Mitsubishi Lancer (2008-2017) review: Bahrain's forgotten compact sedan
3.4/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
Buy a well-serviced 2.0L GLX from 2014-2016 if you want a compact sedan with genuinely good steering feel and don't mind sourcing parts through independent Mitsubishi specialists rather than a busy dealer counter. Avoid pre-2011 cars with unknown timing-chain and CVT service history, and skip the base 1.6L entirely — it is underpowered for causeway cruising with a full car.
Pros
- Sharper, more engaging steering than segment rivals of its era
- 2.0L MIVEC engine is willing and durable
- Interior plastics and AC hold up well long-term
- Cheap to buy on today's used market
Cons
- No active Mitsubishi dealer network in Bahrain for this generation
- Base 1.6L struggles with AC load and full occupancy in summer
- CVT service history is often undocumented on used examples
- Weak resale compared with Toyota/Honda equivalents
By the time the tenth-generation Lancer left Bahraini showrooms, it had spent nearly a decade being the sedan enthusiasts recommended and ordinary buyers overlooked. The chassis borrowed its bones from the Lancer Evolution program, and it shows the moment you turn the wheel: sharper turn-in, less body roll over Budaiya's speed bumps, and a steering rack that actually talks back compared with the numb feel of a same-era Corolla or Sunny.
The 2.0-litre MIVEC four is the engine to have. It is not fast by modern turbo-four standards, but 150 hp is enough to keep pace with Salmabad traffic and it revs cleanly to redline, something the CVT lets happen without the rubber-band drone of cheaper CVT tunes thanks to the stepped Sportronic logic. The base 1.6-litre, by contrast, struggles once the air conditioning is working hard against a 45°C afternoon and the car is loaded with four adults for a Saudi causeway run.
The real problem is parts, not the car
Mitsubishi never built the dealer density in Bahrain that Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai have, and the Lancer was discontinued here in favour of the smaller Attrage years ago. That leaves most owners depending on a handful of independent Mitsubishi and Mirage specialists in Manama and Riffa for anything beyond routine service. Genuine CVT fluid and timing-chain tensioners can take days to source rather than hours, which matters if the car is your daily driver.
Corrosion is a non-issue in this climate, and the interior plastics have proven more durable than their segment reputation suggested — Lancers with over 200,000 km on Bahrain's roads are not unusual and the dashboard rarely cracks the way some rivals' do. Air conditioning compressors are the most common age-related failure and worth checking cold-start performance on before any purchase.
Who should actually buy one
This is not a car for someone who wants dealer-backed peace of mind or maximum resale value — both go to the Corolla and Civic. It is a car for someone who drives enough to notice the difference in steering feel and is willing to trade dealer convenience for a genuinely more engaging compact sedan at used-car money.