Please help me find a used Midsize 4x4 SUV

[fishingvic]

Hi guys,

I've sold my old 2003 X-Trail and am now after a newer replacement Mid sized SUV.

Budget is around $15k give or take a couple of grand. Probably looking at something from around 2010-2013. Any suggestions as to what I should be looking for?

I like the look of the Mitsubishi Outlander ZH 4x4 (2009-2012) but can't seem to find one in the colour I'm after with low KM's.

Would greatly appreciate any suggestions for any other vehicles I should be looking at in this price range.

Cheers,
Jon

[smile0784]

Outlander had tow capacity of 1.5t i think but really sags in the bum.
Would you mind considering a ford territory? Tow capacity 2.3t
2013 100000 km range for about $17000 if you look around

[Bayrock]

Been very happy with our 2010 xtrail st-l 4x4 which w’re about to sell as well. Tons of room in the back, tows well and decent 4x4 if needed.
You shouldbe able to pick one up in that year range for around 12-15k with low km

[yepi'mon]

We had an outlander rental the other week when we were away. It was an absolute piece of S*#)T. We ended up taking it back and swapping over for a Rav 4 which was much much better.

The mechanic there said all their outlanders/Mitsubishi's are terrible.

[frozenpod]

Are you towing?

We have a T31 xtrail 4x4 ST-L. I test drove 11 similar vehicles and pick the xtrail. The main reason for picking the xtrail was the larger (longer) boot. I have towed with it occasionally and it does a good job. IMO the 2000kg maximum rating is too much but I would happily tow 1500kg with it.

At the time I was working remotely quite a lot and had mid sized SUV's for 4-5 days at a time as hire cars so a lot more than just a drive around the block test drive.

The other top two contenders was the CX-5 the best handling almost like a car and the Rav 4 best automatic transmission.

Kia Sportage was the 4th many good aspects I was almost sold on it until I have it for a week and discovered several terrible aspects. (I hired another one to make sure it wasn't just a one off lemon)

Shocks were terrible overheated and turned to mush on bumpy country roads, electronic throttle terrible very very course you can clearly feel the steps and this made low speed maneuvering ie parking a pain particularly on cold mornings, electronic steering terrible (overheats and shuts down in hot weather when doing a 90 deg reverse parking)

[fishingvic]

We had an outlander rental the other week when we were away. It was an absolute piece of S*#)T. We ended up taking it back and swapping over for a Rav 4 which was much much better.

The mechanic there said all their outlanders/Mitsubishi's are terrible.

The newer Outlander is a completely different car.
I'm specifically looking at the VH series from 2011-2012...

Are you towing?

We have a T31 xtrail 4x4 ST-L. I test drove 11 similar vehicles and pick the xtrail. The main reason for picking the xtrail was the larger (longer) boot. I have towed with it occasionally and it does a good job. IMO the 2000kg maximum rating is too much but I would happily tow 1500kg with it.

At the time I was working remotely quite a lot and had mid sized SUV's for 4-5 days at a time as hire cars so a lot more than just a drive around the block test drive.

The other top two contenders was the CX-5 the best handling almost like a car and the Rav 4 best automatic transmission.

Kia Sportage was the 4th many good aspects I was almost sold on it until I have it for a week and discovered several terrible aspects. (I hired another one to make sure it wasn't just a one off lemon)

Shocks were terrible overheated and turned to mush on bumpy country roads, electronic throttle terrible very very course you can clearly feel the steps and this made low speed maneuvering ie parking a pain particularly on cold mornings, electronic steering terrible (overheats and shuts down in hot weather when doing a 90 deg reverse parking)

Towing is not so important as I don't have a boat. Maybe in the future.
CX5 is not really within the budget and have been told they start having problems at around 100,000kms.

[yepi'mon]

That would have been the one we had. Not sure what year it was but was definitely the newer model (looking on Wikipedia). It was definitely a disappointing car.

Crap air con, felt tinny, very slow pickup on acceleration etc etc

[Bayrock]

Yeh I'm not a fan of Mitsu's in general have seen a lot of problems with them; esp on the Pajero's

[frozenpod]

The previous model outlander with the drop down section on the boot door was good. No idea with the new one.

[port80]

Sorry if this is a silly reply, but. Does it need to be an SUV? I'm a huge fan of family wagons and generally find them superior to SUV for a lot of common applications. My previous car was a Mazda 6 Touring wagon, diesel manual. It had a bunch of bells and whistles, plus one of the best engines I've used. It's the only vehicle (apart from my current skoda superb) that would swallow my 29" racing mountain bike. The fuel usage was around 5.6l/100km and with 400nm it towed like a champ.