Report 3

It’s five months since the L200 was originally scheduled to arrive in Devon. Maybe the pick-up will stick around long enough this time for me to carry out a proper evaluation. I began last month’s report by saying that the L200 had returned to Mitsubishi HQ to fix a couple of issues, then concluded it by saying I hoped it would return by the time I pen this review. Well, good news, because it’s back, and it appears to be fixed.

The central locking issue was caused by a misaligned latch on the hardtop, which was stopping the top door from closing properly. As a result, the central locking was failing to operate. One minute it wouldn’t lock, the next minute it wouldn’t unlock. I don’t want to repeat the act of driving across the moors with the alarm sounding and the indicators flashing. The Barbarian X trim is ‘shouty’ enough as it is. Besides, it was scaring the sheep.

The faulty climate control system was simply caused by a missing fuse. It’s the kind of thing I’d check first when dealing with one of the cars on my fleet of tat. I didn’t think to check the fuse on a new car. Lesson learnt. As a small aside, the steering wheel is now properly aligned, so it doesn’t feel like I’m driving a South Korean taxi from the late-90s. I’ve got nothing against South Korean cars, it’s just that they always seemed to feature a steering wheel that was off-centre when the car was driving straight. In theory, then, the Mitsubishi L200 should be as good as new. The air conditioning is delivering an ice-cold breeze in hot weather, but just as importantly in Devon, the windows aren’t misting up when the weather turns a bit ‘Dartmoor’. Happy days!

It’s got some catching up to do. Until now, I’d have chosen our Isuzu D-Max over the L200, purely on the basis of the trouble-free six years under its belt. Aside from a quality issue with the Truckman canopy (not an Isuzu problem), it has performed impeccably, despite being the workhorse of the fleet. Minor niggles, no matter how trivial they might appear, put a dent in your confidence in a vehicle.

The L200 is scoring some brownie points in other areas. Only last week, when we were out late clearing drains, gullies and ditches following rainfall of biblical proportions, the L200 was called into action to carry horse and goat feed and extra bedding to the far side of the paddock. It’s a nice walk on a good day, but this certainly wasn’t a good day. The heated seats, heated steering wheel and Alcantara-clad seats provided some much-needed respite from the weather. The D-Max can’t touch the L200 in terms of cabin comfort. Maybe my family will… ahem, warm to the Mitsubishi after all.

Date arrived 10th March 2020
Mileage 4,840
Economy (WLTP combined) 29.1mpg
Economy (On test) 28.6mpg