander, it was love from the first drive... so now my comparison


Features that I miss in TSX:

Navigation is more intuitive and easier to use on TSX, while in Outlander navi is full of features, but not as refined)
Homelink mirror, garage opener (not an option on outlander)
Bright HIDs (Outlander also has HIDs, but they seem slightly less brighter, maybe I am just imaginging things)
Beautiful dashboard (Outlander it is not far out, it also has Mid display)
luxury feel

Features that I love in Outlander:

4x4 mode of course (I keep it at 4x2 for city driving and saving on gas)
Love, love the styling. (especially the shape of rear lights )
Shift pedals on the wheel (like in Audi A3)
It's a CUV, but it handles and drives almost like a sedan
hidden 3rd row seats which is useful only for children
650 watt stereo (amazing sound)
DVD playback (don't think I would use that much, but nice to have)
Composite input for video/audio
9 cup holders!
FAST key (no need to use key for entering and starting the car)
gas mileage (almost identical gas mileage during break-in period as TSX, it should improve over time like with TSX)
5 year warranty (bumper to bumper)
Not that I care, but I noticed that it's a head turner car. It gets a lot of attention from people passing by (with TSX I was getting negative attention, usually someone flipping me off for no reason).

Some people seem to be thinking that Mitsu doesn't hold value very well and after losing about 7k in less then 10 month with TSX I am not going to upgrade cars for at least 5 years, so it's irrelevant.

 

I was actually considering a TSX instead of my Outtie (I know, how can you really compare them), but I am glad I chose the Outtie. The navigation was really nice, especially the voice controlled, but in the end, the Outlander had what I was looking for. Space, technology, luxury, looks, and most importantly, unique.

 

funny that you mention, when I was shopping for a car last year I wanted TSX, but even then I briefly considered new Outtie, although at that time I was a "sedan type of guy". Over the year my preferences changed and I ended up wasting over $5k on a trade in.

As far as Navi goes, voice recognition is a useless feature and was never used, except for 'Go Home', so you are not missing much.

 

You never used the voice recognition for like "Find Chinese Restuarant" or something like that? It takes forever to get to it in the Outtie's nav. I normally am a sedan/coupe kind of guy, but I tried out the Outtie, and it changed me into an SUV guy now.

 

Well there you got, in the outie you turn heads, in the tsx you get the finger. That sums it all up.

 

Same reason that I have never bought an old Porsche 911 as much as I would love one and could offord one. It would ostracize me from my community.

 

I did not drive the car out of town that often, so Ialready knew all theChinese restaurants where I live. I used Homelink bluetoothheandsfreemore often then any of other features. (Outlander has it and it's much better)It was easier to change the temperature by pressing a button then by saying "Driver Temperature 65". This novelty wore off pretty fast.

Outlander vs TSX cons

TSX:
TSX had a jerky transmission (it was auto)
Premium fuel and not that great fuel economy for 4 cyl
Very low torque
Paint doesn't hold very well
Bluetooth Handsfreewasn't very useful because of noise (callers could barely hear me, unless I yell in the mic)
Lots of fingering involved
Fog's glass was very fragile and required protection

Outlander:
Not very user friendly navi
Leather on steering wheel is too smooth and easily scratched
Trunk cover is not standard (I hate leaving things in the trunk)
Fogs are not really fogs
HIDs are not projector style (I believe it is in other markets, but not in US)
Fuel economy is not that great, but it's to be expected on a new car (seeing how TSX improved after 6k miles, Outlander should too)
No garage opener!

 

You can buy the outlander cargo cover in the rear for 100$.

 

I already ordered it (along with wheel locks, cargo organizer & somthing else)

btw, I really don't understand why Mitsubishi included some luxury features and left out some popular options, dimming mirror, visor lights, garage opener. They seem pretty standard in all upscale cars

 

The visor lights is the one that got me. But after turning the doom light on in the front you see that theres no need for a visor light. That light is brighter than any doom light I have ever seen.