Used Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin 4x4 1999 - 2006 review
Category: Small SUV
The Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin is a great off-roader, but too poor on-road
What's the used Mitsubishi Pinin 4x4 like?
The Mitsubishi Pinin is remarkable in many ways. First, it's a small 4x4, so it has very few direct rivals; second, it has genuine off-road ability, and deserves its membership of the Shogun family, all talented off-roaders.
The trouble is that, for both of those reasons, there's little to recommend about the car, unless you particularly like its style. It's crude on-road, with a choppy ride, too much body roll in bends, poor refinement and steering that's slow and devoid of feel. If you plan to spend most of your time on Tarmac, you'll be much better off with a Toyota RAV4.
On top of that, the Pinin's small size also means it's cramped. In the three-door model, in particular, legroom and boot space are poor, but the front seats are short of support, too. The longer five-door has a little more practicality.
Ownership cost
What used Mitsubishi Pinin 4x4 will I get for my budget?
How much does it cost to run a Mitsubishi Pinin 4x4?
It's generally cheap to buy, and certainly less than rivals like the Honda HR-V or Toyota RAV4.
Its fuel economy - 30mpg in three- and five-door models - also compares pretty well to 4x4s, although a similarly sized hatch will be more frugal. However, there is no diesel version to keep fuel costs even lower.
The one potential headache is unscheduled maintenance: Warranty Direct says dealer labour rates are only a little higher than average, but the average cost for repairs is very high - higher than those for other 4x4 makers, including Land Rover and Jeep.
Our recommendations
Which used Mitsubishi Pinin 4x4 should I buy?
Neither the three- nor the five-door model is particularly practical, so you might as well save your money and choose the smaller and cheaper three-door.
The three-door has also been around for longer, with the five-door only arriving in January 2001, almost a year after the smaller model. For almost the range's entire life, each body had just one engine: a 1.8-litre in the three-door and a 2.0-litre in the five-door. You could buy a 2.0-litre three-door and 1.8 five-door for a while in 2003, but the range soon reverted to its original line-up.
In terms of trim, it's best to buy as young a car as possible, as the car's standard equipment improved during its life. On early three-door cars, for instance, only the top-specification model had alloy wheels and air-con. These became standard across the range from late 2004 - aim for a late Equippe model.
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