Total Complaints
5 filings
MITSUBISHI MIRAGE · model year
5 NHTSA complaints, 2 crash reports, and 4 active recalls for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2002MITSUBISHIMIRAGE carries 5 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 2002 MIRAGE is service brakes, hydraulic:foundation components with 1 filings, followed by air bags:frontal (1) and engine and engine cooling:exhaust system:emission control:gas recirculation valve (egr valve) (1). 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. This model year has 4 active recall campaigns, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.
NHTSA currently has 14 investigation files overlapping the 2002 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.
Total Complaints
5 filings
Crashes Reported
2 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS | 1 |
| AIR BAGS:FRONTAL | 1 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:GAS RECIRCULATION VALVE (EGR VALVE) | 1 |
| POWER TRAIN:CLUTCH ASSEMBLY | 1 |
| STRUCTURE:BODY:DOOR | 1 |
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
CERTAIN PRO-A MOTORS CORNER LAMPS, TURN SIGNALS, AND HEADLIGHTS SOLD AS REPLACEMENT LAMPS FOR USE ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES LISTED ABOVE. SOME COMBINATION LAMPS THAT ARE NOT EQUIPPED WITH AMBER SIDE REFLECTORS FAIL TO CONFORM TO FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 108, LAMPS, REFLECTIVE D
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS
DOPE, INC. IS RECALLING 42,540 COMBINATION CORNER AND BUMPER LAMP ASSEMBLIES OF VARIOUS PART NUMBERS SOLD FOR USE AS AFTERMARKET EQUIPMENT FOR VARIOUS PASSENGER VEHICLES. THESE HEADLAMPS FAIL TO CONFORM TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 108, "LAMPS, REFLECTIVE DEVICES
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
SABERSPORT IS RECALLING 16,270 COMBINATION CORNER AND BUMPER LAMP ASSEMBLIES OF VARIOUS PART NUMBERS SOLD FOR USE AS AFTERMARKET EQUIPMENT FOR VARIOUS PASSENGER VEHICLES. THESE HEADLAMPS FAIL TO CONFORM TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 108, "LAMPS, REFLECTIVE DEVICES
EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS
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.
4 YEARS OLD, 24K MILES, NEVER IN AN ACCIDENT. THE DOOR LIGHT CAME ON. DRIVER SIDE DOOR MISALIGNED. THERE WAS HALF AN INCH SPACE BETWEEN THE BOTTOM OF THE DOOR AND THE BODY FRAME. IT GOT MORE DIFFICULT TO OPEN EVERY DAY. THREE WEEKS LATER, THE DOOR COULDN'T OPEN AT ALL. DEALER LUBRICATED AND FREED-UP SIEZED LOWER DOOR HINGE, STRAIGHTENED, REWELDED, REASSEMBLED AND ALIGNED DRIVER'S DOOR.
THE CLUTCH DISC ON A 2002 MITSUBISHI MIRAGE MANUAL TRANSMISSION WAS EATEN UP DOWN TO THE BARE METAL, STARTING TO EAT AWAY AT THE FLYWHEEL AND CHIP THE DRIVESHAFT BECAUSE I WAS NOT INFORMED IN ANY WAY THAT THE CLUTCH DISC WAS A WEAR ITEM AND WAS DISAPPOINTED WHEN I FOUND OUT. THE CLUTCH DISC WAS FAULTY, IN COMPLETE SHREDS ALL OVER THE INSIDE OF THE TRANSMISSION. I HAD TO CLEAN OUT THE TRANSMISSION AND REPLACE THE PRESSURE PLATE, THROW OUT BEARINGS, PILOT BEARINGS, FLYWHEEL AND CLUTCH DISK. THOSE ARE THE PARTS REQUIRED TO DO THIS JOB. HAD I KNOWN BEFORE HAND THAT MY CLUTCH WAS A WEAR ITEM I WOULD HAVE TAKEN IT TO BE CHECKED OUT. IT WAS UNFAIR TO ME AND MANY OTHER OWNERS OF MITSUBISHI VEHICLES WHO WERE NOT INFORMED EVEN VIA TELEPHONE TO MITSUBISHI MOTORS. I WAS ALSO LEAD TO BELIEVE THAT IT WAS COVERED UNDER THE POWER TRAIN WARRANTY. MAYBE NOT THE WORST COMPLAINT BUT AN INCONVENIENCE AND A NUISANCE NONE THE LESS. *NM
Mileage: 57,500
THE "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LIGHT HAS CAME ON FOR THE FOURTH TIME ON 5.7.04 AFTER IT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN FIXED AFTER THE THIRD TIME IT WAS TAKEN INTO THE DEALERSHIP FOR REPAIR ON 4.26.04. *AK
Mileage: 29,109
VEHICLE INVOLVED IN SEVERE CRASH WITH HEAVY FRONT END DAMAGE. THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY RESULTING IN FACIAL INJURIES AND CRACKED RIBS TO THE DRIVER. *AK
CONSUMER STATES WHILE APPYING BRAKE AT 25-30 MPH THE PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR, AND CAUSES A REAR END COLLISION AND TOTAL THE VEHICLE, DEALER NOTIFIED. NLM
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.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.