2012 MITSUBISHI LANCER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 19 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (5 complaints · 26.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 3
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 1
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2011 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ENGINE appears in 5 of 19 owner complaints (26.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 5 complaints, 26.3% of reports ENGINE 5 · 26.3% POWER TRAIN: 3 complaints, 15.8% of reports POWER TRAIN 3 · 15.8% · 1 crash reports STEERING: 2 complaints, 10.5% of reports STEERING 2 · 10.5% · 1 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 2 complaints, 10.5% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 · 10.5% VISIBILITY: 2 complaints, 10.5% of reports VISIBILITY 2 · 10.5% AIR BAGS: 1 complaints, 5.3% of reports AIR BAGS 1 · 5.3% · 1 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 1 complaints, 5.3% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 1 · 5.3% STRUCTURE: 1 complaints, 5.3% of reports STRUCTURE 1 · 5.3% SUSPENSION: 1 complaints, 5.3% of reports SUSPENSION 1 · 5.3% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 3 complaints, 15.8% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 · 15.8% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ENGINE 5 26.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 3 15.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 2 10.5% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 10.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 2 10.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 1 5.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 1 5.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 1 5.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 1 5.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 15.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jul 2013; the first recall shown was reported in Jan 2018. 2013-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 2013 Jan 2024 Recall campaign 18V069000 ◆ Recall campaign 18V069000
  • Campaign 18V069000 was reported 1,591 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2013-Q3 Owner reports 3
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1
2018-Q3 Owner reports 1
2018-Q4 Owner reports 1
2019-Q1 Owner reports 1
2019-Q3 Owner reports 1
2020-Q2 Owner reports 2
2021-Q1 Owner reports 2
2021-Q2 Owner reports 2
2021-Q3 Owner reports 1
2023-Q1 Owner reports 1
2024-Q1 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 18V069000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 18V069000

    Report date
    Component:
    ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
    Consequence:
    If the drive belt detaches, the battery will discharge and the engine will stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
    Remedy:
    MMNA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the belt tensioner with one that has an improved shape, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin March 27, 2018. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820. MMNA's number for this recall is SR-18-001.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 19 complaints · page 1 of 1

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources