While considered a left-field option to products such as the Toyota Fortuner and Ford Everest, the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport remains an impressive 7-seat off-road-ready option, but are they expensive to maintain?
Japanese automaker Mitsubishi has built a reputation for reliability and longevity with products such as the Pajero, Pajero Sport and ASX all proving themselves to local consumers. The 7-seat Pajero Sport has been on sale locally since 2017, and in that time has been upgraded with the latest update coming in the first quarter of2022. Is the Pajero Sport expensive to repair, though? We have some data that will answer that question.
It is difficult to determine the exact costs of repairing a Pajero Sport since each dealership has different labour and parts price rates. The Pajero Sport sells in relatively low numbers locally, meaning that there are not enough customers to survey and determine with accuracy, however, there is the AA Spare Parts Guide, which will help us today.
The 2021 AA Spare Parts Pricing Guide
The AA Spare Parts Pricing report is an incredibly useful tool, as it allows you to compare the cost of ownership with various products across several segments with models that they compete with.
The cars in the AA Spare Parts Pricing Guide were evaluated in 3 departments: service parts, maintenance parts, and body repair parts. Service parts relate to the standard service consumables, while maintenance parts are the long-term ownership items that require periodic inspection, maintenance or replacement, and body repair parts indicate how much it would cost to replace body panels in the event of a collision.
In the latest (2021) report, the Pajero Sport’s parts pricing basket is compared with key rivals such as the Ford Everest, Isuzu mu-X and the Toyota Fortuner, among others.
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 2.4 DI-D Exceed
Looking at the servicing costs of the Pajero Sport, things don’t look great, with the Mitsubishi’s basket totalling R12 322.93, making it the second most expensive to service behind the Toyota Fortuner with a price of R13 726.95 The Isuzu mu-X is the cheapest to service, with a total price of R7 444.50.
The maintenance parts section reads similarly to the servicing, with the Mitsubishi being the second most expensive to maintain, with a basket price of R24 264.55, with the roles now reversing with the Izuzu now being the most costly at R24 906.76 and the Toyota being the most affordable at R13 726.95.
The body repair section sees the Pajero Sport as the second most expensive again, with a total of R207 004.10, with the most expensive being the Jeep Cherokee 2.0T Trailhawk with a total of R286 909.43. The lowest total body repair basket belongs to the Ford Everest, with a total of R87 757.43, a considerable amount less than the Pajero. In total, the Pajero Sport is the second most expensive model to maintain within its segment, with its total parts basket representing 34.55% of its list price in 2021.
Verdict
It was always going to be difficult for the Mitsubishi to compete with locally produced products such as the Toyota Fortuner, Ford Everest and Isuzu mu-X when it comes to parts pricing. It is therefore our conclusion that the Pajero Sport is indeed expensive to repair in relation to key competitors.
Keyword: Is the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport expensive to maintain?