Buyer Research

2016 Mitsubishi Lancer — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $8,000–$13,000. There are 3 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 8 Mitsubishi Lancer years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

Seventy per cent of this car's complaints are the transmission. Thirty filings is a small record, but when seven in ten of them point at one part, that is the story and there is no honest way to soften it: owners describe a pause of several seconds before the car moves, bucking and shuddering at speed, a 'service transmission' message, and in several cases a CVT that failed outright between 60,000 and 98,000 miles — including one owner who changed the fluid four times. Mitsubishi issued a software recall for the acceleration delay, which helps and does not fix a worn unit. Buy this car only after a long, cold-start test drive, with the recall confirmed done, and ideally with fluid receipts. If it hesitates at all when you pull away, walk.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 30 owner complaints for the 2016 Mitsubishi Lancer, and 2 recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. 70% of them are about one thing — the transmission and drivetrain. That much concentration is a genuine pattern rather than background noise, and it is the first thing to check on any example you look at.

2 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Looked at and set aside: throttle and cruise control (4) — Three of these four complaints describe the same delay-before-acceleration that recall 16V563 reprograms the CVT control unit to address, filed under a different component heading — they are already covered by the transmission issues above. The fourth is a three-word report of the car accelerating by itself with no detail, which we cannot responsibly turn into a finding or give a buyer anything to check.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2016 Mitsubishi Lancer

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

CVT shudders, jerks and can fail outright between 60,000 and 100,000 milesHigh — wallet impact

The biggest and clearest fault on this car. Owners report the revs jumping up and down, hard jerking on takeoff, the car refusing to gain speed, and a 'service transmission' warning; several were told the unit had internal failure codes and needed replacing. One owner logged fluid changes at 30k, 55k, 80k and 98k miles and the transmission failed anyway. Mitsubishi's 100,000-mile powertrain warranty does not transfer to a second owner, so as a used buyer you are on your own for this bill. Drive it from cold for at least twenty minutes with repeated stops and one hard merge.

Repair cost (estimate): $3,200–$5,200 for a replacement CVT — about 50% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (21).

Several-second delay before the car accelerates — there is a free software fix (recall)High — wallet impact

Recall 16V563 covers 2016 Lancers with the CVT: in certain conditions the transmission delays before the car accelerates, which is how you end up still sitting in an intersection after the light goes green. Dealers reprogram the CVT control unit with modified software, free of charge. Owners describe exactly this — hitting the gas, the engine revving, and the car shooting forward a beat later. Get the VIN checked: if the reflash is open, have it done, and if it has been done and the car still hesitates, that is a worn transmission rather than software.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (21); 2 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Defective starter relay can stall the engine, cut its power, or let it overheat (recall)High — wallet impact

Recall 17V609 covers 2015–2016 Lancers: relays that can fail and produce an engine stall, reduced power, or overheating. The remedy is a free relay replacement at a dealer. The electrical complaints on this year read the same way — a car that lost motive power at 35 mph and had to be towed, another that will not crank for two or three minutes and then struggles to start. It is a cheap, fast fix that somebody has to actually book, and on a car this old that somebody is often the buyer.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (4); 2 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Any pause between pressing the accelerator and the car moving off
✗Revs rising and falling on their own at a steady road speed
✗'Service transmission' message on the dash, even briefly
✗A crank that takes several seconds or several attempts
✗Bucking or shuddering under light throttle at 30 to 50 mph

Good Signs

✓Recall 16V563 shown closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✓Recall 17V609 relay replacement listed on a dealer repair order
✓CVT fluid changed every 30,000 miles with dated receipts
✓A twenty-minute cold drive with immediate take-up at every stop
✓Steady, even revs under light throttle on the highway