Mitsubishi Van/wagon: problems, complaints, bulletins

Summary for the Mitsubishi Van/wagon across 4 model years: 12 owner complaints and 0 NHTSA service bulletins, plus repair videos. Pick a year for details.

Model years

Year	Owner complaints	involving a crash
1990	3	0
1989	1	0
1988	3	1
1987	5	0

What fails most often

1 Seat belts 75% of all complaints
2 Engine and cooling 8% of all complaints
3 Fuel system 8% of all complaints
4 Seats 8% of all complaints

Circle size and colour show each component’s share of NHTSA complaints. Schematic only, not a drawing of the exact model.

Seat belts: 9 complaints (75% of all).
Engine and cooling: 1 complaints (8% of all).
Fuel system: 1 complaints (8% of all), 1 of them with a crash reported by the owner.
Seats: 1 complaints (8% of all).

Symptoms owners describe

How many of the 12 NHTSA complaints mention each symptom (automatic count from complaint text; one complaint can mention several).

seat belts8 · 67%
smoke, burning smell, fire1 · 8%
fuel system, fuel smell1 · 8%

Components owners complain about

Component	Owner complaints	involving a crash
Seat belts	9	0
Engine and cooling	1	0
Fuel system	1	1
Seats	1	0

What owners report

Short excerpts of NHTSA complaints in the original wording. These are owner statements not verified by NHTSA; personal data removed.

Transmission slipped out of gear, causing accident. (ohio state police report)
Seats · 1987 · 1999-09-08 · NHTSA complaint #513963
Owner received recall notice, took vehicle to the dealer and was told his car did not apply to recall# 95v103004.
Seat belts · 1990 · 1996-03-26 · NHTSA complaint #981237
Rear seat belt buckle does not always lock, resulting in release action, replaced right passenger side and left needs to be replaced.
Seat belts · 1988 · 1996-03-05 · NHTSA complaint #980141
The rear middle seat belt buckles are not working wouldn't hold you .
Seat belts · 1987 · 1996-02-23 · NHTSA complaint #979627
Consumer was driving the water cooling was in an open position so the engine got hot and melted. Tt
Engine and cooling · 1990 · 1995-08-24 · NHTSA complaint #970991
The driver seat belt buckle and the seat belt come loose . Tt
Seat belts · 1989 · 1995-07-17 · NHTSA complaint #968884

When owners complained

NHTSA complaints by filing year. The peak shows at what age the problems show up most.

19957
19964
19991

What to check before buying

Seat belts. Belt pretensioners after airbag deployment, SRS codes.
Engine and cooling. Radiator and fan after a frontal hit, coolant level and condition, overheating.
Fuel system. Fuel smell, leaks, rough running, fuel-system codes.
Seats. Occupant sensor, power adjustment, seat mounts.

Other models of this make

Read also

Sources: public NHTSA data (USA): service bulletins and owner complaints; YouTube: links to videos credited to their authors. Complaints are owner statements not verified by NHTSA, and describe defects rather than crash damage. Data updated 2026-11-05.