Total Complaints
3 filings
MITSUBISHI PRECIS · model year
3 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1988MITSUBISHIPRECIS carries 3 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 1 fire, 0 injuries, 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 1988 PRECIS is visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system with 1 filings, followed by visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system:heater core (1) and power train:automatic transmission:gear position indication (prndl) (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.
NHTSA currently has 14 investigation files overlapping the 1988 PRECIS. 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
3 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM | 1 |
| VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:HEATER CORE | 1 |
| POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL) | 1 |
GEAR SHIFT ROD ON MY 1988 MITSUBISHI PRECIS BROKE OFF FROM THE GEAR SHIFT. *AK
Mileage: 85,780
HEATER CORE RECALL REPAIRS REFUSED DUE TO UNAVAILABILITY OF PARTS. (94V-103001) *AW
HEATER CORE VALVE STEMS FAILED, RESULTING IN A FIRE PRIOR TO/AFTER RECALL REPAIRS (95V-059). *AK
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.