What is the best year for the Mitsubishi Eclipse?
No official dataset can support one universal best year. Use the table to compare complaint patterns and EPA figures, then open the shortlisted years for recall campaigns and exact specifications.
Model-year matrix
Mitsubishi Eclipse
which year?
Compare every Mitsubishi Eclipse model year the EPA recorded, 1990 to 2012. See complaint patterns, fuel economy and configurations side by side, then open any year for recall campaigns and the full dossier. Confirm against the official NHTSA recall search.
Evidence-led answer
Looking for the best Mitsubishi Eclipse year—or years to avoid?
The official records cannot honestly name a best, worst or most reliable year. Complaint totals have no sales, mileage or age denominator. They can show where more reports were filed and which components were named, giving you years to investigate more closely before checking the exact car and its VIN.
Which Mitsubishi Eclipse years should you avoid?
The records cannot justify a blanket avoid label. Years with more reports are surfaced below as research priorities, not predictions about every car from that year.
01 · More reports to inspect2000
308 indexed complaint reports; wheels is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2000 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect1995307 indexed complaint reports; engine and engine cooling is the most-reported component label.
Open the 1995 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect2001209 indexed complaint reports; wheels is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2001 dossier →Do not read this as an avoid list. Older and higher-selling model years usually accumulate more reports. A low count can also mean a newer, rarer or poorly matched vehicle—not a safer one.
Complaint totals are counts of owner-submitted allegations, not confirmed defects, and they carry no denominator: they are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received. A high-volume or older year will usually show more reports than a rare or recent one. The site does not convert these into a reliability score, because the data needed to do that honestly is not in the public record.
Direct comparison
Compare two Mitsubishi Eclipse model years.
Choose any two years. The URL keeps the pair so you can return to the same comparison. Every figure below is an observed official record or EPA estimate—not a reliability score.
2011 Mitsubishi Eclipse
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 1
- Combined EPA economy
- 19–23 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 5
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,650–4,000
- Fuel labels
- Premium Gasoline · Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelsair bags 1
Open the 2011 evidence dossier →2012 Mitsubishi Eclipse
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 8
- Combined EPA economy
- 19–23 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 5
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,650–4,000
- Fuel labels
- Premium Gasoline · Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelsair bags 4electrical system 2service brakes 2
Open the 2012 evidence dossier →Observed complaint-record difference
2012 has 7 more indexed complaint allegations than 2011.
This is not a rate or reliability finding. The counts have no sales, mileage, age or exposure denominator, and newer years have had less time to accumulate reports.Side by side
Mitsubishi Eclipse by year.
Complaint bars are scaled against this model’s own highest year, so they compare years with each other and with nothing else.
| Year | Complaints | Most-reported components | Combined MPG | EPA configs | Annual fuel cost | Dossier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 8 | air bags 4electrical system 2service brakes 2 | 19–23 | 5 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 2011 | 1 | air bags 1 | 19–23 | 5 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 2010 | 1 | service brakes 1 | 19–23 | 6 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 2009 | 42 | service brakes 27air bags 8structure 6 | 19–23 | 8 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 2008 | 71 | service brakes 50service brakes, hydraulic 8air bags 6 | 19–23 | 8 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 2007 | 107 | service brakes 77service brakes, hydraulic 13air bags 9 | 18–23 | 8 | $2,650–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 2006 | 99 | service brakes 57service brakes, hydraulic 18air bags 12 | 19–23 | 4 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 2005 | 6 | electrical system 2latches/locks/linkages 2exterior lighting 1 | 20–23 | 13 | $2,650–3,800 | Dossier → |
| 2004 | 14 | structure 6air bags 3fuel/propulsion system 2 | 20–23 | 13 | $2,650–3,600 | Dossier → |
| 2003 | 124 | structure 32power train 22engine and engine cooling 12 | 20–24 | 14 | $2,550–3,800 | Dossier → |
| 2002 | 73 | wheels 30structure 16tires 6 | 20–23 | 9 | $2,650–3,800 | Dossier → |
| 2001 | 209 | wheels 75structure 25air bags 24 | 19–23 | 9 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 2000 | 308 | wheels 129structure 41exterior lighting 25 | 20–23 | 5 | $2,650–3,800 | Dossier → |
| 1999 | 120 | power train 28structure 24engine and engine cooling 18 | 19–23 | 10 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1998 | 129 | power train 30engine and engine cooling 23air bags 18 | 19–23 | 10 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1997 | 136 | engine and engine cooling 47power train 24suspension 19 | 19–24 | 10 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1996 | 159 | service brakes, hydraulic 34engine and engine cooling 30suspension 30 | 19–24 | 10 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1995 | 307 | engine and engine cooling 64electrical system 57power train 55 | 19–24 | 8 | $2,650–4,000 | Dossier → |
| 1994 | 34 | power train 12electrical system 5engine and engine cooling 5 | 18–24 | 8 | $2,550–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1993 | 36 | power train 13engine and engine cooling 9seat belts 4 | 18–24 | 8 | $2,550–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1992 | 49 | power train 23engine and engine cooling 9electrical system 6 | 18–24 | 8 | $2,550–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1991 | 54 | power train 21seat belts 13engine and engine cooling 8 | 18–24 | 8 | $2,550–4,200 | Dossier → |
| 1990 | 46 | power train 27engine and engine cooling 6seat belts 6 | 20–24 | 6 | $2,550–3,800 | Dossier → |
Evidence snapshot generated . “Not indexed” means NHTSA holds no complaint record matching this exact year, make and model — not that no fault occurred. Recall campaigns are not summarised here: NHTSA publishes no bulk recall dataset, and fetching them per year would take longer than the page should. Each year’s dossier shows its recalls in full, live from NHTSA.