2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder: Reliability Data

32
Total Complaints
106,000mi
Median Mileage
Air Bags
Top Issue
10
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

82,000 25th Percentile
106,000 Median Mileage
135,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Air Bags
4
Unknown Or Other
4
Body
3
Structure
3
Tires
2
Electrical System
2
Door
1
Windshield
1
Accelerator Pedal
1
Glass, Side/Rear
1

Severity Assessment

10
Crashes
5
Fires
8
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"BOTH SIDE DOOR WINDOWS LEAK WATER. THE LEAK OCCURS EVEN DURING A RAIN STORM. THE CAR CAN JUST BE SITTING IN THE DIVEWAY AND WATER WILL LEAK DOWN THE INSIDE OF THE WINDOWS. THIS WILL CAUSE MECHANICAL FAILURES TO THE DOOR LOCKS, WINDOWS AND EVENTUALLY CAUSE MOLD / MILDEW TO FORM. I DIDN'T SPEND $ ..."
"MY COMPLAINT IS ABOUT THE BLEND DO FOR THE HEATING SYSTEM OF THE 2003 MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE. WHEN THE TEMPERATURE CONTROL KNOB IS ROTATED TO THE HOT POSITION, A CABLE BEHIND THE DASHBOARD AND DIRECTLY OVER THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL ROTATES THE BLEND DOOR LEVER TOWARD THE FIREWALL. A PIN ON THE LEVER, WHI..."
"REAR WINDOW SHATTERED WHILE PARKED IN COVERED PARKING. UNKNOWN CAUSE AND NO INDENTATION (POINT OF IMPACT). *AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

Air Bags 4 complaints
25th: 135,000 mi Median: 135,500 mi 75th: 142,000 mi
Unknown Or Other 4 complaints
Median: 55,000 mi
Structure 3 complaints
Median: 85,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

TX: 8 FL: 7 CA: 5 OH: 4 SC: 1 MI: 1 TN: 1 AR: 1 MD: 1 MA: 1

Who Files Complaints?

6.2%
Original Owners
93.8%
Second+ Owners

Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
1997230
1998210
2001976
2002296
2007277

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28