Just to through my 2 cents in;
I don't get a company car allowance but do get a so called "car allowance" with fuel costs paid (though I am not sure how I am going to get my electricity bill paid by the company).
I could have bought a Land Rover, Jeep or X5 and only lost the free road tax and congestion charge pass; so I clearly didn't buy the Mitsu for BIK purposes.
Frankly, it was not the Outlanders build quality that attracted me either; its OK at best (I don't expect to hear the rattles that I do in a new car).
It was not the materials quality, which is not anywhere near VW, BMW or even Jeep or the sadly declining Merc.
It was not the design of the interior or exterior either. Though I am OK, even fine with the interior design, the exterior is pretty much bottom of the list in my book when compared to the above mentioned SportUts; though it not terrible, just not as nice looking as the others to me. I can say in fact, there has never been a car that Mitsu ever built, that I looked at and said, "that's what I'm talking about".
It was not the HMI either, lack of sticky buttons requiring I set my preference EVER FREAKING TIME I get into the car is aggravating. The GPS, forget about it, its so fiddly that it is almost unusable. In fact I find myself using the free app Waze on my iPhone much of the time instead, if for no other reason than I don't have to choose a language each time I use it and I CAN navigate to a post code for crying out loud!
Reading the above list of grievances might seem like I am unhappy with the car, but I am not. It is the greatest car I have ever owned and I have owned 28.
What I do like about it is the technology and the brilliant way Mitsu developed and melded the motor and ICE operations so nearly perfectly and seamlessly. I've always wanted an electric car and this to me is the first real option; no range anxiety and it is a normal looking car, not something made to "look like" an electric car, whatever that is. To me, it makes even the best old fashioned diesel/petrol cars seem like Model-Ts.
I love the ride quality (rattles aside) and the handling which is good for a 2 tonne sportute.
I love the low drama of driving it, silent, vibration free and no gearbox changing up and down.
I like the power delivery, pulls like a train at any speed, just point and shoot.
I love the ultra low petrol burn too. I have over 1000 miles on it and have burned just ~15 gallons. Even managed to get 40MPG during a 130 mile motorway trip on petrol alone; amazing for a nearly two tonne, 4 wheel drive of this size.
I like the fact that there was little or no upcharge between the PHEV and the diesel version and it was way cheaper than the other, old fashioned sportute options.
Finally, I love the smug feeling I get when I drive past the queue at the petrol station, see the looks on these poor saps faces as they pump petrol into their Model-T's tanks and wads of cash out of their bank accounts.
Clearly tax avoidance is a great thing, but that is not what makes the Outlander such a cool car to own for me.
