The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is a roomy, solidly built used buy if its battery still gives a decent electric range, but don't take a 2014 to 2016 car without proof all its recall work was done.
3 known faults, 2 rated high severity in our database; owners report 61.3 mpg, 39% of the official figure. Everything below is built from that data and the archived owner history, not from a press car.
Found a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV for sale? Check the advert before you go and see it
Paste the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV advert and we read it against its known faults, the MOT history and the DVLA record, then tell you what to ask the seller and what to look at on the day. Free, about a minute, no card.
Check a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV advert (free) →Buy one with paperwork showing every recall was done, especially on anything from 2014 to 2016. All three known faults on this car sit in those years and all were recalls: water rusting the shaft that works the rear parking brake until it sticks and stops holding, an engine ECU relay that can overheat and stall the engine, and door latches that may not catch properly in hot weather. Owners have still had rear calipers seize after the parking brake recall.
Cars built after 2016 fall outside those faults' years, but that doesn't make them proven. Nearly every owner report comes from 2014 and 2015 cars, so there's very little to go on for the later ones up to 2021, good or bad. Give a later car exactly the same checks as an early one and don't treat the date as a guarantee.
Battery health matters more than the year. Two 2015 cars lost a big chunk of their electric range early on, one within four months of new and the other by 9,600 miles, and a third 2015 car lost all power when its battery pack failed and had it replaced under warranty. The one to buy is a car whose battery still holds a proper charge.
There's no engine or gearbox to steer clear of, but the 2.0 petrol plug-in hybrid from 2014 to 2016 was recalled for an engine ECU relay that can overheat, stall the engine and stop it restarting, so ask for proof that was done. Beyond that, the plug-in battery is what to judge: how much electric range it still gives tells you more about how the car's aged than anything under the bonnet.
There's no conventional gearbox, just a fixed reduction gear, and it doesn't hide it: press on and the engine gets loud while the pace builds slowly. Drive one properly, including a fast stretch of road and a hill, before you commit, and decide whether you can live with that noise every day.
The charging kit's given trouble too. One 2015 car's charger showed a fault light at 21,790 miles, just after its fourth dealer service, and the light stayed on even when it wasn't connected to the car. The dealer quoted £700 for a new one if warranty didn't cover it, so plug the supplied charger in on the day and check it doesn't show a warning light.
The parking brake comes first. Stop on a steep slope, apply it and make sure the car doesn't creep, and notice whether the lever travels further than you'd expect before it bites. After the drive, check neither rear wheel is dragging. On a 2014 to 2016 car, ask for proof all the recall work was done, plus receipts for any rear calipers already replaced, and close every door firmly to make sure it catches first time and the central locking works on it.
Ask the seller to charge it fully, then read the electric range it shows, ideally on a mild day, since cold weather cuts the range of a healthy battery too. The two owners who reported a loss started out with around 30 miles on a charge and ended up nearer 20, so a reading that low in mild weather points to a pack that's faded the way theirs did. Ask whether the battery or charger has had any warranty work and see the paperwork.
Open and shut the charging flap several times. Two owners had the clip inside it come loose: one flap got stuck and bent, chipping the paint, and the other wouldn't shut properly and rubbed on the bodywork. One owner of a 2015 car also found the headlights aimed too high with the adjustment switch removed before delivery, so check the switch is there and the beam isn't dazzling.
Paste the advert into the free check and it runs these against the listing, the MOT history and the DVLA record before you travel.
It's a good buy once the recall work's signed off and the battery still holds a proper charge, and on a 2014 to 2016 car the recall paperwork matters most, because all three known faults are confined to those years. Later cars up to 2021 have barely any owner reports behind them, so they're neither proven better nor worse, and they need the same checks.
Nothing that's gone wrong on these needed big mileage. One car's range dropped within four months of new and another's by 9,600 miles, one 2015 car's charger flagged a fault at 21,790 miles, and a 2014 car needed one rear caliper replaced and then the other once the parking brake stopped holding. A low-mileage example isn't automatically the safer one.
The suspension doesn't cope well with potholes, so take it over a broken surface on the test drive and listen for crashes or knocks from underneath. On battery power it's quiet enough that any odd noise from the chassis stands out, so do part of the drive with the engine off.
Sellers rarely admit these faults outright
Paste any Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV advert and we check it against the faults, the MOT record and these figures in seconds.
Check an advert now (free) →Owners report 61.3 mpg across the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV engines with data, about 39% of the official figure, from 242 submissions.
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Real MPG by engine →There's masses of room in the cabin, so it's an easy car to live with when it's full of people and their stuff. It doesn't win any prizes for flair inside, but it feels properly screwed together, and that sturdy, no-nonsense feel is what makes it a pleasant place to spend time.
It's at its best pottering around town on battery power, where it moves off quietly and smoothly because the engine doesn't need to run. It also handles far more tidily than you'd expect from a car of this size, so a twisty road isn't something to dread. Between the hushed low-speed running and the composed handling, it's a relaxing car to drive day to day.
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is a roomy, solidly built used buy if its battery still gives a decent electric range, but don't take a 2014 to 2016 car without proof all its recall work was done. Our database holds 3 known Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV faults, 2 rated high severity, and the sections above say which generation and engine carry them.
The parking brake comes first. Read the MOT history for repeat advisories and ask for invoices for any work the seller mentions. Then paste the advert into the free check, which reads it against every known Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV fault before you travel.
Owners report 61.3 mpg on average, about 39% of the official figure, from 242 submissions. The known faults page lists a rough repair cost against each fault. Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Real MPG by engine.
If you used the Honest John car-by-car reviews before the site closed in 2026, this is where the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV buying advice now lives. It is written from the archived owner reports and model notes (archived page, 24 items read for this model), our own known-faults database, the confirmed service intervals and the Real MPG figures. Every number on the page comes from that data, not from the text. The same data feeds our free advert check.
CarAdCheck is not affiliated with Honest John or Volkswagen Financial Services. What happened to Honest John, and where each feature lives now.
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is one decision. Reading the advert, the history and the seller are the rest, and these cover them.
Looking at a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV right now? Check the advert before you go and see it.