2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Hybrid?

[D60]

A friend recently bought one of these. There's a 99% chance I'll eventually wind up working on it. Thoughts, reliability, common problems etc?

I searched and found lots of discussion of the 2017 MY with 3.0 V6, but no mention of hybrid. Is Mitsu's hybrid system reliable? Battery life?

It would appear the hybrid only came attached to 2.0 4-banger.

A couple shots he sent me. He was one of those typical buyers who couldn't afford Toyota or Honda and kept looking for less expensive alternatives.

 

[Kira]

People here appear not to own too many Mitsus.
In every Mitsu thread someone says, "Oh yeah, they're OK vehicles".
I have friends who owned 3 Outlanders; a 2011, 2013 and 2017, with the '17 being an Outlander Sport.
They liked them. I did a CVT drain & fill on the '11. It had turned its fluid a dark maple syrup color over 115K.
Both the '11 and '13 had CVTs and they worked well.
I believe the '17 had a geared transmission.

I suggest digging into Mitsubishi forums and measuring the negative posts.
How long have the hybrids been out? There might be limited data, if any.

Too bad battery pack standardization didn't occur before the various players started making vehicles.

I wish I knew more. I also wish Mitsubishi didn't design such horrid, blingy front ends.
They are repulsively low class in appearance.

 

[Passport1]

I have a 2014 Mitsu Outlander with the 3.0 v6 engine. Owned since new, 85K on it. Has been a very good vehicle, zero mechanical issues but the paint job is sub-optimal. I'd buy another but I agree the front end treatment is hideous. Looks like it was designed by Pablo Picasso having a bad dream.

 

[Jetronic]

They're reliable, but the achilles heel will be battery degrading over time. Like every plug-in Hybrid, they need to be plugged in on a regular bnasis or battery degradation happens faster.

The later models came with a 2.4 ICE, I believe the hybrids appeared in 2013. The rear axle drive is from the Mitsubishi iMIEV.

There's no transmission, but there's a clutch to lock the engine to the front wheels at speed (above 40 mph IIRC).

 

[D60]

Yeah, I think they're ugly but that's neither here nor there when it comes to turning a wrench I guess.

He was looking at a '15 Sorrento and KL Cherokee. Fortunately I steered him away from both. He simply doesn't have the funds to deal with inevitable repairs, and this guy has ZERO mechanical aptitude. I'd honestly be surprised if he could check his oil competently (I'm not exaggerating).

Oh, he never consulted me on the Mitsu but I think it was the better of the "lesser" options.

Looking forward to any more advice or gotchas on this platform and powertrain!

 

[czbrian]

I had a 2018 Outlander PHEV and put around 45K miles on it over 4 years before trading it in. I didnt have any issues. It worked well for a commuter because I could drive to the park and ride to downtown on 100% battery and for running errands on the weekend. Then every other weekend I would drive it on gas for long trips to my hometown.

 

[D60]

I had a 2018 Outlander PHEV and put around 45K miles on it over 4 years before trading it in. I didnt have any issues. It worked well for a commuter because I could drive to the park and ride to downtown on 100% battery and for running errands on the weekend. Then every other weekend I would drive it on gas for long trips to my hometown.

So are these capable of charging their own battery?

 

[Jetronic]

So are these capable of charging their own battery?

Yes, like every other hybrid. But they need to get hooked up to a cable every now and then so the battery cell voltages can get balanced out. This keeps the battery healthy for longer. All plug in Hybrids need this. EV need it too, but they are hooked up anyways.

 

[Bailes1992]

They're reliable, but the achilles heel will be battery degrading over time. Like every plug-in Hybrid, they need to be plugged in on a regular bnasis or battery degradation happens faster.

The later models came with a 2.4 ICE, I believe the hybrids appeared in 2013. The rear axle drive is from the Mitsubishi iMIEV.

There's no transmission, but there's a clutch to lock the engine to the front wheels at speed (above 40 mph IIRC).

That's weird with the clutch. I had one as a company car for a very short period of time and I thought it operated like a normal CVT. I can't remember what year mine was though, maybe a 19? I know it was just before the first lock downs happened.

 

[Jetronic]

That's weird with the clutch. I had one as a company car for a very short period of time and I thought it operated like a normal CVT. I can't remember what year mine was though, maybe a 19? I know it was just before the first lock downs happened.

below 65 kph or so the drive is always purely electric, above that it makes sense to lock the motor to the wheels and drive directly, rather than turn mechanical energy into electric and back into mechanical. You wouldn't know if nobody told you, it works like it should. If you want a lot of power, the engine drives the generator at a faster speed, but not needed for cruisin'.