What is the best year for the Mitsubishi Montero?
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 Montero
which year?
Compare every Mitsubishi Montero model year the EPA recorded, 1985 to 2006. 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 Montero 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 Montero 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 inspect2001
166 indexed complaint reports; service brakes, hydraulic is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2001 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect2002111 indexed complaint reports; service brakes, hydraulic is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2002 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect199586 indexed complaint reports; engine and engine cooling is the most-reported component label.
Open the 1995 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 Montero 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.
2005 Mitsubishi Montero
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 1
- Combined EPA economy
- 15 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 1
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $5,050
- Fuel labels
- Premium Gasoline
Most-reported component labelssteering 1
Open the 2005 evidence dossier →2006 Mitsubishi Montero
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 4
- Combined EPA economy
- 15 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 1
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $5,050
- Fuel labels
- Premium Gasoline
Most-reported component labelsservice brakes 2electrical system 1electronic stability control (esc) 1
Open the 2006 evidence dossier →Observed complaint-record difference
2006 has 3 more indexed complaint allegations than 2005.
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 Montero 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 4 | service brakes 2electrical system 1electronic stability control (esc) 1 | 15 | 1 | $5,050 | Dossier → |
| 2005 | 1 | steering 1 | 15 | 1 | $5,050 | Dossier → |
| 2004 | 5 | service brakes, hydraulic 3service brakes 2steering 1 | 15–17 | 3 | $3,600–5,050 | Dossier → |
| 2003 | 39 | service brakes, hydraulic 7power train 6service brakes 5 | 15–18 | 6 | $3,400–5,050 | Dossier → |
| 2002 | 111 | service brakes, hydraulic 47service brakes 21engine and engine cooling 9 | 14–18 | 6 | $3,400–5,450 | Dossier → |
| 2001 | 166 | service brakes, hydraulic 61electrical system 27engine and engine cooling 23 | 14–18 | 6 | $3,400–5,450 | Dossier → |
| 2000 | 51 | service brakes, hydraulic 8structure 7electrical system 6 | 15–17 | 7 | $3,600–4,100 | Dossier → |
| 1999 | 40 | suspension 13power train 9air bags 5 | 15–20 | 9 | $3,100–4,100 | Dossier → |
| 1998 | 74 | suspension 18engine and engine cooling 10service brakes, hydraulic 10 | 15–21 | 7 | $2,950–4,100 | Dossier → |
| 1997 | 63 | service brakes, hydraulic 18engine and engine cooling 17electrical system 8 | 15–21 | 8 | $2,950–4,100 | Dossier → |
| 1996 | 27 | engine and engine cooling 10service brakes, hydraulic 6unknown or other 6 | 14–15 | 5 | $4,100–5,450 | Dossier → |
| 1995 | 86 | engine and engine cooling 35steering 12service brakes, hydraulic 9 | 14–15 | 5 | $4,100–5,450 | Dossier → |
| 1994 | 31 | engine and engine cooling 14service brakes, hydraulic 7exterior lighting 3 | 14–15 | 3 | $4,100–5,450 | Dossier → |
| 1990 | 23 | engine and engine cooling 8seat belts 6power train 2 | 15–16 | 3 | $3,850–4,100 | Dossier → |
| 1989 | 10 | seat belts 2steering 2air bags 1 | 15–16 | 3 | $3,850–4,100 | Dossier → |
| 1988 | 1 | engine and engine cooling 1 | 15–16 | 2 | $3,850–4,100 | Dossier → |
| 1987 | 3 | seat belts 4 | 16 | 2 | $3,850 | Dossier → |
| 1986 | 4 | seat belts 2electrical system 1engine and engine cooling 1 | 16–17 | 2 | $3,600–3,850 | Dossier → |
| 1985 | 0 | — | 15–17 | 4 | $3,600–4,100 | 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.