sill trim

[kippax]

I don't own an Outlander yet but seriously looking (or an ASX). I have a problem as my wife has bad arthritis / knees / hips, so she needs height for the seat but on these vehicles the plastic moulding along the sill comes out too far for her to comfortably get in or out of the car - that is the distance from the seat to the ground is too wide so sitting on the edge of the seat facing out with feet on the ground the sill trim is hard against the back of her legs. I am wondering if it is feasible to leave the plastic trim off - what is behind it. I have seen one pass me on the road that had the trim off to fit side steps but could not turn around and catch it at the time & the side steps fitted covered the view for the quick look but the plastic was definitely missing and the metal sill above the step looked fine. (currently driving an older X Trail but looking to go newer car in the diesel for the fuel economy on long trips).

 

[jaapv]

Firstly this is the Outlander PHEV forum, so you cannot expect any comments regarding the Diesel models, let alone an ASX.
In general the third-party after-market side trim is not robust enough to take the full weight of an adult. The limiting factor are the brackets securing the sidebars to the body. They cannot be made to the strength required, as that would compromise ground clearance too much, nor is the bodywork designed to take such stress.

 

[kippax]

Yes all you have said is correct - I do not want to put side steps on (they are generally not of much use any way) You have not answered my question. What is behind the plastic trim? Can the car look & travel ok without it. This is a bodywork question and has nothing to with what engine / power plant is fitted.

 

[jaapv]

Behind the plastic trim is the metal that it is clipped to. Without the trim it will look like a car without a body panel. You will certainly be able to drive it.
Most probably the plastic interior door surrounds will be loose too.
You can try it, as the trim on modern Mitsubishis can be removed in minutes by plastic clips. Whether you would gain much more than 1-2 cm is highly doubtful. If I were you I would look for a vehicle that meets your requirements without part-dismantling, there are dozens of different SUVs on the market.

 

[Sumpy]

Hi Kippax, I had an old T30 X-trail which I changed last year for an Outlander PHEV, I need a car that is a certain height to be able to get into easily, the X-trail and the Outlander are very similar in height but I know what you mean about the sill being much more prominent on the Outlander, I don't have a huge problem with it as I am over six foot and my legs are long enough not to catch too much, but I did notice that the sill sits higher than my old X-trail. Another point to consider is that the Outlanders plastic sill trim seem to collect a huge amount of dirt which ends up on my trousers getting in and out, the design of the X-trails door covering the sill means that it doesn't have that problem. The Outlander is a great family car that I would highly recommend to anyone, but all I can suggest for your situation is to try and get a test drive for a day and see if your wife can cope with the sill height and protrusion.
As far as taking the plastic sill trim off, as Jaapv has stated it certainly would be possible but I think it would look unsightly and as far as I know there isn't a slimmer trim that can be fitted in its place, but it might be worth asking the Mitsubishi dealer to find out.

 

[kippax]

Thanks for the replies. You are both correct - I am looking at other options - a newer xtrail diesel would be ideal BUT the diesel in them is the Peugeot unit and that is not a good long term option in Australia - we do too much distance here and the Peugeot is starting to get excessive blow-by by the time they have 120,000k on. (we have to fit catch cans on the breather system to try and save the DPF. (I know as I own an auto workshop). Also thinking about CX5 Mazda. As far as I can find out the plastic trim in question is not so easy to take off for a look as the top section is held on with d/sided tape if it was simple I would take on off a customers car to see - have one booked in late next week. I only started this string as a response to the one that drove past me this morning (with the plastic removed) but it had the side steps on which of course covered up most of the sill and for my purpose they would be worse than the original trim.

 

[user 816]

I wouldn't say they were as simple to remove as Jaapv feels they are. Mine was damaged in a minor accident. A professional body shop removed and repaired it as part of the repair but it obviously broke some of the mounts as I was fitting correctly when they tried to return the car. In the end they had to get a new one. (Now that could be that the mounts are too fragile to remove the panel without damage, or the bodyshop technician was rubbish, we will never know).

Anyway I would be concerned without it, spray would constantly be attacking the rubber seal on the underside of the door into the cabin and you could get leaks or excessive noise. This panel means spray cannot directly access the seal with any velocity.

I am not quite understanding why its a problem if the panel is behind the back of her legs apart from obviously being dirty? surely coming up with some sort of mat kept down by the side of the seat and laying out over the sill before getting out would be a simpler solution.

 

[kippax]

Hi Bob, It was your old string on this that prompted me to send the question to this forum. Not sure about the problems you had with yours but they certainly are not just a few simple clips, the top part is with a high grade double sided tape and as a mechanic I can tell you that stuff is no fun to get of without distorting the trim and if you do manage that then cleaning the old tape of is a pain. I have had some info from a Mitsubishi teck now and he tells me running without the trim will be no problem for the car - there is 2 holes in the side of the sill I will need to plug but that is all - even the paint under the trim is polished and looks fine.
PS they have now started (finally) to take orders in Australia for the PHEV.