2002 MITSUBISHI LANCER — Complaint #917630
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:WINDSHIELD:ELECTRICAL HEATING ELEMENT filed May 7, 2012
NHTSA complaint #917630 (ODI reference 10457728) concerns a 2002 MITSUBISHI LANCER and was filed on May 7, 2012. The owner reports the failure occurred on August 1, 2002. The report was geocoded to Oklahoma based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system:windshield:electrical heating element, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same MITSUBISHI LANCER cohort independently describe similar visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system:windshield:electrical heating element failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2002 MITSUBISHI LANCER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
THE AIR CONDITIONER AND HEATER CONTROL KNOB WAS HARD TO TURN FROM THE MOMENT WE BOUGHT THE VEHICLE NEW. IT HAS SINCE BROKE OFF. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE RECALLED BECAUSE IT IS A FACTORY DEFECT. *TR
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 917630 |
| ODI Number | 10457728 |
| Date Filed | May 7, 2012 |
| Failure Date | August 1, 2002 |
| VIN | JA3AJ26EX2U |
Similar VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:WINDSHIELD:ELECTRICAL HEATING ELEMENT Complaints for 2002 MITSUBISHI LANCER
THE KNOBS TO CONTROL THE HEATING AND DEFOGGING IS BROKEN. IT HAS BEEN UNUSUALLY COLD IN GEORGIA THIS WINTER AND THE DEFOGGERS ONLY EMIT COLD AIR. I HAVE TO DRIVE THE CAR EARLY IN THE MORNING AROUND 6:
I HAVE A 2002 MITSUBISHI LANCER AND THE TEMPERATURE CONTROL KNOB IN THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN DIFFICULT TO TURN SINCE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO AND HAS SINCE DETERIORATED. THE KNOB BROKE OFF TWO WEEKS AGO. I C
TEMPERATURE CONTROL ROTARY SWITCH VERY DIFFICULT TO OPERATE. CHANGE FROM HOT SIDE TO COLD SIDE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. I BELIEVE RECENTLY THAT IT FAILED BEHIND THE DASH AS IT CAN NOT BE SWITCHED TO THE H
I WAS CONVINCED & SHOWN THAT MY BLOWER MOTER WAS WORKING IN TOP CONDITION. BUT ON MY RIDE HOME I WAS DISTURBED TO FIND THAT ONLY SPEED 4, AN OVERDRIVE MODE, WAS WORKING. I CONTACTED THE LOCAL DEALERSH
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.