USED Mitsubishi Shogun Sport 4x4 (00 - 08)

My car

HELLO, AGAIN, 3 MONTHS ON SINCE I REVEWED THIS VEHICLE, I HAVE NOTHING BUT PRAISE FOR IT AND IT IS STILL A DELIGHT TO DRIVE. HAVE DONE CLOSE TO 11,000 MILES AND HAVE HAD FUN ON AND OFF ROAD WITH THIS VEHICLE. IF DRIVEN SENSIBLY IT WILL DO 27MPG BUT DRIVEN HARD THIS WILL DROP TO 21 MPG. PROBLEMS SINCE, HAVE GOT A FRONT WHEEL BEARING MAKING ENOUGH NOISE TO MERIT ATTENTION AND A COUPLE OF THE FRONT MOUNTING BUSHES ARE LOOKING A BIT WORSE FOR WEAR (HAVE BEEN OFF ROADING ON SOME VERY HARSH TERRAIN. RECENTLY PUSHED THIS VEHICLE TO ITS LIMITS ON ROAD (ECU WAS REMAPPED AND WILL DO 121MPH), YES IT IS A BIT HARD ON COMFORT BUT THE HANDLING AND PREFORMANCE IS FANTASTIC. MY KIDS STILL PREFER MY OLDER SHOGUN WHICH DOES NOT GET OUT MUCH NOWDAYS BUT I LOVE THIS NEWER TOY, I STILL HAVE A GRIN ON MY FACE EVERY TIME I GET OUT OF IT AFTER A FUN DRIVE. 28 YEARS DRIVING AND PRECISION DRIVING FOR A LIVING THIS VEHICLE HAS BOUGHT BACK SOME OF THE JOY IN DRIVING.

My car

As the car was delivered in a snow storm at the beginning of March I got some early use out of the impressive and easy to use four-wheel-drive system. Whilst economy in the three-litre is not the best (I am averaging about 20mpg for mainly town use) it is not that much down on the Volvo 940 that I owned before. The engine provides loads of power when needed but as the main test review stated road noise can creep in when the speed goes up. It is a head turner, however, and everyone who has been inside has been impressed and surprised by the car. Interior space is huge especially for the three kids in the back whilst the front has more than enough room even though for a person of 6ft 5 ish it may be cramped! I bought the car via the Sainsbury Car Scheme and delivered by Perrys which has proved to be a great deal with the next cheapest deal being about £100 more expensive a month. If you are looking for a big four-wheel drive with bags of power and room but on a budget then this is the car and i would thoroughly recommend it.

My car

I have covered over 10,000 miles since buying new in April 2004.

The car definitely does not filter out bumps and is sluggish in acceleration but it is spacious and seems to have very good build quality and reliability.

Everything in it works and everyone who rides in it seems to like it. The car is quite thirsty on petrol and the engine is a bit "all revs and no pull". But overall I much prefer it to the Volvo S8 T6 I used to have, which was much faster and used less petrol but which let me down time and again with lack of reliability - it was far too dependent on fallible technology. The Shogun sport does not seem to have so much of that fallible technology and is the better for it.

The tyres on the car give good and predictable roadholding so that all in all I think it is a splendid, practical "no frills" type of car and much better value than the Range Rovers and other expensive 4X4 which friends drive - and they tend to agree once they've had a ride.