Honda Prelude vs Mitsubishi Lancer

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Honda Prelude	Mitsubishi Lancer
Complaints on file	463	1,139
Model years covered	1981–2001	1996–2017
Worst model year	1997	2002
Best model year	2000	2016
Crashes reported	52	155
Fires reported	15	19
Injuries reported	29	87
Deaths reported	2	3
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	21.2%	23.2%

Honda Prelude by year

3 1 5 11 12 17 40 34 4 18 26 14 12 9 4 88 86 40 14 25

81 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 106 22.9%

Engine & Cooling 53 11.4%

Electrical System 49 10.6%

Seat Belts 35 7.6%

Steering 33 7.1%

Airbags 26 5.6%

Suspension 25 5.4%

Fuel & Propulsion 25 5.4%

Mitsubishi Lancer by year

1 1 194 242 96 27 52 3 126 139 66 51 26 9 23 36 40 7

96 00 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 161 14.1%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 151 13.3%

Engine & Cooling 132 11.6%

Airbags 117 10.3%

Suspension 78 6.8%

Electrical System 74 6.5%

Brakes 72 6.3%

Body & Structure 60 5.3%