2008 Mitsubishi Outlander problems
NHTSA has received 80 complaints about the 2008 Mitsubishi Outlander, and 12% of them involve suspension. After that come engine (11%) and wipers, windshield & visibility (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 80 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Suspension 13% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 1 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 94,000 miles 57 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 | 11 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 7 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 5 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 9 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 6 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 6 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 7 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 57 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 94,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 1 complaint mentions a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2008 ranks 18th most-complained-about out of 21 model years of the Mitsubishi Outlander with enough data (19 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 12 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.
Tl* the contact owned a 2008 mitsubishi outlander. The contact stated that the vehicle was rear ended on the rear passenger side by another vehicle. The speed was unknown. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact's daughter was driving and sustained a chest injury and a bruised right knee. Medical attention was not required. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to a tow yard. The dealer was not contacted.
July 3, at approximately 10:30 pm we came home and parked the car in the driveway which is at a slight incline. I got out of the vehicle to unload items from the back, and as I came around on the passenger side the car made a loud pop sound and the car began to roll backwards and was making an audible clicking noise.
While parked and turned off(for 15 minutes), the passenger side seat(heated seat) caught fire. The fire was discovered quickly and extinguished before significant damage took place. I filed a complaint with mitsubishi who directed me to the local mitsubishi dealer for a diagnostic. The mitsubishi(kerry mitsubishi) dealer would not share the results with me but contacted mitsubishi. The "management team" at mitsubishi rejected any responsibility saying that the fire came from an external source.
Vehicle seems to hesitate from starting from a stopped position dealer said without a bulletin from mitsubishi there is nothing they can do. Problem with seeing radio display during daylight hours also both rear side windows rattle when in down position.
Mitsubishi outlander '08, paddle shifters are a poorly designed device for shifting gears on an automatic transmission, they are attached to the steering wheel beside the right and left turn signals and the windshield wipers. When you use the normal above two items your fingers automatically involuntarily shift the car into for instance, low gear!!! Horribly dangerous device, poor engineering design, trying to "soup up" a cheap, poorly designed vehicle. The car needs to be recalled immediately!