Owners have filed 13 complaints on the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, covering 2012–2017. The system named most often is Service Brakes (7 reports). Worst years by volume: 2012, 2017; cleanest: 2017, 2012. 2 reports describe a crash, 1 a death. On average the car was 5.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Mitsubishi i-MiEV
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 13 i-MiEV complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 7 Read
The contact owns a 2012 mitsubishi I-miev. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the brakes failed to engage and the contact crashed into another vehicle. The driver sustained injuries to the spine which required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The…
This is part of an existing recall NHTSA #19V-804, manufacturer #sr-19-002 regarding a vacuum brake pump. Recall was issued in november 8, 2019, with notices sent to owners on january 7, 2020. Multiple calls to dealer to schedule the repair rebuffed as dealer claims they cannot get the part from manufacturer to…
2012 mitsubishi I-miev. Complaint related to second recall of I-miev. *mw the consumer stated at 12,000 miles, the front brake pads disintegrated for no reason. The technician stated the vacuum pump related and the brake pads disintegrating were related. The consumer stated mitsubishi would not pay to have the vehicle…
Air Bags 2 Read
The I-miev was being operated in a shopping center parking lot at an unknown speed when it hit a parked car a and pushed a into parked car b. The driver's airbag in the I-miev deployed. The driver did not appear to be affected by the airbag deployment, according to witnesses, and was cogent and conversational. The…
Takata Recall. The contact owns a 2012 Mitsubishi I-MIEV. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign numbers: 19V804000 (Service, Brake, Hydraulic), 17V022000 (Air Bags), and 15V594000 (Air Bags) however, the contact stated there was no local dealer in their area to do the recall repairs. When they reached…
Power Train 2 Read
On 11/20/18, we took our 2012 I-miev into the roger beasley mitsubishi at 1120 shelby ln, austin, 78745 after the car rapidly lost power while driving at highway speeds on at least 2 occasions. The first time he was driving 65 mph and the car slowed to about 15 mph. The outdoor temperature was 50 degrees. He…
On multiple occasions vehicle will accelerate at half charge under load will deaccelerate from 50 to below 30 miles an hour. Causing disruptions in traffic and people passing you. The power steering seems to shut down with the turtle light
Electrical System 1 Read
The contact owns a 2012 mitsubishi I-miev. The contact stated that while shifting into reverse, the vehicle suddenly accelerate forward. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was determined that there was excessive corrosion on the negative battery terminal which needed to be cleaned. The manufacturer was not…
i-MiEV years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Service Brakes | — | — | |
| 2012 | Air Bags,service Brakes | 2 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 7 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.9 |
| Worst single series | 3 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.2 years |
A model average of 1.9 hides a worst series at 3. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the i-MiEV?
By complaint volume, 2012, 2017 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which i-MiEV years are the cleanest?
2017, 2012 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Mitsubishi i-MiEV have?
13 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2012–2017. Of those, 2 describe a crash and 0 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.