Mitsubishi Lancer — reported problems

CarFaultIQ holds 3,754 evidence records for the Mitsubishi Lancer (2002–2017), drawn from official sources and owner complaints.

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 2,402 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

  • Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)380 (15.8%)Official recall records for this system: 3, covering model years 2015–2016.
  • Air bags (restraint system)236 (9.8%)Official recall records for this system: 10, covering model years 2004–2015.
  • Engine228 (9.5%)Official recall records for this system: 6, covering model years 2008–2016.
  • Electrical system158 (6.6%)Official recall records for this system: 4, covering model years 2009–2016.
  • Suspension158 (6.6%)Official recall records for this system: 2, covering model years 2002–2010.
  • Visibility (glass, wipers, mirrors)156 (6.5%)Official recall records for this system: 2, covering model years 2008–2017.

Other / uncategorized: 134 classifications (5.6%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

  • Owner complaints (1,816 records, model years 2002–2017) are most frequently classified under: powertrain (transmission & drivetrain), air bags (restraint system) and engine.
  • Transport Canada recalls (86 records, model years 2003–2017) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), body & structure and engine.
  • Manufacturer communications (1,754 records, model years 2002–2017) are most frequently classified under: equipment & accessories, engine and powertrain (transmission & drivetrain).
  • Investigations (13 records, model years 2003–2017) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system).

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Mileage reported when the issue occurred

  • 1,158reports included a mileage
  • 68,859average of those mileages

This is the mileage owners recorded at the time they reported, not an expected failure mileage and not a prediction for any individual vehicle. The lowest and highest figures on record are not shown: they are unverified odometer entries that include zeros and implausibly high readings, so they would not describe a real range. A median is not shown either, because the stored figures are group totals and a median cannot be recovered from them.

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

  1. 2002 244 records for 2002
  2. 2003 284 records for 2003
  3. 2004 193 records for 2004
  4. 2005 117 records for 2005
  5. 2006 118 records for 2006
  6. 2007 66 records for 2007
  7. 2008 205 records for 2008
  8. 2009 258 records for 2009
  9. 2010 191 records for 2010
  10. 2011 156 records for 2011
  11. 2012 127 records for 2012
  12. 2013 95 records for 2013
  13. 2014 106 records for 2014
  14. 2015 106 records for 2015
  15. 2016 102 records for 2016
  16. 2017 84 records for 2017

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

  • 196mention a crash
  • 26mention a fire
  • 146mention an injury
  • 4mention a fatality

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

  • Safety recalls NHTSA 85
  • Manufacturer communications NHTSA 1,754
  • Investigations NHTSA 13
  • Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 86
  • Owner complaints NHTSA 1,816

Explore the underlying evidence records

Diagnostic codes found in evidence for this vehicle

These codes appear by explicit identifier in official records matched to this exact model and year.

  • U0141 in 30 records · 2008–2017
  • P0335 in 6 records · 2002–2006
  • P0340 in 6 records · 2002–2007
  • P0507 in 6 records · 2002–2003
  • P2097 in 6 records · 2011–2014
  • P0300 in 4 records · 2004–2013
  • P0012 in 3 records · 2009–2011
  • P0171 in 3 records · 2004–2006
  • P0420 in 2 records · 2009–2010
  • P0441 in 2 records · 2002–2002
  • P0016 in 1 record · 2010–2010
  • P0017 in 1 record · 2010–2010

A code appearing in a record means the code was named in that document. It is not a diagnosis of this vehicle, not a fault this vehicle has, and not an indication of urgency. Diagnosis requires reading live data from the vehicle.

Where to go next