Consumer Safety Complaints

Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 deaths.

2,215,138 Total Complaints

138,663 Reported Crashes

56,255 Reported Fires

8,561 Reported Deaths

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim — NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.

The database below contains over 2,215,138 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports — when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.

How to interpret what you read

A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:

One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report — that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.

If you've experienced a defect

File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints — specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened — feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.

Read more from our blog

How to Read NHTSA Consumer Complaints › How NHTSA Investigations Work › Used Car: 7 Recall Checks to Run First › The Takata Airbag Recall: Full Story › OBD-II Codes Explained › All Articles ›

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Showing 14,402 complaints for MITSUBISHI

Incident date: Sep 3, 2003

2 MONTHS AGO APPROX. I PURCHASED A MITSUBSHI EVOLUTION VIII. RECENTLY THE CLUTCH FAILED CAUSING GREAT INCONVENIENCE AND POSSIBLE SAFETY RISK. THE VEHICLE LEFT ME STRANDED ON THE HIGHWAY AT NIGHT. THE CLUTCH FAILED QUICKLY AND WITHOUT WARNING. IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO TAKE THE VEHICLE OUT OF GEAR, WHICH IS VERY DANGEROUS. AFTER BRIEF RESEARCH I FOUND THAT MANY CUSTOMERS ARE HAVING THE SAME PROB... Read more

Incident date: Sep 10, 2003

THE CLUTCH FAILED IN THE FIRST 8500 MILES OF OPERATION. THE FAILURE WAS SUDDEN AND OCCURRED WHILE TRYING TO PASS ON A 2 LANE ROAD. WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH, THE CAR FAILED TO ACCELERATE. *PH

Incident date: Aug 29, 2003

CONSUMER CALLED ABOUT HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE RIGHT FRONT AXLE, WHICH BROKE WHILE DRIVING. THE DEALER AND THE MANUFACTURER WERE CONTACTED AND STATED THAT THERE ARE NO RECALLS AND TO GET A HOLD OF HIS INSURANCE COMPANY, THEY SHOULD SOLVE HIS PROBLEM. *PH

Crash

Incident date: Aug 27, 2003

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FAILED CAUSING VEHICLE TO BE INOPERABLE. *PH

WHEN VEHICLE EXCEEDS SPEEDS OF 60 MPH STEERING WHEEL VIBRATES. CAUSE OF VIBRATION IS UNDETERMINED. *AK

Incident date: Sep 10, 2003

THE CONSUMER RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE#03-V-194-000 FROM THE MANUFACTURER ON AUGUST 3, 2003 HOWEVER NO PARTS WERE AVAILABLE. *JB

Incident date: Sep 9, 2003

HEADLIGHTS ON MY 2001 MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE KEEP GOING OFF WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT WHETHER I HIT A SLIGHT OR MAJOR BUMP IN THE ROAD. I PULLED THE PLUG FROM THE BACK OF THE HEADLAMPS AND FOUND THE ACTUAL PLUG AND LEAD WIRES WERE MELTED, MAKING CONTACT. I TRIED TO FIX THE PROBLEM BY SEPARATING THE TOUCHING WIRES WHERE THE INSULATION HAD MELTED AND THE HEADLIGHT CONTACTS WERE TOUCHING. LIGHTS STILL GO O... Read more

Incident date: Jun 12, 2003

WHILE DRIVING, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE DASHBOARD. *JB

WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE STARTED TO SHAKE. BOTH FRONT TIRE TREADS BUBBLED UP. KELLY, SAFARI TIRE. *AK

Incident date: Sep 8, 2003

MY GALANT IS JUST THREE YEARS OLD AND THE PAINT IS SERIOUSLY FADING. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THIS IS A DEFECT IN THE PAINT. I HAVE TAKEN IT TO 3 MECHANICS AND THEY'VE ALL TOLD ME THE PAINT IS DEFECTIVE. THERE ARE MANY GALANTS IN MY AREA THAT ARE OLDER THAN MINE AND HAVE NO PAINT DEFECTS. THIS IS VERY DISTURBING CONSIDERING I HAVEN'T EVEN PAID THE CAR OFF YET AND THE ENTIRE CAR NEEDS A PAINT JOB BECAUSE... Read more

Incident date: Jan 13, 2003

THE VEHICLE VEERED TO THE RIGHT WHEN DRIVING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIRS BUT THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO VEER TO THE RIGHT. *AK

Incident date: Sep 8, 2003

WHILE DRIVING ABOUT 3 MPH AND MAKING A TURN ONTO A SIDE STREET, THE VEHICLE HIT A CURB WHICH CAUSED A DENT ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONSUMER STATED WHILE SITTING IN AN ENCLOSED BODY SHOP, THE REAR WINDOW EXPLODED. *AK. THE CONSUMER HAD TWO EXPERTS LOOK AT THE WINDOW AND IN THEIR OPINION STATED IT WAS A DEFECT, THAT A WINDOW SHOULD NOT EXPLODED FROM HITTING A CURB AT SUCH LOW SPEED... Read more

Incident date: Sep 8, 2003

Incident date: Aug 12, 2003

STEERING/SUSPENSION OUTLANDER XLS CAR PULLS AND DRIFTS TO THE RIGHT, CAR HAS BEEN TO AUTO SERVICE 3 TIMES AND PROBLEM STILL EXIST. *AK

Incident date: Aug 12, 2003

STEERING/SUSPENSION OUTLANDER XLS CAR PULLS AND DRIFTS TO THE RIGHT, CAR HAS BEEN TO AUTO SERVICE 3 TIMES AND PROBLEM STILL EXIST. *AK

WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE PULLED TO THE RIGHT. DEALER DID AN ALIGNMENT, AND CHECKED THE STEERING WHEEL. DEALER INDICATED THAT THIS WAS A NORMAL PROBLEM AND THERE WAS NO SOLUTION. *AK

Incident date: Aug 1, 2002

DRIVER SIDE AND PASSENGER SIDE DOOR HANDLES SNAPPED AND BROKE OFF WITHOUT EXCESSIVE FORCE. *AK *JB

WHILE DRIVING AT 55 MPH VEHICLE EXPERIENCED CLUTCH FAILURE AND WOULDN'T ACCELERATE.*AK

Incident date: Jul 1, 2003

POOR PAINT QUALITY ON 2003 EVOLUTIONS. AFTER TWO MONTHS OF OWNERSHIP, I HAVE FOUND SEVERAL PAINT CHIPS ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE CAR JUST BEFORE THE REAR WHEEL OPENING. IN ADDITION, THERE ARE SCRATCHES AND CHIPS ON THE FRONT BUMPER AND HOOD. THE OUTSIDE MIRRORS SEEM TO NOT HAVE BEEN CLEAR COATED, SINCE EVERY TIME I WAX THE CAR, THE PAINT COLOR APPEARS ON THE PAD. *AK

Incident date: Sep 1, 2003

WHILE SITTING IN TRAFFIC, PASSENGER (WIFE) MOVED HER WINDOW VISOR, A FLAME SHOT OUT TOWARDS HER FACE COMING FROM UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF WINDOW VISOR, WHERE WIRE FOR VANITY MIRROR HAD CHAFFED OVER TIME, DUE TO A PLASTIC COVERING EDGE TO HIDE WIRE.*AK FLAME WAS 4-5 INCHES LONG, 1 INCH THICK AND FLAMED FOR 6-8 SECONDS, THEN LARGE AMOUNTS OF THICK GREY SMOKE CAME FROM AREA. WIRE FOR VANITY MIRROR HAD... Read more

Fire

Incident date: Aug 9, 2003

WHILE DRIVING 2003 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IN A RAINSTORM, I ENCOUNTERED A SEVERE LOSS OF ACCELERATION MULTIPLE TIMES. RESULTING IN ERRATIC BEHAVIOR OF THE CAR.*AK OTHERS HAVE EXPERIENCED SIMILAR PROBLEMS IN THEIR LANCER EVOLUTIONS DOCUMENTED HERE: HTTP://FORUMS.EVOLUTIONM.NET/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?S=&THREADID=34867

Incident date: Sep 1, 2003

DRIVERS LAP SEAT BELT WILL NOT RETRACT. WHILE EXTENDING IT TO BUCKLE, A NOISE LIKE A TAPE MEASURE RAPIDLY CLOSING WAS HEARD, THEN IT WOULD NOT RETRACT. IT EXTENDS OUT TO ITS FULL EXTENT, AND IS APPARENTLY WORTHLESS IN CASE OF AN ACCIDENT.*AK

Incident date: Jul 23, 2003

REQUIRED REPLACEMENT OF BOTH FRONT AXLES IN 1991 MITSUBISHI GALANT AFTER ONLY 55,577 MILES.*AK

Incident date: Aug 31, 2003

OIL IS LEAKING FROM THE TRANSMISSION COVER CASE SEALS, CAUSING CONSUMER TO REFILL MORE THEN NORMAL. *AK

Incident date: Aug 29, 2003

CONSUMER COMPLAINED ABOUT NON DEPLOYMENT OF THE AIR BAGS. CONSUMER WAS DRIVING BETWEEN 30 TO 35 MPH AND WAS INVOLVED IN A FRONTAL COLLISION. UPON IMPACT, AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. ALSO, DEALER WAS CONTACTED, AND STATED THAT AIR BAGS WOULD NOT DEPLOY IF VEHICLE HAD NOT MADE A SADDLING STOP, WHICH CONSUMER INSISTED THAT THERE WERE TWO.*AK

Crash

Incident date: Aug 17, 2003

THE BEDDING ON THE DASH IS COMING OFF, INCLUDING THE BEDDING ON THE AIR BAG. I HAVE CALLED MITSUBISHI, THEY SAY A SERVICE PERSON WILL CALL ME BACK IN 72 HOURS AND THEY NEVER DO. MITSUBISHI MOTORS 1998 GALLANT.*AK

Incident date: Aug 17, 2003

Incident date: Aug 25, 2003

1998 MITSUBISH MIRAGE HAD TO HAVE THE BRAKE PADS AND ROTORS DONE 2 TIMES IN 10,000 MILES. *AK

Incident date: Aug 25, 2003

1998 MITSUBISH MIRAGE HAD TO HAVE THE BRAKE PADS AND ROTORS DONE 2 TIMES IN 10,000 MILES. *AK

Incident date: Jan 26, 2002

ONGOING- FROM DATE OF PURCHASE FAILS TO STOP EVEN AFTER BRAKES REPLACED.UST USE BRIGHTS IN ORDER TO HAVE ANY VISIBILITY FROM HEADLIGHTS.*AK

Incident date: Jan 26, 2002

ONGOING- FROM DATE OF PURCHASE FAILS TO STOP EVEN AFTER BRAKES REPLACED.UST USE BRIGHTS IN ORDER TO HAVE ANY VISIBILITY FROM HEADLIGHTS.*AK

Incident date: Aug 31, 2003

CAR SHIFTS VERY HARD, NOT LIKE HOW A 4 CYLINDER ENGINE SHOULD. HAS A "POPPING" SOUND TO ACCOMPANY THE HARD SHIFT. SEVERAL INSTANCES WHERE THE VEHICLE HAS "GRINDED" BETWEEN SHIFTS. ENGINE HAD REVED TO 4000-5000 RPM'S FOR APPROXIMATELY 3 SECONDS BEFORE FINALLY SHIFTING INTO GEAR. THIS IS AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION AND SHOULD NOT BE DOING THIS WITH 19000 MILES AND IT IS ONLY A YEAR OLD. HAS TAKEN OFF ... Read more

Incident date: Aug 23, 2003

I PURCHAED A MITSUBISHI GALANT 2003 ON 8/19/03 FROM JIM HUDSON MITSUBISHI. ON 8/23/2003 I WAS HIT IN THE REAR BY A MINI VAN. THE FRONT SEATS OF THE GALANT SLID BACK AND THE SEATS WERE BROKEN. SO MYSELF AND THE DRIVER WERE FLAT ON OUR BACKS IN THE GALANT. JUST THOUGHT THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT CONSUMERS SHOULD KNOW. THE SEATS SHOULD NOT HAVE BROKEN AND WENT BACK THE WAY THEY DID.*AK

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: Aug 25, 2003

REAR PASSENGER SIDE SHOULDER BELT BUCKLE COULD NOT BE UNLATCHED. THIS CAUSED CHILD TO BE LOCKED IN THE SEAT BELT AND UNABLE TO MOVE. SEAT BELT HAD TO BE CUT NEAR THE WAISTLINE AREA TO FREE THE CHILD. *AK *NLM

Incident date: Aug 4, 2003

WHILE PASSING ANOTHER VEHICLE AT 60 MPH GAS PEDAL BECAME STUCK AND VEHICLE ACCELERATED TO ABOVE 80 MPH. PUMPING THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS OF NO USE, BUT USING THE EMERGENCY BRAKES EVENTUALLY STOPPED THE VEHICLE.*AK

Incident date: May 19, 2003

AT ONLY 15 MILES PER HOUR, OUR MITSUBISHI MONTERO SPORT ROLLED OVER AND THE CAR WAS TOTALLED.*AK

Crash

Incident date: Aug 27, 2003

FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER CONTROL ARMS BALL JOINT. LOUD KNOCKING SOUND EVIDENT ON DRIVERS SIDE. WHEEL BASE ON DRIVERS SIDE IS 1998" WHILE PASSENGER SIDE IS STILL AT 1999" PREVIOUS RECALL CONCERNS DID NOT STATE WHICH LOWER CONTROL ARM TO BE REPLACED. DEALER REPLACED THE SMALLER STRAIGHT ARM AND NOT THE L-SHAPED ONE. THE LOWER L-SHAPED ARM BALL JOINT CONTROLS THE WHEELBASE WHEN SEPERATED COULD SEND... Read more

Incident date: Aug 27, 2003

AN ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FAILURE WAS CAUSING ALL ELECTRICAL OPERATED COMPONENTS TO MALFUNCTION OR INOPERATIVE. FOR EXAMPLE, AUTOMATIC DOOR LOCKS/INTERIOR LIGHTS/RADIO AND ETC. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE HAD NOT BEEN DETERMINED ALTHOUGH VEHICLE HAD BEEN SERVICED SEVERAL TIMES FOR THIS PROBLEM.*AK

Incident date: Aug 26, 2003

WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED AND WITH NO WARNING VEHICLE STALLED, FORCING CONSUMER TO PULL OFF THE ROAD. TOWED VEHICLE TO AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP. IT COULD NOT DUPLICATE OR CORRECT THE PROBLEM. *AK

Incident date: Jul 1, 2003

MITSUBISHI GALANT 1998 - PADDED COVER OVER CONSOLE AND AIR BAG IS COMMING LOOSE, PROBABLY DUE TO POOR GLUE.IT MAY NOT BE SAFE, BUT I CANNOT GET MITSUBISHI TO FIX IT OR EVEN TO DISCUSS THE PROBLEM. I DON'T THINK THEY WANT TO HEAR CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS.*AK

Incident date: Aug 18, 2003

GEAR SHIFT ROD ON MY 1988 MITSUBISHI PRECIS BROKE OFF FROM THE GEAR SHIFT. *AK

Incident date: Aug 22, 2003

RECALL 00-V-311-001: MIRAGE MODEL VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH 1.5L ENGINES; THE BOLT SECURING THE CRANKSHAFT PULLEY CAN BECOME LOOSE AND THE PULLEY COULD FALL OFF THE VEHICLE. CONSUMER HAS THE SAME PROBLEM. DEALER WON'T HONOR THE RECALL.*AK THE BOLT HOLDING CRANSHAFT PULLEY BECAME LOOSE AGAIN. *TS *NLM

Incident date: Aug 21, 2003

CONSUMER STATED WHILE RETURNING FROM A SHORT TRIP SMELLED SMOKE, LIFTED THE HOOD, AND SAW THE HARNESS SMOTHERING LIGHT CRAZY. TRUCK HAD ONLY 42 MILES ON IT. CONSUMER HAD ONLY DRIVEN THIS VEHICLE 33 MILES SINCE HE HAD IT. FELT AS IF HE SHOULD GET ANOTHER VEHICLE. SPOKE WITH THE MANUFACTURER, AND THEY WERE SENDING A REPRESENTATIVE TO LOOK AT THE VEHICLE. CONSUMER CLAIMED HE GOT A LEMON.*AK

Fire

WHILE DRIVING UNDER FOGGY WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE DEFROSTER HAD BEEN RUNNING ABOUT 15 MINUTES, THEN THE DRIVER TURNED OFF THE DEFROSTER AND TURNED ON THE AIR CONDITIONER FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES. THE DRIVER SUDDENLY HEARD A LOUD BANG NEAR THE REAR WINDOW, THE CONSUMER PULLED OVER AND SAW TWO HOLES IN THE REAR WINDOW NEAR THE DEFROSTER VENT HOSE WHICH CAUSED THE REAR WINDOW TO CRACK. *AK *JB

WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 30-40 MPH CONSUMER'S VEHICLE COLIDED WITH ANOTHER VEHICLE. UPON IMPACT, AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. *AK

Crash

Incident date: Aug 20, 2003

NHTSA RECALL 00-V-311-001:MONTERO MODELS EQUIPPED WITH 3.0L ENGINES. BOLT SECURING THE CRANKSHAFT PULLEY CAN BECOME LOOSE AND THE PULLEY COULD FALL OFF THE VEHICLE. DEALER WON'T HONOR THIS RECALL IN PUERTO RICO. *AK

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Consumer Safety Complaints

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

How to interpret what you read

If you've experienced a defect

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