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2018 Mitsubishi Outlander

Plug-in hybridGas
Small Sport Utility Vehicle 4WD
9 EPA-rated configurations
Data refreshed 2026-09-11
F
Safety Signal
57 / 100 from the NHTSA recall record
RecallsNHTSA campaigns6
Complaintsowner reports to NHTSA91
Crash ratingNHTSA overall5★
Fuel economybest combined, EPA27 mpg
202720262025202420232022202120202019201820172016

The 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander is sold in the U.S. as a plug-in hybrid and gas compact SUV with 9 EPA-rated configurations. The most efficient version, the Outlander 2WD, is EPA-rated at 27 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 6 recall campaigns for this model year, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of F. Owners have filed 91 complaints, most often about the electrical system. NHTSA crash-tested it at 5 stars overall.

Specs & fuel economy

Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov
ConfigurationPowertrainDriveEngine / motorCityHwyCombRangekWh/100miCharge (240V)Annual fuel*
Outlander PHEVPlug-in hybridAWD2.0L 4-cyl + 60 kW DCPM252625 (37 MPGe blended)22 mi electric453.5 h$2,500
Outlander 2WDGasFWD2.4L 4-cyl253027———$2,300
Outlander Sport 2WDGasFWD2.0L 4-cyl243027———$2,300
Outlander 4WDGas4WD2.4L 4-cyl242926———$2,400
Outlander Sport 4WDGas4WD2.0L 4-cyl232926———$2,400
Outlander Sport 2WDGasFWD2.0L 4-cyl232925———$2,500
Outlander Sport 2WDGasFWD2.4L 4-cyl232925———$2,500
Outlander Sport 4WDGas4WD2.4L 4-cyl232825———$2,500
Outlander 4WDGas4WD3.0L 6-cyl202722———$3,500

*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 39830, 39676, 39678, 39687, 39689, 39677, 39679, 39690, 39688.

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Recalls (6)

Source: NHTSA recall database
▲high

Structure

SR-26-001
108,046 vehicles
ProblemMitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2018-2022 Outlander PHEV and 2014-2020 Outlander vehicles. The liftgate gas spring cylinders may corrode and lose pressure, which can result in a gas spring cylinder rupture or the liftgate falling unexpectedly.RiskA gas spring cylinder rupture or a liftgate falling unexpectedly can increase the risk of injury.FixMMNA will replace the left and right liftgate gas springs, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 17, 2026. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820. MMNA's number for this recall is SR-26-001. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov June 3, 2026. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 25V507.
NHTSA campaign 26V252000reported Apr 20, 2026Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.
▲high

Structure

SR-25-002
121,529 vehicles
ProblemMitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2018-2022 Outlander PHEV and 2014-2020 Outlander vehicles sold and/or currently registered in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The liftgate gas spring cylinders may corrode and lose pressure, which can result in a gas spring cylinder rupture or the liftgate falling unexpectedly.RiskA gas spring cylinder rupture or a liftgate falling unexpectedly can increase the risk of injury.FixMMNA will replace the left and right liftgate gas springs, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 6, 2025. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820. MMNA's number for this recall is SR-25-002
NHTSA campaign 25V507000reported Aug 7, 2025Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.
▲high

Seat Belts

SR-20-004
177,000 vehicles
ProblemMitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2014-2019 Outlander and 2018-2019 Outlander PHEV vehicles. The second-row center seat belt buckle may interfere with the right-side seat belt buckle when the seat backs are folded down. The interference may cause the right-side seat belt buckle cover to come off, making the buckle latch inoperable and unable to restrain an occupant.RiskAn unrestrained occupant has an increased risk of injury in the event of a crash.FixMMNA will notify owners, and dealers will modify the second-row center seat belt buckle cover, install a new warning label to the second-row seat support base, and provide a new warning label insert for the owner's manual, free of charge. The recall began September 1, 2020. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820. Mitsubishi's number for this recall is SR-20-004.
NHTSA campaign 20V403000reported Jul 13, 2020Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.
▲high

Forward Collision Avoidance

SR-18-008
58,916 vehicles
ProblemMitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport vehicles equipped with a Forward Collision Mitigation (FCM) system and 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Eclipse Cross vehicles and 2017-2018 Outlander vehicles equipped with an Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system and/or an Electric Parking Brake (EPB) system. The software for the Hydraulic Unit Electronic Control Unit (ECU) may be incorrect, possibly preventing the intervention of a safety system such as automatic emergency braking, Anti-lock Braking (ABS), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), or the Brake Auto Hold (BAH) function when any of these systems are in use.RiskIf the safety systems do not function as intended, it can increase the risk of a crash.FixMMNA will notify owners, and dealers will update the Hydraulic Unit-ECU software, free of charge. The recall began October 16, 2018. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820. MMNA's number for this recall is SR-18-008.
NHTSA campaign 18V621000reported Sep 14, 2018Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.
○minor

Electrical System

SR-18-007
9,166 vehicles
ProblemMitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA) is recalling certain 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Outlander Sport, 2018-2019 Eclipse Cross, and 2017-2018 Outlander vehicles equipped with a Forward Collision Mitigation (FCM) system that detects pedestrians. Due to incorrect software, the FCM-ECU (Electronic Control Unit) may apply braking for longer than needed, even after a pedestrian is no longer detected.RiskIf the FCM-ECU software activates the brake for longer than necessary, the driver may react by applying additional braking. The resulting rapid deceleration of the vehicle can increase the risk of a rear-end collision.FixMMNA will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the FCM-ECU software with updated software, free of charge. The recall is began October 16, 2018. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820. MMNA's number for this recall is SR-18-007.
NHTSA campaign 18V620000reported Sep 14, 2018Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.
▲high

Wheels

SR-18-006
14,791 vehicles
ProblemMitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Mitsubishi Outlander vehicles equipped with 18-inch alloy wheels. The Certification Label lists an incorrect rear wheel rim size. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."RiskThe incorrect rim size information on the label can cause the operator to replace the rim with an incorrect rim size, increasing the risk of a crash.FixMMNA will notify owners and send them a corrected certification label, free of charge. Owners can also choose to have the label replaced by a dealer, free of charge. The recall began September 26, 2018. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820. MMNA's number for this recall is SR-18-006.
NHTSA campaign 18V591000reported Sep 5, 2018Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.

NHTSA defect investigations

Electrical System:Propulsion System — Pedestrian alert sounds closed

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matt

Opened Jan 27, 2023 · closed Aug 7, 2023 · action DP22005

Owner complaints

Source: NHTSA complaint database
91complaints filed

12 involved a crash · 1 a fire · 11 injuries · 0 deaths reported

Filed per year: 2018: 11 · 2019: 18 · 2020: 15 · 2021: 7 · 2022: 5 · 2023: 12 · 2024: 7 · 2025: 12 · 2026: 4

Most-cited components

Electrical System20
Air Bags16
Unspecified13
Engine11
Power Train10
Structure7

What owners describe

“Air bag symbol is lit on dash. Technicians unable to find issue, nor were they able to reset light. I feel the importance of said system functioning properly needs addressed. Not just we e can't find what is wrong.Nothing else we can do. No, that's b s”Mar 8, 2026 · Air Bags · NHTSA owner report
“On 05AUG25, my wife was involved in a frontal collision while driving our 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. The vehicle struck another vehicle at an estimated speed of over 30 mph, resulting in significant damage to the front passenger side, including deformation of the hood and front quarter panel. Despite the severity…”Aug 8, 2025 · Air Bags · NHTSA owner report
“This is a follow-up and correction to a complaint previously submitted for VIN [XXX] regarding airbag non-deployment during a passenger-side T-bone collision on [XXX]. A [XXX] child was properly restrained in a rear-facing car seat in the rear passenger-side seat. The vehicle was struck directly on the passenger side a…”Aug 8, 2025 · Air Bags · NHTSA owner report

Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.

Crash ratings

Source: NHTSA NCAP
ConfigurationOverallFrontalSideRolloverRollover risk
SUV AWD★★★★★★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆16%
SUV AWD★★★★★★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆14%
SUV AWD★★★★☆★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆17%
SUV FWD★★★★☆★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆18%
SUV FWD★★★★☆★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆19%

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program.

Other Outlander model years

A

2027 Mitsubishi Outlander

0 recalls · 0 complaints

A

2026 Mitsubishi Outlander

1 recalls · 5 complaints

A

2025 Mitsubishi Outlander

2 recalls · 17 complaints

A

2024 Mitsubishi Outlander

1 recalls · 27 complaints

A

2023 Mitsubishi Outlander

2 recalls · 55 complaints

F

2022 Mitsubishi Outlander

10 recalls · 225 complaints

B

2021 Mitsubishi Outlander

3 recalls · 17 complaints

C

2020 Mitsubishi Outlander

4 recalls · 57 complaints

F

2019 Mitsubishi Outlander

6 recalls · 56 complaints

F

2017 Mitsubishi Outlander

6 recalls · 78 complaints

F

2016 Mitsubishi Outlander

11 recalls · 170 complaints

Sources & method

Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). Floor 35. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Complaint counts and NHTSA crash ratings are shown separately and are not blended into the grade.

EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed weekly.

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