Experiences with the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport?

General Discussion
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Well this one didn’t go out that far. I think the warranty that came with the car was 6/60 bumper-to-bumper, and 10/100 powertrain. They offered to extend the bumper-to-bumper out to 10/100. “What was the brand?” Now that you mention it, I don’t know. Since I was at the dealership, I guess I just assumed it was from Mitsubishi (Factory warranty?). Of course, as I should know, its dangerous to assume ANYTHING these days! :worried:

Since I turned it down anyway I guess it doesn’t matter. To be honest, I was so fascinated by the touch screen desk I guess my attention was diverted. I went in expecting to be offered numerous add-ons, so I had already pre-written my check for the amount we had agreed upon the day before as an additional backstop against being talked into any add -ons.

I know the issue of so-called extended warranties / service contracts has been discussed many times on this forum. As many have said, THEY know the odds and get to set the rules, whatever claim I may have they’ll probably say oh its a ‘wear-n-tear’ item or some other reason why the warranty doesn’t apply. Be easier to keep my eight hundred n’ some bucks and just pay for any repairs 8 or 9 years from now than fight with them over some warranty claim. How many horror stories have we read on these boards from people trying to make a claim on some extended warranty?

And now that I think of it, I’m surprised they haven’t sent me a “second chance” to buy this extended warranty in the mail by now. How many times have we heard that? You turn it down, a week or three later they offer you the same warranty for half of the original price, which tells you a little about the profit margin on these things.

With all of that being said, eight hundred n’ some bucks isn’t a bad deal if the fine print doesn’t negate all the benefits (The big print giveth, the fine print taketh away). Eight hundred n’ some bucks has been a typical repair bill for my old cars lately. :frowning:

“There has been no more mention of the Outlander Sport.” Maybe she bought gas for her Mirage and got that tingly feeling all over again. . . 300+ miles on $16 of fuel, I got 41.233 mpg on my third tank.

" She just took a liking to it for some reason." Perhaps she liked the color or the lines or something. I’m seeing these deep rich BLUE Versas and Fits on the road, and lime green Sparks, and kind of sorry I had to settle for plain old white. But that feeling will wear off / grow out, kind of like a bad haircut.

" What other small SUVs offer AWD/4WD for about $24,000?" If you ask me, that’s about what such a vehicle SHOULD cost. I suffer from awful sticker shock looking at vehicles. I’m so glad you told me / the forum about the deal on the Mirage. Brand new car out-the-door under $11.5k and 40+ mpg. I’m still glowing inside about this deal! I sure hope I can stumble into some similar situation when the time comes for me to buy that tow vehicle pickup truck I’m gonna need in a year or three . . .

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Yes, I did some reading on the very extended warranty she cancelled a couple days afterwards. She was kinda upset I talked her into it but sent her the link with all the negative reviews and how they never would honor claims. There was one good rating but that was it. Most of these are sold by third parties, not the manufacturer. Is there any manufacturer that actually has extended warranties or is this always a dealer add-on? I know this is considered a wear item like brake pads but I once had a slave cylinder fail and cause the clutch to fry. The Mirage is mechanical so that isn’t an issue.

Yes, the odds are against you with these warranties, much like the lottery tickets we discussed. They make exceptions for so many things it is impossible to get them to pay.

She liked the Outlander Sport because it looks like a sized up Mirage. It also comes in basically the same color blue as her Mirage so that was the deal. Then she saw another blue one as well as the mica brown or whatever at the dealer. She really liked that one too. Yes, she liked the lines and the color.

Yes, small cheap cars like this usually come in vibrant colors. The Versa, Spark, and Mirage are excellent examples. I see many lime green Sparks around here and Versas are about the most common car on the road here. I guess the Spark isn’t a bad car these days. I understand there were some issues including excessive oil burning in the first couple years but they seem to have that ironed out. The Daewoo roots of this are not exactly my favorite but at least these use a timing chain instead of a belt that failed quite often due to the plastic pulleys. Some Geo Metro people opt for these with them being the logical successor after the Metro and Aveo. Others of use pick the Mirage.

I agree cars have gotten way too expensive in recent times. Some of this is stuff that we really don’t need or want but people think they have to have. If you need a pickup for a tow vehicle, you might checkout a used one. That might be the way to go. Yes, the Mirage deal was too good to pass up. I understand they didn’t renew it after the next month but the incentives are still pretty nice.

The mileage on the Mirage is pretty nice. It seems that the car likes good gas and you can tell when you get a dud tank. One tank will feel more sluggish and get worse mileage and another will have more pep and better mileage. I am not sure why this is but figure some of the older stations around here have water infiltrating the gas.

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@cwatkin

Most manufacturers offer factory extended warranty

People either buy them at the beginning, or they are sometimes encouraged to buy it right before the new car/regular warranty expires

In a sense, it is a “dealer add-on” . . . but that’s fine, just as long as it’s a FACTORY extended warranty

From my days at the dealer, I remember there were multiple “levels” of factory extended warranties. The cheapo ones didn’t cover much, and the primo ones covered almost everything, including audio components . . . which are often excluded . . . but you paid DEARLY for the primo factory extended warranty

The cost was so high, it didn’t really make sense. Just save money for that transmission repair, IF you even keep the car long enough to need it, for example

Wasn’t there an article awhile back . . . Jalopnik, I believe . . . where a guy bought a british SUV from Carmax and sprang for the carmax extended warranty? In any case, it paid for itself multiple times, which doesn’t say much for the quality of the vehicle :frowning:

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@db4690 You’re thinking of the articles by Doug Demuro who’s owned a Range Rover from Carmax that the warranty has paid out much more than it cost in repairs and they no longer offer that warranty for at least that particular generation of Range Rover’s. He’s currently reporting on a used Aston Martin with a factory backed warranty.

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@wolyrobb

Yup, that was it :smiley:

I’ll have to read about that used Aston Martin :smirk:

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From Febuary

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…all the negative reviews and how they never would honor claims.

I have performed many extended warranty repairs and it is unusual for an extended warranty company to not honor a claim.

The problem with the non-manufacture warranties is they offer lees coverage for the same price as the manufactures extended warranty.

People will bring their vehicle in with a list of repairs like squeaky belts, bent wheels, damaged door panels, warped brake rotors and burned out light bulbs. I spend an hour or more of my time inspecting the car and writing an estimate to later find out the customer only has a powertrain warranty. The customer is upset and they wasted my time. They didn’t read the warranty before the purchase or before bringing the car in for repair.

There are some common repairs like door lock actuators and window motors/regulators that people expect to be covered but it depends on the level of coverage.

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Of course people never post a positive review. It is always the negatives so I am sure this is biased. I have heard some bad stories relating to some aftermarket warranties.

Why did the dealer not offer me a Mitsubishi warranty instead of their third party one?

The finance people really push these things so I am sure this is where they make their money, not on a $10,000 car. I hear that new cars in general are not where they make their money. It is always on the used cars.

European cars have always had the reputation for being picky and expensive to keep running. Good old American and Japanese cars seem to be the way to go if you can live without the pretense of having a European model.

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Oh, where to start I’ll try to keep it short. The lowest end Chevys have always been re-badged Daewoos, I know the Aveos were said to be terrible, not even good fuel economy for such a small car, which is supposed to be one of the main reasons for buying such a car. The Spark is a neat-o looking car, but I wouldn’t even consider one until I see several years of excellent reliability and fuel economy rates. That’s just me.

I’m always surprised at how many people buy in to these “extended warranty” pitches, be it for a car, an appliance or anything else. People I always thought would know better. I’ll repeat this: THEY know the odds and THEY get to write the rules. They are NOT in business to lose money. I almost reflexively turn down these warranties. The only time I spring for the extended warranty is when I almost KNOW the item is going to get f- - - - d up. For example, the MP3 player I use at the gym. $49.99 for the player, $9.99 for the warranty. First one replaced after the screen got cracked, charged me $9.99 to re-up the warranty on the replacement. Second one replaced after it mysteriously went dark and wouldn’t charge or play anymore, this time charged me $14.99 to re-up the warranty, still way cheaper than $49.99 for a new one.

And honestly, I don’t like all the horror stories about people not being able to get claims paid on these warranties. Rather than research the warranty company, read the 17 pages of fine print, etc etc I just keep my money in my pocket and if something breaks later, I pay to have it fixed. Sometimes life costs money and you cannot protect yourself from every contingency.

Anybody notice how hard they push these “home warranty” plans? The marketing for these seems to come in waves. . . ohmygosh! the water heater failed, what are you ever going to do? You homeowners insurance won’t pay for THAT! Guess you’ll have to go live like the Amish from now on, because you didn’t buy our home warranty plan. Put a few bucks aside every month for stuff like this people, will ya?! LIFE HAPPENS! I don’t know if its going to be the water heater, the a/c, the stove, squirrels in the attic, or a flat tire, but I do know something unexpected and costly is going to happen at some point in the future, so I have money sitting in my bank account for just such contingencies. What’s WRONG with people?!

@cwatkin “Why did the dealer not offer me a Mitsubishi warranty instead of their third party one?” Probably the profit margin is much higher on the third party one, that would be my guess.

“The finance people really push these things so I am sure this is where they make their money, not on a $10,000 car” I think you nailed it. I was expecting a hard-sell on that warranty, but they were real cool about once I firmly but politely said “No”. Specifically, I did NOT say, “Well, I think I’m going to pass on that.” I DID say, “I am going to pass on that warranty. The factory warranty is plenty long enough that any manufacturing defects should show up before the standard warranty expires.”

''I hear that new cars in general are not where they make their money. It is always on the used cars." I asked my salesman that exact question. His response, almost verbatim: “Are you kidding me?! I’d starve to death selling these Mitsubishis for eleven thousand dollars a pop! I make my bread-n-butter selling the used cars, absolutely!” He went on to say the used car dept had moved over 180 cars the previous month. Bear in mind this place is a sprawling Chevrolet dealership with MItsubishi carved out at the far end of the lot, almost like an afterthought, alongside the used car dept.

It was a good experience at the dealership, and I told the salesman I would call on him first when the time came to buy that “good workhorse pickup truck” I keep talking about.

I’ve got a story about a lively discussion I had with 2 co-workers over the $71,000 MSRP Ford F-150 I saw at the auto show (spoiler alert, they did not consider it to be outrageously overpriced) I’m thinking about starting a thread on that, but I don’t have the energy for that discussion right now, and I suspect that most here would agree with my point of view anyway.

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By the way, @cwatkin I am so, so sorry I’ve kind of diverted / hijacked your thread. You asked us about any experiences with the Outlander and here we are talking about the Mirage, extended warranties, lottery tickets, etc. I’m sorry man, I really didn’t intend to do that when I chimed into the discussion.

I wish I could say something useful to you regarding the Outlander Sport. All I CAN say is, its very strange how all of a sudden I notice Mitsubishis all over the place now! Seems like every third car I see in traffic has that triple diamond logo on it, I thought Mitsubishi didn’t sell many cars in this country?

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No problem. That seems to happen a lot here. Yes, I am the same way. It seems there are a LOT more Mitsubishis out there than I ever realized now that I have one. I never paid attention to the Outlander/Outlander Sport either but now I am seeing them quite often too. I have even seen several older model Mirages which is a MUCH larger car more like a Camry or Accord.

I share your thoughts about the Spark. It may not be a bad car now but I would need several years of good data to consider one. The Geo Metro was not a Daewoo. That was a Suzuki. The Aveo came just afterwards. Anyway, one of my Metro friends “upgraded” to an Aveo. He made sure the timing belt had been replaced and it had. There were service records for the job a month before he bought the car. This job included everything such as the water pump, tensioner, and pulleys. Well, he had it maybe 6 months and the car started making a terrible noise and running poorly. He pulled over and stopped (smart move). One of the PLASTIC pulleys had locked up and the flat side of the belt was just dragging over the top, eating away the belt and the pulley. I understand that many of the belt failures on these are not because of the belt, but for this reason.

His Aveo was and automatic and didn’t even get close to 30 miles to the gallon. I thought that was a joke for a car that size. I blame some of that on the transmission. It always seemed to downshift when there was no reason for it to do so or stay in a low gear way too long. My GF replaced her Suzuki Reno/Forenza (GM Daewoo) with the Mirage. The car was maybe the size of a Civic or a little bigger and just got terrible mileage. That is even when one of the many check engine lights weren’t on. It seemed I was constantly replacing some part on this thing but it was cheaper than a car payment until 3 major things all went at the same time. The head gasket or related finished it off in my mind.

I found some information on the Outlander Sport on another forum. It appears to be good solid vehicle and reliable if you can live with somewhat dated features. They say it is a good value overall. I am not interested in really buying one but was more curious than anything.

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@cwatkin

Many cars used plastic pulleys

Some expensive cars even use plastic pulleys

It’s not necessarily associated with poor quality

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I see. I guess the bearings at the center of the pulleys are the problem. I know some plastics, especially those with reinforcement, do quite well in automotive applications but those in the Aveo obviously weren’t of high quality.

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I just wanted to say that I have been seeing a lot of the Outlander Sports on the road around here so it must be selling pretty well. I see a couple Mirages but the Outlander Sport is quite common although nowhere nearly as common as a Honda CRV or Toyota Rav4. I see one or two per day while doing service work in my small town. A couple of them are probably the same ones because I see a black one and a white one quite frequently and usually in the same locations. I also see other colors more randomly so figure those are different.

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Well, let’s take my perspective

I live in Los Angeles, a huge city that clearly has lots of new car dealers, and probably at least one Mitsubishi dealer

And WEEKS go by without me seeing any Outlander Sports

So, my opinion is that they must be selling very poorly

Any new Mitsubishi is decidedly uncommon in my neck of the woods

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53rd in sales in the suv market

1 Like
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I FINALLY saw a current model Outlander today . . . !

That would seem to be in agreement with 53rd in suv sales :smirk_cat:

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The LA area has 12.8 million people. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_metropolitan_area

Missouri has 6.1 million people. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_metropolitan_area

LA has five Mitsubishi dealers while Missouri has eight. I am sure this is part of the reason and I would have to expect a few more in this area. I probably don’t go a day without seeing at least one Outlander Sport, even thought he nearest dealer is 100 miles away in 3 directions. The standard Outlander seems to be a little rarer but I did see one just the other day. This is by no means a common vehicle but I am actually seeing them.

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Not to be a spoiler again . . .

If LA has five Mitsubishi dealers, I should be seeing far more new Mitsubishis . . . but I’m not

By my logic, that would imply they are selling very poorly

By my logic, that would also imply Mitsubishi is circling the drain

I’m sorry if I upset anybody, but that’s how I see it