strange unpleasant smell when driving with Outlander PHEV

[Jacob]

Hi,

I did 2 test drive with the Mitsubisihi Outlander PHEV and basically I would like to buy this car.
For many years we only buy SUV for the family, and I like the active safety features.
and also, since we mostly drive within the town I believe that it will also bring a significant money saving.

But one point that bothers me is - smell.
I don't know to define the smell but I experienced the same smell in the 2 test drives with two different cars. It makes me feel uncomfortable.

The smell might be from the cast that the car is new or from something related to electricity.

Did anyone here experience something similar ?

Thank you

 

[MarkShelley]

Have you checked your underpants?

 

[anko]

Mark, do your underpants smell like electricity? What a silly response.

Jacob, it is a common phenomena. The way the exhaust is layed out underneath the car makes it pick up dirt from one of the front wheels. When the engine runs, this dirt is burned off by the hest from the engine causing the smell. Different people have different experiences. It is mostly the interesting combination of hard work (lots of heat) and low speed (se the smell isn't blown away). People driving to their ski resort ending up in a traffic jam, or pulling a heavy caravan through a small town.

I have owned my phev for about a year and a half and driven 40-something thousand kilometers with it, and have only smelled it a couple of times. Indeed in traffic jams, almost allways when towing.

 

[NAPpy]

Have you checked your underpants?

LOL, exactly what I was going to say!

 

[Jacob]

I taught that this is a serious forum.

I really consider to buy the car.
I see that the issue of odor in mentioned also in other forums and really would like to have a feedback from people who own this car some time.

Thank you

 

[gwatpe]

As far as the electrical layout of the power components of the drive system, these are all outside of the PHEV passenger cabin. Any smells may just be new car related. I have Acute chemical sensitivity and was affected badly by the standard model. The Leather interior Aspire model after a month of wiping down all the interior surfaces with the supplied chamois has a neutral smell. Can close the windows now and even use the aircon.

Like most new cars, smells generated from within the cabin usually go away. Unfortunately only the driver can control what they drive through that may produce a smell from prolonged contact with hot under car components.

My PHEV did have peculiar smell after ICE operation when new, and this has now gone after 15000km. Will no doubt get new smells after time with potential oil and other exotic fluid leaks. Trouble is the ICE may not run for days or even weeks, and then on a longer trip we notice something after the longer ICE operation.

 

[Jacob]

Thank you.
May I ask how is the smell from the ICE operation ?
The smell that I felt was like a smell from a new plastic materials, similar to one that you have in a new car but stronger.

 

[greendwarf]

Can't say I've noticed anything apart from the new car smell except for an acrid burning a couple of times, which I put down to paint burning off the new exhaust. On a traditional car this would disappear quickly but with the PHEV (especially if used as an urban demonstrator) this would last much longer.

 

[anko]

Believe me, under heavy conditions chances are it will come back especially at slow speeds.

 

[KillerBob]

I got my phev 12 days ago, and have barely had the engine turned on. I took have a terrible burning smell in the cabin, but only when the engine is turned on. I think it is surplus oil, or perhaps paint as greendwarf suggested.

 

[jaapv]

I've been waiting for this thread quite a while and am surprised that it took so long
Other forums are full of this complaint. On the upside: the smell will disappear mostly over 5000-10000 Miles or so, but may recur occasionally (but mildly) when the car is under heavy load.

 

[NAPpy]

6,000km later I smell nothing..... But I did change my underpants~

 

[KillerBob]

Is that 5-10K miles of driving the petrol engine? I only notice the smell when the engine turns on, not at all otherwise.

 

[jaapv]

General mixed driving.

 

[maby]

I did notice some burning smell occasionally under load in the first few thousand miles - but nothing too offensive. The car now has around 7500 miles on the clock and will cruise for prolonged periods around 70mph without any noticeable smell.

 

[jayfdee]

I only got the smell after about 4000 miles,this occurred after a long climb up a steep hill, so as others have commented it is related to high engine load, but in my case it rapidly went, and have not had it since, despite some heavy duty hill climbs. The engine was very noisy and strained on this particular climb, perhaps the loudest it has ever been.