2025 Mitsubishi Outlander

Falling somewhere between compact and midsize SUVs, the Mitsubishi Outlander has the distinction of being America’s most affordable new car with three rows of seats. Its affordable pricing and 3-row versatility make it a strong value proposition for frugal families, and its long warranty coverage and thrifty fuel economy enhance that value factor. It can even get pretty nice in the upper trims if your budget allows it. If a bigger midsize SUV is too pricey and a 2-row compact SUV is too small, the Mitsubishi Outlander is your Goldilocks.

We’ve spent hundreds of hours driving and evaluating this generation of midsize SUVs, including the 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander.

For 2025, the Mitsubishi Outlander gets a mild facelift to its exterior styling, mainly noticeable in the lower front and rear fascias. Its cabin also gets a refresh, with a reorganized center stack yielding a more favorable cupholder layout and a bigger 12.3-inch infotainment screen replacing the old 9-inch screen.

Mitsubishi also retuned the suspension and added more sound deadening to create a more compliant and quiet ride. Mission accomplished; the added serenity was noticeable in our testing.

Pricing is one of the biggest strengths of the Mitsubishi Outlander. It has the bragging rights of America’s most affordable 3-row vehicle, but the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe aren’t far off, both starting in the mid-$30,000 range.

Before buying an Outlander, check the Kelley Blue Book Fair Purchase Price to know what you should really pay. The Mitsubishi Outlander’s resale value is among the worst in its segment. Recouping more money when selling a vehicle can mean a bigger down payment and lower monthly payments on the next one.

The 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander is powered by a 181-horsepower 4-cylinder engine matched with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT)and front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD). On paper, its performance is about on par with the base engine of the Kia Sorento, but a much stronger turbo engine is optional in the Sorento and standard in the Hyundai Santa Fe.

Although the middling horsepower, less-than-responsive transmission, and light steering make the Outlander a bit anemic, we were pleasantly surprised by the ride quality’s refinement in our testing. A plush suspension and muted cabin noise almost made us forget that the Outlander is one of the cheapest cars in its class.

Fuel Economy

The 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander returns 27 combined mpg with front-wheel drive and 26 mpg with all-wheel drive. These ratings are slightly better than the base engines in the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe, but both of those rivals have conventional hybrid options that get up to 36 combined mpg. Meanwhile, the Outlander PHEV goes up to 38 miles on electricity alone and returns 26 mpg with a depleted battery.

We’re pleased to report that the Outlander 3-row SUV’s interior is uncluttered and made of high-quality materials. Pricier versions can be almost luxurious, offering semi-aniline leather with diamond-patterned stitching for the seats and door panels.

The good news for families who can benefit from extra seats is that the Mitsubishi Outlander has standard 3-row seating for up to seven. The bad news is that the third row is tiny, fit exclusively for children and the vertically challenged. There are only 18.7 inches of third-row legroom, considerably less than the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe, which have about 30 inches of legroom in the way back.

However, if you’ll have the third row folded down most of the time, the Outlander has a decent-sized cargo hold with 30.6 cubic feet of room. There’s 10.9 cubic feet of room behind the third row and a whopping 64.3 cubic feet when all rear seats are folded down. Again, its closest rivals from Kia and Hyundai have more cargo room by virtue of being larger vehicles.

The current Outlander SUV has more presence and attitude than its predecessor. In the past, that third row might have been the main reason for choosing an Outlander. Nowadays, the design might also have some sway. Some slight styling tweaks for 2025 help to keep it fresh.

All-wheel drive
Mitsubishi calls it Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC), but most of us tend to know it as all-wheel drive, providing the usual extra confidence during bad weather. It has selectable modes of Tarmac, Gravel, Snow, Normal, Eco, and Mud. The difference between Tarmac and Normal is that the former is like a Sport setting.

Apple CarPlay/Android Auto
We all expect phone integration to be standard in new vehicles these days. It is in the 2025 Outlander, and it works wirelessly in every trim.

Standard Yamaha audio
Premium sound is usually reserved for upper trims, but in 2025, every Outlander comes with a Yamaha audio system. The base ES trim has an 8-speaker setup, while every other trim has a more powerful 12-speaker system.

Powered tailgate
A power-operated tailgate (with adjustable opening heights) is simply a great convenience feature, which becomes standard in the SE.

12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
This configurable driver information display becomes available in the SE’s Tech package. It can show the usual things like road and engine speeds, plus navigation directions.

Head-up display
Taking driver-oriented tech further, the head-up display projects information into the windshield, reducing those fractions of seconds spent not looking at the road. This is part of the SEL’s Touring package.

Power for the Mitsubishi Outlander comes from a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine rated at 181 horsepower and 181 lb-ft of torque. It’s mated to a CVT transmission, which helps with efficiency but doesn’t do the SUV any favors in the excitement department. Like most of the SUVs in this class, front-wheel drive is standard, and all-wheel drive is optional.

A plug-in hybrid Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is available, which we review separately.

5-Year/60,000-Mile Warranty

The Mitsubishi Outlander has a 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty and a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. Only Kia and Hyundai cover their cars for as long. But, perhaps not coincidentally, this car’s major competitors are mostly Kia and Hyundai models, namely the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe.

The 2025 Outlander also includes a complimentary 2-year/30,000-mile scheduled maintenance plan. But we encourage shoppers not to overrate that perk — there isn’t much maintenance in the first two years of car ownership. It covers a maximum of three oil changes, three tire rotations, and one cabin filter.

Safety

The Mitsubishi Outlander has earned a 4-Star overall safety rating (out of a possible five stars) from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), it gets the top “Good” rating in every crashworthiness criterion.