2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse problems
Owners have filed 158 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse. Body & structure is the most reported problem area, at 20% of complaints. After that come wipers, windshield & visibility (9%) and drivetrain & axles (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 158 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Body & structure 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 18 and 8
- Injuries and deaths
- 15 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 39,000 miles 96 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 31 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 17 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 11 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 11 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 7 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 96 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 39,000 miles. For body & structure specifically, the median reported mileage is about 47,000 miles (14 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 18 complaints mention a crash; 8 complaints mention a fire; 15 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 18 model years of the Mitsubishi Eclipse with enough data (116 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Passenger airbag deployed caused me to veer off to the right for safety.passenger visor flew off hit my arm and flew out window. Unable to see with airbag in my face I ended up half on and half off a culvert with cement pipe.car stopped and then my driver airbag shot fire and chemicals into my face.horrible still after a whole year noone cares noone helps no therapy follow up none only er when I can no longer tolerate the extreme pain.2 titanium rods n 38 screws hold it together.
The day after the vehicle was purchased driver applied pressure to brake pedal and the vehicle fishtailed across the road. Vehicle went airborne, and flipped over into a ditch. Vehicle was totaled. The air bags also did not deploy.
I have a mitisubishi eclipse 2003 100000 miles ( majority highway). In the spring of 08-the vehicle was making noise when accelerating, the vehicle was changing gears hard and was advise it was the transmission/motor mounds. The problem occurred intermittently while driving as much as 40MPH. Took it back to mitisubishi dealer for service/diagnosis-told possible eventually trans, timing belt and possibly radiator, which was one of another consumers resolve.
I do have a 2003 mitsubishi eclipse and at 27,000 I had a clutch replaced and a price tag of $1,250.00 for the dealership the I purchased the car from I thought I would get a long time out of that repair that cost so much. I was only up set that the same problem arose again so called from the dealership. I called independent shop the diagnostic the complete problem the dealership stated was not wrong, I was told by an independent garage that the leaking was caused by the sled and that I needed the lines need to be…