Owners have filed 452 complaints on the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, covering 2011–2026. The system named most often is Power Train (161 reports). Worst years by volume: 2015, 2013, 2014; cleanest: 2024, 2025, 2026. 31 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 4.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Mitsubishi Outlander Sport
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 452 Outlander Sport complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 161 Read
The contact owns a 2018 mitsubishi outlander. The contact stated that when attempting to shift the gear from drive into reverse with the foot on the brake pedal, the vehicle independently accelerated and crashed into a house wall. The contact stated that there was no warning lights before or after the failure…
Car during acceleration feels very jerky, safety issue as during turns if acceleration it might jerk make it feel a bit unknown of what speed it might be. Additionally such jerkiness might cause driver to be kicked back into seat and head rest potentially causing injury. Feel like it might be CVT slipping at times
Each time for the last year and a half that I have taken my car in for service or just stopped in and showed them that my radio is saying overheated current, they would test it and say that they couldn't recreate the error despite me showing that it would not connect my phone to the car or charge. I also reported…
Electrical System 62 Read
I was parking my car and my foot was firmly on the brake. Just as I was going to shift my car into park, the engine revved and the car surged forward I was unable to stop the car, in spite of braking. The car jumped the curb in the parking lot and ended up stopping on top of a landscaping boulder. This stopped the car…
I am unsure of the proper name of the component with issues. There are several little issues but the main is, I believe it would be a software issue... Basically, on several different occasions (4) while driving at 60 mph and over, the vehicle suddenly stalled and shut off completely with no warning. The one incident…
Back up camera view is not clear, unreliable sixty percent of the time. Not able to see pedestrians or objects clearly or the distance from the vehicle. Twenty percent of the times it is clouded so dark it useless. Twenty percent of the time it is clear. Safety of others is at risk. Problem was reported to dealer…
Air Bags 38 Read
The contact owns a 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph a deer ran in front of the vehicle impacting the driver side fender, hood, bumper was impacted , while coming up a hill a deer ran in front of the vehicle. There was no additional property damage. The vehicle…
I got an accirdent Jan 9,2025 and my car was totally wreck. Im in body pain and therapy right now and in working status report because of my situation. The airbag didnt deployed at the time of accident. Mitsubishi outlander has 7 airbags , but nothing has comes out. This is very dangerous. God is really works for…
Airbags did not deploy
Engine 24 Read
The contact owns a 2015 mitsubishi outlander sport. The contact stated that the engine failed. The contact noticed smoke coming from the engine and the vehicle stalled without warning. The failure was experienced numerous times. The vehicle was taken to jeff d'ambrosio mitsubishi (1223 lancaster avenue downingtown, pa…
This was in a rental from National Car Rental from the Las Vegas airport. I was driving down the road at about 65-70 MPH when the vehicle's brakes just slammed on, and everything about the car just died. There was a huge groaning sound as it happened - kind of like when you are in 'park' and push the gas pedal and it…
Engine is affected, vehicle is struggling at low speeds when pressing the gas
Service Brakes 21 Read
The contact owns a 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. The contact stated that while attempting to make a left turn, the contact noticed another vehicle coming from the opposite direction. The contact depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond and crashed into a pole. The air bags deployed. The contact…
Brake activated and at a complete stop, then the car started moving from a complete stop while foot is all the way on the brake. Car did not register speed at this time
While driving in a slow moving construction zone, applied the brakes and the vehicle failed to stop, continuing to move forward. Noticed on this particular vehicle that at times anti lock brakes come on and makes the vehicle more difficult to control. Specifically under wet road condition on asphalt, but does happen…
Suspension 16 Read
The contact owns a 2014 mitsubishi outlander sport. The contact stated that while driving at 35 mph, she lost control of the vehicle without warning and hit another vehicle. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. No injuries were reported and a police report was not filed. The contact had the vehicle towed to an…
The contact owns a 2011 mitsubishi outlander sport. While driving at various speeds, the vehicle would pull to the right. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where a wheel alignment was performed, but the failure continued. While driving approximately 20 mph, the vehicle suddenly pulled to the right. The driver lost…
I had a recall schedule an appoint with mitsubishi dealer in des moines, ia * went to my appt today 10-25 and was told they cannot do the recall because the computer they need to reset the software is down. No call or offer to give me a loan car due to the saftey issue of the recall. I do not think that any dealership…
Seat Belts 16 Read
Driver side seat belt is not locking
The seat belt on the back passage seat doesn't come out. It like that buckle is too short, which make it hard to buckle up
The rear passenger seat belt is way down in the seat and I have tried everything to get it to pull out more. I don't know what it could be, but it's almost as if the seat belt buckle is too short
Steering 15 Read
On december 23, 2020 I was driving aprx 30 mph. I break to go over a train track bringing my speed to roughly 20mph. I heard a noise that sounded like metal but I figured it was from the train tracks. There was a wide bend a few feet up the way. I get my speed to 40mph and start going around the bend. I slow down and…
My 17-year old son was stopped at a stop sign. He waited until any oncoming cars had passed before he started to move out of the stop. He turned right out of the stop and onto the cross street. After only a few feet, my son notice the front of the vehicle was angled toward the curb & he tried to pull the wheel out of…
In 2020 I got a recall for engine support from Mitsubishi. We took it in and told me that the support was find that I didn’t need to be replace even tho the recall called for it. They ended up putting rust paint on the support. 4 weeks ago that part broke on my wife when she was driving down the road. The steering…
Outlander Sport 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Back Over Prevention | 1 | — | |
| 2025 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2024 | Power Train,vehicle Speed Control | — | — | |
| 2023 | Back Over Prevention | — | — | |
| 2022 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2021 | Back Over Prevention | — | — | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2016 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 2 | 1 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 3 | — |
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 | 273 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.7 |
| Worst single series | 9 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.4 years |
A model average of 1.7 hides a worst series at 9. 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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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
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 Outlander Sport?
By complaint volume, 2015, 2013, 2014 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 Outlander Sport years are the cleanest?
2024, 2025, 2026 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport have?
452 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2011–2026. Of those, 31 describe a crash and 1 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.