Thats unusual, our Outy wheels were all upright and all tyres wore evenly, indeed the fronts wore smoother than just about any car i've owned, it also steered precisely so must have been very well aligned.

Disturbing that you should detect any signs of slipping or skidding, whilst neither of us really took to the Outy (hence replaced with a Sub Outback), its stability indeed competent handling in any weather on any road surface was beyond reproach, if a little stiffly sprung/damped for my taste, so good was it that country roads could be driven faster than almost any car i've known before...just point and it went there...HJ made similar mention in his reviews above, something is definately wrong here.

Standard size tyres 215/60 x 16?, with a later upgrade to 17" (215/55?) on snazzier wheels, you mention them being wide, has someone stuck aftermarket wide wheels and tyres on it?

They do suffer at the back end from top link bush wear, jacking the rear wheels up and pivoting the wheels should show it up, if not stick a lever under the top link and prise it both ways, you might hear it knocking metal to metal if the bushes are completely shot, though i'd have thought the MOT tester should have picked this up.

If there's no obvious wear or damage, and there are a lot of bushes/links involved, i can't see as you have any option but to have the vehicle fully aligned, including caster and camber.

Thinking aloud i wonder if someone's fitted new rear bushes/springs/shockers/driveshafts and maybe hasn't marked any eccentric bolts used for altering camber before removing them.

edit..if the top links need bushes, start soaking the obvious long through bolts chassis side in plus gas or similar every couple of days till you can get them done, they rust badly.

Edited by gordonbennet on 07/06/2014 at 09:11

The back end groans anyway, if you poke your nose underneath you'll find there's far more to the rear suspension, and the location of the rear diff in particular than you would expect, its very complicated back there.

You'll also notice than the rear suspension and subframe suffers from rust**, if you borrow my OCD head for a couple of hours, obviously after this job is sorted out, and coat the entire underside back there in spray on waxy anti rust....suggest Bilt Hamber, Dinitrol, Rejel in no particular order but use aerosols for ease and cleanliness...then once you've sealed the underside against further salt attcke, the bonus is that you'll have lubricated all those bushes with a waxy coating that won't hurt them, and they'll quieten down...in fact you might be surprised just how much quieter the whole car is if you do the wheel arches etc. The ride will be softer too.

Beware, this sort of maintanenace is addictive when you find out just how long your cars can last..:-))

**all cars suffer with this type of corrosion, i have to smile when people, who never look under cars, tell me how rust is a thing of the past.

Edited by gordonbennet on 07/06/2014 at 10:05

Bananstand, whilst there get them to check the rear caliper operation, pistons and sliders are inclined to seize up..if thats the case you can be sure the fronts want servicing too.

Our Outy had a full dealer service history, which as far as the brakes were concerned meant completely zilch...and that seems to be the case with far too many main dealer workshops' efforts when it comes to proper brake maintenance these days.

When we bought the car it took a lot of stopping, and one rear brake was dragging badly, once serviced and new padded all round, it braked superbly, eventually needed a refurbed caliper on the rear as lack of servicing/lubing through its life saw a badly corroded piston one side....easy fit though, approx £60 exchange IIRC, so not a big worry, stupid price from the main dealer as you would expect.

looking forward to the update.

Edited by gordonbennet on 07/06/2014 at 11:17

Thanks everyone for the superb advice. There are three bushes to each rear wheel, and one of them on each wheel, the one nearest to the centre of the car, was shot. So I had to get them from the main dealer, who thought I only wanted one (since when do you only replace a bush on one side?)

Anyway I got two bushes eventually after having to tell the Mitsubishi parts man to STOP ARGUING WITH ME.

The new tyres carried on wearing in the inside however, and I've just had to replace them again. The metal was showing through!

There is a difference of opinion at the garage, the superb Roscoe of St Helens. Some say the rear wheels are not sitting right (they lean in slightly) while others say that the combination of new tyres and new bushes should be okay. It certainly drives much better.

However the pipe that connects the fuel tank to the filler cap thing is rotten and leaking! That's another dealer only item!

Part exchange time! So if you see an 05 Outlander for sale anywhere look carefully underneath!

Thanks Gordon, nice one. Why did I not think of Subarus... right that's another load of Autotrader scouring to do...