Americans love large vehicles. That used to be the saying which is now changing towards Americans love trucks. No wonder Ford has been selling all those truck and truck based vehicles big time for now. Realizing the fact little late, Japanese automakers entered segment little late, and flooding the market with so many models for sale. Let's see how they can compete with world's best selling figures of Ford in the same segment, but it is good to have the japanese innovation, reliability and value in this segment.
This review is based on a weekend trip of around 1000 miles from a rental, in a 2004 Endeavor LS AWD.
Although Mitsubishi has longer experiance than some japanese competitors like Honda in making SUVs, they seem to still struggle to make a mark. Although lot of parts in Endeavor seem to have been reused from other Mitsubishi vehicles, price is not cheap. It is as pricey or more pricier than Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander or Nissan Pathfinder, but does not provide all the value like its competitors.
The 215HP V6 engine seem to have been reused from old Montero SUV. The power is very good for in-city driving. It provides lot of power when starting from complete stop or passing those dumptrucks in local roads, but it is not very impressive on Highway. Particulary, when driving on those hilly highways of North Carolina where the speed limit is 70, it works really hard. Takes its own time when trying to pass other vehicles in hilly highways. Endeavor uses a 215 HP V6 engine while the comparable vehicles Honda Pilot uses 240Hp V6, Toyota Highlander uses 230 Hp V6 and the Nissan Pathfinder uses 240 HP V6. The torque from Endeavor's engine is comparable though.
One area where Endeavor impresses is the car like ride. Attributing it more towards a crossover for people moving from Cars to SUVs, the ride is perfectly smooth and the interior is quiet and comfortable. The interior is hige enough for five big adults and has ample cargo area. Looks like they learned from their Montero experiances where it was rated unsafe because of the excessive heights, even though Endeavor seem to be wider and lengthier than Montero Sport, they did not make proportionately taller. But, otherwise the vehicle provides comfortable sitting space and car like smoother ride.
Although it depends on individual taste to like or not to like the style, and making a comment on the style need not necessarily appeal everybody, I would definitely make one comment on the radio panel. I just hated the silver color radio panel. The color does not match with the interior color and the controls look cheap. It looks like a cheap boom box with ugly shape was purchased from WalMart or KMart and sticked in here. The LCD display for the radio/CD is combined with the clock and separated from the radio and sticked at the center of the dashboard. More like providing the display for passengers of all seats rather than front row seats alone. The toyyish speedometer panels with blue light background adds some distinction though.
Safety features include Front Air Bags and ABS which were the de-facto standard in all the today's vehicles. Japanese competitors provide Traction Control, Stability Control, Side Airbags, and Limited Slip Differential as standard features for the same price as Endeavor.
Mitsubishi never made it to the reliability ratings of Honda and Toyota. Also Endeavor is just one year old in the market and it is hard to make any comment in the reliability.
The automatic transmission is smooth and the switching worked as expected. It also has a manual override which lets to set the gear manually to individual gears. Endeavor used a 4 gear auto transmission while competitors like Honda Pilot made their move to 5-gear auto transmission.
The boxy exterior with agressive looks make Endeavor look stylishly different from the normal. All the mistubishi vehicles make a mark in this area.
I'm not sure if it is a problem with the vehicle I drove, but I had trouble closing the trunk door. I had to really slam the door real hard to make it close, and repeat it to make the door-open-indicator on the panel go away.
In terms of the value for the price, all the Japanese competitors seem to beat Endeavor in one or many aspects. Honda Pilot for the smaller price on LX, offers seating for three more people, offers more power, offers limited slip differential, and lot more features, and ofcourse Honda's reliability. Toyota Highlander for the same price offers traction control, stability control, seating for 2 more people, more power and better fuel consumption, and ofcouse Toyota's reliability. Nissan Pathfinder for a simiar price offers better power and so-on. With the regular MSRP Endeavor just fades before its japanese counterparts.
As a final word, I would recommend Endeavor for anybody who are looking for an crossover SUV from a Japanese manufacturer, provided they get a super duper deal on it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): N/A
Condition: New Model Year: 2004 Model and Options: LS AWD
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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