Mitsubishi Montero Sport vs Toyota Fortuner

Good day, sir!

I'm a great fan of Top Gear Philippines! It's awesome! I have all the issues from 2007.

Anyway, my family is going to buy a new car in December and we're stuck in deciding what car to choose between a Toyota Fortuner 2.5D and a Mitsubishi Montero Sport 2.5D. We're choosing a 4x2 because we don't think we need a 4x4. Personally, I like the Fortuner solely because of the looks. I was able to convince my dad to buy a Fortuner but I came across a site where I found out D4D engines can never be trusted because they stall unpredictably. They also have a choking problem. Different sites said D4D has a problem with the fuel supply pump. We don't want to spend money on something that will keep us worrying every time we use it. I also read from the site of the Fortuner Club of the Philippines that the Fortuner of one member stalled while overtaking on a highway going to Baguio. That's very dangerous and disappointing. I was really, really turned off when I learned about this. Also, the Fortuner has a very bumpy ride as compared to the Montero Sport. Although the Montero has winning specs, I love the looks of the Fortuner so much.

I need your expert advice. I hope that you reply soon.

All the best,

Luigi

Hi Luigi!

Glad to hear from you!

Both SUVs are great. If you ended up with either of them, you'll be very happy indeed.

Regarding the Fortuner's diesel fuel problems, I believe a lot of it is exaggerated. I own a 3.0 D4-D Hilux AWD and I have never had a problem with it (knock on wood!). What's crucial is for you to fill up in a clean gasoline forecourt/station that always stocks new diesel and does not get flooded. The D4-D/CRDI system of Toyota definitely does not take much abuse from poor diesel fuel quality so prevention of getting bad diesel into the engine is key.

Another thing is to make sure that you religiously follow Toyota's scheduled maintenance service of 5,000 kilometers even when using fully-synthetic oil. It's quite costly as each service costs me about P8,000 for almost seven liters of oil, filters and some cleaning chemicals that the dealership uses but my Hilux has never missed a beat after having covered almost 80,000 kilometers in four years.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the 2.5 D4-D engine because it is, in my own opinion, pitifully weak, and is nothing compared to the Toyota Fortuner 3.0 D4-D variant.

Now the Montero Sport 2.5 however is a real bargain. Spec for spec, value-for-money, performance-wise, it is hard to beat the Montero Sport! This is one fast SUV. When you're wondering if you really need a Montero Sport 3.2, just get inside and you'll see where your extra money was spent on.

The Fortuner does look classier inside, uses better quality plastics and has better headroom than the Montero, but in my opinion is not worth the stiff premium they are asking compared to the Montero Sport.

Good luck!

Botchi Santos


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