Owners have filed 169 complaints on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, covering 2003–2015. The system named most often is Power Train (86 reports). Worst years by volume: 2003, 2008, 2010; cleanest: 2009, 2012, 2013. 4 reports describe a crash, 3 a fire. On average the car was 3.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 169 Lancer Evolution complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 86 Read
On 09/15/2018 at roughly 11:30 am while operating my 2014 mitsubishi lancer evolution x with 32,xxx miles I experienced a loss of power, increased exhaust noise and the illumination of powertrain fault lights on the instrument cluster. After pulling off the roadway to inspect the issue a small engine bay fire had been…
All wheel drive not working. Failed while driving in the snow, slippery conditions. There is a service bulletin on this. The AWD center diff pump is mounted behind the rear tire where debris is continually present. Replacing the pump is not a permanent fix
Car has only been driven just under 6 months with no abuse and with just at 10,000 miles the clutch failed. The dealer and manufacturer claim wear item. If the car had 40,00 or more miles I might accept, but they built a can with an engine that produces over 300 ft.lbs. Of torque, and apparently installed a clutch and…
Engine And Engine Cooling 16 Read
My car caught fire last night and burned up while turned off, parked and unattended. Another similiar situation occurred: boise --- a vehicle recall you may not have heard about that could put you in danger. Imagine your car is parked in your garage and a fire erupts under the hood of it -- spreading to your home.…
Bad injector caused cylinder failure or valvr constant valve tick. Blown spark plugs caused piston meltdown or changing of spark plugs every 20k miles transmission is notty will not go into gear sometimes, diff pins in transmission just come out and the car will not go into any gear. Here is a poll thats on the forums…
Very cold day out, about -15 f, warmed up my vehicle for about 5 minutes plus. Once I began driving, about 10 mph my service required light came on for my ayc pump. Dealer said that is was not covered under warranty of any kind. Mitsubishi has known that is a common issue in cold climates that use salt on the roads.…
Steering 9 Read
Prior to the automobile accident on december 27, 2005 there was no problems with the vehicle. Was purchased in july of 2005 (demo car-used). The accident happen as follows, it was cold that night I was making a right turn going west into the middle lane. Unfortunately my car did not go straight but continue to turn. I…
Prior to the automobile accident on december 27,2005 there was no problems with the vehicle to my knowledge. It was purchased in july 2005 , demo-used car. The accident happened as follows: it was very cold that evening, I was making a right turn going west into the middle lane, unfortunately my car did not go…
Tensioner broke releasing the serpentine belt. Lost power steering, cooling and AC. Car stopped in the middle of the road. Immobile. Ended up taking ur to shop and they found the cracked tensioner and ruined belt that only had about 10k miles
Suspension 9 Read
The vehicle's right front lower control arm is no longer secured to it's inner rear mounting location at the front crossmember. This condition allows for unintended movement of the right front wheel and was caused by structural failure of the front crossmember at the control arm to chassis attachment point due to…
Tarmac icon blinks incessantly on the display panel, as one drives. The blinking can cause photosensitive epilepsy (pse), which is a form of epilepsy seizures triggered by visual stimuli that form patterns in time or space, such as flashing lights, bold, regular patterns, or regular moving patterns. I found out later,…
On monday 2013 april 22 I [xxx] (owner of vehicle) was getting off my shift at approximately 0700 hours from bethel twp pd; where I work as a patrolman. The temperature was fairly mild 60-65f, I started my 2008 mitsubishi evolution 10 to let it warm up like I always have for approximately ten minutes. I put my evo in…
Structure 9 Read
Purchase my 2008 mitsubushi evolution x about one month ago with 2,900miles. I don't drive it often since I have a company car. My current miles is 4,400miles. I am beginning to notice alot of small chips toward the back doors bottom corner near quarter panel on both side of the vehicle. Been on many forums and alot…
I have a recall on my 2006 mitsubishi for corrosion on subframe, I called my local dealer, they checked the car and ordered the cross member, so we made an appoint to take car into dealer for replacement, left the car with the dealer for the day, later that day I gotten a call stating they cannot get the bolts loose…
Found excessive rust causing structural damage to rear uni body frame side members. Appears to have rusted from the inside out, similar to their current front sub frame rust recall. At this time no accidents/ damage caused but likely will result in uni body weakening and possible suspension/ structural failure
Electronic Stability Control (esc) 7 Read
Monday morning I warmed up my car for 5 minutes. Started to drive my car for about 15 seconds, AWD service required popped up on my display. I stopped the car and brought it back home. Looked up what the issue could be and found out that the acd pump has failed. This is a well known problem from mitsubishi for these…
Drove out of my driveway and within 5 seconds ABS malfunction light came on as well as stability control. After further investigation I found that the drivers side rear ABS sensor was faulty due to the sensor not being sealed correctly by the manufacturer which LED to corrosion and the sensor failing. Mitsubishi would…
Ayc/acl pump failure. Error code c161e. Seems to be a large number of these issues from other owners
Electrical System 5 Read
Requested dealer to repair under warranty a problem which can cause vehicle to become inoperable at temperatures of 20 below zero as documented in mitsubishi TSB-10-13-002. Was advised by dealer and later by mitsubishi customer relations that this would not be covered by warranty since the problem has not occurred on…
Complaint *10261125*-this complaint is 100% accurate, mitsubishi has recalled many outlander suvs on this same issue, please investigate, horrible experience, turn signals, high beam, low beam, horn, fog lights, engine, everything works at random and cannot be stopped, my engine will not start, this is a big safety…
The SRS airbag light came on, the wipers won't stop running. The horn starts on itself. All is related to water entering in the inner fender, shorting electrical connections. This happens when it's rainy outside. This happens to every evolution owner that I know. I don't know if there is a risk with air bags not…
Engine 4 Read
The contact owned a 2013 mitsubishi lancer evolution. While driving 65 mph, the rpms increased and metal fragments were found under the vehicle. The engine caught fire. A police report was filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was…
The contact owns a 2009 mitsubishi lancer evolution. The contact stated that while driving, the vehicle stalled while turning the steering wheel. The contact stated that the drive belt was making a loud squeaking noise. The vehicle was taken to universal mitsubishi (1125 central ave, duarte, ca 91010) however, the…
My acd hydraulic pump has failed. RPM's surge when accelerating and when at idle, I feel like it is putting my engine under extreme pressure. From my research I have seen this is a very common problem with the mitsubishi lance evolutions. There has been no recall, and what they are charging to get a new one which you…
Lancer Evolution 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 2014 | Power Train,electrical System,engine | 1 | 1 | |
| 2013 | Engine | — | 1 | |
| 2012 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 2011 | Electronic Stability Control (esc) | — | — | |
| 2010 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 2009 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2008 | Electronic Stability Control (esc) | — | — | |
| 2006 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2005 | Electrical System,visibility,air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2003 | Electrical System | 1 | — |
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 | 77 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.2 |
| Worst single series | 10 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 3.8 years |
A model average of 2.2 hides a worst series at 10. 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
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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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 Lancer Evolution?
By complaint volume, 2003, 2008, 2010 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 Lancer Evolution years are the cleanest?
2009, 2012, 2013 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution have?
169 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2003–2015. Of those, 4 describe a crash and 3 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.