A relatively new SUV on the market, the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross has garnered two opposing views. The expert reviewers tend to see things one way, while actual owners of the vehicle see just the opposite.

With all the talk going on out there, about the Mitsubishi SUV, there appears to be one question on people’s minds. Just how reliable is the Eclipse Cross? U.S. News & World Report, as well as a few others, chimed in on what they thought of the SUV. 

Why does the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross bottom out in ratings?

Not much about the Mitsubishi Eclipse impressed reviewers. The only decent areas, according to U.S. News & World Report, were the fuel economy ratings and the lower price of their base model. But even those are pretty average when compared to its rivals. 

Mitsubishi got dinged for its less than stellar cargo space, road handling, underwhelming performance, and inferior cabin materials. They dropped a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine into the Eclipse Cross that only puts out a measly 152 hp. With only 184 lb-ft of torque, this motor excels in the city, but fails miserably on the highway. 

The CVT automatic transmission and its braking performance aren’t too bad, but they’re not worth the money spent on the SUV in the first place. With very little to make it stand out in the compact SUV class, the Eclipse falls to the bottom of the rankings for both US News & World Report and Consumer Reports. 

Where does it stand with reliability?

Mitsubishi, an underdog company, trying to pave their own way, rolled out the Eclipse Cross in 2018. In the couple of years it’s been on the road, the Eclipse Cross has seen little in the way of major repairs.

In fact, most consumers, who purchased it, are well pleased with the vehicle. The consumer reviews on Cars.com gave it a rating of 4.7 out of 5. The reliability section almost reaches a perfect score of five. 

It appears that those, who drive the Eclipse Cross, disagree with the experts on this one. Owners gave raving reviews for their purchase and recommended it to others. The areas that impressed them the most include the value of the standard package with tons of features, the 5-year/60,000 mile limited warranty, and the 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty. 

When it comes to fuel economy and performance, the owners disagree once again. Most felt that the engine had more than enough power to get around. They also got different mileage ratings than the experts did. Some reported that they got higher figures than what they saw on most websites. 

How does the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross compare to its competitors?

U.S. News & World Report felt that the competitors overshadowed the Eclipse Cross. The Toyota RAV4, in their opinion, has better mileage, road handling, and tons more cargo space than the Mitsubishi.

They also felt the Subaru Forester was a better value for the money. It comes with more driver’s assistance features and technological amenities for $1,500 more than what the Eclipse Cross offers. 

Even Consumer Reports rated their competitors much higher than they did the Eclipse Cross. The Mitsubishi SUV earned only a score of 52 out of 100, while the Mazda CX-5 and the Subaru Forester received a rating of 84 out of a possible 100 points. Even the Honda CR-V earned a score of 77, which is still much higher than the Cross. 

When you see what owners had to say, however, you see a different story. Some drivers felt the Eclipse Cross performed better than the Subaru Crosstrek that an acquaintance of theirs drove. One even chose it over the Mitsubishi Outlander they originally were planning to buy. 

In the end, the Mitsubishi had a total of three complaints reported against it on CarComplaints.com. All three were from the 2018 model, and they had to with some rough shifting and a cracked windshield. All in all, it’s proven to be quite reliable.