1997 MITSUBISHI MONTERO — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 61 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (14 complaints · 23.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 6
  • Fires 4
  • Injuries 9
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1996 →
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 14 of 61 owner complaints (22.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 14 complaints, 22.9% of reports ENGINE 14 · 22.9% SERVICE BRAKES: 12 complaints, 19.7% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 12 · 19.7% AIR BAGS: 5 complaints, 8.2% of reports AIR BAGS 5 · 8.2% · 4 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 5 complaints, 8.2% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 5 · 8.2% · 3 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 4 complaints, 6.6% of reports POWER TRAIN 4 · 6.6% · 1 crash reports STEERING: 3 complaints, 4.9% of reports STEERING 3 · 4.9% SUSPENSION: 3 complaints, 4.9% of reports SUSPENSION 3 · 4.9% VISIBILITY: 3 complaints, 4.9% of reports VISIBILITY 3 · 4.9% SEAT BELTS: 2 complaints, 3.3% of reports SEAT BELTS 2 · 3.3% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 43 complaints, 70.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 43 · 70.5% · 6 crash reports 3 fire reports 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 14 22.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 12 19.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 5 8.2% 4 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 5 8.2% 0 crashes · 3 fires
POWER TRAIN 4 6.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 3 4.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 3 4.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 3 4.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 2 3.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 43 70.5% 6 crashes · 3 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 Apr 1997; the first recall shown was reported in Sep 1998. 1997-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1999-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 1997 Apr 2014 Recall campaign 98V205000 ◆ Recall campaign 98V205000 Recall campaign 98V220000 ◆ Recall campaign 98V220000
  • Campaign 98V220000 was reported 186 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1997-Q2 Owner reports 2
1997-Q3 Owner reports 2
1997-Q4 Owner reports 1
1998-Q1 Owner reports 2
1998-Q2 Owner reports 3
1998-Q3 Owner reports 3
1998-Q4 Owner reports 6
1999-Q1 Owner reports 5
1999-Q2 Owner reports 3
1999-Q3 Owner reports 3
1999-Q4 Owner reports 2
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q2 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q1 Owner reports 4
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 2
2002-Q4 Owner reports 2
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 2
2004-Q3 Owner reports 4
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 1
2010-Q2 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 98V205000
Recall campaign 1 98V220000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 98V205000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, AN OCCUPANT OF THE THIRD SEAT MAY NOT BE PROPERLY RESTRAINED AND COULD BE EJECTED FROM THE VEHICLE.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE THIRD-SEAT LATCH AND STRIKER. A RECTANGLE WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE CARGO MAT AROUND EACH STRIKER TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE STRIKER CLEARANCE AND PROPER LATCHING.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 98V220000

    Report date
    Component:
    SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
    Consequence:
    BRAKE FLUID CAN LEAK RESULTING IN DETERIORATED BRAKING PERFORMANCE AND ILLUMINATION OF THE BRAKE INDICATOR LAMP.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE FRONT BRAKE LINES FOR SIGNS OF WEAR AND ROUTING. IF THE LINES ARE NOT CORRECTLY CENTERED IN THE PASS-THROUGH HOLE, THE LINES WILL BE REPOSITIONED BY BENDING SLIGHTLY TO CORRECT. IF THERE IS EVIDENCE OF BRAKE LINE WEAR, THE BRAKE LINE WILL BE REPLACED.
    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 61 complaints · page 1 of 3

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