2003 Mitsubishi Lancer: transmission slipping

Filed Mar 4, 2006 · Transmission · 30,000 miles · MO

I bought my 2003 lancer es when it had 16,000 miles on it, by about 30,000 miles I noticed that the automatic transmission seemed to be slipping, sometimes when driving and I would let up on accelerator to slow and then would depress accelerator again the car would act like it was in neutral, car did not accelerate, this happened on the highway and at slow speeds, 30 miles an hour or slower. On 8-25-05 I took the car in to the dealership at northtowne mitsubishi and reported this problem and that the right passenger ball joint had failed inspection at 34000 miles. I asked the dealer to look at transmission at the same time, I was told they would check it out, I was told that this type of transmission developed a memory and if one person drove it harder that another this could happen, sounded like a bunch of hooey to me, but I don't know much about cars. I took the car back in on dec. 30, 2005 for a recall on car,something to do with the emissions and again complained about transmission, was told again, nothing to worry about. Now my car is making a whining noise, took the car to a goodyear service center and was told my transmission was the problem and needs repair, my car has approx 43000 miles on it. The dealer never put on my service tickets to look at transmission, just to check over vehicle. I feel they were trying to put me off till my car went out of warranty. My powertrain is now still under warranty but the rest is not. I am very upset.

Filed Oct 31, 2005 · Transmission · 61,603 miles · IL

Automatic transmission slips/skips while speeding up around twenty five miles per hour, and this occurs when breaking quickly. When breaking quickly, car will then jump forward when the transmission catches. I believe this has always slightly been there, but I believe my slow driving has masked the issue. I had the transmission fluid changed and then the dealer did two recall changes, and after the skipping issues was very much there. After reading the other complaints, I am sure this is the tip of the iceberg. Prd.

Filed Mar 15, 2005 · Brakes, Transmission · IL

Mitsubishi lancer 2003, defective transmission and brakes. *bf the consumer stated the transmission slipped at every speed and no one would admit there was a problem. The brakes would fade and vibrate making it difficult to stop.

Filed Nov 4, 2004 · Transmission · 35,000 miles · OH

When driving my vehicle the transmission does not shift gears properly. Normal operation of the vehicle leads to slipping transitions from gear to gear making it difficult to maintain/reach/sustain speed. This occurs in both highway and city environments. I have had the car serviced according to manufacturer's recommendations of every 3000 miles. I have about 40000 miles on the vehicle at this point. It started doing this at about 6000 miles. I have had the vehicle checked multiple times. When taken to the dealership they informed me nothing was wrong. I have changed the transmission fluid as well as all filters. I was told this is 'normal' for the car. I do not think however that this is a typical behavior for new vehicles.

Filed Jun 11, 2004 · Transmission · 6,500 miles · MA

I have owned the car for 4 months and have about 6500 miles on the odomoter. The clutch has started slipping when the turbo kicks in. The problem is getting progressively worse. I have notified my local dealer who acknologes the car needs a clutch, but claims this is a wear item and isn't covered under warranty. They also implied driver abuse. This car is my daily driver, I do not race it or drive it above its intended use. I have even offered to supply a quality aftermarket clutch and have the dealer simply provide the labor, they were not agreeable to this at this point.

Filed Feb 25, 2004 · Transmission · 2,500 miles · TX

I recently purchased a evo8 in december, there was 339 miles on it when I bought it. It was the last of 2003s. At around 2500 miles the clutch started slipping, took it into the service dept. At huggin's mitsu. It told the representative what was happening and that it could be coincidense but I had got gas the day before the car started to run poorly. He assured me that was my problem, he wouldn't even go look at the car when I asked. So over the weekend the problem worsened, was back at service moday morning. At this point I began dealing with the service manager who told me " well you spent 35,000 get ready to spend two grand more." also after going through distict and regional supervisors warranty denied. So now im working on arbitration. To clear one thing up, I babied my car. I am rather young so for me to own to a nice car I took every precaution. I know I'm not alone in this fight, so we should all join and speak under one unanimous voice.

Filed Jan 27, 2004 · Transmission · 12,000 miles · AZ

Clutch starting slipping at 10000 miles, car is not modified or abused in any way. Way to early for a vehicle to have such major problems. Waiting to see what service will do.

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Transmission · 9,500 miles · WA

At around 9500 miles the car began sticking, slipping gears, jamming into gear. It was diagnosed as a failed body valve, which they ordered and sent me home for 10 days waiting for the part--meanwhile the car progressively became worse, making entering the freeway questionable, etc. After 10 days it began doing the same thing--took car back in--they sent me home while they tried to reach mitsubishi...when I demanded rental stating I did not feel safe (I called mitsubishi, who intervened and had me take car back to dealer until it is fixed). Dealer told me they are ordering 6 more transmission parts based on mitsubishi's advice. Meanwhile, I spoke with an independent mechanic who worked for mitsubishi, who said that if the body valve failed, there is probably internal damage to the transmission and that talking on the phone and ordering parts is not fixing the cause of the problem--also that the transmission and computer have to be in sync, and a damaged transmission could affect the computer of the car. So we have techs talking back and forth on the phone, a dealership service dept that does not have the answers talking to a tech hundreds of miles away, and neither party has seen the inside of the transmission....I feel like I have a defective car and am running to the shop which is just putting bandaids on the problem.

Filed Jan 12, 2004 · Transmission · 30,000 miles · CA

While driving transmission slipped gears. This caused a distraction to the consumer. Dealership's mechanic was notified, but did not resolve the problem.

Filed Nov 2, 2003 · Transmission · 3,600 miles · AZ

When my mitsubishi evolution viii had 3,600 miles on it, the clutch began slipping -- this occurred while driving 45 miles per hour in traffic. I was able to drive to dealer. The dealer said the clutch was a "wear item," and refused to replace it.

Filed Oct 25, 2003 · Transmission · AZ

Automatic transmission is slipping at first gear on 2003 lancer es. This car is only a year old and has less than 6,000 miles on it. I should not have this problem.

Filed Oct 5, 2003 · Transmission · 12,000 miles · WA

Continuation of odi#10023954--within 2 weeks of repair on transmission (replaced valve body)--car repeated the same symptoms would not kick into gear to get on freeway or would jerk and lurch, slipping and sticking. The dealer replaced 6 parts on the outside of transmission--never looked inside for internal damage even though an independent mechanic told me there was probably internal damage when the valve body failed.