general problems of the 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse

One problem related to structure has been reported for the 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse. The most recently reported issues are listed below.

1 Structure problem

Failure Date: 02/06/2004

I purchased my 1998 Eclipse GS in 2003 with approx. 38,000 miles on it. Within 2 months, my driver's door handle broke when opening the door. This occurred on a day in the middle of the summer. Not thinking much about it, I had it replaced at a cost of almost $300. 00 (parts, labor, & paint) it happened again within 3 months. The dealership replaced this one also and only charged me for the part, a mere $175. 00. About 6 months later, my girlfriend at the time was opening the passenger door and that handle broke off. This makes 3 broken door handles in 11 months. I might be a strong guy, I guess, but my girlfriend was 5'1" and about 90 lbs. . The kind of girl who had trouble tearing notebook paper. Well, while waiting for the dealership to order a replacement handle, my brother was getting into the driver's side of my car to install a new stereo and the driver's side handle snaps off in his hand. I had to leave a window down for a week inorder to get in and out of the vehicle. I have since stopped ordering from the dealership as a fiberglass door handle was available online for $35. 00 and came black in color. To date, as of 2010, I have had to replace the driver's door handle 6 times and the passenger side twice. After speaking wit quite a few Mitsubishi enthusiasts, I have discovered that this is a problem Mitsubishi knows about, always knew about, and has simply refused to fix, even as far as not making replacement door handles out of stronger material. I will never buy a Mitsubishi again based on this simple design flaw which the company deems is beneath them to make right.


Other Structure related problems of the 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse



Safety Ratings of Eclipse Cars
Fuel Economy of Eclipse Vehicles
Eclipse Service Bulletins
Eclipse Safety Recalls
Eclipse Defect Investigations