Nissan D21 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	Nissan D21	Mitsubishi Lancer
Complaints on file	466	1,139
Model years covered	1988–1997	1996–2017
Worst model year	1995	2002
Best model year	1996	2016
Crashes reported	66	155
Fires reported	16	19
Injuries reported	35	87
Deaths reported	1	3
Most complained-about part	Body & Structure	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	25.3%	23.2%

Nissan D21 by year

1 5 1 35 21 49 76 159 47 72

88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97

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

What breaks

Body & Structure 69 14.8%

Engine & Cooling 47 10.1%

Tires 43 9.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 40 8.6%

Airbags 36 7.7%

Seat Belts 36 7.7%

Brakes 34 7.3%

Electrical System 33 7.1%

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%