How many miles will a Mitsubishi Lancer last?
Half of the 532 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2000–2017 Mitsubishi Lancer that list mileage came after 59,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 141,000 miles. They cover the 2000–2017 model years in NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026, and each records the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the car lasted.
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Complaint mileages describe the model, not one car. Decode its VIN free, then decide whether to buy the odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file.
Title brands · Odometer records · Auction history, where reported
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 532 complaints on the 2000–2017 Mitsubishi Lancer that list mileage, the middle half came between 20,000 and 100,000 miles; 24% came after 100,000 miles, 8% after 150,000 and 2% after 200,000.
The name also has 1 complaint for 1996, a separate stretch after a gap of three or more model years (0 listing mileage), too few to summarise.
Check the odometer record before you buy
VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a high-mileage Lancer.
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For $14.99, VIN Lookup delivers an original ClearVIN vehicle-history PDF for the Mitsubishi Lancer VIN you enter: title brands, odometer readings, accident and auction records on file. ClearVIN is on the U.S. Department of Justice’s list of approved NMVTIS data providers; VIN Lookup sells that original report. The records returned vary by VIN.
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How many miles is too much for a used Lancer?
There is no hard cutoff. NHTSA's file records when owners reported problems, not when a Lancer wears out, and how a car was maintained matters more than any one odometer figure.
Where the complaints cluster: the middle half came between 20,000 and 100,000 miles, and 8% came after 150,000 miles (45 of 532).
Complaint mileage rises with a model year's age: older Lancer years were reported at higher odometer readings because they had more time to cover miles. The table below shows when owners of each year reported problems; it does not rank the years.
Mitsubishi Lancer mileage at failure by model year
Each row is a Lancer model year with 10 or more NHTSA complaints that list a mileage, with the median of those mileages: half of the year’s complaints came at or above it. Years with fewer are left out. Medians rise with a year’s age, so the table does not rank the years. A linked year opens that model year’s own page: its problems by component and its recall campaigns.
| Model year | Complaints listing mileage | Median mileage at failure |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 Lancer | 85 | 68,000 |
| 2003 Lancer | 126 | 48,000 |
| 2004 Lancer | 47 | 60,000 |
| 2005 Lancer | 19 | 70,000 |
| 2006 Lancer | 23 | 100,000 |
| 2008 Lancer | 61 | 33,000 |
| 2009 Lancer | 67 | 75,000 |
| 2010 Lancer | 23 | 70,000 |
| 2011 Lancer | 20 | 46,711 |
| 2012 Lancer | 15 | 55,000 |
| 2014 Lancer | 11 | 75,000 |
| 2015 Lancer | 17 | 21,000 |
| 2016 Lancer | 12 | 60,000 |
Mitsubishi Lancer problems by component, with typical mileage
The five NHTSA component categories named most often in the 2000–2017 Lancer complaints that list a mileage, with the median mileage of each. A complaint can name more than one component. Owners named the powertrain most often: 115 complaints, half of them after 43,000 miles.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|
| Power Train | 115 | 44,000 |
| Visibility | 82 | 75,000 |
| Air Bags | 56 | 55,000 |
| Electrical System | 56 | 65,000 |
| Suspension | 54 | 80,000 |
What these mileages can and cannot tell you
- They are self-reported. The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only cars whose owners reported a problem; a Lancer that ran without one never appears in it, so these figures do not say how long a typical Lancer lasts.
- Young model years pull the figures down: a car a few years old cannot have reached high mileage when its owner complained.
- A complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding, and the count rises with how many cars were sold.
- 336 of the Mitsubishi Lancer complaints in these model years give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every figure.
- NHTSA names counted: LANCER and LANCER WAGON.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the mileage on its first row; a page is published only when its model holds 100 or more complaints that list a mileage. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-mileage.mjs.
Mitsubishi Lancer mileage questions
How many miles will a Mitsubishi Lancer last?
Half of the 532 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2000–2017 Mitsubishi Lancer that list mileage came after 59,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 141,000 miles. Of the 532 complaints on the 2000–2017 Mitsubishi Lancer that list mileage, the middle half came between 20,000 and 100,000 miles; 24% came after 100,000 miles, 8% after 150,000 and 2% after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no Lancer that never had one.
How many miles is too much for a used Lancer?
There is no hard cutoff. NHTSA's file records when owners reported problems, not when a Lancer wears out, and how a car was maintained matters more than any one odometer figure. Where the complaints cluster: the middle half came between 20,000 and 100,000 miles, and 8% came after 150,000 miles (45 of 532). Complaint mileage rises with a model year's age: older Lancer years were reported at higher odometer readings because they had more time to cover miles. The table below shows when owners of each year reported problems; it does not rank the years.
How do I check the mileage of a used Lancer?
Compare the odometer with the readings on file for its VIN: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. A reading lower than an earlier one, or a long gap, is worth asking about. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a high-mileage Lancer.