It is my first car bought new from a dealer - at 55000 miles, so far so good, except for the price of servicing where I live (Haute-Savoie, France), which is similar to prices one would expect for premium brands.

No DPF problems (I do 25000 miles a year), only problem so far was a HID bulb that was replaced under warranty.

If not driving like a maniac, it always returns around 50mpg (5'6 l/100km), even at sustained speeds of around 80 mph (limit in "autoroutes' is 130km/h).

The ride is very smooth and refined except when revving it over 3500 rpm. When idling, it's very hard to tell it is a diesel car.

Seats are super-comfy.

Also, it's a pleasure on bendy alpine roads - and it's short gearing can give you a good smile (I've even been in the Nurburgring with it! Good laugh!)

Feels very safe as well at very high speeds in German autobahns.

Now, the niggles:

-Quality of the paint used by Mitsubishi... it seems to dent very easily compared to my previous two cars (2004 Golf and 2001 Corsa). The bonnet is covered in little dents... which don't look particularly nice in my brown car.

-The stereo and speakers fitted are not exactly superb. They do their thing, but don't expect anything comparable to, say, once again, what I had in my previous two cars. Also, changing the speakers is not an easy task: it involves a lot of DIY and patience (and in my case I don't have the time to bother unfortunately).

-There's noticeable lag, like in many other turbo-diesels...

-It is a bit of a pain in start-stop driving (the first gear is too short -which can be useful sometimes, however-, and the second too long).

-Seats are super-comfy as I said, but they're not supportive on twisty roads... I guess you can't have everything

-Again, servicing and parts are extremely expensive where I live, if going to an official dealer. Had I known, I wouldn't have bought the car (that's my fault, obviously...). I think in the UK prices are more sensible. Competitors here (RAV4, ix35, Kuga, old and new Qashqai) are cheaper to run and insure.

-It might be my impression (was told not to worry about it), but the whole exhaust seems to be covered in rust (previous cars also lived in salty/snowy Alps and had a neat aspect...not the case with the ASX)