Test driving the Mitsubishi Outlander and returning it with a VERY clean windscreen.

Post sponsored by Nuffnang but as always, my words, content and photos are all me.

When we moved to Australia we made the conscious decision to become a one car family. We knew that Melbourne had a pretty wonderful public transport system and Alec was excited to begin cycling to and from work everyday. Plus we planned to buy it outright , so no car payments! Our only concern at the time was being able to fit 3 children’s car seats across the back. WHY we did not think further down the road of life a bit and consider the fact that we may want to take someone else in the car with us in addition to our three children boggles my mind. So here we are now…One child is out of her car seat all together, but that still means that if we want to go anywhere with anyone in addition to our immediate family, someone is walking.

Not super practical considering we now have playdates and occasional visitors from overseas.

I got the opportunity to test drive the Mitsubishi Outlander for a week. Since it takes approximately that long to frustratingly reinstall the twins’ child safety seats back into our sedan, we decided to see if our life would be made a lot easier with the Outlander as our second car. And a lot easier it was. Fun too! There are so many features on it which I now consider essential, but had not been thinking about back then! Like a cup holder right beside the steering wheel (brilliant!) for the ever-present cup of coffee that I have in my life now. Not having the twins in the car with us meant that Gemma could bring friends along for playdates where we actually got to leave our house and go somewhere further than walking distance. Gemma loved the comfy seats with arm rest in the back that folds down to reveal more cup holders. This car is cup holder heaven.

OK, more important than the plethora of cup holders is actually the extra space. While this vehicle does not have the third row of seats that would solve our problem of transporting extra people, it does have tons of room for all the superfluous stuff that 3 kids require. Double pram, tons of groceries and even Gemma’s hula hoops for circus class…never could have predicted needing extra room for hula-hoops. The back even drops open flat so that there is no ridge to lift the heavy items up and over to get them inside. My back thanks Mitsubishi for that.

The most outstanding thing about the Outlander is the visibility it afforded me as the driver. I felt like I could see for ages up there and that may be due to the Outlander being an SUV, but I also attribute it to the window design. It was a bit like I was driving in a bubble. Really anywhere I looked was clear.

There is one blind spot that terrifies me as a mother. The area directly behind the car’s rear bumper where only an actual bubble could have a window. Even in our sedan, as we back out of the driveway, I creep slowly still scared that I will run into a kid who is barreling blissfully down the sidewalk on their scooter. That is exactly why Mitsubishi put a camera above the registration plate. I had heard they had a reverse camera, but when I got into the car for the first time I did not see a screen. I was so looking forward to that option, but figured it must be an extra feature or only on more expensive models. I put the Outlander into reverse and looked up to check the rear view mirror thrilled to see it transformed seamlessly to also include a screen for the backup camera. It is not visible when in any other gear except reverse and in no way interferes with the mirror as you drive, but holy cow…magic.

Opening the arm rest next to the driver’s seat revealed a USB port and space to hold my iPod. Since the phone and iPod both integrate into the dash and steering wheel controls, I was able to listen to my music and make a call without my eyes anywhere but on the road.

I wish I had more time with the car (Gemma was plotting all sorts of ways to keep it longer) as we loved it. Safe and fun to drive. We would however need the extra row of seats and would prefer a diesel engine if we were to make it our family car.

When I did return the car to the dealer it was with an extremely clean windscreen as the turn signal and windscreen washer controls were on the opposite sides from what I am used to…every time I turned the corner or changed lanes the windscreen got a good wash.

Now, we are headed off on a family road trip up the coast in a few weeks…I am thinking I might just have to test drive the Pajero (with diesel engine, 3^rd row of seats and inbuilt DVD entertainment system for the kids) and blog about the experience as we go!