Most common 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Phev problems
Share of the 15 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
Mitsubishi Outlander Phev complaints by model year
Best Outlander Phev years: 2020, 2021. Compare all years →
2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Phev recalls (5)
Structure › Body › Hatchback/liftgate › Support device/strut
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2018-2022 Outlander PHEV and 2014-2020 Outlander vehicles. The liftgate gas spring cylinders may corrode and lose pressure, which can result in a gas spring cylinder rupture or the liftgate falling unexpectedly.
Remedy: MMNA will replace the left and right liftgate gas springs, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 17, 2026. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820.
Structure › Body › Hatchback/liftgate › Support device/strut
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2018-2022 Outlander PHEV and 2014-2020 Outlander vehicles sold and/or currently registered in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North…
Remedy: MMNA will replace the left and right liftgate gas springs, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 6, 2025. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820.
Seat belts › Rear/other › Buckle assembly
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2014-2019 Outlander and 2018-2019 Outlander PHEV vehicles. The second-row center seat belt buckle may interfere with the right-side seat belt buckle when the seat backs are folded down.
Remedy: MMNA will notify owners, and dealers will modify the second-row center seat belt buckle cover, install a new warning label to the second-row seat support base, and provide a new warning label insert for the owner's…
Forward collision avoidance › Software › Pedestrian/cyclist/object/obstacle/ recognition
Mitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA) is recalling certain 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Outlander Sport, 2018-2019 Eclipse Cross, and 2017-2018 Outlander vehicles equipped with a Forward Collision Mitigation (FCM) system that detects pedestrians.
Remedy: MMNA will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the FCM-ECU software with updated software, free of charge. The recall is began October 16, 2018. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820.
Forward collision avoidance › Adaptive cruise control
Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is recalling certain 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport vehicles equipped with a Forward Collision Mitigation (FCM) system and 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Eclipse Cross vehicles and 2017-2018 Outlander vehicles equipped with an Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system and/or an…
Remedy: MMNA will notify owners, and dealers will update the Hydraulic Unit-ECU software, free of charge. The recall began October 16, 2018. Owners may contact MMNA customer service at 1-888-648-7820.
NHTSA defect investigations
Federal safety investigators have looked into a possible defect involving the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Phev:
Pedestrian alert sounds
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles.
What 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Phev owners say
Transmission & drivetrain
The charger supplied by Mitsubishi melted during normal charging. Mitsubishi has stated that the cord is not defective and will not cover the cost of replacement nor are they interested on the possibility of an electrical fire caused by the loose plug terminal and hot spot.
Started vehicle and immediately got multiple warnings including the service engine soon light. When I tried to drive the car, it had almost no acceleration. It would not start the gas engine and the regenerative braking was disabled. The rbs and acc warnings were due to the systems being disabled because the hybrid system was non functional. It was all on electric but at a severely reduced power level. I tried to turn off and turn on the car a few times but there was no change. I decided to try to plug the car into the charger for a minute to see if that would reset it, and it seemed to help. The car operated normally but the service engine soon light stayed on. I pulled codes and got p0aa9 which points to a failure of the battery voltage isolation sensor inside the battery control module. …
Brakes
Parked on a 25% graded pointing down hill, when I tried to start the Outlander, the screen produced a rbs error. The gas based engine would not start. The EV motors seemed to come on with very little power. When I called mitsubisi to tow the car they said, ouote"that doesn't normally start this soon" , this tells me they know there is a problem. My Phev has been in the shop since Monday, I'm being told they reset the check engine light error and they don't see a problem. This is not a fix. I took pictures after I restarted it the third time. The one thing that remained was the driving range for both gas and EV only had dashes, they should show how many miles are avaliable for EV and gas.
Put car in drive took off on it's own went up to 40 MPH and stayed there shout it down and restarted ran OK rest of the day. Next morning did same thing. I did the something I did the day befor. Called service and Mitsubishi USA both said bring it to the service department so I started up the road and on the interstate I put it in cruise control. There wasn't anyone in front of me and the brakes slammed on. Good thing no one was behind me .so I took it out of cruise control drove on up the road and the wipers came on it wasnt raining. Just got it back and they didn't do anything to it. Said couldn't get it to duplicate what I said it did. So guess I'm there test dummy for this car
Electrical system
Started vehicle and immediately got multiple warnings including the service engine soon light. When I tried to drive the car, it had almost no acceleration. It would not start the gas engine and the regenerative braking was disabled. The rbs and acc warnings were due to the systems being disabled because the hybrid system was non functional. It was all on electric but at a severely reduced power level. I tried to turn off and turn on the car a few times but there was no change. I decided to try to plug the car into the charger for a minute to see if that would reset it, and it seemed to help. The car operated normally but the service engine soon light stayed on. I pulled codes and got p0aa9 which points to a failure of the battery voltage isolation sensor inside the battery control module. …
Started up the car and started backing up out of my garage. When I put my car into reverse I saw my charging port door open on the passenger side of the car at this point my cars back end was partially sticking out of the garage I put the car into park by pushing the park button, I opened the door got out of the car and left the door open and started to walk down the driver side towards the back end of the car I got outside the garage right next to the rear driver side tail light, and the car went into reverse and drove out of the garage it took the door and bent it back to the driver side front fender and kept going almost ran me over I had to run and jump in the car and slam on the brakes. …
2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Phev engines & fuel economy
| Engine | Transmission | Drive | MPG city / hwy / combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.0L 4-cyl plug-in hybrid | Single-speed | AWD | 25 / 26 / 25 |
EPA ratings. Class: Small SUV.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Phev a good car?
There isn't enough complaint history for the Outlander Phev to compare model years reliably. So far owners have filed 15 complaints with NHTSA.
What is the most common problem with the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Phev?
The transmission & drivetrain — 5 complaints, 33% of all complaints for this model year. Next are the brakes (4) and electrical system (4).
How many recalls does the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Phev have?
There are 5 recalls for the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Phev, the most recent from April 20, 2026 (support device/strut). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the Mitsubishi Outlander Phev?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2020 and 2021. See the full Mitsubishi Outlander Phev years comparison.
At what mileage do 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Phev problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 10,000 miles; 100% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.