2016 Mitsubishi Outlander

About two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to test drive the 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander. I was pretty excited. I like my car, but it’s always fun to see what else is out there that I may be interested in getting when my lease is up. When this 4-door SUV showed up, I was pleasantly surprised. I liked the overall look of the car and the color was Cosmic Blue, which I really did like. That’s funny to me because I typically do not like blue cars. The interior was a beige color. It was too light for my liking, but I have kids and well…you can guess why a light interior is not my thing!

About the Mitsubishi Outlander

The Japanese car gets phenomenal gas mileage. I drove this car all over my town, sat for 40 minutes each day at my son’s school waiting for him to come out (with the car running most of the time because, well…I like the heated seats!) and I only used half a tank of gas! I was stunned! On paper, the car is said to get 24 city MPG and 29 highway MPG. I feel that is pretty darn accurate! With as crazy busy as my town is, you need a car that gets good gas mileage or you’ll be spending so much on gas each year.

Warranty wise, this car has a pretty good one!

• 10 year/100,000 mile Powertrain Limited Warranty
• 5 year/60,000 mile New Vehicle Limited Warranty
• 7 year/100,000 mile Anti-Corrosion/Perforation Limited Warranty
• 5 year/UNLIMITED Roadside Assistance

When you look at a few of the other dealerships (Mazda, Toyota and Honda), they only have a 5 year/60,000 mile Powertrain Limited Warranty.

Some Notable Features

• Mechanical Features
  • Continuously Variable Transmission
  • Super All-Wheel Control
  • Active Front Differential
• Exterior Features
  • Auto-off Halogen Headlights
  • Heated Side-View Mirrors
  • Short Pole Antenna
  • LED Rear Combination Tail Lights
  • Rear Privacy Glass
  • 18-inch Two-Tone Alloy Wheels
• Interior Features
  • Color Multi-Informational Display
  • Rear Cargo Area Light
  • ECO Indicator Light
  • 7 Passenger Seating
  • Drive Mode Selector (AWC, ECO, Normal, Snow, Lock)
  • Heated Front Seats
  • 60/40 Split Fold-Down rear seats with independent sides and reclining adjustments (2nd row)
  • 50/50 3rd row fold-down flat feature
  • Micron Air Filtration
  • Remote hood and fuel release lever
• Convenience Features
  • Rearview Camera
  • FUSE Hands-Free Link System® with Bluetooth® technology, USB port, and steering wheel controls
  • One-Touch Start/Stop (OSS) Engine Switch
  • Cargo tie-down utility hooks
• Safety & Security
  • Hill Start Assist
  • Anti-Lock Braking System with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Brake Assist
  • Active Stability Control
  • Tire Pressure Monitoring System
  • Side Curtain Airbags
  • Front seat-mounted airbags
  • Driver’s Knee Airbags
  • Advanced Dual-stage SRS Front Airbags
  • LATCH Child Restraint System
  • RISE Body Construction
  • Anti-Theft Engine Immobilizer <–this is neat. There is a chip in your key/keyfob that has a code and your car will only start if the code on the keyfob chip matches the code in the engine immobilizer!

Now this car also had the SEL Touring Package which includes the follow features:

• MMCS Navigation System with 2 Annual Mapcare® updates
• Forward Collision Mitigation
• Adaptive Cruise Control
• Lane Departure Warning
• Auto Headlight Control
• Rain Sensing Wipers
• Power Remote Liftgate
• Power Folding Side Mirrors
• Windshield Wiper De-Icer
• Power Glass Sunroof
• 710W ROCKFORD FOSGATE® Premium Audio System with 9 speakers
• SIRIUSXM® Radio with 3 month subscription

Overall, I really did like this car. The sound system was absolutely amazing and unlike any I’ve ever had in a car before. Check out the video I took of how you use the CD player:

The third row seat, which came in handy to make the kids sit in when they were loud, was nice for another reason (besides my sanity while driving!)…when I went grocery shopping and I needed more room, I was able to fold the third row down completely flat. This trunk organizer would definitely come in handy in this car…shoot, it would come in handy in my current car! The headrests store under the seats in their own compartment.

While I liked the vast majority of this car, there were three things I did not like at all.

1. The Lane Departure Warning – this feature is something that you can shut off (thankfully), but you had to shut it off each and every time you started the car. Basically, if you are are driving and slightly move into the other lane, the car starts beeping. On a long road trip, I could totally see how this would be beneficial, but I found it annoying for my day to day driving.
2. The Center Console – it was WAY too small. When I’m driving, I want to rest my arm comfortably on the arm rest, but in Mitsubishi Outlander, the armrest is small so it was not all that comfortable.
3. The Cup Holders – these were too large. My pop would share around in the cup holder. I don’t like the super snug cup holders where you have to jam the cup into it, but I do prefer a slightly smaller one so the pop stays still.

Have you driven the Mitsubishi Outlander yet? What are your thoughts?