KnownCarProblemsHome › Mitsubishi › Outlander › 2003
2003 Mitsubishi Outlander Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 116 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander, most often about the suspension (24% of complaints, typically around 74,500 miles). It is 4th of 23 Outlander model years by number of complaints and has 6 recalls.
Most common 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander problems
Suspension
28 complaints · 24%Half of these problems showed up before 74,500 miles. Parts named most often: rear, front.
Single owner/user;retired, garage kept. Undercarriage so eroded wheels began to list. Impractical to repair. Body and engine without problems. Not notified by dealership at recent service there was a problem. An unknown person that drove behind me mentioned that I should get rear wheel looked at. When brought for…
Car taken to dealership, anderson Mitsubishi, [phone]), january 2017, for NHTSA recall 16v458. Crossmember not replaced or rust treated. Crossmember failed 4-20-2019. Repaired at my expense $2161.70. Made claim for reimbursement through Mitsubishi dealer and Mitsubishi of north america. Have a Mitsubishi file number…
Lights
19 complaints · 16%Half of these problems showed up before 50,000 miles. Parts named most often: headlights, brake lights.
2003 Mitsubishi Outlander head lamp assemblies have failed. They first became cloudy with small cracks. Eventually those cracks became larger and the head lamp assemblies have filled with water making them inoperable. This began in year five of owning the vehicle. This vehicle has never been in an accident and is…
Defective headlamp assemblies on 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander.. The headlamp lenses on this vehicle have totally failed. They are milky in color, not the clear they should be, and the lenses themselves are cracked and crazed, but show no impact damage, or damage of any other kind other than deterioration of the plastic…
Engine
16 complaints · 14%Half of these problems showed up before 62,500 miles. Parts named most often: cooling system, engine, exhaust system.
Tl contact owns a 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander. One year after purchasing the vehicle she had to replace the engine, radiator, gaskets, and water pump. She is currently unable to drive the vehicle. The manufacturer advised her that the coolant fan was replaced twice per the recall with the previous owner. They also…
This is for a Mitsubishi Outlander 2003. There was a lot of water under the seats, don't know how, and the service engine light is on due to bad oxygen sensor and there might be corrosion in the electrical system, this can cause a fire, rear stop light stop working, the seat belt tensioner can go bad. Took the car to…
Steering
14 complaints · 12%Half of these problems showed up before 8,000 miles. Parts named most often: linkages, rack and pinion.
Vehicle pulls to the right. The dealer says numerous complaints of this vehicle doing same and the repairs the factory suggested to the dealer are not working.
Vehicle in for second repair of steering rack. First time the rack was replaced. Requested replacement again. Very rare failure, yet twice within 30 k miles? There is a variable pulsing and unequal pressure within the steering rack hydraulics. First instance 16000, second 31k miles. Additionally failed tie rod in this…
Visibility and wipers
11 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 95,000 miles. Parts named most often: defroster/defogger/hvac system, windshield wiper/washer, sun/moon roof assembly.
Temperature knob broke off after getting stuck. Sounds like this happens quite frequently. I got an estimate to fix it from the dealer. Over $2000. Major issue in the winter for defrost/heat.
Tl contact owns a 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander. While driving at an unknown speed, small stones fell off of another vehicle and struck the sunroof of the contact's vehicle. As a result, debris and glass shattered inside of her vehicle. Two passengers were moderately injured. In addition, while driving approximately 60…
Electrical
9 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 76,000 miles. Parts named most often: wiring.
This is for a Mitsubishi Outlander 2003. There was a lot of water under the seats, don't know how, and the service engine light is on due to bad oxygen sensor and there might be corrosion in the electrical system, this can cause a fire, rear stop light stop working, the seat belt tensioner can go bad. Took the car to…
Tl contact owns a 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander. While driving approximately 30 MPH on normal road conditions, the rear brake lights activated without the brake pedal being depressed. The failure occurred spontaneously whenever the vehicle was in operation. In addition, the SRS warning indicator illuminated on the…
Air bags
8 complaints · 7%Half of these problems showed up before 82,000 miles. Parts named most often: frontal, side/window.
Tl contact owns a 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander. While driving approximately 30 MPH on normal road conditions, the rear brake lights activated without the brake pedal being depressed. The failure occurred spontaneously whenever the vehicle was in operation. In addition, the SRS warning indicator illuminated on the…
Consumer cannot unlock the front and rear doors from the inside or outside of the vehicle. Water went under floor and corroded the electrical system. This problem was similar to NHTSA recall 03v194000: on certain sport utility vehicles, water could enter the front floorboard area from openings in the side sill or…
Transmission
6 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 97,000 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, manual transmission, driveline.
When slowing down and then accelerating at about 35mph, the transmission downshifts hard, jerking the car forward hard and causing one of the rear cv joints to pop. The dealer said there wasn't enough occurrences of it happening to warrant any inspection or repair. They called in a Mitsubishi rep and he claimed to…
Regular use. Wiring connection to automatic shifter control has broken. Shifter has to be replaced. Automatic drive lights don't work (drive, reverse, neutral, etc.) and manual shifter fails to work. No longer safe to drive without repairs.
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2003 Mitsubishi Outlander recalls
Suspension: lower arm
Risk: A detached front control arm can result in the loss of control of the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Mmna will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the front cross members. Depending on the level of existing corrosion, either a sealing/anti-corrosion agent will be applied or the front cross member will be replaced with a new one that has a sealing/anti-corrosion agent applied to it. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began january 2017. Owners may contact mmna customer service at 1-888-648-7820. Mmna's number for this recall is sr-16-003.
Full defect summary
Mitsubishi motors north america, inc. (mmna) is recalling certain model year 2002-2007 lancer, 2004 lancer wagon, 2003-2006 lancer evolution, 2003-2006 outlander and 2007-2013 outlander v-6 vehicles originally sold in, or ever registered in, connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, iowa, kentucky, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, virginia, west virginia, wisconsin and the district of columbia. In the affected vehicles, the front lower control arms may detach due to the front cross member corroding from salt water exposure such as from road salt use.
Equipment: labels
Risk: This does not meet the requirements of the standard.
Fix: Mitsubishi caribbean will mail a customer notification letter containing a written description and a graphic of the bi-lingual dashboard air bag warning label. In addition, all current 2000-2004 nativa owners will also receive replacement air bag alert labels for the sun visors. This recall is expected to begin during march or april 2005. The notification to the nativa owners is expected to begin during april or may 2005. Owners should contact mitsubishi caribbean at 1-787-251-8715.
Full defect summary
Certain passenger vehicles fail to conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 208, 'occupant crash protection.' the bilingual english/spanish removable air bag warning labels affixed to the dash and to the sunvisor do not meet the size requirements of the standard.
Equipment: trailer hitches
Risk: Overheating of the trailer hitch wiring harness module could result in a fire.
Fix: Owners are being requested to stop using the harness until a newly designed replacement is provided and can be installed by the dealer. The recall began on may 28, 2004. Owners should contact mitsubishi at 1-888-648-7820.
Full defect summary
Certain sport utility vehicles may have been equipped with dealer-installed trailer hitch wiring harness and control module. The electronic control module can overheat.
Equipment: owners/service/other manual
Risk: If the tether strap is improperly installed to the tether anchor, the child safety seat may not be sufficient restrained. In the event of a crash, the child could be injured.
Fix: A letter outlining the problem will be sent to owners along with a sticker containing the correct instructions as well as instructions on where to affix the sticker in the owner's manual. The recall began on march 29, 2004. Owners should contact mitsubishi at 1-888-648-7820.
Full defect summary
Certain sport utility and passenger vehicles fail to comply with federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 225, "child restraint anchorage systems." the owner's manual does not contain a step-by-step description for headrest adjustment when installing a child restraint system (crs) tether strap.
Electrical: interior/under dash
Risk: Electrical corrosion of the harness could cause the seat belt pre-tensioner to malfunction, the side air bag not to deploy and/or the brake lamps not to illuminate or to falsely illuminate.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the side sills and dash panel for openings that may allow water leakage into the vehicle cabin. In addition to sealing any openings that may be found, the wiring connectors will be inspected for signs of electrical corrosion. The floor harness will be replaced if it has any signs of water damage or electrical corrosion. Owner notification began june 23, 2003. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact mitsubishi america at 1-800-222-0037 or mitsubishi carib
Full defect summary
On certain sport utility vehicles, water could enter the front floorboard area from openings in the side sill or upper dash area. This water could collect under the seat and cause electrical corrosion to occur in the harness connectors that contain the wiring for the seat belt pre-tensioner, side air bag impact sensor, and stop lamps.
Speed control: vehicle speed control
Risk: Failure to return to idle could result in a vehicle crash without warning.
Fix: Dealers will reprogram the engine control computer to eliminate this condition. Owner notification began on january 29, 2003. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact mitsubishi at 1-800-222-0037.
Full defect summary
On certain sport utility vehicles, during extremely low temperature conditions, ice can build up inside the engine throttle valve. This ice build-up could cause the accelerator pedal to stick or not to return to idle after accelerating.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
Questions about the 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander
- What are the most common problems with the 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: suspension (28 complaints, typically around 74,500 miles); lights (19 complaints, typically around 50,000 miles); engine (16 complaints, typically around 62,500 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander have?
- 6 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from June 23, 2016 (suspension). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2003 a bad year for the Mitsubishi Outlander?
- It is 4th of 23 Outlander model years by number of complaints, with 116 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.