Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WHEELS | |||||
| 220502 | 05/22/2002 | 634697 | Subject regarding wheel investigation. *jg | 10/04/2002 | |
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WHEELS | ||||||
| PE01044 | MITSUBISHI MOTORS NORTH AMERICA, INC. | 12/18/2001 | 05/31/2002 | ALLOY WHEEL DENTING AND FRACTURING | ||
| Allege that the aluminum alloy wheels on the mitsubishi dent or fracture easily when subjected to road conditions such as potholes and railroad crossing. | ||||||
| EA02007 | MITSUBISHI MOTORS NORTH AMERICA, INC. | 05/31/2002 | 05/01/2003 | ALUMINUM ALLOY WHEEL DENTING | ||
| See attached report. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| WHEELS | |||
| 09/21/2008 | 65056 | 1 | |
| Rims on 2001 mitsubishi eclipse weak, very carefully drove, had to replace one rim and others are all bent. *tr | |||
| 06/18/2007 | 147000 | 1 | 03/07/2005 |
| Went off road, back left wheel cracked. *jb | |||
| 03/01/2006 | 4 | 04/21/2004 | |
| I purchased a 2001 mitsibishi eclipse spyder. all four of the wheels have been bent from normal highway driving. i have had two tires blow out due to their loosing air and heating up. it appears that the aluminum wheels are too soft and bend too easily. *nm | |||
| 11/05/2005 | 34600 | 1 | 08/20/2001 |
| Tires will not hold air. though my car is a 2001 i only have 34k miles on it. tonight, while driving, the right front passenger side went flat while driving, and the tire came off the rim. the tires have always lost air, to the point that they have to be checked and filled every few months. definitely a mfg defect and safety issue. *jb | |||
| 08/01/2000 | |||
| My front and rear wheels are bent. these wheels are alloy wheels and i have not collided with anyone, nor have i driven the wheels over any potholes or any such thing. i am surprised the wheels bent so easily. it's only been like 10000 miles. *ak | |||
| WHEELS - CENTER SECTION | |||
| 1 | |||
| Consumer took the vehicle to the dealer for a routine check up, and mechanic determined tha driver's rear wheel broke, and replaced it. *ak | |||
| WHEELS - RIM | |||
| 04/01/2003 | 4 | 03/14/2003 | |
| All chrome wheels have bent due to inferior manufacturing. *jb | |||
| 02/05/2007 | 5 | ||
| Tl*- the contact owns a 2001 mitsubishi eclipse spyder with an odometer reading of 100,000. the contact stated that if vehicle hit the smallest of pot holes, at any speed the rim will bend, both on the inside and out side. the contact had 2 of the rims replaced and two of the tires as well. on five occasions the rims were repaired. the contact has repair orders, and will have pictures of the latest failure.*ak | |||
| 10/01/2000 | 3 | ||
| I have replaced one front wheel at my cost due to the edge bending enought that it would not hold air. i have also had 2 more rims repaired, again at my cost, for similar reason. the front suspension on the spyder does not tolerate normal wear and tear for average roads. mitsubishi has refused to admit that the design of the vehicle or the wheel could be at fault for repeated failure. | |||
| 12/25/2004 | 30512 | 2 | 05/27/2002 |
| Car has about 30000 miles, owner went out to look at car this morning and found that front passenger's side tire is completely flat and rim is severely dented. owner does not recall hitting anything that would have dented rim. front driver's side rim was minorly dented on pothole about six weeks ago, suspected to have caused slow leak in tire, but owner was not going to report until second rim dented without apparent cause. two rims now need replaced; neither front tire holds air securely. both rims visibly damaged, incurring financial expense and causing distress to owner because incident happened out of town on christmas morning the day before she was scheduled to make eight-hour return trip to columbus from philadelphia, rendering the car undrivable. tires might also need replaced if damage to them has occured. rims and tires have not been repaired or replaced yet because owner filed complaint immediately after discovering damage.*ak | |||
| 11/01/2004 | 1 | ||
| Whiledriving on highway in rush hour traffic, doing 40 mph. hit pot hole, and felt something not right. found that the rim was bent, and the tire had immediately deflated. left on side of road, had to drive 90 miles home on a donut. this is the second time this has happened in a year. *ak | |||
| 06/28/2004 | 25000 | 1 | 06/22/2004 |
| The 17 inch rims on my 2001 mitsubishi eclipse spyder gt have become bent and disfigured from normal use, and i am seeking compensation from mitsubishi motors of america pending the replacement of the rims.*ak | |||
| 11/24/2003 | 27919 | 1 | 11/24/2003 |
| I purchased a 2001 mitsubishi eclipse spyder gt convertible on november 24, 2003. when i purchased this car, the right front rim was significantly bent. this defect could lead to failure of the rim and catastrophic damage to the vehicle and occupants if this occurred at higher speeds.*ak | |||
| 03/09/2004 | 42300 | 1 | 05/05/2001 |
| Two front rims have bent and split and have caused the tire to loose seal and tire to wear unnaturally. i had to replace the two rims and two tires. *ak | |||
| 09/14/2004 | 3 | ||
| I wish to file a defective compaint. my compaint is for rims on a 2001 mitsubishi eclipse spyder. three of the four rims are defective. they all are bent. they are very weak rims that have obviously dented due to normal wear and tear. i asked my local mitusbishi dealer if there was a recall on them. they said that they have been getting numerous complaints but the company will not replace them or have them fixed. *ak | |||
| 08/02/2003 | 18000 | 4 | 09/01/2000 |
| 17 inch rims are brittle, and when the vehicle approaches a bend or dip in the road, the tire separates from the rim, allowing air to escape. vehicle has been back to the dealer for an evaluation, and was told that they found no defect. it was probably the road conditions. dealer was not acknowledging any defect. *ak the rims would bend under normal road conditions. they were very soft when going over small bumps or potholes, even at reasonable speeds. the rims have been repaired 4 times and replaced 2 tires. *sc *jb | |||
| 06/07/2000 | 2000 | 5 | 06/07/2000 |
| From the time i purchased my 2001 mitsubishi eclipse spyder gt in june of 2000 until i traded it in may of 2002, i had to replace 5 bent wheels/rims at my own expense. each wheel cost $249 plus installation & tax. my local mitsubishi dealership told me that although my car was still under warranty-the wheels were not covered. i could not have driven the car more carefully to avoid the bent rims. when i no longer had confidence in the safety of my vehicle, i traded it at a loss. there is no reason a $28000 vehicle should have wheel issues without mitsubishi taking responsibility. i did not choose the wheel supplier, they did. when i called the customer relations department in ca, they were even less helpful than my local dealership. again, they reiterated that the wheels were my problem and not theirs. the incident date is not correct. as i stated above, the bent wheels occurred throughout my ownership of the 2001 spyder gt. *jb | |||
| 03/01/2001 | 4 | 10/29/2000 | |
| I wish to file a defective compaint. my compaint is for rims on a 2001 mitsubishi eclipse spyder. all four rims are defective. they all are bent. they are very weak rims. i asked my local mitusbishi dealer if there was a recall on them. they said that they have been getting numerous complaints but the company will not replace them or have them fixed. *ak | |||
| 03/17/2004 | 3 | ||
| There have been at least 3 instances in which the rims on my 2001 mitsubishi eclipse have broken or dented due to driving over minor bumps in the road or small potholes. this has resulted in my loss of control of the car in one instance, and could have potentially been an extremely dangerous situation. i have replaced my rims and tires twice because of this issue.*ak | |||
| 01/22/2004 | 10400 | 2 | 05/01/2001 |
| Tire lost inflation during highway driving, due to a bent wheel. i did not realize i had a bent wheel, due to no memory of any significant incident regarding the tires and wheels. i was sent in a very rough ride after tire blew out due to the under-inflation. i was left out in the middle of binghamton and syracuse ny in the middle of nowhere. mitsubishi diamond care service replaced with donut/spare. bought new tires for my trip back and it happened again on highway. police also helped locate my car for diamond care to send help.*ak | |||
| 12/30/2003 | 15000 | 08/10/2002 | |
| I've owned my 2001 eclipse gt spyder for a yesr and a half now and i've been having ongoing trouble with the rims bending. in fact when i bought the car there was a bend in the front rim that i made the dealer aware of and they sent the car out to have it fixed. i wish i had taken that as an omen and steered clear of buying the car. i've been driving these new england roads and highways for 15 years now and have never seen a rim bend so easy. | |||
| 12/14/2003 | 53000 | 1 | 01/14/2001 |
| Damaged alloy wheels on mitsubishi eclipse spyder (17 inch, 6 spoke). i read the postings from last year tonight on your site after i had my second experience with this problem. last winter i hit a pothole and it completely split my rim. the vehicle maintained stability and i was able to limp back home (about a half mile) but the rim was cracked all the way to the spokes from the lip. tonight (snowstorm in va/dc area) my wife dropped me off at the office and went shopping. on her way to pick me up the tire suddenly went flat. she was able to limp into a service station where she noticed the tire would not hold air so she had to change the tire in snow/ice/freezing temperatures. upon further investigation, there were three large dents in the rim at the lip. this is the second rim i am going to have to replace and they are not cheap (about $350 each). i know they said the investigation was closed, but is there something that can be done about this. there is obviously a flaw in the manufacturing of this wheel.*ak | |||
| 05/17/2003 | 17225 | 0 | 07/22/2001 |
| Front right aluminum wheel rim is dented badly in two places as a result of normal road conditions such as minor potholes or other road conditions such as rough railroad crossings. i am very very careful with this car (50 yrs old) and have never abused it but the wheels seem to bottom out or deflate easily and dent the rims under conditions that would never affect another car other than this one. i feel unsafe driving the car now with the damaged rims. not sure whether the warranty will cover the rim replacement. *nlm | |||
| 12/29/2001 | 14896 | 1 | 12/26/2001 |
| Rims on 2001 mitsubishi spyder bend easily.*jb | |||
| 05/07/2003 | 40000 | 1 | 02/09/2002 |
| Wheels bend and tires blow out repeatedly. wheels are obviously defective. *jb | |||
| 07/01/2002 | 1 | 03/15/2000 | |
| The tires lost air due to defective rims. the rims were bent out of shape. *mr scc *jb | |||
| 03/06/2001 | 33200 | 1 | |
| Flat tire, manhattan ny 49th street. slight rim damaged, rim banged out.*jb | |||
| 02/24/2003 | 31856 | 1 | 01/28/2001 |
| Went over a railroad crossing in red bank nj. rim and tire had to be replaced.*jb | |||
| 02/18/2003 | 31196 | 1 | 01/28/2001 |
| Hit a pothole on rt 80 in penn. rim and tire had to be replaced. *jb | |||
| 07/01/2002 | 1 | 03/15/2000 | |
| Tires are losing air, or i am getting flats due to the fact that rims are defective, they are bent out of shape very easily.*jb | |||
| 02/25/2002 | 24816 | 0 | |
| The aluminum wheels on the 2001 mitsubishi eclipse spyder dent almost everytime a minor pothole or railroad tracks are ridden over. i have had to remold the rims 5 times since purchasing the car less than two years ago. these rims should be recalled from mitsubishi. from all the remolding of the rims, now i have tire pressure problems. this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. *nlm | |||
| 02/13/2003 | 18780 | 1 | 12/30/2001 |
| 2001 mitsubishi eclipse spyder gt: passenger side front rim bent out of shape to the degree that the tire, which mitsubishi dealership inspected and found no puncture and no indication of having been run while flat--lost its air seal and went flat. upon dealer inspection, it was determined that impact damage from a suspected pothole caused the rim damage. there is a total of three dents from what mitsubishi has determined are separate impact incidents from potholes. no damage on other three rims, all of which have 18000 miles of driving rotated by mitsubishi using factory recommended schedule. dealer refuses to replace this obviously defective and unsafe rim. | |||
| 01/03/2003 | 1 | 07/29/2000 | |
| 2001 mitsubishi eclipse spyder bent rims and blew tires. *jb | |||
| 2 | 04/01/2000 | ||
| Defective rims. mr | |||
| 08/12/2000 | 4 | 06/01/2000 | |
| In the past 2 years , there have been 4 separate occasions where the rims bend very easily out of shape for no apparent reason, and then the tires begin to lose air slowly and cannot hold its proper air/tire ratio amount thereby causing driving to be dangerous because tires do not remain properly inflated.*ak | |||
| 09/30/2001 | |||
| Front driver's side tire was low, took off tire to have it checked for a leak. consumer then noticed inside lip of rim was broken, 9 inches long. mitsubishi refused to replace rim.*ak | |||