MITSUBISHI MIRAGE · model year

1993 MITSUBISHI MIRAGE

91 NHTSA complaints, 2 crash reports for this specific cohort.

NHTSA overall rating

Not crash-tested

New Car Assessment Program

The 1993MITSUBISHIMIRAGE carries 91 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 2 crashes, 0 fires, 1 injury, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.

Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 1993 MIRAGE is seat belts with 38 filings, followed by seat belts:front:anchorage (8) and seat belts:front:retractor (7). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.

NHTSA currently has 14 investigation files overlapping the 1993 MIRAGE. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.

91
Complaints
2
Crashes
0
Fires
1
Injuries
0
Deaths

Total Complaints

91 filings

Crashes Reported

2 reports

Source

NHTSA ODI

Federal complaints database

Complaints vs. fleet median (215)

At or below the fleet median complaint volume.

Complaints by Component

ComponentCount
SEAT BELTS38
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:ANCHORAGE8
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR7
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE5
SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:RECLINER3
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:MASTER CYLINDER2
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING2
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION2
EQUIPMENT2
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION2
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:BUCKLE ASSEMBLY2
SEAT BELTS:FRONT2
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM1
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM:RADIATOR ASSEMBLY1
VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS1

Recent Complaints

20060911SEAT BELTS:FRONT

1993 MITSUBISHI MIRAGE, NHTSA RECALL 97V073001 MITSUBISHI RELUCTANTLY PERFORMED RECALL. MOTORIZED SHOULDER BELT STILL WOULD NOT WORK. WAS TOLD TO MANUALLY LATCH AND UNLATCH SHOULDER BELT TO ANCHOR (EMERGENCY PROCEDURE). SHOULDER BELT BECAME FRAYED BECAUSE OF RUBBING ON A GUIDE WHILE MANUALLY USING THE SHOULDER BELT. DEALER SAID VEHICLE IS "UNSAFE". REQUESTED REPLACEMENT OF SHOULDER BELT AND OFFERED TO PAY LABOR. MITSUBISHI REFUSED. APPROXIMATE COST OF REPAIR IS $300- $400. DEALER PAPERWORK AND MITSUBISHI CORRESPONDENCE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

Mileage: 138,484

20050531SEAT BELTS:FRONT:ANCHORAGE

MOVING SEATBELT WOULD STICK IN CORNER AT BACK OF DOOR WOULD NOT MOVE COMPLETLY TO BACK OF DOOR. COULD OPEN DOOR AND CLOSE AND SEAT BELT WOULD WORK PROPERLY, NOW SEAT BELT IS STUCK IN THE CORNER OF DOOR AND THERE IS A GRAY CABLE STICKING OUT AND BELT WONT MOVE AT ALL FORWARD OR BACKWARD

20040819SEAT BELTS:FRONT:ANCHORAGE

THE AUTOMATIC SEAT BELT CABLE CAME OF IT'S TRACK. THIS RESULTED IN THE SEAT BELT FAILING TO RETRACT. ALSO, THE PLASTIC COATING OVER THE CABLE CAME OFF. THIS OCCURRED AFTER THE DRIVER'S SIDE GUIDE RAIL RECALL 97V073001 WAS PERFORMED. THE DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN CONTACTED. *JB *SC

Mileage: 152,000

20040614SEAT BELTS:FRONT:ANCHORAGE

RECALL REPAIRS FOR DRIVER'S SIDE GUIDE RAIL 97V073001 FAILED, AND THE DEFECT RECURRED. *AK

Mileage: 101,000

20040212SEAT BELTS:FRONT

AUTOMATIC SEAT BELT ON DRIVER'S SIDE CAME OFF THE HINGES, CAUSING THE DRIVER NOT TO BE PROPERLY RESTRAINED. THE SEAT BELT MOTOR WAS REPLACED LAST YEAR FOR THE SAME PROBLEM. *AK *JB

Mileage: 60,000

20030923SEAT BELTS

SEAT BELTS MALFUNCTIONED. PARTS HAVE BEEN REPLACED; HOWEVER, PROBLEM STILL EXISTS.*AK

20030802SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR

I HAVE HAD LEFT FRONT DRIVER SIDE SEATBELT RETRACTOR FAIL 3 TIMES ONCE IN 1998,2000 &2003. THE CAR HAS THE AUTOMATIC SEATBELTS SO WHEN YOU CLOSE THE DOOR THE SEATBELT IS SUPPOSE TO RETRACT BACK BEHIND THE SEAT OR ALONG THE DOOR JAM IN EACH OF MY INCIDENCES I CLOSED THE DOOR AND THE SEAT BELT RETRACTOR CABLE COMES OUT OF THE RAIL THAT RUNS ALONG THE TOP OF THE DOOR JAM AND GETS STUCK HALF WAY TO OR NOT AT ALL. IT IS A RECALL I BELIEVE AND I HAD IT REPLACED FOR THE RECALL 2 TIMES AND NOW IM GOING TO A 3RD TIME. IT IS VERY FRIGHTENING TO ME BECAUSE IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE I CANNOT DRIVE MY CAR WITHOUT A SEATBELT IT NOT ONLY UNSAFE ITS AGAINST THE LAW. I HOPE TO SHED SOME LIGHT ON THIS ISSUE AND ASK THAT IT BE LOOKED AT MORE CLOSELY. *AK

Mileage: 73,000

20030802EQUIPMENT

I HAVE HAD LEFT FRONT DRIVER SIDE SEATBELT RETRACTOR FAIL 3 TIMES ONCE IN 1998,2000 &2003. THE CAR HAS THE AUTOMATIC SEATBELTS SO WHEN YOU CLOSE THE DOOR THE SEATBELT IS SUPPOSE TO RETRACT BACK BEHIND THE SEAT OR ALONG THE DOOR JAM IN EACH OF MY INCIDENCES I CLOSED THE DOOR AND THE SEAT BELT RETRACTOR CABLE COMES OUT OF THE RAIL THAT RUNS ALONG THE TOP OF THE DOOR JAM AND GETS STUCK HALF WAY TO OR NOT AT ALL. IT IS A RECALL I BELIEVE AND I HAD IT REPLACED FOR THE RECALL 2 TIMES AND NOW IM GOING TO A 3RD TIME. IT IS VERY FRIGHTENING TO ME BECAUSE IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE I CANNOT DRIVE MY CAR WITHOUT A SEATBELT IT NOT ONLY UNSAFE ITS AGAINST THE LAW. I HOPE TO SHED SOME LIGHT ON THIS ISSUE AND ASK THAT IT BE LOOKED AT MORE CLOSELY. *AK

Mileage: 73,000

20030506ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE

MY 16 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING HER CAR LATE ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND IT STALLED OUT IN A RURAL AREA. WE HAD IT TOWED TO OUR MECHANICAL AND THINKING IT WAS THE FUEL PUMP. HE INFORMED ME THAT THE CAM SHAFT HAD SPLIT. HE SAID THAT THIS IS VERY UNUSUAL. UPON FURTHER RESEARCH I HAVE LEARNED THAT MITSUBISHI HAS BEEN AWARE OF THE FACT THAT WITH THE MIRAGE THERE CAN BE A PROBLEM WITH STALLING DUE TO AN ENGINE SHAFT DEFECT. WHEN I CALLED MITSUBISHI ALL THEY SAID WAS THERE WERE NO RECALLS ON THAT AND BECAUSE THE CAR IS A 1993 WITH 103,000 MILES THERE IS NOTHING THEY WOULD DO. I STRONGLY FEEL THIS IS A WARRANTY ISSUE NO MATTER HOW OLD THE CAR IS OR HOW MANY MILES IT HAS. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE OR NORMAL AND ROUTINE CARE COULD HAVE PREVENTED. IT IS A SERIOUS MATERIAL DEFECT. *NLM

Mileage: 103,000

20020620SEAT BELTS

I RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE VIA MAIL & BROUGHT MY CAR TO THE LOCAL MITSUBISHI DEALER. THEY DID SOME WORK ON THE AUTOMATIC SHOULDER BELT. I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT ENOUGH WAS DONE. NOW THEY REFUSE TO DO ANY MORE "GOODWILL" REPAIRS AT NO CHARGE. THIS IS MY SAFETY AT RISK. I EVEN TOOK IT AND PAID FOR IT MYSELF TO ANOTHER SERVICE CENTER AFTER ANOTHER FAILURE. I HAVE WRITTEN REPORTS OF THIS. I ALSO HAVE COPIES OF WHAT I WAS TOLD IS A "SILENT RECALL" WHERE THE OWNER IS NOT NOTIFIED. KEEP IN MIND, BEFORE I TOOK IT FOR SERVICE TO THE FIRST PLACE, THERE WAS NEVER A PROBLEM. ALL THE PROBLEMS HAVE DEVELOPED AFTER THE DEALERSHIP WORKED ON THE CAR. THIS HAS BEEN EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING TO ME AND A LONG PROCESS. NOW THEY REFUSE TO DO ANY FURTHER WORK FOR FREE. I STILL HAVE THE PROBLEM AND IT IS MY SAFETY THAT IS AT RISK. PLEASE ASSIST AS SOON AS YOU CAN.*AK

20020212ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE

THE FIRST HEAD GASKET WAS REPLACED ON 3-8-1999 @30,886 MILES. THE SECOND HEAD GASKET WAS REPLACED ON 1-24-2002 @ 55,691 MILES. THEY WOULD NOT HELP COVER THE COST BECAUSE IT WAS LONGER THAN ONE YEAR EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS ONLY 24,000 MILES ON THE HEAD GASKET. I HAVE KEPT ALL RECEIPTS ON MY VEHICLE AND HAVE KEPT UP WITH ALL THE REQUIRED MAINTENANCE. THERE MUST BE SOME DEFECT INVOLVED.*AK

20011015SEAT BELTS

THE AUTOMATIC SEAT BELT QUIT WORKING AND THE CABLE CAME OUT ON THE DRIVER SIDE AND THE AUTOMATIC SEAT BELT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE STARTED STICKING HALF WAY IN THE TRACK.*AK

20010801ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:MODULE

CAR WOULDN'T START. BROKEN FOR 1 1/2 YEARS. DEALER SAID IT IS A SHORT IN THE ECM THROTTLE CONTROL. ALSO SAID ORIGINALLY THAT IT WAS FUEL PUMP. SUPPOSED TO PREFORM RECALL ON SEATBELTS, BUT IT HAD NOT BEEN PREFORMED AFTER 2 WEEKS IN THE SHOP. CAR IS NOW WORKING, BUT ONLY AFTER ECM WAS COMPLETELY REPLACED. SEATBELT STILL NOT WORKING.*AK

20010801FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP

CAR WOULDN'T START. BROKEN FOR 1 1/2 YEARS. DEALER SAID IT IS A SHORT IN THE ECM THROTTLE CONTROL. ALSO SAID ORIGINALLY THAT IT WAS FUEL PUMP. SUPPOSED TO PREFORM RECALL ON SEATBELTS, BUT IT HAD NOT BEEN PREFORMED AFTER 2 WEEKS IN THE SHOP. CAR IS NOW WORKING, BUT ONLY AFTER ECM WAS COMPLETELY REPLACED. SEATBELT STILL NOT WORKING.*AK

20010801SEAT BELTS

CAR WOULDN'T START. BROKEN FOR 1 1/2 YEARS. DEALER SAID IT IS A SHORT IN THE ECM THROTTLE CONTROL. ALSO SAID ORIGINALLY THAT IT WAS FUEL PUMP. SUPPOSED TO PREFORM RECALL ON SEATBELTS, BUT IT HAD NOT BEEN PREFORMED AFTER 2 WEEKS IN THE SHOP. CAR IS NOW WORKING, BUT ONLY AFTER ECM WAS COMPLETELY REPLACED. SEATBELT STILL NOT WORKING.*AK

20010621SEAT BELTS

SEATBELT WAS FIXED ON RECALL ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO. BUT, SAME PROBLEM HAS BEEN HAPPENING AGAIN. AUTOMATIC SEAT BELT, WHEN SEAT BELT WENT TO BACK, IT STARTED MAKING CLICKING SOUNDS. BELT DROPPED DOWN OUT OF CEILING. CONTACTED DEALER. DEALER WOULD NOT FIX BECAUSE IT WAS FIXED ON RECALL. *AK

20010524SEAT BELTS

DRIVER'S SIDE GUIDE RAIL REMEDY HAD FAILED AGAIN FOR 3RD TIME. SHOULDER BELT FAILED TO RETRACT TO ORIGINAL POSITION. *AK *SLC

20010419SEAT BELTS

THIS SEATBELT HAS BEEN RECALLED IN 97, WHICH I HAD DONE. NOW OUT OF THE BLUE IT JUST STOPPED WORKING. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND ALSO THE MITSUBISHI HOTLINE AND THEY ARE BOTH SAYING THAT BECAUSE IT WAS ALREADY REPLACED THAT MY CASE IS CLOSED AND THEY WON'T GIVE ME A NEW ONE. OTHER THAN THE SEATBELT NOT WORKING, THIS 8 YEAR OLD CAR RUNS FINE, I DON'T WANT TO GET RID OF IT JUST BECAUSE IT WILL COST MORE THAN HALF THE BOOK VALUE OF THE CAR TO REPLACE THIS DEFECTIVE PART. CAN YOU HELP ME?*AK

20010405SEAT BELTS

DRIVER'S SIDE SEATBELT IS STUCK INTO RETRACTOR. SEATBELT IS AUTOMATIC. OTHER PARTS ARE HANGING INSIDE OF ROOF OF VEHICLE.*AK

20010405SEAT BELTS

COVERED CABLE WHICH IS A PART OF GUIDERAIL FOR SEAT BELT IS GOING TO COST APPROXIMATELY $500.00 TO FIX WHEN THERE IS NHTSA RECALL CAMPAIGN 97V073001 WHICH DEALS WITH SAME PROBLEM. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/ATTACHMENTS.*AK

Compare 1993MITSUBISHIMIRAGE to Similar Vehicles

NHTSA Investigations

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many complaints does the 1993 MITSUBISHI MIRAGE have?
The 1993 MITSUBISHI MIRAGE has 91 NHTSA complaints, 2 crashes, 0 fires, 1 injuries, and 0 deaths reported.
What are the most common problems with the 1993 MITSUBISHI MIRAGE?
The most-complained component for the 1993 MITSUBISHI MIRAGE is SEAT BELTS with 38 complaints. Other frequently reported areas include SEAT BELTS:FRONT:ANCHORAGE and SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR.
Is the 1993 MITSUBISHI MIRAGE safe to buy?
Review the complaint history, crash and fire reports, safety ratings, and recall status on this page to make an informed decision. No NHTSA crash test rating is available for this model year. Compare with other model years using the links above.
Where does this data come from?
All complaint, recall, and safety rating data is sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaints are filed by vehicle owners through NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.

Vehicle Safety Guides

Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.