Hello Guys,
I am doing some research on SUVs here in Montreal-Canada and I found the outlander as a car that would suit my needs, specially because it comes with the 3rd row seat.
I am looking at the 2010-2013 model both 4 and 6 cil.
Any thing I should pay special attention when looking at the cars?
Is there any known mechanical/electrical or any kind of issues?
It snows pretty bad here and with the salt I am concerned about rust, any issues as well?
I would like to thank in advance the help from the friends here!

 

I've never driven the 4 cyl, but I love my 6cyl with AWD. Up there in snow country, you'll want it I'm sure.
There hasn't been much talk about major flaws with the vehicle yet. I've been keeping up with my maintenance and it has been a very strong vehicle. By end of year I'm sure we'll hit 135k miles. The only places she's showing her age is the suspension joints have been creaking for the past 80k miles or so and wheel well trim likes to break and rub on the tires. I need to get around to fixing my passenger side for a while.
I'd say your biggest gotcha will be swapping to winter tires. If you get a set of extra rims for winters, you can bypass Mitsubishi's locked down electronics by getting some TPMS sensors that copies the sensor IDs that came with the vehicle...letting you swap wheels with ease. Some of the guys have figured out how to alter settings in the computer pretty cheaply using a device from China.
One thing that grates on me is the need for Mitsubishi transmission fluid. Amsoil and Eneos have come out with compatible fluids, but after shipping and whatnot...might as well make a trip to the dealership to get the fluid.

Each time I drive the thing, I'm happy I got it. It runs like a top and is very dependable.
Go to Edmunds.com and research the Outlander there. You can read about how the trim levels changed each year so you can get what you want by picking the year.

 

I agree with ccernst about the expensive tranny fluid, especially the J3 that 2010 onward 6-cylinder-engine auto transmissions requires. The frequent fluid changes recommended in the Canadian maintenance manual add up to some serious bucks over the years of the warranty period. If you're buying from a dealer, you might want to make tranny flushes included as part of a negotiated price.

But the Outlander is fantastic in snow. Edmonton has recently had quite a bit of snow -- almost a foot in one dump last week. Our Outlander with Geolander snow tires on board goes through deep snow as if it did not exist. I don't care if the City of Edmonton decides to never plow city streets because I know that the Outlander will get us where we want to go anyway.

If getting a vehicle with AWD is impotant to you, although Subaru does not include Mitsubishi's S-AWC in its comparisons, the following videos created by Subaru are very informative about the real-world performance of Subaru and competitors' AWD systems:

and:

 

I would say this video is kinda staged and fixed.
Not all Subaru models perform equally, and I personally saw some of them helplessly spinning diagonal wheels in not that bad snow or mud.

I would love to take part in similar test on my S-AWC LOL

 

Subaru is not going to include a S-AWC Outlander, or any other competitor's AWD vehicle, for that matter, that performs as well as, or outperforms, their own AWD system.

For example, they chose not to include any of the "true" 4WD, "offroad" vehicles such as FJ Cruiser, Xterra, 4Runner, etc. whose 4 wheels can be "locked" into rotating, regardless of surface traction. With few exceptions, these systems should not be used on dry pavement, especially turns on dry pavement. But those are really a different "class" of vehicles that are designed for going off road more than on.

To my limited knowledge, Mitusbishi's AWD systems can be engaged in any mode on any pavement condition, but there is at least some price to be paid in efficiency (gas mileage).

For S-AWC videos, I found the following two to be most informative:
and, in the real world,

But if it's performance in snow that you really need,................ It's a bird! It's a plane! (Is it a G. D. snow plow?) No, it's a.........................
h ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTxRaxdggEI
(intentional broken link)

 

That's the problem with these vehicles, they're solid deep snow/mud performers but their "honest lockable 4WD" does not really help them on a slippery roads, two of those hit the ditch this morning:

 

Going OT here, I'd really like to know if those vehicles in the ditch have snow tires installed. Many people who have bought AWD vehicles have decided that their AWD vehicle will handle the winter just fine with all-season tires and most of the time they are probably correct. But, quite ironically, that RWD police cruiser in the first photos is not in the ditch and I'm willing to bet that it has some high-quality winter-only tires on board.

The '92 Accord we recently sold had two sets of wheels --one with summer and one with studded Conti II winter tires. We have a nice garage, floor jack and electric impact wrench, so, depending on road conditions, I swapped wheels up to five times per winter. I could do the swap in about 20 minutes, so it was no big deal.

After a storm, when the plowed main arteries dried up and the residential roads got well-packed, I put the all-seasons back on until the next significant snowfall. That method extended the useful life of the winter treads and we didn't suffer their sound and handling on dry pavement.

AFAIK, Nokian is the only company that makes a true all-season tire:
Nokian WRG2
It even has the snowflake symbol that legally designates it as a "snow tire" (in Canada, anyway). For Quebec residents, where 4 snow tires are mandatory during certain months, they are probably the ideal year-round solution for traction and legality.

Back on topic, one of my main resources for information about any used vehicle is this site:
CarComplaints.com | Car Problems, Car Complaints, & Repair/Recall Information
Check the complaints for Outlander versus any other SUV, on-road or off-road-capable.

Also read internet forums that are devoted to any vehicle you may be interested in. Usually owners are pretty honest about their experience with their vehicles, and they are brutally honest about the problems their vehicles have experienced. Sometimes these problems are restricted to some "lemons", but many times these problems will eventually crop up in all vehicles of a particular year and model. Learning about these potential problems before buying will make you thank your lucky stars that you bothered to educate yourself.

edit
I just remembered that there is a fairly serious (to me) exterior cosmetic issue with the pre-2014 Outlanders. For some reason, on just about every used Outlander we looked at, the "hip" area just in front of the rear wheel wells was significantly pitted. On higher mileage vehilces this area extended forward onto the doors. I'm sure Mitsubishi knows about this problem. IMO, what they should do is cover that area with either the equivalent of what is put on truck beds, or at least cover the area with 3M film as standard practice. The latter should be put at least a foot up the hood, too, but that should be done on all Canadian vehicles, IMO.

 

I just got my 2010 Outtie XLS a few months ago but here in Winterpeg they seem to work quite well.

The AWD/4wd helps you get going, it doesn't help you stop... If you get into a situation you obviously don't want to ADD power so it does nothing for you when you have to stop quickly and your car starts sliding sideways... I actually found it quite unnerving that you could go without realizing how bad the conditions were until you tried to stop for a light or something.

I came from a 2wd car with winter tires to this with all seasons for now and I am saving my pennies to get some nice winters...

Really though for most normal driving to the conditions the computer keeps you well in control between the ASC system and the S-AWC system. Just don't expect miracles from it and drive like a nutcase... Overconfidence and driving outside the conditions is usually what ends you up in a ditch and has nothing to do with your drive system.

Those trucks in the pic were off-road trucks, maybe they were just being drawn off road naturally :P

But seriously they are pretty luxurious higher end feel vehicles they have pretty much all the comfort and convenience features you could ever want and if you don't buy them brand new you can get a pretty decent price on them.

You can check consumer reports online... (you can get a password for free access by finding a library log in) They rated most of the car highly.

 

High end 2gen Ford Explorer? LOL
And even LX570, expensive like hell, after all is a body-on-frame truck, designed to go really offroad yet the comfort is not the thing it could provide.

 

Now I'm really going to go OT.

See those "hubcaps" on the police car? I'd like to put a set of those on our Outlander's black-steel winter wheels to at least somewhat protect the axle and lug nuts from winter street debris and chemicals.

I have two questions.

1. Just exactly what is holding them on the police car's wheels?

2. Are they available for our wheels and, if so, where?