Feature/ Option you had to have!

I was thinking the other day, why did I get black?! yes its elegant, but its a pain to take care of. Then I remembered, my wife's words at the stealership, "either get black or your not getting 4WD". So as you can see the 4WD option was what I had to have, it dint matter what color, I just wanted AWD. 
 
Is there anyone else willing to share the option they got that was valued to them the most?  
 
Sorry for this piss poor uninformative thread, but the forums have been a bit dead, so I wanted to get a little banter going here.
 
So name your fav option and why, for me it was obviously 4WD, its a guy thing..lol.

Wow, my wife sort of said the same thing..."...get Black or else you're not getting any car..."  Fortunately for me, my brother has a black Acura TL.  At the time I was thinking about what car/make and etc, I owned a Silver Jeep Grand Cherokee.  Our cars are always parked next to each other and I said to my wife, "Look!  It's been like a week since we washed our car and look at my brother's.  Not more than 2 or 3 days since he last washed his car and look at all that dust, pollen or whatever you want to call it gleaming off it."  Showing her that a few times and she finally told me to shut up and said to pick whatever color I think is best and I got the Graphite Grey because it looks blackish and nice at night and in the daytime it doesn't show the dust and pollen and whatever junk as much as a black car would.
 
Anyways, as for the option I had to have...the Nav.  I hate going on the internet to Google or Yahoo or Mapquest, typing in the destination and printing out the directions and trying to follow them as I drive or have my wife tell me to turn the wrong way or whatevers.  And yes, I'm one of those hard headed guys who doesn't like to ask others for directions.  Oh, not the mention the fact the times I most needed the directions to print out and ran out of ink and write the damned directions by hand...or that one time I had the directions next to me in the passenger seat and have it blow out of the window...oh, another time there was an accident on one of the main roads and trying to detour out of the way and getting lost for about 30 mins or so...argh!!!!!!   So yeah, the Nav was the biggest option for me...but not just any Nav, but the Mitsubishi Nav.  I've checked out a bunch of other nav units and there were some decent ones, but in certain makes/models that I didn't like at all and etc...a fast hard drive driven nav system with a few extra music functions that my wife likes...hands down the clear winner in my book.
 
 

Yeah man, graphite gray would have been my pick in color, I had a "thunder gray" ralliart and loved that color. The nav woul'd have been my next choice after the AWD, I was on a limited budget and couldnt have it all, plus my stealership would not budge from the sticker. I just hope I can find one later on thats at least half as good as the mitsu one, I plan on doing a custom mount in the center dash storage compartment, I want to be able to pop it close and open when I need it, should be a fun project, I just have to find one that fits in there.

Mitsu has an OEM one in the Accessories Catalog from overseas (not sure if it's Euro or Japan).
Man this discussion was a good idea. There is no other damn issue with this car to brag about ... Did anyone say anything about the Outlander's initial quality other than it's excellent? I hope not.
I'll come back to post my .02. Gotta put the little one to bed first....

Hmmm I had to be able to tow 3500lbs which lead to the AWD wanted decent gas mileage and room that just came with the outlander. So far its been great and the handling is superb.
Other than that it all fell under the "it would be nice to have but not necessary" I dont need the NAV I have a very good program in my cell phone which I can load by voice.
The first on my list of really wanted is a sun roof.
The first on my list of would have been better off with is the 8way seats instead of 6 way. I have very short legs at 5'tall, and despise being closer to the steering wheel than an arms length from the top of the wheel. The seat is long (good for tall people) but for me and my short legs the end of the seat bothers me, lowering the seat all the way makes me feel like I cant see around the side mirrors (mental). I actualy would have this problem in my minivan except I lower the front of the seat because it was 8 way.  I also have a huge problem in my Silverado, I have to slide so far forward to press in the clutch all the way that the steering wheel almost hits my stomach.
So this really isnt an Outlander problem, its a me problem
 

Hey dodo, I know about the one your talking about, thats were I got the idea from, but I bet it would be cheaper to just buy a standalone and make it work in there, rather than ordering and paying for shipment from japan or w/e.

My list of gotta have:
- good looks in/out (I had to "connect" with the car)
- 3.0-3.2 L V6, 200+ hp, 200+ lb.ft. with decent mileage
- 0-60 mph <8.5s with good handling
- 5 or 6 speed auto w/manual
- 4WD
- alloy wheels
- fog lights (mostly for cosmetics purposes)
- leather steering wheel and shift knob
- steering wheel audio and cruise
- parking brake and shifter (gated) on the center floor console (call me crazy but I hate the parking pedal)
- well bolstered seats and nice fabric (no leather)
- good 2nd row and cargo space
- roof rack
- low price
The Outlander LS 4WD fit like a glove for me. Bluetooth availability was a bonus and I got it installed along with the fog lights.
I wish it had:
- Auto ON/OFF headlights. At least it has the Auto OFF headlights
- OEM crossbars. I hope Mitsu will make them available in the future.
Nice but not necessary:
- 17" wheels
- heated side mirrors
- wiper blades de-icer.
- remote rear seats release in the cargo area
- sunglasses holder

I had to have the navigation, sun roof, power heated leather seats, Hids, and gas mileage. HAHA I went with the outlander for everything it had to offer. If I was forking out the bucks to buy a new car then I was going all out and buying everything possibly.

Between my wife and myself, we had to have the following:

- all wheel drive
- stability & traction control
- side curtain air bags
- automatic transmission with manual override
- GPS navigation
- rear DVD player
- child friendly seats
- 4 doors
- moon roof
- decent on gas
- fog lights
- cruise control
- stellar warranty
- seating for 7 in a pinch
- external audio input for MP3 player
- air conditioning
- automatic climate control
- total cost under $40,000 (Canadian)
- leather seats
- decent stereo that could play MP3s
- power outlet in rear
- 200+ HP engine
- engine immobilizer (security)
- basic security system

What we felt would be nice, but not required:

- keyless entry
- heated front seats
- stereo with "media server" capabilities
- 120 v power outlet
- paddle shifters
- rain-sensing windshield wipers

We looked at a lot of cars, and had pretty much decided that we would have to compromise, when we came upon the Outie. Needless to say, we bought one the next day, as it had all of the above (with the exception of the rain-sensing windshield wipers).

I don't know if you had the rain-sensing wipers before, but overall I think you did not loose anything  by not having them. I have them in my Mazda3, they work most of the time, but in some environments (fog, snow) they don't work very well and I find myself constantly adjusting the sensitivity or turning them off. I don't miss them in my Outie. What I miss is the auto on/off headlights.

Okay, lets get real here. The Outlander is the best bang for the buck, feature for feautre in its class. But I guess with all our wishes, there should be a price for it. In my opinion the question should be, how much more are you willing to pay for the added features you want? Of course you can't expect the Outlander to be priced the same with all the added features. In the UK, we can't really complain that their Outlanders get a better set of features than what we have here in the US because their Outlander also costs more. But IMO, the US Outlanders get the best set of features for the price.

This discussion is about what were you looking for features wise when you were shopping. It's not necessarily about "wish list". Obviously, the Outlander covered everyone's core feature set list since we all bought it.
In my case, because I feel that your response is directed to me as I'm the one who added a "wish list" to my post, I wanted the Auto ON/OFF headlights. This is the only feature I really miss. However, it's not in the "must have" list, but more in the "nice to have" one. I would be willing to pay extra to have it. Was this a deal braker? Obviously not.
We all agree about the tremendous value the Outlander has. In Canada, the Outlander's value is even more pronounced because the other compact SUVs are way more expensive. The RAV4 Sport V6 4WD is $33,600 and the CRV EX is $32,600 ( plus $500+ for the fog lights). The Outlander LS 4WD w/fogs and BT is about $29,000 and it has everyting in my "must have"list. The closiest is the Santa Fe 3.3 at $1000+ more. My Outlander could've been $1000 more and I would've still been happy. Talk about value with the Canadian Outlander XLS 4WD (which includes Leather and Sun&Sound) for $33K.
I also want OEM crossbars available to purchase as accessories.
I don't think nobody implied that expects to pay the same price and have extra features.
So what was in your "must have" list?

Not necessarily a direct reply to your post, it should have been a general post. Well, I have modest additions to the Outlander if I can get what I wanted.
It would be nice to have these features/options:
1. Auto locking doors when shifted to D, or after a certain speed.
2. Option for a 2.4L petrol engine.
3. Option for a manual transmission
4. Option for a CVT
5. Make available all accessories in other markets (including Ralli Art parts).
7. Display current gear selection on the dash when in full auto D mode.
7. Upgrade MMCS to be able to read MP3 and WMA from a DVD-+ROM/+-RW
8. Upgrade MMCS to be able to copy MP3 and WMA direct from disc.
9. Free Nav updates for the rest of the new car warranty (5 years for new owners).

Those options shouldn't raise the price of the current trims, some are mere firmware ugrades, some should lower the price by a few hundred $. Accessories are always extra.

Extensions on the visors should be added to the list.

quote:

ORIGINAL: uscwrollins

Extensions on the visors should be added to the list.

Just get something like this for 20 bucks http://www.ecarboutique.com/accessories/item.asp?ITEM_ID=994&DEPARTMENT_ID=98

though most of you guys have the 2g, for me it was another mitsu wagon with awd and a manual trans, so that meant the 1g before they stopped making them.   my first color choice was red and the second was the graphite grey, but as the first color choice of the mrs was the graphite grey, first choice it became, and that's what we got.  i could have waited for the 2g, but i had to have that stick shift, even though i'm generally driving in stop and go traffic....