2004 Mitsubishi Outlander ZF XLS review from Australia and New Zealand

Door opener on driver's side needed adjusting.

Hand brake loose.

I looked at most makes of similar vehicles and thought the Outlander had all the features that I needed/wanted eg, dual and side airbags, ABS, cruise control at a reasonable price by comparison and it had more room than the Rav, I can fit a bmx in the back and all the shopping and not get stuck in the mud at the soccer ground.

I like the nose shaping, it has a face only a mother would love.

It had more grunt and I liked the sequential gears so you don't have to only rely on the brakes and you can kick back a gear without having to put your foot to the floor.

However, I wish I had waited and looked a little longer. The Outlander I believe is designed for someone a little taller than I (5'3") as I need to reach and stretch to make adjustments and the power mirrors are in an awkward place. It is really thirsty like a bigger engine, perhaps because it is quite heavy.

Whilst I am reasonably happy with the car, I find that driving even a short distance very uncomfortable as the seats are so hard. So hard in fact that I would consider trading it in if I thought it had any kind of reasonable resale, but I recently saw the same model with same kilometres for $10,000 less than I paid six months ago, so a I assume that a trade in would be less than that. I know that you lose money as soon as you drive it out of the showroom, but that is too much.

To top it off, the car now comes with an extra two years warranty yet is the same vehicle as last years. I have a feeling that the extra time will be needed.

I find other things annoying such as the fabric texture and colour attract and show any kind of lint, crumbs etc

and the plastics scratch easily.

So far the car sticks to the road well. I like the fact that I can go "off roadish" if necessary ie. over curbs, up the mountain.

One major point is that it is very difficult to see out of and reversing and parking are awkward. The blind spots can make lane changing daunting.

I have to come to terms with the fact that I will have to wait (suffer) a few years before I can replace it.

I have not seen many Outlanders on the road, and then only men were driving them. I thought it would be more appealing to women as men would want to drive a real 4wd, but they would need to size things with smaller dimensions.