• PHEV model can be extremely cheap to run…
• …but your lifestyle will have to fit around it
• Petrol is far less remarkable in this respect

The Mitsubishi Outlander can be incredibly cheap to run if you pick the hybrid version, but that relies heavily on how you use the car.

You’ll ideally have access to a fast-charging wallbox at home and/or at work to top up the batteries regularly, and if that’s the case and you don’t do many miles per day then you could in theory use very little fuel at all. It needs some, just to keep the petrol motor functioning, but in theory you could use one tank of fuel for anything up to around six months in the right circumstances.

It’s for that reason the PHEV’s fuel economy figure – quoted as 139mpg on the new, more realistic WLTP testing cycle – is academic. It’ll vary wildly depending on how you use the car. If you never plug your car in, you’ll be in for economy worse than the diesel’s; expect sub-30mpg.

The 2.0-litre petrol could be the most costly with its claimed 37.7mpg.

When it comes to tax, the lower-CO2 PHEV models are the ones to go for. It’ll work out cheaper for private and company car drivers thanks to Government incentives to drive plug-in vehicles.

To find out the BIK costs for the PHEV, you can find them in this Company Car Driver article here

Green credentials

The performance of the Outlander here depends entirely on whether you’ve gone for the petrol or the plug-in hybrid model. The former has a CO2 output of 171g/km, which isn’t great, whereas the PHEV model manages as low as 46g/km on the very latest, and more stringent, WLTP standard.

Reliability

• No horror stories to worry about
• Should prove a dependable car
• A few recalls, but issues will be fixed

We don’t think you’ll be unhappy with the Mitsubishi Outlander’s reliability. It’s a robustly built machine that shouldn’t cause you too many issues. There haven’t been any horror stories that we’ve heard of concerning its dependability, and owners generally report great news. Our Owners Reviews show no horror stories with the build. Only issues with how much it can cost to run in some situations.

There have been a number of recalls issued by the DVSA for issues with the drivetrain – particularly on 2.0-litre PHEV models – but these will have been fixed at no cost to the owner by the company.

Our testers have been impressed with the build quality in the cars we’ve experienced over the years too. The cabin isn’t the smartest, but it’s full of tough-feeling materials that’ll stand the test of time.