If you are checking a used Mitsubishi Lancer, this hub is the starting point. It is built to gather the practical questions a buyer or owner actually has: what usually goes wrong, which year windows deserve caution, what warning signs matter, and what to check before money changes hands.
The Mitsubishi Lancer is tracked here as a compact sedan coverage hub. This page is a researched coverage page, not a final reliability verdict. Specific defect claims should come from sourced child pages, not guesswork.
Before buying or ignoring symptoms, verify open recalls by VIN, scan for stored OBD codes, check service history, and use any linked CarFaultIQ fault or symptom pages to decide the next practical step.
Official evidence for this model
Coverage below spans the explicitly mapped model years. Records do not apply to every model year or configuration.
US safety recalls
22 distinct official identifiers · US
Campaigns matched to recorded model years. Only an official VIN check can confirm whether an individual vehicle is affected.
- 20V279000 — model years 2008, 2009, 2010
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2008-2010 Lancer, 2009-2010 Lancer Sportback, 2008-2013 Outlander, and 2011-2016 Outlander Sport vehicles originally sold in, or ever registered in, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New…
- 18V220000 — model years 2004, 2005, 2006
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2004-2006 Mitsubishi Lancer vehicles that previously received a like-for-like passenger side frontal air bag inflator under recall 15V321 as interim remedy. Also recalled are 2004-2006 Lancer vehicles located in Guam or Saipan that previously received or…
- 18V069000 — model years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2009-2012 Lancer, 2008-2012 Outlander, 2010-2012 Lancer Sportback, and 2011-2012 Outlander Sport vehicles equipped with either a 4B11 or 4B12 engine. The drive belt automatic tensioner flange may crack, allowing the accessory drive belt to detach.
Manufacturer communications / TSBs
348 distinct official identifiers · US
Manufacturer service communications are not safety recalls and do not prove that every vehicle has the described condition.
- 11026481 — model years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Tech Talk is a service newsletter that was sent out to dealers. It covers various topics and reviews the previous months publications.
- 11026478 — model years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
This Technical Information Notice informs dealers that with permission from the Puerto Rico Traffic Safety Commission, notification letters are being sent to vehicle owners with Puerto Rico addresses to inform them of open Takata recalls.
- 11024110 — model years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
This Technical Information Notice informs dealers that with permission from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), notification letters are being sent to vehicle owners with Texas addresses to inform them of open Takata recalls.
US defect investigations
3 distinct official identifiers · US
An investigation records a regulator review of a suspected defect. It is not automatically a finding or a recall.
- EA19001 — model years 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect. During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment…
- EA15001 — model years 2003, 2004, 2005
Multiple source assertions are retained for this identifier. Consult the official record for configuration-specific details.
- PE14016 — model years 2004, 2005
Multiple source assertions are retained for this identifier. Consult the official record for configuration-specific details.
Canadian recalls
21 distinct official identifiers · CA
Canadian-market records remain separate from US campaigns. Confirm applicability with Transport Canada and the manufacturer.
- 2020216 — model years 2008, 2009, 2010
Multiple source assertions are retained for this identifier. Consult the official record for configuration-specific details.
- 2018588 — model years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
On certain vehicles, water may drain from the windshield cowl area onto the front wiper link ball joint. Over time, this could result in corrosion and/or wear to the joint, which could result in the separation of the wiper link ball. If separation were to…
- 2018166 — model years 2004, 2005, 2006
On certain vehicles, the passenger frontal airbag inflator could produce excessive internal pressure during airbag deployment. Increased pressure may cause the inflator to rupture, which could allow fragments to be propelled toward vehicle occupants, increasing the risk of injury. This could also damage the airbag…
US owner complaint reports
908 distinct reports · US
Distinct ODI complaint identifiers, deduplicated across component and product rows. Reports are allegations, not confirmed defects, failure rates or reliability scores.
- POWER TRAIN: 110 reports
- AIR BAGS: 93 reports
- ENGINE: 80 reports
A report can name several components. Do not add component totals together.
Evidence is served from a locally stored official-source snapshot. No external API is called to render this page. These records do not replace inspection or diagnosis. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.